Urban AG Solutions

Home
United States
Portland, OR
Urban AG Solutions

Call Directions Website Contact the business

We want to help you reach your potential as a gardener. We specialize in rooftop gardens, microgreens, and other urban gardening innovations.

Our mission is to help create durable, resilient, edible cities where gardening is practiced and prized by all.

11/02/2026

Post-mortem of the eggplant-in-potting-soil-bags experiment Noble Rot. As expected, vigorous above-soil growth and bountiful fruiting was the result of an amazing root system that took full advantage of every bit of potting-soil nutrition. Bottom watering kept moisture consistent throughout the bag, preventing the root circling one typically sees in container growing. Holy rarefied ramification, Batman, those plants had quite a root network!

11/02/2026

End of the eggplant experiment. Wow, huge success. Improvements to the system for next season: metal stock tank to replace plastic bins; drainage hole 1” up the side of the tank to prevent overwatering; timer set for 5 mins each day to renew water and prevent stagnation. More eggplant varieties next year, and we’ll work peppers into the mix. Can’t wait!

10/25/2026

Ok, nobody’s going to be impressed by the size of these ears of corn. They were in an underwatered corner of the garden and were stunted as a result. Still, when I pulled them off their tiny stalks last night I was treated to a delicious sweet corn flavor with enough anthocyanins to turn my fingers purple. This is Double Red Sweet Corn, which I got from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and it’s going to the top of next year’s planting list, where it will be front-and-center in the garden, better cared for, bigger, and just as delicious. Stalks are a dark purple as well. Just stunning in every respect.

10/23/2026

Fell off the ten-dandelion-leaves-a-day challenge for a minute, but I’m back on, inspired by the luxiariant look of the leaves as we head into fall. Don’t waste time trying to kill this garden “weed”; just eat it!

10/19/2026

Now you see them; now you don’t! Until next spring, that is. I love planting bulbs in the fall, only to forget about them during the bleak days of winter then be delighted by the “surprise” of their emergence in the spring. With tulips I’ve learned it’s best to “go big or go home”. I order more than I think I’ll need in order to have thick bands for luxuriant blooms. To do an approx 6 foot diameter ring around, fittingly, a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) I planted a bag of 100 bulbs. Unfortunately, showy tulips are pretty much an annual investment, but for a glorious month of bloom in the spring it will all be worth it!

10/15/2026

Gotta recommend a tool I just discovered, the Root Slayer Nomad Shovel from Radius Garden, LLC . I love its combination of strength and lightness. The sharp points and teeth also just destroy sod and any toot mass.
I’m always reaching for this tool first for my fall soil prep, and the kids at the school where I garden love it too. I got mine Portland Nursery and a big shoutout to them for their long-standing support for school gardening.
Get your hands on a Nomad and you’ll be no-mad at even the toughest digging task!

10/11/2026

Next week, Sunday, October 18 (12 am PST) we interview Michael Ableman about his book Street Farm, detailing his 10+ years running a full-scale urban farm in the grittiest parts of Vancouver, BC. Does farming belong in a big city? Can downtrodden people’s lives be turned around by farming? Is this experiment repeatable? Ableman will dish on all this and more when we talk live as part of our monthly garden book group. Don’t miss it .Link in bio.

10/09/2026

Wow, I just tried skirret and it’s so good! This English medieval vegetable was displaced by the potato, but I’m going to make a push for its comeback, at least in my kitchen. It’s got a pleasant parsnips-potatoey taste and texture. As a perennial veg it’s easy to grow and propagate. I’m going to devote more energy to it next season and see if I can’t get even bigger roots.

09/24/2026

Great event last night at the Portland Art Museum’s Mark Building featuring the selection of three design teams for a massive revisioning of Portland’s Waterfront Park area. About a thousand (!) people filled a room to meet the teams and hear how elements of their past work makes them qualified to undertake this task (teams were specifically prohibited from sharing specific ideas for Portland’s waterfront…that’s the next phase). Interplay did a great job facilitating the event, using Portland’s iconic cherry trees as a way to invite attendees’ feedback (pink blossom pinned to tree…what you want to see grow; red, spent blossom tossed to ground…what you want to see go; VERY CLEVER!). Two artists were creating a live mural with attendees’ feedback as the event went on. I love that in the face of fascism, economic strangulation, and climate challenges, Portland is finding ways to dream about connecting all of us more with nature and engaging in more robust, egalitarian civic life. Yay, Portland! Big shoutout to design portland for leading up this exciting vision and to the countless city leaders and staffers giving it energy and know-how. The room was buzzing with great energy!!!

09/19/2026

Tomorrow is Monthly Garden Book Group, and following on last year’s September offering we are continuing a back-to-school theme with a children’s book focus. We are excited to welcome Dr. Ja-Nay Brown-Wood who has authored over 30 children’s books, including a four-book series set in different gardens. Join Enoch Graham and myself tomorrow, Sept 20, at 11am PST as we talk with Dr. Brown-Wood about kids, learning, gardening, and books. Link in bio.

Address

5404 NE Mallory Avenue
Portland, OR
97211

Telephone

+15033345018

Website

http://www.urban-ag-solutions.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Urban AG Solutions posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.