About Rising Stone Farm

Signup for the 2013 CSA HERE
Rising Stone Farm evolved from Backyard Bounty Farm.  We are an urban collective of farmers working to provide nutritious, delicious and beautiful vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbs  for our 30 member CSA and local restaurants. Our work is approached with the intention of nourishing, healing and empowering the land, the community, and our selves.  We are committed to natural methods including biodynamics and bio-intensive farming on our 3 sites along the fertile soils of Johnson Creek.
The Land

Lovena Farm is located in Milwaukie, just 7 miles from downtown Portland (map).   Cottonwood, maple, birches, willows, and native bushes line the creek bank and surround the farm holding the land as a sanctuary. Four households are sharing the 2.7 acres amongst fruit trees, bees, chickens, and a greenhouse with a ½ acre field for vegetable cultivation. The land has a long history of nurturing peoples. For centuries Native Americans held the site to be a sacred gathering place.  In the 1950′s Lovena and Curtis Horner planted the fruits, grew corn and other crops, and tended to the land into their 80′s.  In 2005, four households bought the property together to raise their families and live more connected to the land. Since 2006, the 1/2 acre field has been a production farm.  Melanie, (previously of Backyard Bounty Farm) has been cultivating the land since 2009.

Jean’s Farm
At the bottom of a steep, gravel road, a few miles downstream from Lovena, Jean’s farm sits nestled along a grove of evergreens, a medicinal mandala garden, cobb oven, bees, and chickens.  An acre oasis, just 5 miles from downtown (map), has been leased for organic agriculture since the early 90’s. Over the last 10 years it has become a site for place-based educational programs in the curriculum of Mother Earth School, Trackers NW, Sunnyside Environmental school and Portland State University . This year, the Learning Gardens Institute is managing  the land and we are participating in their educational programs as a production farm on 9,000 square feet.

Wichita Plot
A few blocks up creek from Lovena, our friend April is offering her sunny 800 square foot garden plot where we will grow some of our medicinals.

What we Grow and Wildcraft

Rising Stone Farm offers a diverse mix of over 100 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and fruits, all year round.

  • Vegetables – arugula, asian greens, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, chard, carrots, chicories,
     collards, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuces, mustard greens, onions, peas, potatoes, parsnips, peppers, radishes, rutabaga, salad mix, squashes, tomatoes, and turnips.
  • Herbs – basil, chervil, cilantro, dill, and parsley.
  • Fruits – Figs, plums, pears, grapes, black, white and red currants, and strawberries are sometimes available.
  • Medicinal Herbs – Tulsi, Nettle, Ashwaganda, calendula, red root, oregon grape and more.
Growing Methods
We believe in listening and working with natural forces in a way that respects our relationship.  Growing healthy nutritious plants and soil is our goal.   Although we are not certified, due to costs and changing land, we practice organic methods, biodynamics and biointensive, which includes:

  • Planting with the moon and stars.
  • Biodynamic compost preps and crop treatments.
  • Varieties chosen with nutrition, flavor, and yield in mind.  85-90 % open pollinated seed source.
  • No synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides or genetically modified seeds.
  • Sourcing seed, compost and fertilizer as locally and responsibly as possible.
  • 15 % of our plantings are from our own saved seeds, which creates varieties more adapted to our specific environment.

  • Crop rotation, cover cropping, low till and mulching for soil health.
  • Attempt to limit inputs and energy expended while also maximizing nutrition.
  • Some delivery is by bicycle.
  • Planting for polinators to increase diversity on the creek.
  • Sharing knowledge and resources.