Seventh Annual Buckman Summer Picnic – August 14, 2016

♫ “Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy”♫.

At least we guarantee it will be from 4-8pm on Sunday, August 14th, when the Buckman Community Association presents our 7th annual, “Buckman Picnic in the Park”. This all-inclusive, free event features live music, a delicious BBQ meal with hot dogs, potato salad and of course watermelon, kids activities, a bouncy house, fire truck tours, community service booth, the return of “Roho” the therapy llama and door prizes galore. We invite you to bring your family, friends and especially kids to Colonel Summers Park, SE 17th and Taylor St., that afternoon to enjoy all the fun!Of course we couldn’t do this event without volunteers and we need lots of them! We have two 1-2 hour shifts planned for the party where you can help serve food, help set up ‘n clean up, or come the day before to get the park ship-shape. Our new picnic volunteer coordinator, Rie Nakata is ready to help you get involved. Contact her directly at kanemasuoregon@gmail.com or by cell/text 503-830-4782.

Donations to the Picnic to ensure it remain free and accessible to all are needed and completely tax deductible. Send a check made out to: “SEUL: Buckman Picnic 2016” to: Katy Asher c/o Southeast Uplift 3534 SE Main Street, Portland 97214. We can also receive and value “in-kind” donations of goods and services from local businesses and professionals which we can use for door prizes.  All donors will be listed on our sign boards, receive a donation letter, and thanked at the event podium as well as in the September SE Examiner newspaper.  We would love your support and especially *you* joining us for the picnic.  So grab a blanket, brings some lawn games and make an evening of it! To contact the BCA Picnic Team: buckmanpicnicteam@googlegroups.com

This year’s sponsors include: Venerable Properties, Killian Pacific, Sera Architects, Zupan’s, Sheridan’s Fruits, Portland Spirit, Bolliger Insurance, Beam Development, Wentworth Subaru, Coca-Cola, Michael’s Italian Sausage, Mill Creek Residential Trust and several Buckman neighbors.  Your support helps ensure the picnic is an event the Buckman neighborhood can count on every year, so please volunteer!

Pre picnic park cleanup planned for Sat. August 13th, 9am-12pm at Colonel Summers. We’ll meet at the pavilion and will bring some snacks. Bring gloves…we’ll have grabbers and garbage bags.

Volunteers Beat The Heat To Paint The Street!

On Saturday and Sunday, June 4 & 5, the hottest days of the year so far, volunteers gathered to make Buckman more beautiful, more fun and to build community spirit.

The Fruit, Flower and Pollinator theme at SE 16^th and Ash was renewed on Saturday lead by Jim Forristal after a one-year hiatus.

A newly-enhanced graphic at SE 15^th and Alder, designed by Rebecca Jolli, depicting a vine coming out of the compost bin going around the traffic circle with colorful dots, leaves, lady bugs and butterflies, was painted on Sunday.  Both painting parties were followed by a Dinner Potluck.

These projects were supported by a SPACE Grant from the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, the BCA, City Repair, Southeast Uplift and enthusiastic neighbors.

Thanks to Matthew Simonet for all the great pictures!

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Want to Start an Urban Farm? – Full Article

By: L. Leland

*Article appeared in print version of The Buckman Voice… Bolded section was unpublished*

Have you ever thought about raising hens or keeping bees? Sorting out the permitting issues can be intimidating at first, but let me get you pointed in the right direction.

For chickens, ducks, doves, pigeons, pygmy goats or rabbits if you plan to have three or less (of any combination) no permit is required!

If you do need a permit, don’t worry. It’s a relatively easy process and the rules are pretty common-sense. The inspector is going to want to see that there is enough secured space, ventilation, and light for the animals to stay healthy. In addition, the structure must be at least 15 feet from homes, not including your own. For hoofed or loud animals this is extended to 50 feet. You will need to have a feeding strategy that will not attract rats, which can become a problem in urban environments. For chickens, I tried many different things before discovering a koi feeder that solved this problem. Absorbent ground cover needs to be replaced often in order to keep smells down, straw tends to work very well for this. Your permit application, plus $31 will go to Multnomah County Health Department Vector and Nuisance Control.

