PORTLAND — On a rainy morning in early May, four apprentices at Zenger Farm gathered indoors for a class about soil fertility.

Surabhi Mahajan, farm manager, started the discussion by outlining different components of soil — water, air, organic matter, minerals, nutrients, bacteria and other microscopic organisms that combine to form “a very intentional way to grow plants,” she said.

The apprentices, all beginning farmers, scribbled notes as Mahajan explained how the world is classified into soil types based on these physical, chemical and biological traits.

“You can see what the soil type is in your area,” she said. “If you’re trying to buy a farm, that’s one of the first things you should do.”

Since 2011, Zenger Farm has had a beginner farm apprenticeship program to train the next generation of farmers. Apprentices spend about 30 weeks at the farm in Portland’s Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood learning agricultural skills and putting them into practice.

While the program accepts everyone, it prioritizes beginning farmers from historically underserved communities, including Black, indigenous and people of color.

On April 20, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service awarded the farm with a two-year grant totaling about $200,000 to support the apprenticeship program.

Ron Alvarado, Oregon state conservationist for the NRCS, said the agency is excited to advance urban and equity initiatives in Portland.

“Zenger Farm is a shining example of both initiatives, creating an equitable space for community members to gather, grow and learn together on an urban farm,” Alvarado said.

A rural oasis

Tucked away just off of Southeast Foster Road, Zenger Farm is a rural oasis in the bustling city.

The farm started as a dairy run by Swiss immigrant Ulrich Zenger, who purchased the 24 acres in 1913. After Zenger died in 1954, his son, Ulrich Jr., took over the farm.

In 1994, the city of Portland acquired the land to preserve as a wetland in the flood-prone Johnson Creek watershed. Five years later, the Zenger Farm nonprofit was incorporated, securing a long-term lease to use the property for its education programs.

Most of the land is still set aside as a wetland, operating as a sponge for floodwaters. About 2 acres is dedicated to organic farming, growing such vegetables as peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and garlic. All produce is sold through a community supported agriculture model, or CSA.

The Zenger Farm CSA has 110 members, including 65 signed up through a partnership with the Mid-County Health Center.

Along with the apprenticeship program, Zenger Farm hosts “Farm School” for every fifth-grader in the local David Douglas School District, and is open to field trips from schools citywide. The goal is to promote sustainable farming and environmental stewardship, while also providing healthful food.

“We create food in the city, and model how others can do it,” said Colleen Dixon, the farm’s co-executive director.

Last year, the farm hosted 1,622 fifth-graders from the school district and 1,509 other students on field trips.

Apprentices

Four new apprentices join the farm each year, giving them access to resources and hands-on experience they can use to jump-start their careers as farmers.

According to the USDA, the average age of U.S. farmers is 57.5 years. In Oregon, the average age is 60.

As farmers get older, an estimated 64% of Oregon farmland is likely to change hands over the next 20 years. That makes it all the more important to train young farmers to take their place, Dixon said, ensuring farms stay in production.

“Clearly there’s the environmental aspects of carbon sequestration and just land stewardship in general,” she said. “There are so many things.”

Of the 44 apprentices to come out of the program, more than half are now working in farming or on food justice issues, Dixon said.

Mahajan, the farm manager, is in charge of the apprenticeship program. A native of Salem, she graduated from Willamette University in 2014 with a degree in biology. It was there she became interested in farming, learning the ropes at the college’s 5-acre farm, called Zena Farm.

“I learned how to farm as an extracurricular activity in school,” Mahajan said. “It feels like a skill not many people have anymore.”

Mahajan joined Zenger Farm two years ago, after getting her start as the community food education coordinator at the Marion-Polk Food Share.

Apprentices spend 8-10 hours per day at the farm, four days per week, from March to October. They learn all aspects of growing and selling produce, from field prep to staffing CSA pickups. The farm is certified organic, and most of the work is done using hand tools — including seeding, weeding, trellising and pruning.

Housing is also available on the farm.

“We are a production farm,” Mahajan said. “People are getting into farming for idealistic purposes, which is great, but we can also match that with economic viability.”

BIPOC focus

Mahajan said the farm “has a policy to prioritize people who have been de-prioritized in the agricultural system here,” particularly Black, indigenous and people of color, or BIPOC.

The most recent 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture shows that about 95% of the country’s 3.4 million farmers are white. About 3% are Hispanic, 1.0% are American Indian or Alaska Native and 1.0% are Black.

Men make up 64% of all U.S. farmers, while women make up 36%. In Oregon, the percentage of women farmers is higher than the national average, at 44%.

“It’s hard to get into farming if you don’t have generational land access, or your parents and grandparents weren’t farmers,” Mahajan said about the challenges facing new producers. “That is disproportionately the case for communities of color.”

Nae Nilo, a second-generation Filipino-American, worked in floristry, gardening and landscape design before joining Zenger Farm as a 2022 apprentice.

“I’m passionate about working with plants and people,” Nilo wrote on the farm’s website. “Nothing is more fulfilling to me than feeding the community through growing and tending the land I’m privileged to inhabit.”

Dixon said Zenger Farm focuses on recruiting women, people of color and queer communities to create more balance in farming.

“In order to continue growing food, we have to have people ready to step in and take the leadership of stewarding land,” she said.

By connecting more people to land and providing access to nutritious food, Mahajan said it will help to bridge other gaps and inequalities, such as access to businesses, generational wealth and land holding.

“We can be one small part of that,” she said.

NRCS grant

The NRCS grant will go a long way toward sustaining the apprenticeship program, Mahajan said.

Apprentices receive a monthly stipend of $1,900 while in the program, which Mahajan said allows them to focus on learning to farm without having to balance other jobs to pay the bills. She said the farm would like to increase its stipend to better keep up with rising living costs.

Government and foundation grants accounted for about 70% of Zenger Farm’s $2 million budget in 2022, while compensation and stipends accounted for 66% of expenses.

Dixon said the organization has a long history of working with the USDA. The agency’s grant “is very stabilizing for the organization,” she said.

“It’s also an investment. It shows an interest from the government and community that this work is important,” Dixon added. “It validates the program design and intention.”

Funding for the beginning farmer apprenticeship program grant comes from the USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, established under the 2018 Farm Bill.

Urban agriculture plays an important role providing fresh food and jobs while also responding to climate change and beautifying neighborhoods, according to the agency.

Jenny Hernandez, a 2022 apprentice at Zenger Farm, came to Portland from the East Coast. Her passion for food, permaculture and animals led her to start volunteering at Northwest farms.

What was supposed to be a two-month exploration has turned into two years of farming with no signs of stopping, Hernandez wrote on the Zenger Farm website.

“After living on working farms I found myself seeing firsthand the many complex problems involving poverty and other food justice issues,” she said. “Since then, food justice has become a focal point of my work as a farmer.”