PSU Magazine Summer 1989

1 ~ 1 Magic ite liba- 1i" us the Jrivate if of id the For others the actual act of watering, planting and weeding is the relaxing catharsis. Need less to say, gardening has become one of America's favo rite recrea– tional pursuits. Portl anders are fortunate to have their very own guru of gardening right here - in their own backyard so to speak . Peter Chan , a PSU biology laboratory technician , is a master gardener, landscape authority and author of two well received gardening books. His first book Beller Vegetable Gardens rhe Chinese Way, popul arized the system of raised- bed vegetable gardening. First published in ICJ77 the book became something of a cult class ic with gardeners, selling out in the first five weeks. The book has gone through a new edition and is now into a fifth printing. Chan's new book , Peter Chan '.~ Magical Landscape, came out last year. Sunser magazine described it as a " blending of art and pragmatism in the garden." The book shows the home gardener how to produce a low- maintenance " private paradise" on a small property using Chan's own yard in Southeast Portland . Focusing on landscape ornamental s, Chan also includes a chapter on vegetable gardening with special attention paid to his favorite Chinese vegetables. It is this abundant vegetable garden which won Chan first prize as "Best Western Garden" in Sunset's ICJ75 competi– tion. The garden and its creator has been featured in virtually all of the leading gardening magazines - Better Homes & Gardens (for which Chan is also "North– west Test Gardener" ), Sunset, Hor– ticulture, and Organic Gardening - and the popular television show "The Victory Garden" did a segment on his Portland oas is. Planning and preparing for maximum efficiency is the theme running through Peter Chan's Magical Landscape. The gardener artist is told to dream of flowers, decks, greenhouse and vegetable garden and put this plan on paper. Then the gardener pragmatist is assisted in carryi ng out the project with Chan's common sense and know- how. And Chan doesn't do it in a textbook manner but rather a diary of learned lessons salted by personal preferences and old Chinese tips and sayi ngs. 1: ~ ~ ~ I~ ;i ~ Of fr, ~ tt ''I would rather eat without meat than li ve in a house without a clump of bamboo in the garden." This is a philosophy Chan has taken to heart much of his life in this country and in China . Born in China in 1930, Chan was brought up in a fairly affluent family. His father was a railroad engineer. But this did not insul ate the family from the upheaval of World War II and the communist revolution of 1949. Chan was able to finish co llege by 1954 in plant pathology and worked for two years as an agricultural extension agent in the countryside. "The work was hard ," remembers Chan. "The farmers were so much behind with no chemicals, no modern methods and the government didn't help too much." From the fields of ru ral China, Chan went to teach plant pathology at an agricultural college for seven years. He en– joyed the teaching but the regimen and political pressures exerted by the Chinese government were too much for Chan and his wife Sylvia. The couple moved to Hong Kong in 1963 and eventually joined Sylvia Chan's sister in Oregon in 1967. Life in Oregon was not easy fo r the Chans. With only a green card and with citizenship years down the road , state and federal agencies would not hire him . He made ends meet for his growing family by holding down two jobs, dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant and janitor. When Chan got a job building furniture in a factory, the fam ily was able to rent a house for $25 a month in the middle of an abandoned field behind a school. He replaced the shoulder- high grass with a garden and earned the admiration of the teachers across the fence who made a well ai med phone call in to the county's exten– sion agent. The agent was excited by Chan's talent and helped place him at Po rtland State in 1969 where Chan served as a grounds keeper until his present pos i– tion as a biology laboratory technician. A year later the Chan's purchased their Portland home and transformed the barren rock and gravel yard into the prizewinning showplace it is today. In his words, "This country has provided freedom to me and my family. When I found this rubble– strewn lot I wanted to give something back . I started picking rocks from my clay to build beautiful lawns and gardens. My ne ighbors say, 'Chan, are you crazy? You can't make anything grown in that clayl' Now they say, 'Chan , how did you do it?"' Peter Chan's Magical Lnndscape shows how he did it, bringing the elements of the landscape together into a harmonious rela– tionship. Readers will learn his methods of caring for a lawn, ground covers, trees, shrubs and fl owers. There is a section on bonsai, both in pots and in the yard. The vegetable garden chapter illustrates how to build his low- maintenance, beautifully orderly, raised beds. There is even a chapter on building projects to enhance the livability of a small backyard: sundeck , fire pit and pond . The last chapter of the book gives busy gardeners time- sav ing methods for fertilizing, weeding, pruning, tool maintenance, and disease and insect control. Both beginning and seasoned gardeners will find useful information in Chan's book. The sheer joy Chan finds in garden– ing comes out in every page. As he con– cludes in the book, "Best of all , you and your family will love it and be proud of your work fo r years to come." 0 PETER CHAN'S MAGICAL LAND– SCAPE (Transforming Any Small Space into a Place of Beauty), by Peter Chan. Garden Way Publishing, 1988, $10.95. PSU 15