Springtime bounty at the garden

The fava beans, kale, and chard have been doing great in the garden thse past few months. Gordon just harvested a big bowl of fava beans from his plot for a feast he was preparing and said the leaves from the top of the plants are also delicious for sauteeing.

How's your garden growing? Send me photos of the veggies you're harvesting, flowers you're growing, or your time spent in the garden. I'd love to post more photos on the blog and on the bulletin board in the front of the garden. Email photos to mccami@covad.net

Daily Show: Little Crop of Horrors

Check out this hilarious Daily Show send-up of the American Council of Science and Health (ACSH), which criticized Michelle Obama for planting an organic garden at the White House. Not surprisingly, the ACSH gets a lot of its funding from chemical companies that would love everybody to slather on the pesticides when they garden.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Little Crop of Horrors
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Volunteers needed for garden teams

At last weekend’s workday we discussed a number of teams that are forming to take the lead on different garden projects.

Compost Team: Brent, Adam, Gabriel, Shawn, and Chad signed up for the compost team. They’ll work on devising a plan for maintaining our compost systems, including the new Compost Tumbler, and to develop signage and materials to help make sure everyone knows how contribute and use it.

Common Area Gardens Team: Steve Smith, Gabriel, Stephen Davidson, Laura, John McMahon, Shawn, and Meghan signed up for the Common Area Gardens Team. They’ll work on taking responsibility for watering, maintaining, and making improvements to the common area gardens.

Events Team: Gordon, John McMahon, and Michael signed up for the Events Team. We need more volunteers to help plan special events in the garden, including workshops, open-mic music performances, and garden barbecues.

Workday Team: I need volunteers to help me plan and prepare for workdays, including set-up beforehand and clean up after we’re done.

Communications Team: I’d love to have some help creating a more engaging blog and bulletin board for the front and back of the garden. Writers and photographer volunteers needed.

Art Projects Team: Gabriel is interested in developing some art projects in the garden. Laura and Karen signed up to explore ideas.

Please consider volunteering for one of the above teams or let me know if you are interested in lending a hand in some other way.

The garden is looking great these days! Help us build on this success by volunteering some extra time to the garden.

Thanks!

Strange Attractor at the Garden

The artificial flowers of Strange Attractor are currently cohabiting with native flowers at the front of the garden. The installation was created by Mang who was on hand at the garden for an opening for his project following our spring workday.

Check out Mang's blog for more photos and information.

Do you have an idea for an art project for the garden? Contact Gabriel at reconeix@hotmail.com to join the Art Projects Team.

Spring workday scheduled for April 25, 10am-1pm

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend our Spring workday on Saturday, April 25, from 10am to 1pm. We'll spend some time weeding the common area gardens, making improvements to the succulent garden up front, clearing out some of the junk that has accumulated near the tool shed, and working on other garden chores.

Brent will also lead another compost workshop, including demonstrating how to use the new Compost Tumbler, which he was able to get donated to the garden from the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council. It's critical that everyone attends this workshop to learn how to use the new compost bin and contribute to this important garden resource.

We'll take a break around noon for a meeting to discuss plans for the year and to talk about some new teams that are forming to take the lead on different projects in the garden. We really want to encourage everyone to contribute their talents and ideas to building community in the garden and helping to make it an even more special place for the neighborhood.

Finally, at around 1pm we'll be hosting an opening for Strange Attractor, the artwork installed by Mang in the California native plant garden by the front gate. Stay tuned for more details.

See you on the 25th!

Getting down and dirty with compost

We had a terrific workshop on composting on Saturday thanks to a fun and informative presentation by Amy Kessler of the Garden for the Environment. Some of you may remember Amy (also know as the "Worm Lady") from another workshop she led at the garden a few years back. Amy is a hardcore composting fanatic who broke it all down in a very engaging and often very funny presentation.

Special thanks to Brent for organizing the event, which covered the basics on backyard composting and how it helps reduce waste, builds soil, and encourages your plants to thrive. Amy demonstrated the three-bin composting system down the street at the Koshland Garden and then showed us how to use the worm compost bin at Page Street.

You may have noticed the new Compost Tumbler at the garden. It was generously donated by the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council after Brent applied for a grant. The Compost Tumbler will enable us to produce compost more efficiently because it makes it easier to turn the pile, which helps things break down more quickly. We'll be getting this new system up and running soon, so stay tuned for details on how to use it.

Finally, we'll be holding another compost workshop at our Spring workday, which is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 25. If you didn't make it to yesterday's workshop, please make sure to come to this one.

Compost workshop on Saturday, March 21: 2-4 pm

All gardeners are encouraged to come to a special workshop on composting this Saturday, March 21, from 2-4pm. The workshop will begin at Koshland Park Community Learning Garden (Page Street near the corner of Buchanan)and then continue at the Page Street Garden.

This workshop is being presented by Garden for the Environment, Page Street Community Garden, and the Hayes Valley Park Group. It's a perfect opportunity to learn the basics about composting and to jump-start your spring garden with some homemade compost! Aside from giving veggies and flowers a healthy start, composting encourages beneficial organisms in the soil and can help break the life cycle of plant pests and disease.

Join us for this fun, hands-on class teaching methods for backyard and worm composting. Come learn what you can do to improve your garden without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and prevent organic waste from ending up in the landfill! Rot on!

To pre-register, please call (415) 731-5627, or email info@gardenfortheenvironment.org