When you love on the city and have a passion for gardening it can be tough to find a place to do…read moreit. The South Waterfront has fixed that issue by offering raised planter boxes filled with organic soil for rent. The rent is due annually. Included in your rental fee is the water, tools and the hauling away of the debris. People plant everything. There are flowers large and small and every kind of vegetable you can think of. Tomatoes especially seem to grow really well because the boxes get a lot of sun. The sunflowers are super happy as well. The other gardeners seem very nice and social, it's a great way to meet other people that live in the area as well. So if you have a hankering to grow something and live in close proximity....check it out!

We joined the Gladstone Community Gardening Association in 2025 and our experience has been…read morepositive. The gardens are all organic. The new leadership on the Board of Directors over the past three years has revitalized the gardens and is planning to make them even better with a pathway project to level all the paths and make them ADA compliant. Large 250 gallon water butts have been installed in case of plumbing issues so water is always available although every plot has access to water spigots; shade awnings have been installed throughout the gardens with tables and chairs to sit and eat lunch or take a break from the heat and the sun. Raised beds are now allowed. Everyone is friendly and helpful. There are people from Thailand, Korea, Mexico, Columbia, Italy, the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and Iraq. The annual rental is $50 with a volunteer requirement of 4 hours for a whole lot (25 ft x 45 ft) and 2 hours for a half lot per season. Those hours may be met in a range of different ways although most folks volunteer for the twice monthly work parties to keep the paths mown, and the parking and fencing areas trimmed. The variety of plants grown and the creativity shown across the allotments is amazing! We grow Asparagus, Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, currants, snap peas, green beans, beets, turnips, potatoes, lettuces, radishes, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and nearly a dozen herbs and medicinal plants such as rosemary, tarragon, lavender, comfrey, chamomile, red clover, and nasturtiums. This community is built from people of all different ages: 4-90! There are individuals and couples who have been gardening here for 20 years, some just beginning their gardening, couples with young children, seniors with their grandchildren and LGBTQ+ folks. Everyone is welcome here and supportive. I've found my community!

After deliberating for a few years about getting a spot in the community garden, my sister and I…read morefinally pulled the trigger. And we are so glad we did. The lots are large. There is water at every corner of the lot. And the annual fee is very reasonable. In addition, they have all the mechanical tools you need to prepare and maintain your lot for a small rental charge. You do need to schedule the rental though. And you need to help out at one or more monthly work parties to fulfill an annual work hour requirement but it's no more work than what you would do in your own lot. Like with many a great thing, there is a wait list. But it's worth it, believe me. Not only do you have a great sense of community here, but you can see what others are doing with their spots to get your creativity working. And everyone we've met has been so nice. It's been a wonderful experience. Be warned though, on the weekends you may encounter Remote Control airplanes and helicopters overhead as well as the neighboring athletic fields being used for anything from softball to soccer to frisbee leagues. Work in your garden, bring a chair, an umbrella and a cooler and spend the afternoon talking with your plants. It's guaranteed to de stress your life...oh and having organically grown produce is an added bonus.

Stopped by a couple times, really cool gardens! Everyone is super friendly and very helpful with…read morequestions. The crows loved the pond they recently put in, they were super fun to watch! You can tell that they do lots of good for the community :)

As if there weren't tens of reasons to love Brentwood Park already. In taking a lovely spring walk…read morearound the park, I peeked across the street and found the Learning Gardens Laboratory! This area consists of twelve acres of gardening, orchard and teaching space that partners with Portland Parks, PSU, OSU and Portland Public Schools. They grow and harvest organic produce that goes to the Portland community, and they teach language arts, science, and social studies to sixth graders from the neighboring Lane Middle School with a gardening focus. It appears very well organized and they have volunteering opportunities, for anyone looking to do a little gardening and learn a bit in the process. I walked out with a bag of chard just for stopping in at the right time. Can't think of what I'll do with it, but I'm thrilled to take a piece of this wonderland home with me, along with a cool new volunteering opportunity to add to my list!

I love this park especially in the summer. There is a good size parking lot, the restrooms are…read moreclean and it is just off the beaten path. There is a nice playground, basketball court and baseball field. I like the loop walking trail along the river that has signage so that you learn about the things that are cool to the area. Like the meteorite. It was a rainy day today but there were still a few people enjoying the walking trail.

