Tryon Life Community plans sustainable summer

Local farm offers several key events to enjoy the bounty of the season

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Jun 11, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

CLIFF NEWELL / lake oswego review

Brenna Bell and her 4-year-old daughter Ember Summer are looking forward to a beautiful summer at Tryon Life Community Farm. They are hoping lots of people join them.

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Have you ever thought about changing your life? That is, really changing your life?

Then Tryon Life Community Farm is the place for you this summer.

First you have to get past some big words — sustainability, permaculture, immersion.

But once you’re over that hump, the fun starts.

Laura Dvorak, coordinator for the permaculture design course, said, “There’s so much bounty in gardens, taking care of animals, making medicine from local plants, and consensus decision making.

“People will have a daily rhythm about learning community, sharing meal responsibility, and doing the animal and garden chores.”

“People from all over the country are coming,” said Brenna Bell, executive director of TLCF. “Philadelphia, Minnesota, Wisconsin and some local people.”

The two big dates on the schedule are the Permaculture Design Course, June 23 to July 7, and the Sustainable Community Immersion Program, Aug. 1 to 21. This will involve not only learning a vast array of skills but also living for three weeks on the farm and being with people dedicated to creating a more sustainable world.

Bell has proven herself quite a successful crusader in that arena.

“The most exceptional thing about this program is the timing,” Bell said. “People realize the world can’t keep going the way it’s going. We’ve gone dormant in our culture, and it’s time to revive it.

“Permaculture is a new way to do old things.”

The center of the summer programs will be the farm’s remarkable kitchen. It looks sort of like the kitchen that would be used in Neverland, only with a touch of high tech.

Perhaps the highlight of the kitchen is the cob pizza oven, which Dvorak assures “makes the best pizza in the world.”

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