Friday, August 19, 2011

OUR BLOG HAS MOVED!

The Project Grow blog has a new home, it's now more integrated with our main site. All new posts will there from now on.

Find it here...

» » Our new blog « «


Friday, August 12, 2011

To my sweetheart, forever and ever

I'm happy for my wedding
I hope
I hope and I pray it comes through
with all my heart and soul
For I want this
With more than anything else on earth
I hope and I pray
that he will love me too

He told me
a number of times
He loved me.
I told him that right back.
I hope and I pray
That he comes closer and closer to me
I want to get
closer
and closer
to him.

I don't want to ever leave him.

If anything is wrong
I want to hear about it
I don't care if it is
bad
good
or sad
I don't care
I just want to be there for ever
and ever.

-Ginger Matthews

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Monday, August 1, 2011

Team Together: Gets together every Friday

What a way to end July. Ideas! Celebrations! Shared information!
Below are our notes from our Friday Team Together Meetings. They are amazing. As always, you are welcome to crash them.

Love,
All of us from Project Grow

Minimum Wage:
Patsy: "Watch your P's and Q's. No arguments. No fights. No nothing. Just do your jobs."
"That's the only thing I will ask. "
Catie: Do you want me to keep making you homemade calendars?
Patsy: Yes. I made up a choice. Instead of painting, you guys going to be secretaries. The whole ship kaboom.
A friend of mine, is going to be sit side by side by me. She is my secretary. Everyone will get minimum wage.
stacey: What is minimum wage?
Eleanor: Minimum wage is how much money we get by the things we do as Project Grow. Gardening farm, studio management. My father and I have been fighting this for people and adults with a minimum wage.
Everyone celebrated the idea of minimum wage. Yay!

Stacey has an idea for a show
Stacey: My own gallery. Painting, Crochet. Knitting. Wants to have a show! The weaving. Various

Not everyone wants to be an actor
Chanel: cried all night and day about people at Safeway not wanting to be her movie.

Going to the beach
Sonya: Will be on vacation next month. But will call us to say hi!
Dan: Caught us up on the beach trip. Everyone went to look at galleries. Charlie was buried in the sand. The road was blocked off.

Rummage Sale
Eleanor: Rummage Sale on August 27th.Sonya thinks this is amazing and wants to help as does Stacey and Dan and David C. with handing out fliers.
Stacey wants to sell clothes!
Ginger: What is for sale?
All sorts of things?
Can we sell cothes?
Tim: as long it is really clean.
David C: Rock and Roll! Cds too.
Stacey: What will happen with the money?
Dan: We can pay our bills and buy more art supplies?
Stacey: Can we give it to homeless?
Everyone: sure!
Catie: Big surprise we made home made waffles!
James: sounds delicious.
Zach: mmmmmmm.
Patsy: Will there be something to drink that is sugar free?
Emese: We had talked about sun tea.

Coffee run today!
Eleanor would like to organize one. Who wants to go?
Coffee run: Eleanor, Eddie

New time sheet system for
Time sheets:Patsy, Stacey, Eric, Tim, Tina, Dan (phone answering when Patsy is not here)
To learn new job skills
To self manage and self motivate

Exciting things!
Chanel: Turn new york into Tokyo! Residency!
QT: First solo show!

Brainstorming creative ways to get Catie's art out there
Catie: sell art pages
Emese: Make original art
Shannon: she could make I spy books!
Stacey: Where's waldo kind!
Catie: yea!

Picnic!
Dan: where?
Zach: Here
Emese: Maye we can even bring in some healthy food!
Dan: like grapes.
Monica: How about pineapples?
James: Pineapple helps digest beans!
Fascinating.
Steven: I like watermelon.
Ginger: Kiwis.
Chanel: Blackberries. Raspberries.
Stacey: Fruit Salad.

Today instead of burritos...a new idea
Tim: Instead of burritos, truck style diner for lunch!
Who else wants to go?
Kristin and Dan

Street art show
Zach: wants to be a curator of the Street art show.
Stacey: also.

Bowling
Dash: Will contact the bowling alley at PSU to see if we can go there for free.

Tina and Tanya's birthday today!
Zach: it's tina and tanya's birthday!
Let's sing them happy birthday!
Lorna: Speech!
Tina and Tanya: Thank you!
They went to visit baby bunnies. Heaven.

newly fired pottery from the kiln!
Tim: Look at the stuff that was fired!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The best night EVER!: Reflections on the World Naked Bike Ride part of Pedalpalooza.

Forrest Hellum-Willits joined 10,000 other bikers for Pedalpalooza's World Naked Bike Ride.