A beautiful little oasis, with a slice of Main Street USA.....This lovely small park rests between…read moreWillamette Falls Dr and the Tualatin River. There are little league fields, a place to fish or watch the water, trails to walk your dog, neighborhood garden..what else could you possibly want? Pay a visit, if even for 15 minutes, to transport yourself into a small town park

Lovely park with a community garden nearby, many benches, sports balls spots for several types of…read moresports balls. Playground equipment also resides here. Close to the bus stop on public transportation. Very quaint and well maintained.

We went here recently and the kid play area is big with a cool park but felt very unsafe. There…read morewere homeless literally surrounding the park staring at us and a couple came up yelling at us forcing us to retreat to our car. We were then sitting in car and someone started walking across street to our car so we left vs having to deal so ended up being horrible experience. City should not allow homeless to dominate the park and decide who comes and who goes

Since Clarendon middle school closed down in 2006, this site sat unused and sadly neglected. Then,…read morean enterprising group from the 'hood, The Portsmouth Neighborhood Association applied and received an Interstate Urban Renewal Community Livability grant and since last year has been busy transforming the site to a community garden project prevalent in so many urban communities these days. Biggups to the PNA for their ambition and stick-to-it-iveness! One wonders what, if anything this portends for the immediately adjacent Clarendon Park (now it's called Northgate Park. I guess old man Clarendon has fallen completely out of favor). We sure played many a pick-up football game and walked the dogs, played frisbee, and fraternized w/the fairer gender many a time in that park, among other sundry activities. Hopefully this park is safely preserved in "livable" perpetuity as well..

I can't believe nobody has reviewed this! That being said, I have come here for years and am just…read morenow getting to it. This park is behind the elementary school and they are separate entities even though they appear to share the open spaces. The school has covered basketball courts and playground for smaller kids. The park has a fenced community garden, picnic tables, large field, soccer goals, baseball field, a walking track and some bleachers. There are several entrances in and out, rough neighborhood, you might see a "gang" of guys pretty regularly but they are usually hiding out from their moms or wives and don't bother others. Somebody had taken it upon themselves to thumbtack their poetry onto the trees around the track and they nicknamed it "poetry park", so you can take a quick look as you speed walk into the sunset. My favorite part of the park is the well developed trees, they have so much character and I tend to focus on them a lot when I am hanging out here.

What could be more Earth Day appropriate? I joined the community garden this year through…read morePortland.gov. It isn't for a lack of space, we do have a sizeable yard but I didn't know how to organize it or if I'd want to move it come next year so I thought this was a good compromise: nearby, a defined plot, probably some "experts" around to guide me. So it's about $40 for the season, going April to October for a plot that's about 10x10'. My plot had some things in it already that I opted to leave. The garden is secured by padlock but they have had tools go missing. I haven't taken many photos yet but I will as the season goes on. There are plentiful hose spigots and I like that it's nestled in a natural copse and has houses nearby. It makes me feel like I'm close to neighbors and there is a bit of community. I find the whole Ed Benedict area quite appealing, and feel it adds value to the neighborhood for green space, the skate park, the memory garden and the community garden.

I regularly lean against the fencing and stare with extreme focus at what folks have in their…read moregardens here. I feel like a kids with my faces pressed against the glass of a locked candy store. The 33 organic garden plots are well kept, but I am on the waiting list and every time I see an unattended plant wilt, I am filled with hope that I will get that plot! They have a picnic table inside the garden that is for gardeners only, it calls to me! You can add your name to list, just follow the link, it is very affordable, about $20 per year.

Frazer park is centrally located mid-city, and offers a more tranquil alternative to the nearby…read moreNormandale Dog Park. The hilltop area near the street has several picnic tables, a small playground setup with swings and a slide, as well as a basketball half-court. There is abundant space for parking along the eastern edge of the park. This location is delightful during the spring and summer months, and offers some great views of downtown and evening sunsets. The park has a beautiful community garden, as well as several large chestnut trees that attract folks looking to harvest them in the late fall. Make sure you venture past the garden to the area where the hillside crests downward toward the off-leash zone. I've rarely encountered more than 4 or 5 people in the park at any given time. It's a nice, quiet place to take a break.

It's a gigantic patch of grass or a tiny, rectangular park, which ever way you want to view it. It…read moreoffers lush green, open space and shade. If you live in the neighborhood this would be quite the gem, I'm thinking block parties. Parking is easy. So why the 2-Stars? The ever-increasing homeless camps have found it and have claimed the West-end. No way I'd bring kids or pets here. Partially due to safety, but more because of needles. Yes, Portland's lax regulations and homeless nirvana aura have resulted in possibly another loss.