You can keep native mason bee houses without a permit, but all honey bee hives require a permit and some additional steps. You will need to notify all neighbors within 150 feet of your property. (It is no longer required to obtain their signatures.) Hives must be at least 15 feet away from any public walkways, streets, parks, public or private buildings (not including your own.) If the hive is closer than 150 feet to any of the aforementioned places, then it must be protected by a 6 foot high fence or hedgerow. Once you have met these requirements, you can submit your permit application along with $12 to Multnomah County Health Department Vector and Nuisance Control. If you plan to have more than 5 hives, you must also register with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. I’d also like to add please make sure that you have a reliable water source for your bees so that they don’t become a nuisance to your neighbors.

For any animal that you are thinking of introducing to your home or yard, please do research to find out what level of commitment it will to keep them happy and healthy. The Urban Farm Store and Bridgetown Bees are great resources in Buckman!

Portland is lucky to have our very own bee club! I’m Vice President of the Portland Urban Beekeepers. It is a great way to learn about beekeeping locally.

Spring and Summer are bee swarm weather! Bee colonies reproduce by sending some bees away to find a new home. If you see a bee swarm in Buckman (or anywhere else in the Portland area,) please call the swarm hotline to report it. The number is: (503) 444-8446. This hotline will call a list of beekeepers until someone is found that can save it.

Gardening for Pollinators

By: L. Leland

We have all read the news stories about the sad plight of pollinators today. Monoculture, pesticides, and loss of habitat are three big reasons they are having issues. With pollinators in decline, plants are suffering as well due to decreased reproduction. Maybe you are concerned, but you don’t know where to start? Luckily there are lots of options for ways you can help!

At a basic level, insects, birds, and mammals are attracted to certain flowers because they have food content. When they eat or collect pollen and nectar, they also pollinate the plant. Providing safe forage is key to their survival. Did you know that many stores carry plants that have been pre-treated with neonicotinoids? This is a class of pesticide that are systemic, causing the plant to produce the poison for years after your purchase! To avoid these, please find nurseries that carry untreated plants, buy organic, or start your own plants from untreated seeds.

One great way to help is to plant a perennial garden that provides flowers over the longest timeline possible throughout the year. If you search for “bloom calendars,” you can find some great resources for planning.

Not all flowers are created equal when it comes to providing food. Take some time to research great pollinator plants, there are some ideas to get you started below.

There are quite a number of native flowers that are great forage plants. A short list includes: Ceanothus, Rhododendron, Mock Orange, Red Osier Dogwood, Red Flowering Currant, and Oregon Grape.

Great perennials: Mint, Echinacea, Lemon Balm, Vitex, Hardy Fuchsia, Comfrey, Rosemary, Aster, Pincushion Flower, Penstemon.

Some fun annuals include: Borage, Poppies, Sunflowers, Crimson Clover, Calendula, Cosmos, Alyssum.

My favorite trees for forage include: Willows, Eucalyptus, Catalpa, Japanese Snowbell, Tulip Poplar, American Basswood, Sourwood, Maples, Magnolia.

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Relax a bit about your lawn. (Or even replace it!) Weeds can provide great food, including Dandelions, Clover, Purple Dead Nettle, and Queen Anne’s Lace.

Adult butterflies will drink nectar from a wide variety of exotic plants, but to support the entire life cycle you have to do some research. For our Oregon State Swallowtail the caterpillars will munch on Arctic Sagebrush, plants in the Sunflower family, and some plants in the Parsley family. Please make sure to research what their eggs, young instars, caterpillars, and chrysalis’ look like so that you do not accidentally destroy the butterflies you are trying to help!

Beyond plants, you can also provide water for our friendly garden visitors. For bees, create a water source that does not move very fast and is filled with rocks and moss so that they do not drown. Butterflies prefer mud puddles because they obtain minerals when they drink (for male butterflies you can add a bit of salt for sodium).

I hope this is enough to spark your interest and get you started! I teach a class called Gardening for Pollinators through the OSU Master Gardeners, so please let me know if your organization would like to host it!