Loco Local

It was a real fun and crazy last week for me in terms of being immersed in the world of locally grown food.

Slow Food Nation Victory Garden across from City Hall

On Wednesday morning last week on the way to the civic center farmers market (I still need to buy food unfortunately), I finally dropped by the 10,000 sq ft. temporary Victory garden across from city hall. The garden was built by a lot of volunteers under the guidance of Slow Food Nation (Alice Waters is the director), Victory Gardens 08, and City Slicker Farms. Here is what their PR says about it: "It will serve as a demonstration and education centerpiece leading up to and following Slow Food Nation, an event taking place in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend (August 29 – September 1, 2008). It will provide visitors the opportunity to learn about urban food production practices and demonstrate the potential of truly local agriculture. It is the first time that an edible garden will be planted in front of City Hall since 1943".

The food is going to the food bank right now (when I was there today to be a docent we picked leaves off of a lot of the plants and had about eight plastic bags of greens and basil. Then the food bank driver showed up with their big truck to pick it up, which seemed a little crazy in a way using so much gas to carry so small an amount of food). I am still trying to score some for the farm stand (which I think would be great because then I can talk to people about where the food is grown and let them know about the what is happening down there).

I think the garden is very inspiring and everyone who is interested in gardens and growing food locally should visit it (the garden is open every day from 9-4pm). I think there should be a public campaign to talk city hall into making the garden permanent as a way to fight hunger in our city.

If you really can't go down there the web page about it is interesting (you can see photos of it being built). http://www.slowfoodnation.org/blog/category/victory-garden/ . Their blog is also interesting to read-- http://www.slowfoodnation.org/blog/.

Last Friday I was given most of their unplanted seedlings to give away at the farm stand and that was very exciting. When I was there visitors kept coming up to me and asking me questions and thanking me for my efforts. People really like the garden and are excited by it too. Here is a photo of some of the seedlings on the plant give away table (some went to the Julian Food Pantry too):

One of the best Free Farm Stands so far

In the middle of the week I picked up a big box of garlic and potatoes from my friend with the connection to the Garden Project at San Bruno Jail. I brought that to the stand on Sunday as well as a box of beets and broccoli from the Ferry Building farmer's market. I also got some herbs, carrots, and greens through the same source. I picked salad greens from my backyard and the Secret Garden, and a few of our first tomatoes (I gave them away as a prize to people who brought their own bags) from Treat Commons and my backyard, green beans from my backyard, scarlet runner beans, some kale, a couple of trombone squash and yellow zucchini, a few flowers, and a few jalapeño peppers from Treat Commons.This week I grew several types of sprouts that I gave away. People are liking the sprouts and the sunflower greens.

The best part of the stand was all the neighbors who came by with fruit and vegetables. On Friday a woman left some yellow plums with the club house park director. On Sunday, one woman brought more beautiful yellow plums, another woman showed up with about six apples from her tree, and another neighbor brought nectarines. Christy brought rhubarb and purple green beans. Dan came by with a number of the most attractive large summer squash called Peter Pan that he grew at his home nearby.

I wish I had a photo of the hydrangea flowers that a neighbor who came last week brought by. It was a stunning bouquet of the biggest bunch of flowers ever. I didn't realize hydrangea flowers make good bouquets. I do love to give away flowers to people.

As I mentioned above, we had a lot of seedlings to give away and I have more plus the ones I am growing. A lot were planted in my backyard and the kids at the Secret Garden are going to plant a lot of corn and lettuce. And people take the seedlings and I guess are growing them at their homes. When I was in the park last week a young boy came up to me and said his tomato was growing tall and had green fruit on it which was real encouraging to hear.

Fruit picking and gleaning in the hood

On Saturday I picked blackberries on Bernal Hill. Some were over ripe and many were not ripe at all. Some were perfect to pick and I collected 6 cups, some very ripe and some part ripe. It turned out I thought they were too messy to give away at the farm stand so I baked a vegan blackberry pie and gave people visiting the stand a small piece each. I used agave syrup and a little sucanat unrefined sugar, and it came out delicious, though a bit tart. It was pretty popular.

