Avocados! and Seedlings! at Sunnyside Organics!

Yesterday we went out to Richmond to the amazing new Sunnyside Organics nursery. They were hosting a volunteer day for non-profits where you could trade a few hours of labor for a few trays of their cast-off seedlings, so we went and helped amend and till some soil for a new garden that their planting outside one of their greenhouses (until the skies opened up and drenched us!)

I wish I had taken a camera to the workday because the space was magical, they are rebuilding a long row of old greenhouses, including repurposing all the old piping to build new tables, sifting tons of rubble from the previous owners out of the soil surrounding the buildings so they can plant in it, and getting their regular nursery operation running there. Pilar, who runs Sunnyside and is pretty much the nicest person ever, has all kinds of great and weird plans for all the different greenhouses, like breeding beneficial insects.

And we got a ton of seedlings to plant at the Free Farm and give away to some other gardens (I don't think Mission High or St. Marks will be ready to plant in time for this batch, but I went with Case who organizes Urban Share and I think they'll make quick use of them)

And bonus of all bonuses, there were two huge fruiting avocado trees on site that we harvested from in the pouring rain! We scavenged about 85 lbs of fruit before we were soaked to the bone, and then we snipped off a big bunch of fruiting wood to graft onto some saplings. Tree did a grafting demo today at the Free Farm workday where he taught a big bunch of people how to graft fruiting wood onto a tree grown from an avocado pit. Keep your fingers crossed that the grafts take!

Mission District Citrus

One of the beautiful things out our mediterranean climate here in San Francisco is that we can have bearing fruit trees almost all year round. In the dreariest, wettest winter days, our citrus trees shine like little bursts of sunshine, staving off the cold season, and producing abundant amounts of fruit even in tight quarters. There are days when I walk down the street and think San Francisco must be in the running for meyer lemon capitol of the world, and our oranges aren't too shabby either. We've had a couple really nice excursions out in the Mission District recently, picking beautiful meyers, satsuma mandarins, and some really sweet oranges that I'm still not sure of the variety.

Harvests definitely slow during citrus season, I think since citrus hangs on the tree for a bit and is sort of self contained when it does fall, it doesn't create the urgency that a plum tree, heavy with fruit and threatening to create a slick of partially fermented mush all over the yard, can instill in people. But please, don't hold tight to your citrus! There are many folks in the city that can make good use of that healthy dose of vitamin C. Drop us a line or give a call and we'll happily come out and pick even the thickest skinned lemons!

New City Farm and Garden Collective!

Just wanted to let everyone know that The Free Farm, a collective garden project that Produce to the People is helping organize, design, and build in collaboration with a handful of other really amazing community orgs and fantastic volunteers, is up and running! Here's a few pics and more info...

The Free Farm is an urban farm on the corner of Gough and Eddy Streets in San Francisco, CA. Our goal is to grow organic produce, foster garden education, and build community. The food grown is offered to the community for free in an effort to combat hunger, aid health and nutrition, and increase resource sharing and care for one another.

Currently the farm is open to the public on workdays, Saturdays and Wednesdays from 10am to 2pm (closed during heavy rain). Everyone is welcome, there are many tasks for people of all skill levels and physical abilities (please note that the site has limited wheelchair access at this time.)

The Free Farm is organized by a collaboration of San Francisco food justice, community gardening and poverty response organizations in conjunction with the hard work of many dedicated volunteers. The land is generously donated by St. Paulus Lutheran Church.

While our primary focus is on the growth and distribution of local organic produce, we are also deeply invested in creating a model of successful community partnership. Please find out more about our partners below.

St. Paulus Lutheran Church
The Free Farm Stand
WELCOME

Produce to the People
Cultivate DioCal
Stanford Glean
The Community Garden at Holy Innocents Church
Source Press

news and sentiment from the Scion Exchange

Yesterday was the California Rare Fruit Growers Scion Wood Exchange in Berkeley. I got there early with Tree, and our friend and fellow tree enthusiast, Sara, so we could set up a little info table for PttP, the Free Farm Stand and the Free Farm. This also meant we got first dibs on some of the scions, before the chaos, yes CHAOS, that is not an overstatement, ensued.

I had no idea so many people were so excited about grafting fruit trees. I mean, it really was the place to be if you had any interest in it, there were tons of varieties of just about everything, and there was root stock for sale and onsite grafting onto said rootstock, plus little demo workshops, and of course tables with great folks like Greywater Action, the Permaculture Guild, and Alemany Farm. It was quite a scene.

I got a handful of scion wood, not too much because I know I'll never get to it all, but I'm excited to work on my grafting technique in our tiny mini orchard at home as well as a few friends gardens. I also felt really inspired by two women that were at the last CRFG meeting I went to who have been guerilla grafting fruiting wood onto some of the flowering plum trees that are rampant around San Francisco.

Everything together made me think about utilizing pre-existing resources and our ability to create abundance with a little ingenuity, time, and capable hands. It made me really embrace dormancy and growth cycles and the calm that I feel when it starts to rain and the energy that I feel when the rains pass. Like the dormant season and the prime time to graft, the scion exchange happens once a year, so if you missed it this year, you'll have to wait til next winter, but trust me, it'll be worth the wait.

CRFG Annual Scion Wood Exchange this Saturday!

This Saturday, Jan 16th, is the California Rare Fruit Growers Annual Scion Exchange. I'll be there sharing a table with Tree giving out info about Produce to the People and The Free Farmstand. I'll also be scooping up some scion wood to do some grafting onto my fruit trees, as I'm fairly new to grafting and really excited to practice and hopefully get a little more variety going in my little home garden. Should be pretty fun for both experienced and novice grafters.

Holiday Jammin'!

We hosted our second ever Produce to the People benefit JAM SALE at the warm and wonderful Mission Pie this past Saturday and despite the rain, we had a nice turn out! Some new faces, and some good friends, and some folks who enjoyed the jam from the last sale so much that they braved the looming downpour to pick some up!

We had about ten varieties of jam of jam this time, all made with local fruit and herbs, and organic and fair-trade sugars. We also had some hand stenciled and sewn tote bags and some hand punched buttons with great phrases like "fruit trees are love", "homegrown tastes best" and "share your harvest".

Big thanks to Gregory Bartlett, Chantal O'Keeffe, Chelsea Rae Klein, and Little Vila for helping set up and talk jam with all the great folks that came by. Thanks to Mei Ling Hui and Courtney Lee for stopping by to say hi and talk about gardens and fruit trees. And as always, undying gratitude to Mission Pie for the great work you do with youth and local food, and for always supporting our efforts to do similarly great work.

Holiday Jam Sale this Saturday!