One million people. Naked. And Nuded.
All through town. A nice guy.
It feels good with our naked bodies. Nude People. Lots of people are cheering. Music and noises.
It's really fun.
We're going to do it next year too.
by the way, I farted on Saturday. There's going to be a whole lot of people there...a whole lot. There were 200 people on skateboards.
It feels like heaven.
There were a whole bunch of cops.
I was so excited to go! Tons of lights! All over the city.

Beautiful! Sexy.

A Painting and a Poem by Patsy Blaiser


“ A Dozen Red Roses Have Opened My Heart
P.S. I’m close to my mother and dad and everything and that’s how special they are to me because I love them very much and I said why? And I will take a dozen red roses and go out to the cemetery and put some flowers on their grave. ”

By Patsy Blaiser
June 21, 2011

The red, the yellow and the blue
It’s shaped like a flower
In my heart
Why is that?
Everyone can see me happy
And everything goes right
This area goes from there and this part here is my area
To me, I’ve got somebody in my life
And the flowers are meant to be
Belong to a certain party I know
I wish that he would come up here
And look at the painting that I did
Oliver
He’s nine
He is taller than I am
And he’s really nice to me
He helped me out a lot
He showed me how to be
And the numbers
And the alphabet
And stuff like that
And he said
He makes me happy
He helped me out and everything
When I get stuck
He helped me
To me,
It’s opened my heart up
Every time I see it (this painting)
It tells me my heart has opened up wide
And my life is very special
And that’s why I love these flowers
It talks to me
Because I pray to God
And it has butterflies on it
Along with the flowers
Along with a dozen red roses
I like someone in my life
And he cares about me
He would help me out a lot
That’s what the flowers telling me
I had to tell somebody
It also tells me
A certain party I know will help me out


It’s You.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Harvest: Week 1!


WEEK 1 – 6/14/11

Packing List:

+Bag of Magenta Orach
+Arugula
+Mizuna & Mustard
+Bunch of Radishes
+Bunch of chives
+Lovage
+Half-dozen of eggs
+Spinach
+Mint


Hello Shareholders!

What an exciting day it is. We've been looking forward to this day since last November, and it is finally here! The first of 18 weeks of deliveries, and it's a great showing of June's offerings in this cool maritime spring (summer, supposedly). The real "June" winners (peas and strawberries) are still a week or two out, but look forward to them. All of our heartier offerings tend to be later season crops, but the light fare offered in this box will hopefully complement the hot weather we wish to see soon. Wishful thinking. There are obviously excellent salad opportunities offered in this box, but don't discount the cooked possibilities of the orach, arugula, spinach, and even the radish greens.
Right now at the farm, we're still planting, scrambling to get the fields in order and accounted for, and work hastily on our various non-food farm projects. The new farm/garden site up on Legacy Emanuel's property is moving along, with infrastructure being added steadily. Tim is still waiting for his knee to recover enough to get back to kneeling/lifting/moving without crutches, while James and everyone else have been working hard without fail. Oh! Save the date! Our third annual North Portland Farm Throwdown is on Saturday the 25th, featuring good (free) beer from Ninkasi, The amazing Jeffrey Jerusalem, SAFE, and Malaikat dan Singa performing outside in the farm. It's always a blast, and this year will be even nicer since we're not working to fancy the place up until the last moment.
Once again, make sure to leave this week’s box flattened and ready for pickup next week! We hope you enjoy this food!

-The North Portland Farm

Thursday, June 2, 2011

"Love is a Battlefield"



Forrest's second poem on a day sure to be filled with beauty.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Project Grow will be Closed for two weeks....April fools!!! - Larry

"What's red, what's blue, what's green? How are you tunring upside down? You've got no brain!" - Patsy

"Shoe's untied!" Ricky

"Woof, woof, ruff, ruff, ruff!" - David L.

"You've got a stain on your T-shirt" - Eddie

"April fools! I'm not here!" - Kelly

"Emese's shirt is on backwards!" - Zach

"What's a hijacker doing on an airplane? He's holding hostages on the airline too much." "What's a bear cub doing in the cupboard? He's looking around for food. Ham or cheese." - John

"I'm going home sick. I'm coming back Tuesday." - Sonya

"Larry is an April fool!" - Lorna

"What's black, white, and red all over? A blushing zebra" - Tina C.

"You're a bowling pin! April Fools!" - Dan

"Leprechauns steal Easter eggs!" - Jamond

"You're shirt is on backwards!" - Steven

"A ship was passing a small island. On the island was a man frantically waving his hands. The passenger asked the captain 'who was that man?' and the captain replied "I don't know, every year we pass the island he goes mad!" - Jen

"A man walks into a bar....ouch!" - Ilene

Monday, March 21, 2011

Happy.