I picked small plums at the Secret Garden. There are literally millions of them is my guess. Unfortunately a neighbor hacked away at the loquat tree I picked two times already in their yard and the tree in the Secret Garden over hanging into their yard, and so a lot of loquat fruit was lost. I guess they didn't like the fruit falling on their concrete backyard. There were some way high up in the tree that I didn't try hard enough to reach. I also picked some delicious green figs from a friend's house.

Also, a friend told me about a tree in our neighborhood that a couple of years ago that had large plums on it that all got wasted and were on the ground rotting. I was excited to try to find the tree and see if it had fruit this year. It was kind of feeling like going on a blind date, I found the street where the tree was supposed to live and I hunted around for it. In the process I discovered a park in our neighborhood that I heard about but never understood where it was (Juri Commons). I found the tree overhanging the fence bordering the park and it was love at first sight. And the fruit luckily wasn't quite ripe yet. Maybe I can pick it next week. This was one of the thrills of my week and that probably show you how crazy I am. But getting to know your neighborhood and what grows there is truly fun and a joy. I like the idea of mapping out the fruit trees and berry bushes in our neighborhoods, and this has been done in other places. I actually started doing this years ago, but don't know where my notes are for what I found.

Here are two photos. One is a group shot of some of the people who showed up at the beginning to help or get food. The other is a picture of a mother and daughter holding two of the Peter Pan squashes. I think the woman and the squashes are both a turn on. One of the best parts of the farm stand is all the great people who show up. Toña the mom in the picture has been living in Mexico for 28 years in an ecovillage (ecoaldea huehuecoyotl) and is doing some great artwork. She showed me some copies of her corn paintings that are on display at the SomaArts Gallery for a few more days http://www.somarts.org/. Her daughter Laulin just moved here to go to San Francisco State. I told her San Francisco is a great place to meet people. My secret is to start some project that brings you into contact with a lot of people, like a garden or farm stand for example.

Update on the edible park project and the new garden on 18^th and Rhode Island

Christiane and Ali came by to help with the stand and to work some on their permaculture class project of designing an expansion of the garden into the park. I think the class is over in a week. They now have a proposed list of things to plant that I am going to look at. Also, I met Dave and Joe who are also permaculture students designing a garden for the empty lot at 18^th and Rhode Island. I learned that they want the garden to mainly produce food for the farm stand which is terrific. They also had the idea that if there was enough produce to possibly sell it to Whole Foods and give the money to the landlord so he can use it to pay property taxes. We got into a long discussion about my philosophy of doing things for free which I won't go into here. My inspiration though comes from the Diggers ("the Diggers took their name from the original English Diggers (1649-50) who had promulgated a vision of society free from private property, and all forms of buying and selling."). For more information check out http://diggers.org/ a site run by a friend.

I think that the Victory Garden across from city hall, if not made permanent, should be moved to the site at 18^th and Rhode Island, soil and all. That the vision of growing local food on mini-farms and given away to the hungry and poor should be continued on a new site!

Peak of Summer?

I wonder if we in San Francisco have reached the peak of summer harvest season yet. Certainly the Treat Commons Community Garden is looking pretty green and lush right now. We are getting a lot of scarlet runner beans and the yellow zucchini are producing some squash. Some tomatoes are just starting to turn red. My backyard garden, having been neglected for two weeks looks pathetic in terms of what is growing and needs to be replanted. The Secret Garden is look pretty good now with a lot of kale growing and in maybe two weeks it will be ready to harvest. And of course the plum trees and loquats there have masses of fruit (though the plums are mostly bland and tiny and the trees need a lot of pruning and thinning).

I know when you go to the farmers markets now they are overflowing with summer produce and I am starting to feel a little frustrated being an urban farmer and not having rows and rows of foods that I am growing at this time of year. Quite frankly it is embarrassing. I was thinking I should be an apprentice at some farm. I am really attracted to the work of John Jeavons who started a project called Ecology Action in Willits that has a mini-farm. He is famous for popularizing double digging and the biodynamic French intensive method of growing food. It is truly inspiring to me. His most known book is How to Grow More Vegetables. When I visited his place years ago I was impressed how seriously he takes food growing and also making his knowledge available worldwide, especially in poor countries.

