By Marc Boucher-Colbert 2008
Email: jambrazil2@yahoo.com

I’m Marc Boucher-Colbert, the rooftop vegetable gardener at Rocket Restaurant at 1111 E. Burnside in Portland, OR. I’d like to take you on a brief tour of Rocket’s garden, but it’s a tour that will not be limited to the mere physical – the beds and crops – but will encompass the vision, history, and philosophy of that garden. After all, doesn’t everything in the outer world have its ongoing conversation with the inner?

And, yes, if you haven’t already guessed, I’m one of those gardener/farmers who came to the profession from a solidly liberal arts background, hence the philosophical musings. I have a B.A. in religious studies and a master’s in education, but my gardener’s training has come from the field, which I came to later in life. Thankfully, I had a latent talent for growing things. For many years I ran Urban Bounty Farm, a city-based CSA farm, and now, in addition to my rooftop duties at Rocket, am Garden Specialist at Franciscan Montessori Earth School in Portland. But I digress – on to the garden!

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New August 30, 2008
See: Report of Growing Food For London Conference – June 2008

“This event will look at urban agriculture: its impact on the food security of London, its role in preserving the capital’s open space, educating and improving the health of Londoners and potentially reducing the distance that London’s food has travelled.

“Through a series of presentations from British and international experts, including academics, growers, and other experts we hope to explore what opportunities there are for producing more food and how this can be achieved in a sustainable way.

Speakers include:

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Major Canadian newspaper starts a weekly how-to series about city farming.
Nicholas Read, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Photo by Bill Keay

“I’m 51 years old and I can’t grow a carrot. That is a shameful thing. Growing food is the most vital skill anyone can have, and here I am, well past mid life, and I don’t have it. In many cultures, survival in the face of such appalling ignorance would be a miracle.

“But not this one. Thanks to the miracle of western civilization, I have been afforded the constant luxury of having food delivered to me on a platter. Whether in a grocery store or a restaurant, it’s always been there. And as long I’ve had the wherewithal to pay for it, I have seldom given it a thought. Until now.

Read author’s story here.

And the author’s Blog.

“Grow Bag installations promote the use of vacant, neglected and undefined spaces in the inner city of London for the growing of vegetables.

“To see a working inner city allotment initiated by the What-if team in 2007, visit VACANT LOT on Chart Street N1. A formerly inaccessible and run-down plot of housing estate land has been transformed into a beautiful oasis of green. Seventy 1/2 tonne bags of soil have been arranged to form this allotment space. Within their individual plots, local residents are carefully tending a spectacular array of vegetables, salads, fruit and flowers. The VACANT LOT has become a space for growing food, socialising, picnics and BBQs.’

Link to the London Festival of Architecture event.

Link to the What If Vacant Lot site.