Bowling. Bowling. James and Tim are my friends. Ice cream. Music. Cake. Pizza. Tacos. Hot sauce. Blueberries. Strawberries. Chips. Mmmm mmmm. Good. Sauce is good. I like people who sing a song. Cookie favorite. Pizza. My friend. Tim and James. Friend. Happy Friend. Joy. Joy. Happy.

A found conversation

Everyone once in a while, a conversation is so beautiful, so fun, that the fingers of the listener are moved to record it. There are too many moments like this in Project Grow.
These recently found notes depict a brief slice of such a conversation.

Forrest: The first thing, I will not die alone.
Emese: I don't want to die alone either.
F: I want to die with your self.
E: You just said you don't want to die alone. What do you mean?
F: God is always, is always by my side.
E: How do you know?
F: Because my mom told me to (motions hands in a wave) to take my body and take my skin, my bones to ash and be reborn to a new you. Then I'll be alive again.
E: Why doyou mean by a new you?
F: You know, It's like a ... When somebody dies, and they put you in a fiery grave and you turn into an ash, then there will be a bowl or something. Then you put the ashes in it.
E: How does that lead to rebirth?
F: Um. (bounces pencil on his forhead)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Starts are starting with Vigor!!!


strawberries. i cant eat hot stuff. Project Grove office, I was born and raised on a farm.. Like turnips and potatoes and growing beans and grapes and things like that... Pears apples, spinach, spinach.. They grow on the farm. Carrots, turnips, onions, that grows on a farm.. cantaloupe, coconut, and things like that cherries, beans, watermelon, cantaloupe and they grow on the farm.. and jam.. strawberries. what I love about the farm is born and raised on the farm cotton balls, bananas, turnips, green beans and tomatoes and cucumbers and things like that cauliflower. and that was about it.... did that help you out? and sweet potatoes. and pickles... oh, and turnips! Don't forget the turnips!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

About Beef Jerky

Forrest: As you can see, it's an animal.
Vitaliy: Meat. It's meat.
Forrest: It tastes like horse shit. Nahhhhhhhhh! Just kidding.
Vitaliy: Just kidding!
Forrest: First you take a cow... fire him up. Chop it into strips. The inside... is all chewed up by me. It's all meaty. Chewed up, by my teeth. ... And sometimes ... I put it in my milk.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Book of Spell. Part II. Forrest

the moon is high
sleep all day long
like a stars chilling out on the moon
and the planet
is a wonder full place to live

short shit is eating his way
like jay bow in a sky low funny
do
slow
mellow
shallow
willow
lay low
bottle
tell ow fell ow door low

the shadow still standing
tall like a stone before me and so long my happy
cry will howl at the moon
when the sun go down
into dark time it make me not happy
but the light shine upon my happy soul
you too will follow that path
it is time to go for that light
and you can talk to me
if you want to
and human soul will become the shine of you life
and all so be happy for all the time
we need the moment of my life

it is fine
my happy mine
will be the last
it is not the end of me
and all so i will

be back soon


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A new friendship

the book of spell-Forrest Hellum Willits

the moon is high
sleep all day long
like a stars chilling out on the moon
and the planet
is a wonder full place to live

short shit is eating his way
like jay bow in a sky low funny
do
slow
mellow
shallow
willow
lay low
bottle
tell ow fell ow door low

the shadow still standing
tall like a stone before me and so long my happy
cry will howl at the moon
when the sun go down
into dark time it make me not happy
but the light shine upon my happy soul
you too will follow that path
it is time to go for that light
and you can talk to me
if you want to
and human soul will become the shine of you life
and all so be happy for all the time
we need the moment of my life

it is fine
my happy mine
will be the last
it is not the end of me
and all so i will

be back soon

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Somewhere in My Mind by Forrest Hellum

Angels are watching us below.
Praise the lord.
There's goodness in our hearts.
I'm feeling glad I've got sunshine.
Drum city and bass.
Rainforest.
Let's play some music.
VistaPrint.
Too much space.
You make me crazy.
I'll be you.
Come on now.
Bless your soul.
Just like you.
Just like fun.
Freaky stuff now.
Hello my friend.
Take me outside.
I love you very much.
Love is a beautiful thing.
Sun is rising, it's your day.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Crazy Picture: Eddie Butler


It's half and half. Half black hair, half blond hair. Half long hair, half short hair. He doesn't like his long hair. He wants his short hair back. We don't know why.