The table looked good though despite all my grumbling. We had scarlet runner beans from Treat Commons and purple and green beans from my backyard. There was a ton of salad mix from my backyard and the Secret Garden, and some from Treat Commons too. There were beets from the Ferry Building Farmer's Market (I am pretty happy that beets are so popular!). From Treat Commons we also had a couple of yellow zucchini, some carrots (also some from my backyard), white sage (for incense), African Blue basil, a couple of cucumbers, some flowers, a few artichokes. I also harvested a lot of loquats and plums, and I brought some Cape Gooseberries from my backyard (see below). Also, Ariel (who put together the youtube video for the Bay Guardian) and her friend whose name I have forgotten brought by some herbs and some shiso seedlings that were a great contribution.

Kale from the Jail

I got a huge donation of organic kale from the County Jail Garden Project. Rita who runs the Mission Reading Program on 24^th Street was looking for someone to give a lot of zucchini and tomato plants away to and I was alerted by a neighbor about this. So I picked up at least 20 plants in gallon pots and I found out they were grown by the Garden Project at the San Bruno jail. I have wanted to contact them for a long time and mentioned it to Rita. Then she called me on Friday and she had two big boxes of fresh delicious kale (my favorite vegetable) for our program. I managed miraculously to put it all in my refrigerator (plus giving away some to friends and neighbors) and brought it to the stand Sunday. I may be on the lookout for a free or cheap working and energy efficient refrigerator if this keeps up. I still had a lot of kale left over despite having given away a lot. So I cooked up a bunch of kale the way I like it best. Chop up the washed kale small. Chop up about two or three big cloves of garlic. Heat some olive oil in a wok and when the oil is hot throw in the garlic. The oil will soak up the flavor. Toss in the kale and stir fry for about five -8 minutes until the greensare soft. I add a dash of tamari and serve. Anyone know the name for kale in Spanish?

Cape Gooseberries

I brought a basket full of a fruit I like a lot that I have always called ground cherries or husk tomatoes. I learned they have other names like Cape Goose Berry (Physalis peruviana).
They seemed to have roused a lot of interest among farm stand attendees. One thing about the free farm stand is I realize how much I have to learn because people ask so many darn questions about things. I know that these fruits are easy to grow and that they are delicious, that they are related to the tomatillo, that they seem to be perennial around here and they reseed easily, and are in the Chinese lantern family, because of the lantern look of the fruit with it's papery lantern like shell around the fruit. I looked up the fruit online and learned so much more.

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/cape-gooseberry.html

The article mentions different cultivars that sound wonderful. I want to get seeds for them and try them out.

Good Neighbors

I really appreciate the opportunity to meet my neighbors and friends at the Free Farm Stand. It is hard to put it in words what community is and the value of it. But it certainly is a lot of fun and makes one feel good to get to know those people you live near and to have a chance to see friends in such a busy world. I liked getting the chance to hold Valentino yesterday, a tiny baby that is so cute, as cute as a cucumber. And it really is needed to feel positive in the city these days. For example, last week could have been a total bummer. Reading about some guy that was blasted away by a shotgun blast on Mission and 20^th St. and then my slum landlord neighbor for some unknown reason hiring a nice guy to chainsaw our beautiful stand of rare bamboo down in front of our building (plus he did in the bougainvillea, jasmine and trumpet vine tree). It may not be on his property (I now have to research the property line). It makes one angry and sad and if it wasn't for all the great neighbors who I meet over the years and my friends that I sometime get a chance to connect with, I would want to climb out of my clay shell and go somewhere else.

I also was so happy to work with Corinne again who opened the stand last week. I am really a guy who likes to work with others and not be a one man show, so it is great to slowly build a team to run this project. She is moving to the city and I think she may be looking for some great non-profit job. I would recommend her for sure. Hopefully her new job will give her time to continue working with the farm stand.

Here is a picture of two sisters that I have met relatively recently. Fillipa on the left works as the director of the clubhouse at the park and does such great work with the kids who go there for her programs. Andrea is her sister whom I am getting to know. Siblings like plant relatives are so much fun to be familiar with.

