2023 Jamming with WIld Berries Workshops
Now THIS is local food!
We'll walk & pick berries nearby in Portland (also accessible by bike), then return to Louisville Grows Healthy House kitchen, to make a surprisingly easy & delicious jam that you will take home to enjoy. You'll also take home the recipe, so you can keep jamming all summer long!. If you've never made jam before, this will inspire you to take advantage of the seasonal bounty!
All materials will be provided.
Participants should be prepared to walk or bike about 1.5 miles.
Long pants and closed toe shoes are recommended for berry-picking.
Kids are welcome as long as they can walk or bike and pick berries. Please not more than 2 kids per adult as this activity does require supervision! Thank you
Sunday May 28, 2-4pm
Friday June 2, 6-8pm
Rain date: Sunday June 4, 2-4 pm
Sliding Scale Registration
$40 / $20 / $0
Register here
*Complimentary Registrations available for neighbors in USDA Low Income or Low Access neighborhoods
Check the USDA map to see if you are eligible
To take advantage--- Choose "Neighbor Special" for your ticket type on the Registration form
Past events:
Fall Foraging
Nuts You Shouldn't be Afraid of (and other goodies) . This is a hands on workshop with black walnuts, ginkgos, and more 
Jamming with Wild Berries
Late Spring Pick berries, make jam, take jam home! It's easy, delicious and fun! Registration includes a jar of jam to take home and easy recipes so you can keep jamming all summer long. 
Spring Foraging
Early spring Can I really eat that? Find and taste Kentucky's wild greens, flowers, and more 
Pollinator Party
June 2017 To celebrate National Pollinators week We planted flowers and had honey and local cosmetics for sale, made with honey & beeswax, from Melodic Elements |
Portland Progressive Dinner
Saturday May 14, 2016 We strolled and enjoyed food & beverages grown and crafted right here in the Portland neighborhood! Lots of Food thanks our neighbors at McQuixote's, The Table, Against the Grain, Shuckman's cheese, and Amore di Mona for helping create a delicious vegetarian meal and a one-of-a kind neighborhood experience! Dozens of Progressive Dinner Photos are on facebook! Thank you Lilias Pettit Scott! Thank you Mary Beth Brown, Aura Vaught, and Carolyn Waters for Foraging workshop photos! |
Spring Open House March 22, 2014.
Thank you to all our friends and neighbors who came by to visit and help plant 13 of our 26 almond and hazelnut trees!
See photos in the slideshow below...
Thank you to all our friends and neighbors who came by to visit and help plant 13 of our 26 almond and hazelnut trees!
See photos in the slideshow below...
Thank you !
The Kickstarter Campaign was a success! Thank you for helping get this project off the ground. The Kickstarter campaign paid for the chain link fence and the rainwater irrigation system.
The Kickstarter Campaign was a success! Thank you for helping get this project off the ground. The Kickstarter campaign paid for the chain link fence and the rainwater irrigation system.
Project Timeline
Feb 12, 2013: Louisville Metro Council's Vacant Property Committee hosts a public meeting soliciting ideas for what to do with Louisville's vacant lots. Amanda and a friend prepare and present a proposal for growing food on vacant lots that we call "Lots of Food"
March 4, 2013: After examining the list of Land Bank properties Lots of Food submits an offer to purchase 5 parcels from the Land Bank, for $10 per parcel.
March 2013: I get assistance from our local USDA-NRCS agent in evaluating the soil on the site and send samples off through our Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Office to test for nutrients and lead. They come back pretty clean- good for the things I want to grow. The soil is a bit compacted but it's rich sandy loam - it just needs a little TLC and compost tea!
April 2013: I order trees and plant them in temporary locations. Hopefully they will be one year closer to maturity after moving them to the lot. I meet some neighbors and tell them I'm hoping to turn the Lots into a garden and orchard. Everyone I talk to seems to support the idea.
May 23, 2013: The Land Bank Authority meeting is scheduled for 2pm. Amanda presents the Lots of Food proposal to an approving audience. There is no quorum and no decisions can be made. I go to the lots and pick delicious mulberries off the trees.
June 2013: I find old records for the properties in the Deed Room in Metro Hall, dating back to the mid-1800's. I find maps at the University of Louisville Archives showing that there used to be a tamale factory on the same block (!) The historian at the Portland Museum recalls that families in that neighborhood used to all have backyard gardens.
July 2, 2013: Louisville Metro hosts a Vacant and Abandoned Properties Forum where attendees learn that the Land Bank has been holding properties for an average of 212 months. (Lots of Food's 5 parcels have all been in the Land Bank since the mid-90's - so that sounds about average- but too long!)
July 25, 2013: Lots of Food attends the Land Bank meeting at 2pm and presents the proposal again. No decision is made. I continue to work on our business plan, with some valuable assistance from KCARD (Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development).
August 22, 2013: It's APPROVED! The Land Bank approved the request for our 1/3 acre. Time to get to work!!
October 7, 2013: We close the deal. The new LLC, Lots of Food, has title to the property. Now I own it and I'm starting to plant trees!
October 26, 2013: Lots of Food is selected as one of six projects for Bluegrass Bioneers Idea Incubator
November 2013: With generous help from friends from Jefferson National we dig more than 20 holes for trees, trim unruly trees, and start hauling compost to the Lots.
December 2013: Lots of Food launches a Kickstarter campaign to pay for fencing & water catchment. I file papers with the Louisville Metro Revenue Commission since I'm a new business owner!
