Organic Farm Team delivers Fresh Vegetables for Native Elders

Dawn Lowe (Mohawk, Apache, Hawaiian, Blackfoot)

TEK Workforce Educator Mentor

Elderberry Wisdom Farm’s organic farm intern team harvested from some of our vegetable beds last week. They were able to take our fourth or fifth round of harvest to the Indian Health Service Clinic at the Chemawa Indian School and met with Dr. Edward Groenhout, (IHS/POR/WOR) IHS Doctor. We are at the beginning stages of organic farming, refining everything from soil amendments, watering to ground saturation and moisture levels. 

Part of the organic farming process is becoming certified organic and we are in the process of doing this with support from Oregon Tilth. We don’t use pesticides for our products in reducing pests and invasive weeds. We hand pull non-native plants from our soils and plant flowering plants that dispel insects. That effort is led by Renee who is the head of invasive and pest management among many other duties. She leads the other interns along with the organic farming team in invasive removal during our summer internship.

Photo of EWF Team delivering food at Chemawa

Part of the Elderberry Wisdom Farm’s goals is to provide healthy organic vegetables to elders and thanks to Kristie Knows His Gun, PhD, Chemawa Indian Health Services agreed to distribute them. We take them to the clinic when we have adequate supplies of vegetables to share. We are especially grateful to Violet at the Marion Polk Food Share for certifying us as a community garden and providing some awesome vegetable starts to us earlier this summer. Another shout-out to our selfless Summer TEK Interns who have dedicated the vegetables to the local native elders and have chosen not to take them home for their own families. This is such an inspiration!

As we continue to learn and grow our farm, we will have larger harvests and be able to provide more produce. It is with great honor that we can serve our community by getting our hands into the earth and working at expanding our knowledge of organic farming, native plant nursery development and habitat restoration. BTW, we host volunteer days so if you are interested in helping, please contact rose@elderberrywisdom.org.