Gleaning

Fillipa suggested I put up a sign in the neighborhood saying that I am available to pick people's fruit trees. She knows of two neighbors with fruit trees that don't get picked. I think I will do that and let people know that the farm stand will take any fruit as well as pick it. I decided to wait on the berry picking on Bernal Hill until the berries get more ripe. Anyone want to join my fruit gleaning team?

Hooray! Free Farm Stand Goes on Without Me

Hot off the computer…Email from Corinne about the Free Farm Stand

I am back from my 12 day trip to Peoria and last night Corinne sent me great photos and an email describing yesterday's farm stand. I am really happy that everything worked out so great! Here is an excerpt from her email:

tree,

today was a terrific day at the farm stand. a woman named brooke came about 1245 and brought a bunch of herbs and veggies. she harvested apricots with two of the children in the first picture. then a woman whose name was-

i think- sigrid. she brought a bunch of vegetables, as well. a woman names liz dropped off some plastic pots.

the two woman in the last pic are sunny and candace. it was there first time to the stand. they took some kale and beets. then candace came back a half hour later with parsley and tomatoes from their garden!

…i picked lots of plums (see pic) at the secret garden.

i tried to keep count of folks who stopped by, 43! i gave away a few cayenne plants, a chamomile (or cosmo?) plant and a basil plant. i gave away everything but a handful of herbs.

i also potted up some chive seedlings. and at home now i have cilantro, basil and chive seedlings to give away in a few weeks as plants.

what else? maria and carolyn stopped by. a couple, matthew and jenny, he said he had a rare plant for you. i thought he intended on leaving it, but then i didn't see it anywhere. lots of children, yeah!

see you soon!

corinne

Here are some photos Corinne sent:

Also, I would love to charm some of those volunteers who showed up to help on planting day, to come help on a regular basis with our free farm stand.

The big pile of apricots was the only mistake made...because of miscommunication they got picked when they were being saved for the Treat Commons Gardeners. A lot of people come into the garden thinking all the food is grown there and that it is for the farm stand. Actually some comes from Treat Commons, but I try to give the gardeners there the first priority since they help grow it. I am still trying to find a lot to start a farm for the farm stand.

And Brooke wrote me also…

"hi tree,
i went to drop of some produce at the farm stand this morning. how great!... i can see how the generosity sparks community.

brooke

Report on the planting of the garden in front of City Hall last Saturday

I missed the Victory Garden planting at city hall on Saturday. A friend sent me a link with some good photos of the event and a short review http://lipmagazine.org/ccarlsson/archives/2008/07/strange_loops.html. Sounds like 150 or more people showed up!

I would love to charm some of those people who showed up to help plant the Victory Garden in front of City Hall to come help on a regular basis with the free farm stand. I also wish that there could be more communication between all of us people doing a lot of the same kind of work of promoting local foods. How can we work together and help each other out? I am especially interested in making local food organic food accessible to people without a lot of money.

The Secret Garden Report

I dropped by the Secret Garden after I got back and Robert and Corinne have been doing some great work with all age kids. They have dug some new beds and planted some of the seedlings I gave them. I plan to work there probably on Friday if anyone wants to join me.

Farm skyscrapers

My son sent me this article from the New York Times:

Country, the City Version: Farms in the Sky Gain New Interest

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/science/15farm.html?
_r=1&hp&oref=login

I hope I don't have to go this route out of desperation for lack of an empty lot to farm in.

Help still needed

Now that I am back it seems I am behind in everything. I can use help planting...I have a lot of seed and now is a good time to plant for fall harvest. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays are best for me right now. Also, if anyone is interested in learning more about growing food in the city, I would love a garden apprentice or intern.

I discover the Patron Saint of Bees

I spent my time in Peoria with a very Catholic family. There is always something to learn from any religion. Here is something from the Magnificat that Angie's dad saved for me which I thought was very sweet.

