TLC Farm has an exciting summer of programs planned for kids, teens and adults. All summer long, folks will be learning about becoming part of the land and part of community in this inspiring setting.

We invite you to check out our offerings below, and we hope to see you at the farm!

Join us and the Beehive Collective (www.beehivecollective.org) for an afternoon of collaborative creative process and cross-pollination.

To begin, the Bees will lead us through their method of designing and creating large-scale collaborative murals which illustrate complex, interconnected concepts through the use of metaphor-rich imagery and visual narrative.  We will focus our collective creative attention on developing ideas and images for TLC Farm's educational land signs, working with concepts of social permaculture, decolonization, bioregionalism, watershed health, TLC Farm's educational programming, intentional community and more!  This will be a participatory, co-created artistic process - please come even if you've never before been here or thought much about any of this.

Afterwards, the Bees will present their newest mural, The True Cost of Coal, which tells the story of the devastating ecological effects of mountain top removal coal mining in Appalachia and the grassroots resistance that is flourishing in the region.

We will be running a shuttle from People's Coop (SE 21st and Tibbetts), meeting at 1:15 and leaving by 1:30. The shuttle will return to People's by 6:45.   This workshop is a by-donation event, with no one turned away for lack of funds.  Please RSVP to maralena.murphy@gmail.com so we can know about how many folk to expect.  We look forward to seeing you!

Another world is possible!  How do we create it, grow it, preserve it, share it?  How do we come into relation with ourselves and the land, nourishing our bodies, minds and spirits with the food and wisdom we create together?

These are the questions (and answers!) explored by TLC Farm's Community Sustainability Immersion Program - a dynamic experience of community learning and sharing.

Located at TLC Farm's unique seven-acre community farm in Portland, Oregon,  this program immerses participants in a wholistic approach to  sustainability and permaculture systems.  The program combines theory, practice, innovation and adventure to introduce participants to the principles of permaculture, natural building, community process and organic gardening, with a focus on local food and plant medicine. 

TLC Farm's immersion program consists of a three-week summer session, from July 31 to August 1, which will immerse ten participants, 18 and older, in a hands-on, holistic approach to sustainable living and community.  Read about last year's program in their awesome blog: www.tryoninternship09.blogspot.com 

Interns will tend, harvest and preserve food from the animals and garden, learn to make medicine from wild and cultivated plants, visit urban & rural sustainable farms, and much more! Tuition, room & board: $1,600. ($1,500 if signed up by June 15). Courses will be taught by TLC Farm teachers and local experts.

Each program participant will come away from this program with a set of skills which will be increasingly useful in our changing climate and economy and will a personalized action plan, supported by community mentors. A limited number of work-trade scholarships are available. Please contact intern@tryonfarm.org or call 503-245-3847 for more information about the program and registration. Application instructions are available at http://tryonfarm.org/share/node/687.

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More Details about TLC Farm's Sustainable Community Immersion Program

1. Community living: Program participants will experience communal life on two levels. You will create a community and be responsible for collective decision-making, meal preparation, conflict resolution, etc. In addition, the community of interns will interact with, and be supported by, Cedar Moon, the intentional community at TLC Farm.

2. Outdoor living: The program is an immersive, outdoor experience. You will live in tents, wash in outdoor showers, cook in a outdoor kitchen, and have most classes and work experience outdoors. There will be an indoor space for reading, research and chill time with computers and a library. While Portland has a well deserved reputation for rain, summers are often quite dry especially from July through September.

3. Hands-on work and Theory:  The program includes a balance of lectures & discussions with hands-on experiential learning and field trips. Over time, the hands-on work will become increasingly self-directed.

4. Food preparation and sharing:  You will be provided with ingredients and suggestions as needed, and will collaboratively create and implement a cooking and cleaning schedule. TLC Farm is primarily a vegetarian community: we have chickens and dairy goats for eggs and milk and grow much of our own food.

5. TLC Farm location & history : A unique seven-acre farm surrounded by a 700-acre state park in Portland, Oregon, TLC Farm demonstrates how sustainable living techniques can further goals often perceived as contradictory: urban density of human habitat inside the growth boundary, combined with not only conservation of natural resources and public greenspace, but actual enhancement of native ecosystems. TLC Farm was born out of a community effort to save the land from development and turn it into a community space for sustainability education. This land now functions as a gathering place, sustainability education facility, community center and retreat – all within a bike ride from downtown Portland.

6. Work Study positions:  There are four work-study positions provided for the program. Food coordinators will help the  create menus for each week based on food available at the farm, coordinate cooking and cleaning schedules, and manage the community kitchen. Scribes will take notes and photographs of all aspects of the program and use these to create a blog during the program. Work trade positions will require approximately 10 hours of work per week.

Keywords: permaculture, sustainability, sustainable, garden, food, plant spirit medicine, summer internship, summer internship, camping, Oregon, PNW, NW, Portland, farm, forest.

• "Village Green" open gathering area
• Outdoor kitchen (with earthen ovens)
• Ecological Living Demonstration Projects (gardens, animals, naturally built structures, etc.)
• Trail leading into Tryon Creek State Park (650-acre forest)
• Large organic garden to nibble at and work in
• goats, sheep, chickens and bees
• and much more!

Bring your group out to the farm!

Field Trip Scheduling: TLC Farm offers field trips Tuesday through Saturday.  We are an all-volunter program, and will work with you to coordinate a time that is good for your group and our volunteers.  The farm is open to the public Tuesday-Sunday between 9-6pm for self-guided tours, and it is closed on Mondays.

Cost : TLC Farm runs on donations, and requests that visiting classes donate $10/visit plus $5 or more per student if at all possible.

Contact us: For further information or to arrange a visit, please contact our education coordinators, at  edu[at]tryonfarm.org or by calling 503.245.3847.

Want to volunteer? We are now recruiting volunteer teachers to help lead youth field trips and activities at TLC Farm for Spring/Summer 2011. contact brenna[at]tryonfarm.org if you are interested in volunteering with the education program.