Sunday afternoon it was 90 degrees and there was no shade in the parking lot of Napa Auto Parts on SE 8th Ave. But there a group of us were, standing in a circle on the gritty asphalt and rapidly sweating to death. At our feet was an empty bag of potato chips, a line of broken glass, and growing from a crack in the pavement, an ancient cure for depression. “Does anyone recognize this plant?” asked a young woman in a bright baseball cap. “It’s St. John’s Wort!” someone called out.
This was all part of an art show, sort of. The collaborative art show at Work/Sound gallery right now is a collection of social sculptures. Each piece is built on the premise of interacting with the neighborhood around Work/Sound… which I’d never thought of as much of a “neighborhood” at all. Work/Sound is on SE Alder and 8th Ave., right in the middle of a shitty zone of old warehouses. But on Sunday, some guides from Portland food-finding website Urban Edibles gave all willing individuals a tour of the edible flora sprouting right from the pavement of Portland’s least scenic streets.
Here’s a recent herbalism school graduate identifying wild carrots growing in the sidewalk:
And underneath the wheels of this sports car on 7th Ave, a plant people use to make baskets or bracelets: 
Urban Edibles raises some ethicist’s eyebrows – their website is an open-source page where anyone can list the location of found food, like the famous fig trees in the vacant lot on 20th and Alberta. The thing about herbs in the city, though, is that they’re usually on someone’s property, even if it’s just the City’s. The owner of the vacant fig lot, for example, recently built a chain-link fence around their lot. So is it wrong to pilfer herbs from city streets? On the record: I think it’s fine, even if that technically makes me a thief.
Reasons:
1) It’s a positive use for unappealing places. That something found in an oil-stained auto parts store parking lot can help treat depression is awesome. The tour made me pay attention to those industrial blocks in a good way for the first time.
2) If the owners aren’t using the plants, why shouldn’t you? I think you should put weeds to good use, if you’ve got the know-how.
Nice report! I’m not sure I will ever have the desire to harvest weeds from the streets, but I just read about a book on Powell’s bestseller list called On Guerrilla Gardening. It’s by Richard Reynolds and he urges people to ‘reclaim drab and neglected urban spaces’ through stealth gardening. That I can get behind!
In the short amount of time you’ve lived here, I guess you haven’t realized that Portland has lots of mixed-use neighborhoods, and lots of people living and working in “shitty warehouses”. Take a walk through the Central Eastside industrial area and you’ll find some of the coolest buildings in town with some of the most creative things happening in them. I’m glad you’re getting out and having lots of Portland experiences, but I hope you won’t get in the habit of dismissing whole areas of town based on your initial perceptions.
now THIS seems useful—
cannabis sativa near 505 10th ave s.
There is a shed in the backyard with 35 blueberry weed plants growing. The shed is home-maid.
Submitted by anonymous coward on 05/08/08 who says: “This is a special case, I have left more information in the comments.”
Hey, thanks for the review! I’m the young woman in the bright ball cap! I graduated from both Columbines and Arctos School of botanical studies. Anyone who stayed on the plant walk was a rugged plant enthusiast, considering how fucking hot it was… but we all shared a lot about plant use. Thanks for talking about the ethics of urban edibles! We do condone eating out of neighbor’s yards, but we encourage you to speak with them first! It’s a great way to build community and besides, it might encourage them to post on our site! We lead bicycle scouting trips for people with all levels of experience, join us the second and fourth wednesdays at 6pm; location tba. Check the urbanedibles.org calendar for further information!
Thanks and happy foraging!
<3 Carly Boyer