Work Day, May 17, 2014 We spent Friday and Saturday setting up our temporary Office next to Mekong Bistro at 8200 NE Siskiyou St, Suite 111. Saturday DRZC members and volunteers from the Siskiyou neighborhood worked to mulch the many trees and shrubs planted in the ravine on the new property. The parking area where… Read more »

There is an unofficial work party (bring your own lunch) this Saturday, May 3, 10-4 doing a variety of tasks out on the land. We are still jumping through the remaining hoops before we can pick up our building permit. All the design questions are approved; now it is just a matter of getting all… Read more »

We are now officially renters! Both the Dharma House and the Zendo sales have closed, and we have received payments for both. This money paves the way to begin Phase I, and propels us ever faster into moving out of our current buildings. Upcoming work parties include moving days Thursdays (April 24, May 1, 15,… Read more »

We are seeing the first signs of the savanna planting sprouting. During the coming week we will be digging more drainage trenches – getting the site ready so that we can start moving dirt around as soon as there’s a stretch of dry weather.

Saturday’s work party will feature a variety of tasks. Mulching looms large so that we can take good care of all the plants that are now in the ground, and ensure that they don’t dry out over the summer. Come see the new leaves and buds on everything that has been planted. Recent work has… Read more »

Suddenly summer seems like tomorrow. Things are starting to move very fast behind the scenes in preparation for the summer’s construction activities. Lots of details coordinating with the city, engineers, insurers, contractors, suppliers, DEQ, and various partners so that as dry weather arrives we are ready to take advantage of it. We have heavy equipment… Read more »

Property Update The Board has accepted an offer for the Dharma House, and inspections are underway. A family wants to buy it as their primary residence, and the agreed-upon price is substantially higher than what we (briefly) listed the house for a year ago. The Board also agreed to move forward on selling the Zendo… Read more »

Dharma Rain, Portland Friends of Trees, students from Concordia University and Madison High School, and Neighborhood Families Plant Trees and Shrubs On Saturday February 22nd, between 70 and 80 people joined forces to plant native species trees and shrubs in the ravine at the Siskiyou Square site of our new temple and cohousing development. This… Read more »

We have good news on the geotechnical front – the pile of earth that has been sitting where the Sodo will be built – has done its job much better than expected. The idea was to put something much heavier than a building there, and “pre-squish” the ground until it is done squishing. The ground… Read more »

The property has been quiet during December, as the land becomes wetter and colder, resting for the winter. At a little over a year since we bought the property, the changes are apparent and dramatic. There is a road. There are piles of dirt and wood chips, along with silt fencing, where there were no… Read more »

Several planting events are coming up as part of Dharma Rain’s restoration of Siskiyou Square. We plan to plant almost 4,000 trees and shrubs in the next three months, as well as seed an acre with native grasses. Last Saturday, November 16, we planted orchard trees on the south slope with DharmaGarden parents and children. Tomorrow,… Read more »

Lotus Blooming update Our capital campaign to Plant Zen in Siskiyou Square continues. This fall and winter we are asking our membership to lead the way by making pledges. In the spring we will start looking farther afield. In the past six weeks, the following people have made donations or pledges totaling $70,050! Anonymous; Thomas… Read more »

Contractors have put this pile of dirt (called a surcharge) in place on the new property in preparation for construction in the spring. It will compact the soil underneath it over the next several months. The road is also rocked in, as the property begins to take shape.

This last week has seen big equipment working on the land scraping out the road and roughing it in. The contractors will also put in the surcharge, big piles of dirt where the buildings will be, in order to compact the soil in preparation for building next spring. They have also put in a lot… Read more »

Our unbroken string of work parties with good weather was finally broken, as we worked in the rain last Sunday, September 29. Madison High School students oriented themselves to the site in order to find potential points for their work. They formed into teams which will include those taking water samples over a long period… Read more »

As you know, the Board of Directors voted to pay down some of the costs of developing our new property by selling the zendo and Dharma House earlier than we had originally anticipated. While this is still our plan, it’s undergoing modification as we bow to circumstance.