January 2013: Louisville Metro announces the Lots of Possibility competition, inviting proposals for creative reuses for eligible city-owned vacant lots.
A few warm days are good for hauling compost, cleaning up, measuring for water catchment tanks and fencing. Time to order seeds for vegetables!
February 6, 2013: The Kickstarter campaign closes and it's funded! Thank you!
February 7, 2014: Lots of Food submits the first Market Garden permit application to Louisville Metro. See the You Can Do It page for details.
February 2014: Lots of Food joins the Urban Growers Cooperative, organized by Louisville Grows, and agree to grow certain vegetables for distribution especially in West Louisville! Hooray for growing fresh food close to home.
March 21, 2014: The fence is finished, just in time for...
March 23: Open House ! About 30 friends and neighbors join in and we plant 13 almond and hazelnut trees, bringing our total to 26.
April 2014: Building beds, and planting carrots, beets, potatoes, swiss chard, parsnips, and green onions for sale. There are also blackberries, black currants, chamomile, and other herbs for wonderful herbal tea. Spring brings snakes! woodpeckers! and other wild companions who enjoy the mulberry trees and the greenery as much as we do.
May 2014: Planting continues, and I host the first Workshop, on Spring Foraging
June 2014: Beds are dug and planted with vegetables, and the water tanks are catching rainwater! Summer Open House and Summer Foraging workshop June 22.
2015: Some nut trees have nuts on them; Produce is going to the Urban Growers Co-op, where it is being distributed to local markets, Fresh Stops, and restaurants.
Workshops continue: Spring Foraging, Fall Foraging, and Growing your Own Herbs for Tea
March 4, 2013: After examining the list of Land Bank properties Lots of Food submits an offer to purchase 5 parcels from the Land Bank, for $10 per parcel.
March 2013: I get assistance from our local USDA-NRCS agent in evaluating the soil on the site and send samples off through our Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Office to test for nutrients and lead. They come back pretty clean- good for the things I want to grow. The soil is a bit compacted but it's rich sandy loam - it just needs a little TLC and compost tea!
April 2013: I order trees and plant them in temporary locations. Hopefully they will be one year closer to maturity after moving them to the lot. I meet some neighbors and tell them I'm hoping to turn the Lots into a garden and orchard. Everyone I talk to seems to support the idea.
May 23, 2013: The Land Bank Authority meeting is scheduled for 2pm. Amanda presents the Lots of Food proposal to an approving audience. There is no quorum and no decisions can be made. I go to the lots and pick delicious mulberries off the trees.
June 2013: I find old records for the properties in the Deed Room in Metro Hall, dating back to the mid-1800's. I find maps at the University of Louisville Archives showing that there used to be a tamale factory on the same block (!) The historian at the Portland Museum recalls that families in that neighborhood used to all have backyard gardens.
July 2, 2013: Louisville Metro hosts a Vacant and Abandoned Properties Forum where attendees learn that the Land Bank has been holding properties for an average of 212 months. (Lots of Food's 5 parcels have all been in the Land Bank since the mid-90's - so that sounds about average- but too long!)
July 25, 2013: Lots of Food attends the Land Bank meeting at 2pm and presents the proposal again. No decision is made. I continue to work on our business plan, with some valuable assistance from KCARD (Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development).
August 22, 2013: It's APPROVED! The Land Bank approved the request for our 1/3 acre. Time to get to work!!
October 7, 2013: We close the deal. The new LLC, Lots of Food, has title to the property. Now I own it and I'm starting to plant trees!
October 26, 2013: Lots of Food is selected as one of six projects for Bluegrass Bioneers Idea Incubator
November 2013: With generous help from friends from Jefferson National we dig more than 20 holes for trees, trim unruly trees, and start hauling compost to the Lots.
December 2013: Lots of Food launches a Kickstarter campaign to pay for fencing & water catchment. I file papers with the Louisville Metro Revenue Commission since I'm a new business owner!
January 2013: Louisville Metro announces the Lots of Possibility competition, inviting proposals for creative reuses for eligible city-owned vacant lots.
A few warm days are good for hauling compost, cleaning up, measuring for water catchment tanks and fencing. Time to order seeds for vegetables!
February 6, 2013: The Kickstarter campaign closes and it's funded! Thank you!
February 7, 2014: Lots of Food submits the first Market Garden permit application to Louisville Metro. See the You Can Do It page for details.
February 2014: Lots of Food joins the Urban Growers Cooperative, organized by Louisville Grows, and agree to grow certain vegetables for distribution especially in West Louisville! Hooray for growing fresh food close to home.
March 21, 2014: The fence is finished, just in time for...
March 23: Open House ! About 30 friends and neighbors join in and we plant 13 almond and hazelnut trees, bringing our total to 26.
April 2014: Building beds, and planting carrots, beets, potatoes, swiss chard, parsnips, and green onions for sale. There are also blackberries, black currants, chamomile, and other herbs for wonderful herbal tea. Spring brings snakes! woodpeckers! and other wild companions who enjoy the mulberry trees and the greenery as much as we do.
May 2014: Planting continues, and I host the first Workshop, on Spring Foraging
June 2014: Beds are dug and planted with vegetables, and the water tanks are catching rainwater! Summer Open House and Summer Foraging workshop June 22.
2015: Some nut trees have nuts on them; Produce is going to the Urban Growers Co-op, where it is being distributed to local markets, Fresh Stops, and restaurants.
Workshops continue: Spring Foraging, Fall Foraging, and Growing your Own Herbs for Tea
