2,224 pounds of produce harvested!

The five bags of tomatoes above were harvested at the Bethlehem Lutheran garden in West Oakland. This last season they harvested more than 200 pounds of produce! Only about 500 square feet, this garden was able to provide a lot of free food on unused church land.

The Free Farm in San Francisco, which is about 1/3 of an acre and sits on the former site of St. Paulus Lutheran Church has harvested 2,124 pounds since February.

In these hard economic times, transforming unused church land into free food is a low cost way that congregations can respond to the real needs of its congregants and the community around it. Let us know if your church gets inspired to grow produce on your unused space or if we can help you start a farm where you live.

We believe that churches really can address hunger issues. The goal of our free farms was to prove that it doesn't have to cost a lot of money to feed people. We hope our project has inspired you!

Free Farm Harvests 1045 Pounds!

Amount of produce harvested and given a way at the free farm since February: 1045 pounds

In the News: Mission Local

Feeding the Mission, in the Western Addition
Your reporter squealed like a little girl when she realized she had actually found a potato.

By: Heather Smith | July 8, 2010

It starts with a Lutheran Church on fire. St. Paulus at Eddy and Gough burned to the ground in 1995 and has remained a vacant lot ever since. Then, this year, an improbable alliance came together. Case Garver, a 22-year-old Lutheran Volunteer Corps member from Ohio, and Megan Rohrer, a local pastor, were negotiating with local churches to open up unused property in the city for farming.

It was more than just a quaint idea — Rohrer is director of Welcome, an organization that deals directly with the poor, and food banks in San Francisco continue to be stretched to their limit. Rohrer secured permission for the St. Paulus lot. Then came the tricky part.

“Neither of us knew anything about gardening,” says Garver. “Then we found Tree.”

Tree knew how to garden. A Mission resident whose history stretched back decades, Tree had been growing and harvesting food from gardens mostly in the neighborhood, cultivating a group of local gardens and distributing the bounty to a variety of groups. In 2008 he began the Free Farm Stand at Parque Niños Unidos at 23rd and Treat. “People trust him,” says Lauren Anderson, an artist and gardener who runs the foraging nonprofit Produce to the People. “Which means a lot. It’s not easy to invite someone into your backyard, even if it’s just to pick fruit.”

Tree agreed to help run the farm with Anderson and some other nonprofit groups, with the idea that some of the produce would go to the Free Farm Stand in the Mission. The Lutheran synod that owns the church site agreed to cover the water and electrical bills. And so the farming began.

Your average burned-out foundation is not necessarily ideal farmland. The site was sunny, and as Garver puts it, the soil was equal parts sand, KFC buckets, Häagen-Dazs containers and used syringes. When asked if the crew had to use special safety gloves to clear out the soil, Garver deadpans, “It depends on how you define ‛special.’ Or ‛safe.’”

“We did have gloves,” he adds.

“There are so many different urban agriculture groups,” says Anderson. “They all believe in slightly different things: Teaching people how to garden. Getting people community garden plots. Greening the city. Working with youth. Our priority [was] getting food out of the ground and to the low-income people who needed it. The secret was manure. Lots and lots of manure.”

Planting in the basement of a burned-out building turned out to have its advantages — the plants were sheltered from San Francisco’s gale-force winds by the remaining walls. The terrible soil is producing more food than anyone expected.The first harvest at the plot they named The Free Farm — 5.5 pounds of produce — came out of the garden on April 11, just a little over three months after work began. A second mini-stand was established outside and began passing out food to residents of the immediate neighborhood. By the end of June, the free farmers had harvested 784 pounds of produce in six months, the most of any garden in the network supplying the Free Farm Stand.

On a Wednesday afternoon, a volunteer sits outside the farm behind two galvanized tubs of gargantuan, prehistoric-looking collard greens, offering them to slightly confused passersby. The quirks of the landscape are still being discovered — carrots have been challenging, collards and cabbage have done astonishingly well. There is fortune in this: Collards have been one of the most popular crops in both neighborhoods. Attempts to push kale have been met by resistance.

Inside, volunteers are elbow-deep in the dirt, feeling around for the first crop of potatoes. They range from a very enthusiastic visitor from southern Japan to Steve Pulliam, a recent transplant from Atlanta who found the place while walking his dog. When he began, he had no gardening experience. Five months later he is speaking confidently about duck droppings.

