Old Town Chinatown, marked by its red lamp posts adorned with lanterns, emblematic gateway and budding cherry blossoms in the springtime, is a quintessential part of downtown Portland. One of the central elements of the district is the traditional Lan Su Chinese Garden at its core.
Known as a tranquil space in bustling downtown, the garden is a center for education and celebration of Chinese culture.
In honor of the spring equinox Tuesday, Lan Su Chinese Garden commemorated the opening of their new greenhouse and community garden expansion project in partnership with the Community for Positive Aging.
“The spring equinox symbolizes rebirth, renewal and the balance between light and dark,” said Elizabeth Nye, executive director of Lan Su Chinese Garden. “It is a time of hope and new beginnings. In short, it is an ideal time for Lan Su to expand beyond its wall to the broader community and plant seeds for our future.”
Situated one block north of Lan Su, the greenhouse and community garden sit in an open parking lot on Flanders Street between Second and Third avenues with plenty of room to grow. According to Josie Losh, curator of horticulture, the project required several creative solutions.
Members of the Lan Su Chinese Garden celebrate spring equinox with the expansion of the community garden and the unveiling of a new greenhouse in the Old Town neighborhood of Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
“It was just a parking lot when I took on the project,” Losh said. “It’s really just the beginning, we have the framework right now and the opportunity and resources to make it happen. I’m really looking forward to what we can do.”
To meet their goal of becoming more involved in the community, the garden will donate fresh vegetables to the Community for Positive Aging’s Asian food pantry to be distributed to low-income and fixed-income seniors in the surrounding areas.
Gloria Lee, a volunteer with the Community for Positive Aging and former executive director of the Giving Tree, emphasized the difficulty Asian elders faced in accessing culturally specific meals, particularly during the pandemic. During that time, the Giving Tree delivered 900 bags of groceries a week to Asian seniors living in downtown Portland.
“Having access to culturally specific food is about health,” Lee said. “It’s about identity, and it’s about comfort.”
The event included a ceremony to initiate and protect the greenhouse, led by members of the Buddhist Hui Lin Temple in Southeast Portland. Following the ritual, members of the community were invited to begin planting bok choy seeds in the garden, which will be ready to harvest within the next month.
Members of the Lan Su Chinese Garden celebrate spring equinox with the expansion of the community garden and the unveiling of a new greenhouse in the Old Town neighborhood of Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
“I realized that there are no community gardens in Old Town,” Nye said. “And I really was excited for the opportunity to take this space that really wasn’t being utilized and isn’t contributing to the neighborhood and make it a space that the community can use.”
The project will continue to expand with plans to create a cultural center on the lot, Losh said.
“Old Town is a very vibrant and amazing place of people that are coming together in ways that are unexpected,” Nye said. “I know there are a lot of negative stories about Old Town, but if you scratch the surface there are a lot of amazing positive ones too.”
Due to safety concerns in the area and at Lan Su, the garden employs a private security company to patrol and remain on call during the day. The lot housing the new community garden and greenhouse project is also fenced and accessible only to volunteers.
Lan Su volunteers will maintain the gardens and greenhouse year-round. Those interested in volunteering at Lan Su can find more information here.
— Chiara Profenna covers religion, faith and cultural connections. Reach her at 503-221-4327; cprofenna@oregonian.com or @chiara_profenna
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