February 13th is Saint Modomnoc's day "As a monk in Wales, Modomnoc was assigned to tend the garden and to keep the bees. When subsequently he departed for his native land, the bees he had tended are said to have followed him onto the boat, settling in a swarm upon the vessel and setting sail with him for Ireland."
There is a wonderful story here about Saint Modomnoc and it goes into more detail:
http://greencanticle.com/2008/02/17/how
-saint-modomnoc-brought-the-bees-to-ireland/
I can see celebrating this day right before St. Valentine's day (not the commercial version of it though). Thinking about bees, I plan to open our hive soon to see how the bees are doing. Contact me if you want to join me as I learn to know the bees.

And talking about Peoria, last week I wrote about lawns and I was wondering to myself how did this lawn thing come about. Here is the answer in the New Yorker just last week.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/07/21/
080721crbo_books_kolbert?printable=true

Berry Gleaning Anyone?

The black berries on Bernal Hill are ripening and I was thinking of checking them out in more detail and possibly picking them if they are ripe enough on Saturday possibly in the morning. Please contact me if you are interested. I will also harvest plums and loquats in the Secret Garden the same day.

Report from Peoria

Land of Lawns

This place Peoria is a funny town. I am here for Angie's family reunion. It seems a lot of people here in the Midwest have a connection to land and farming. Farming is in a lot of Midwest blood. At the reunion I learned that a number of people grow some food in their backyards. It seems a common thing for people to have a few tomato, green bean, and or pepper plants that they have put in the ground at their homes. Even the idea of canning isn't unfamiliar. But here is the funny thing to me: The houses in the neighborhood where I am staying all have big lots compared to cities like San Francisco, and everywhere I look I see lawns. There are also a lot of beautiful old and huge trees everywhere, and because of all the shades of green, it is very beautiful. For someone who has become obsessed with being an urban farmer and thinks about neighbors growing more local food, this lawn love drives me crazy. It doesn't help that I am reading the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, about a family's year long experiment with growing all their own food and eating locally.

The lawn look does give one a sense of comfort and security in some ways, a feeling like things are under control. The question is whether this lawn life style is really sustainable in the long run. I am not a doom and gloom guy, I just want to be a farmer and grow some local food for myself and to share some with others, and do that where I live which happens to be the city.

I do know that the prairies are gone, replaced with acres and acres of subsidized corn and soybeans. Driving in a car yesterday I saw a small patch of a restored prairie (that is what the sign said) and it looked nice, kind of like a lawn actually, at least as I sped by.

The bottom line is these lawns don't give me hope, but speak to me about the landscape of our society staying static and the same. There is hope in the trees though, and I wish I could bring some back to San Francisco with me next week.

Farm Stand News

I am happy to hear that friends opened the Free Farm Stand last Sunday. Here is something from Christy she just emailed me:

here's the wiki page on loquat, with a lot of interesting properties and the Spanish name so many folks gave us yesterday: nispero http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loquat

interesting that so many Latino folks immediately recognized this fruit that gringos consider "exotic"

It's also exciting to know that we are getting more plums and loquats (I must be missing the apricots now).

I wonder if we are getting scarlet runner beans yet or trombocino squash, or chili peppers.

Next Sunday Corinne said she will open the stand and said she would welcome any help that shows up. Also, next Saturday there are going to be people planting a garden in front of city hall. I unfortunately won't be around to participate in the excitement, but I encourage anyone interested in growing more local food to check it out (see sidebar).

Edible Park

I forgot to mention in my last post that the idea of extending the mini-orchard in Treat Commons Community Garden into the surrounding park is moving ahead. I talked to two of the three women who are working on a design for their permaculture class and we had a lot of possibilities to explore. San Francisco is ready to have some edible plants especially trees planted in her parks. I am also curious to learn how progress is going on the other two permaculture class projects, the roof-top garden on the Chronicle building and the empty lot on Potrero Hill. I was told by someone visiting here who live in Chicago that they have a lot of rooftop gardens there and that the city sells honey from bee hives located on top of City Hall.

More Photos

In the Secret Garden learning double digging...

A Celebratory Week

Pride Week

It was Pride week last week and it felt like a celebratory and special time. The sky and air was smoky all week from local brush fires and one morning I walked to the top of Bernal Hill and the sun was suspended in the sky like a bright orange ball.

