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I weathered the campaign season and Obamania with a cynical outlook about this dude I knew very little about. I am still unrepentantly cynical. However, I am occasionally very impressed with the administration (and alternately distressed/easy to impress with no expectations). After following the various lobbies for the White House to plant an organic veggie garden on the property and assuming it would fall flat, it is happening. Very cool. I’m very impressed. But not that surprised.

Not that surprised because the small-scale ag movement is exploding in a very good way. Surely there is some fad-ism to this, but even in the wake of a fad, there will be so many more gardeners/small farmers than there was before. It is a good thing. Everywhere I look in Portland, there is another do-gooder planting up their lawn, or working on a new community garden. In my experience with community garden activism, it’s a lot more exciting for most people to “make” a community garden than tend/plant it, but statistics are proving me wrong. There are over 1,000 people on the waiting list for community garden plots in the city of Portland. These are for people that want to grow food, not just paint some truck tires and throw in some soon-to-be-neglected and never-pruned strawberries. Impressive, but not that surprising, since there are only 32 community gardens across the city (actually more, but the waiting list is just for those 32). Two new farmers markets are starting up within 2 miles of our house.

This year at Pistils Nursery, we’ve seen a huge increase in interest across the spectrum of food production. I got hired to start and run a farm nearby while working there one day (simplified but still accurate). We’ve had several sold out workshops for chicken keeping, worm composting, beekeeping, and raising dairy goats in the city. The veggie gardening class I’m teaching will likely sell out too. Chickens. So much interest. We’ve sold over 100 chicks in a day (many times). There is a significant movement to extend the non-permitted holding of hens from three to six. We sell seeds so quickly. People pick up the Growing Awareness DVD’s more often (buy them just as often). At the Yard, Garden, and Patio show (sounds horrible, actually a pretty cool trade show), there was about twice as much emphasis on veggie cultivation as last year.

This isn’t happening at this rate/scale everywhere, but it is happening here in Portland. It’s wonderful. It’s heartening. It seems that urban-agriculture is more recession-proof than many industries, and I feel blessed to have two jobs I love with a feeling of ownership and security.

I am excited to see how the Obama’s garden turns out. Over 1,000 sq feet is huge. I bet it will be the most primped and pruned garden you’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to see how the attack dogs of the right assail this type of small-scale food production, finally given a properly visible target. Elitist Radicchio, Arugula, Chard, and heirloom Tomatoes will surely be castigated.