Tryon Life Community Farm
It takes an eco-village to raise our bile.
June 10th, 2009
Brandon Caselman | An insurance agent who lost his license over his million-dollar “advice.”10 comments
June 3rd, 2009
Karla Keller | Worse than parking tickets: Drinking and driving.28 comments
May 27th, 2009
Ken Allen, Dan Clay, Tom Chamberlain | Look for the union label.20 comments
May 20th, 2009
Ed Kraus | Oy vey. Slapping down an open hand.3 comments
May 6th, 2009
Bakke Properties | Who’s the real vermin?6 comments
April 29th, 2009
Laurie Monnes Anderson | Wrong time to kill a watchdog.5 comments
April 22nd, 2009
Mayor Sam Adams | One deal too many.26 comments
April 15th, 2009
Portland Revenue Bureau | A wheel pain for local business.0 comments
April 8th, 2009
12 Lanes | We like these signs of dissent.6 comments
April 1st, 2009
Rev. E. William Beauchamp | Censorship isn’t a Christian value.10 comments
![]() IMAGE: Erin McCallum |
[January 16th, 2008]
Tryon Life Community Farm (see “Buying the Farm,” WW , Dec. 28, 2005) has long focused on creating a seven-acre sustainable community in Southwest Portland where about 20 residents can live “green” and thousands of schoolchildren can visit.
The Rogue Desk has no problem with how people want to live or with 12,000 kids visiting last year. But we draw the line when farm leaders’ desire to be eco-friendly creates potential groundwater issues.
City and state water regulations forbid many of the farm’s green building efforts, such as building composting toilets that let human waste be used as fertilizer and draining bath water into gardens.
“Bath water is considered sewage; it can contain pathogens, and the discharge of sewage is not allowed,” says Mike Kucinski, water quality manager for the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Now, as the Portland Tribune reported Jan. 4, Tryon Farm wants the city to amend building and land-use policies for its green efforts. Tryon Farm’s John Brush tells WW part of the farm’s goal is to make it easier for all homeowners and small developers “to build and design and live green.”
But if the city doesn’t adopt the farm’s suggested code amendments, Brush says the cost to conform Tryon’s plans to existing code would be $20,000.
Portland’s City Council already supported the farm two years ago when the city appropriated $200,000 for a conservation easement (Metro provided another $100,000 toward the farm’s $1.6 million land purchase).
As for the farm’s new request: The public can weigh in at a 7 pm meeting Thursday, Jan. 17, at Laughing Horse Books, 12 NE 10th Ave.
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RECENT COMMENTS ON “Tryon Life Community Farm”
What a strong and well-informed set of reader responses to this article! We're confident the WWeek will recognize this as a clear sign that sustainability in Portland deserves in-depth, and fully res...
Wow, rogue of the week to TLC for trying to help reduce water consumption and recycling composted nutrients into their garden. What the hell is wrong with WW? Bath water is far cleaner than Willamet...
Add my name to the list of people upset and befuddled that WW would make TLC Farm their Rogue of the Week for --heaven forbid!-- asking the City to rethink some zoning and building codes to allow a sa...
So, if the sewers break in an earthquake or fail in a flood as they did in New Orleans, who do I want to live next to, Ole Ersson, an expert on graywater and composting, or WW writers?