The Free Farm Stand got in the media twice. There was an article in last Tuesdays Chronicle (http://tinyurl.com/6yeuds) about some new local business that will plant a garden for you for $600 to $1,000, and then maintain it for you for $20 to $35 per week. Then you get the food and maybe food from other local gardens. At the end of the article they listed other sources of urban agricultural resources and they mentioned the Free Farm Stand without my knowing about it. I found out about the article when I opened my email mailbox and had gotten fourteen messages, many in response to the article. One woman wrote and said there was an empty lot across the street from her that I should look into, which I will.

There was also a nice article about the stand in the online newsletter of San Francisco Park Trust (the Real Dirt) that you can read at the end of this post. You can also go to their website and join them to get their newsletter (http://www.sfpt.org/).

Gardening with Kids

Earlier in the week I planned with Robert to garden with some of the twenty-five kids he works with at the Secret Garden. He got a grant from the Mexican Museum to do art and gardening with different age groups of kids in the neighborhood. In the morning he works with the younger kids and in the afternoon the teens. I invited a woman named Corinne who had contacted me early in the week as result of the Chronicle article to come help and that is one of the best things I did this week. She is real wonderful and has experience not only as a gardener, and a teacher's aide in an elementary school, she has also helped manage a farm stand as I learned later! We mainly planted a bunch of seeds in tofu containers and their small hands were ideal for holding and planting tiny seeds.




Jake pointed out that our glasses look the same and they are both pushed down on our nose!

A Fruity Thing

I saw a sign at the Dyke March on Saturday night that said A Fruity Thing. That is what I have been thinking of writing about. Something in praise of fruits of all kinds, especially fruits that grow on trees. Before I went to the march I was in the Secret Garden picking some green onions and a few greens. I also started picking plums to see if they were ripe. There are literally thousands of small plums the size of large cherries on the trees in the Secret Garden and they are just starting to ripen. Unfortunately I am leaving town for ten days and I won't be able to pick more of them, but maybe we can get some volunteers to continue picking some for the farm stand. Contact me if you may be interested and I may be able to organize it. Then I noticed the loquats on the neighbors huge tree and I saw that the loquat in the Secret Garden had huge fruit hanging over the fence into the neighbor's yard. So I got the small ladder that was in the garden and I started picking the fruit, wondering if I should ask the neighbor if I could pick them. It was remarkable that the birds hadn't gotten to this fruit like they have in my backyard. A neighbor came out and I asked if it was ck to harvest the fruit and she seemed to say yes, but she really didn't speak English. I was so excited by the fruit and it was really delicious. There is plenty more to pick too, I harvested maybe five pounds of plums for the farm stand.

Fruit trees rule and all gardens should at least one. Fruits trees are a true gift from God/Goddess and I feel so blessed to be able to pick fruit and share it with my neighbors. Especially trees that are neglected and the fruit rots on the ground. I have been picking lemons from a neighbors tree for over a month now and it still has giant fruit on it. I love climbing in fruit trees and being in the branches and picking fruit up high away from the earth. But I must admit that the fruit trees in Treat Commons that I have been espaliering or growing flat against a trellis are much easier to pick and don't create so much shade. Large fruit trees are truly glorious when they are laden with fruit free for the picking. I would someday like to prune those trees so we have both garden and trees living together in balanced harmony.

It is funny I was just thinking about the victory garden going to be planted in front of city hall July 12th (see side bar) and I remember working with some friends years ago trying to save the olive trees that were planted there in four groves. The powers that be didn't like the homeless that lived in the groves, so they wanted to cut the olive trees down, so we fought them and won. Years later they did remove some of the trees where they built a playground, but they were supposedly moved to Bernal Heights somewhere. Too bad we can't plant some fruit trees in front of city hall. And I guess too bad the victory garden won't be a permanent thing at least right now.

Father and daughter in front of apricot tree planted at Treat Commons


Apple tree pruned flat and short and grafted with different kinds of apples


The Julian Food Pantry

This is not quite farm stand related but I need to share this. I might have mentioned my new friend Lauren started a new food pantry on Saturdays in the Mission. She is hip and wants to give away the healthiest food she can get and digs local organic produce like me, and would love to give more of it away and support local growers. I started growing some seedlings to give to her program to distribute to some of her clients. This Saturday I forgot to bring the seedlings early when they are setting up, but I got there when they were just opening.

It is a really beautiful space in a church and the people were all sitting in the garden courtyard waiting. I heard they were serving tea to those waiting. Anyway as soon as I walked in I felt an enormous holy spirit present, this tremendous energy that hit me like whoosh! I must admit I have an addiction to serving food to the masses and these kind of things get me excited. The Free Farm Stand is beautiful in it's small organic way now, but I sometimes miss feeding large numbers of people. Sara came by at the end of the farm stand yesterday and told me that her program is already grown to 200 people I think in two weeks! I wonder if they can keep it wonderful and sweet.

My point in sharing this experience is that the Julian Pantry is really a class act and I felt that the people that are running it are so lucky to be able to serve those in need and to be around all that spiritual energy and light. Whenever we get a chance to be with the poor or hungry and share the excess it is such a great experience. As wonderful as being in a tree picking fruit or harvesting rows of kale to give away. I feel lucky myself to have that kind of work to do.

A Great Day at the Free Farm Stand

I had a lot of good produce to share on the table and a number of people showed up to help me set up and run the stand. Corinne came early and harvested lettuce and carrots in Treat Commons. Christiane and Ali who are taking the urban permaculture design course came by to talk to me about designing an orchard and edible landscape outside the garden and in the park (the plan is to come up with a design for the first edible park in the city). Christiane came early to help me set up. Leslie an intern at City Slicker Farm came by too. I have been emailing her about how their intern program works) and she shared with me some more information on how things work there in West Oakland. I am very inspired by that project and it is one of the programs that inspired me to start a farm stand here. She also brought me a bunch of seed. Jerry came by from the Western Addition. I met him at the Big One and he is working with Ella Hill Hutch Community Center and trying to get a garden planted there. Nancy my friend that used to come to a pantry I helped run dropped by. She looked great considering she begins chemotherapy for cancer soon and just went through a major surgery. She also helped set up the stand by picking flowers and other things. I also met a man named Leif who among other things, told me about a woman who is doing a similar project to ours in Oakland (check out her a lot less wordy blog than mine http://forageoakland.blogspot.com/).

Corinne just wrote me and said she was really excited to work at the farm stand and wants to continue in the future. Hooray! She said her favorite part was meeting the man who got a tomato plant from the stand and he reported that it is growing tall. We had sunflower sprouts that I grew, round zucchinis, beets, basil, purslane, and parsley left over from the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, carrots, lettuce, BokChoy (from Rubens's super productive bed in Treat Commons), salad mix, flowers, loquats, plums, and herbs.

A number of people were very interested in getting epazote which we have growing in the garden. It has a lot of different names including Mexican Tea and it has pungent leaves that is put in beans to prevent farting. It also has medicinal uses and I am not sure why people wanted it...for flatulence, flavor, or healing?

Here are a bunch of photos from this week:



Everyone seemed to look so beautiful who came to the Free Farm Stand this week. It is all about celebrating diversity!


Article from The Real Dirt

Every Sunday for just over a month now, Tree has been giving away fresh organic produce. What's the catch? None. The Free Farm Stand takes place every Sunday in the Treat Commons Community Garden where Tree is the Garden Coordinator. He and local volunteers tend much of the garden and give the surplus away to local neighbors. The food production doesn't just stop at Treat Commons. Local gardeners sprinkled throughout the city have been bringing their surplus to the Free Farm Stand every week to share their harvests. Neighbors are offering up their fruit trees for Tree to harvest and bring to the stand as well. Tree even grows starters and seedlings for people to take home and plant. The vision is that when neighbors harvest they will share some of their bounty with the Free Farm Stand.

People aren't just sharing food at the Free Farm Stand, they are building community. One of Tree's favorite parts of the farm stand is that it provides a space for neighbors to meet and interact.