“I wanted to be outside. In the sunshine. Not around kids,” says Sarah Hale, a schoolteacher. “So much has happened this year: Haiti, the Gulf. I wanted to do something where I knew that I was doing good. Something small, and effective.”

Anderson, meanwhile, admits to aspirations beyond the small. “This is a terrible, terrible analogy,” she says, jokingly. “But we’re trying to decide if we want to turn this into a franchise.”

Online Silent Auction

An online silent auction has been created for the upcoming fundraiser. New items will be added up until July 24th, so check back regularly.

View the auction here.

More than 783.57 pounds of food grown!

I haven't blogged about our gardens in a while because I've been so busy. But, I wanted to send an update that 783.57 pounds of free produce have been given away from the Free Farm. Bethlehem Lutheran has also been enjoying harvests lately.

Beyond the food, we've also worked with more than 566 volunteers in the garden this year.

I'm someone who is usually moved more by personal stories than numbers, but these numbers are very impressive.

Thanks to all the great volunteers and leaders at the Free Farm!

First Garden Workday with Congregation Emanu El

Today at the Free Farm members and friends of Congregation Emanu El as well as other local temples across the San Francisco Bay Area joined us for their first garden workday. This marks the first Sunday that members of Congregation Emanu El and other temples will join us for the first Sunday of each month to work with us at the garden.

Today we divided up into small groups so that we could tackle several different projects we've been wanting to get to. Several people teamed up to put fresh mulch down along the path of our herb labyrinth so that it will be soft for those who walk upon it, especially those with tender knees. Others weeded around the strawberries and sunflowers and on the concrete area where we are getting ready to build a bathroom and other structures. We covered up a rocky area with soft mulch, extending our tree stump sitting area so that we can have a larger circle during work day lunch time and other activities. The area set aside for growing pumpkins was cleared from dried plants and covered with compost; soon it will be ready to be planted! Tomatoes were transplanted and placed in the green house. And, of course a little watering to keep the plants happy under the warm sun today brought. We are looking forward to working with the lovely folks of Emanu El again next month!

If you are interested in joining us for our next Sunday workday please come by on July 4 from 10am-12pm. We look forward to meeting you!

Join Us and Support Welcome

Join us for
A Free Farm Afternoon
Gough & Eddy
in San Francisco
May 22, 2010
2:30-4:30

3:30 Talk by Novella Carpenter, Author of Farm City

Music Provided by: Lia Rose

Food Donated by: farm:table, Mama's on Washington Square, Greens, Maggie Mudd, and Bi Rite Market.

A family friendly afternoon at the Free Farm. Food from Mama's on Washington Square, Green's Restaurant and many more. Wine tasting. Coffee from Farm Table Cafe. Carla's kid's corner. Music and Poetry. A fun and very special afternoon.

A special talk by Novella Carpenter, author of Farm City, a book about her first year running Ghost Town Farm in Oakland. Novella Carpenter will speak at 3:30 pm. ghosttownfarm.wordpress.com

Join us and support WELCOME. We provide a communal response to poverty with a simple philosophy of providing food, education and counseling to the communities we serve.

tickets $75, $50, $25. Pay what you can afford. Consider buying two tickets to sponsor one of our community members.

Our Organization:
When Welcome was founded in 1996, our initial mission was to work with the homeless in San Francisco's Polk Gulch District. In 2008, our work resulted in over 155 people moving indoors. We continue to work with the same low income individuals to help them learn the skills they need to remain indoors, to improve their quality of life and to become self-sustaining individuals through meals, one-on-one support and creative community projects that address the health needs of those living in poverty.

Location:
At the Free Farm at the corner of Gough & Eddy in San Francisco

The Free Farm:
Is a farm that will grow 12,000 pounds of food that will be distributed for free to members of the community. You can find information about the free farm at thefreefarm.org

Order your tickets now: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/107417

Project Leadership

Rev. Megan Rohrer, Executive Director
Vicar Pete Feltmen, Volunteer and Donation Coordinator

The Free Farm - Eddy and Gough San Francisco
Tree, Free Farm Stand- Garden Planning Team
Lauren Andersen, Produce to the People - Garden Planning Team
Joshua "Griff" Griffin, Episcopal Diocese of California - Garden Planning Team
Page Chamberlain, Standford Glean - Garden Planning Team
Carling - Garden Planning Team
Heidi - Garden Planning Team
Shandra - