Hurricane Valley Farm

On the last Wednesday of the program, we had the opportunity to visit Hurricane Valley Farm to learn about social entrepreneurship. Met at the barn by Craig Lapine, founder and executive director of Cultivating Community, the students were treated to a healthy discourse on tax structures and social mechanisms that encourage philanthropy and the collective investment in non-profit interests. Before getting our hands dirty (literally), we enjoyed hearing about Craig’s personal journey and the mission of Cultivating Community to nurture local growers while making fresh, healthy food accessible to the people who want and need it.

Afterward, we split into two groups. One group stayed at the barn with Craig, and were tasked with the pungent project of opening plastic packages of mushroom waste to be used for fertilizer. While most of the squishy and smelly sacks made their way to the pile, several bags took slight student-assisted detours to terrorize individuals choosing not to contribute to our intriguing but icky endeavor (Courtney, we’re talking about you; see the gallery above).

The other group followed farm manager David Berdeja out to the garden plots, where they tackled the more traditional tasks of hoeing and weeding. When our groups reunited, those students proudly displayed their weed-free, freshly-aerated rows. Craig commented that the farmers would be surprised when they returned to their plots—hopefully not because some of our zealous but novice gardeners mistook vegetable plants for weeds. (We’re confident that only weeds were pulled!)

Freshening up farm-style with a garden hose, the students then ate their bag lunches en route to downtown Portland, where they conducted their last round of surveys for their start-up projects.