The Free Farm Stand may be relatively new, but Tree's vision and efforts to bring quality food to those who can't afford it is old news. Tree has been greening and feeding San Francisco for over 30 years and he has no plans to stop. Tree's philosophy has always been that all people should have access to high quality, healthy food and that has led him to head food programs and pantries throughout the years. To ensure that quality was always at the highest level, Tree ate only what he offered at the pantries. In light of recent food shortages and oil prices, Tree decided to challenge himself to discover just how much food he could grow and give in the city. So far the Farm Stand is fueled by Tree's backyard, neighbor contributions and the Treat Commons space, but Tree has plans for expansion that may soon come to fruition. "Gardening by nature makes you optimistic" Tree says. Maybe that is because gardening gives you a powerful tool to help fight large problems like hunger, and oil dependency right in your own back yard.

The Free Farm Stand is always in need of volunteers (especially bilingual volunteers).

A Mellow Farm Stand

Today I am not going to write much about yesterday's Free Farm Stand. I am anxious to get out into the garden and work. I will say it was a nice mellow day and it didn't seem as busy as last week, though a good number of people came by and I did give away all the produce. I often don't know what I am going to have to harvest and give out from week to week, and similarly I never know who is going to show up. I was pleasantly surprised and happy that a number of friends came by, some whom I hadn't seen in a while. I am glad my friend Tony from the east bay came by. He speaks some Spanish and like I have said before it makes a huge difference having people that can explain what is going on. His impression is that a lot of people are pretty shy about taking food, that it is a really unfamiliar experience for them...a table with beautiful fresh produce all for free. But once he started talking to people they got more comfortable and took stuff. And it is great to turn people onto foods they are not familiar with like the sunflower greens. Maria my elderly neighbor who used to come and help at the Comida del Arte Pantry I helped run a number of years ago showed up (I ran into her on the street and told her about this project and told her to come by). I think she thought it was funny that I was telling her all the food on the table is local and organic. She said in El Salvador all the food is organic, unlike here. I wonder if that is true. She offered to bring a number of things to share including her hot sauce that she makes (I think it is vegan).

The Big One Event

I went to the Big One event on Saturday in Golden Gate Park. It was a two day event (I don't know how it went Sunday). There were more speakers that I wanted to hear speak on Sunday than on Saturday, but I met a lot of great people anyway. It was sort of the ultimate networking event. I made contact with the Slow Food Nation people, Jonathan with the Biodiesel Sustainable Road Show, and a whole lot more people that were all doing such great and inspiring work. I do feel that San Francisco may be in for another beautiful cycle of time where hope and good things bloom again.

One of the best things that happened is that I have some new leads to follow up in terms of getting a place to start a Free Farm Stand Farm. We will see where things go. Yes it was great to meet people that have similar goals and who want to work with each other is some way.

The Intern Idea

I like the way City Slicker Farm in West Oakland has interns that help run their program. I am thinking of trying to find an intern or apprentice that would help grow food for the farm stand and to learn urban farming at the same time. A friend who I saw at the Big One thought it was a good idea and said I have something to teach (I am not sure if he said what I have to teach, and I don't know if I really am or can be a teacher, but I have been growing food for a while, and would be excited to share what I love so much, i.e. urban farming)

Two Photos

The table always looks great and people enjoyed the dried poppy heads...especially the kids when I shook out the poppy seed from the heads and explained to them that you can eat the seed.


I especially like all the kids that come by the farm stand. They are so curious and I am surprised how much they are interested in eating vegetables or at least trying out some of the things on the table they may not be familiar with.

Free Farm Stand on YouTube

This was produced by a reporter for the San Francisco Bay Guardian and is on their online version this week (http://www.sfbg.com/). I am a little worried that people might think I am trying to be famous or that I might act like a big shot by agreeing to be interviewed. I just thought that if anyone watches this video and gets inspired to join us in growing and sharing food together, that would be great. The more food we all are growing, the more food we can share with others, and the more local organic food and flowers we can make available to those people that can't afford it. And it would be awesome if this video or blog inspires anyone to help us locate land in the Mission where we might start a small urban mini-farm. Vacant lots, churches or hospitals with land, schools with gardens not being used during summer vacation, abandoned or neglected gardens. Or to encourage a movement to pick and glean fruit in the city (with owners permission first). The blackberries are ripening on Bernal Hill!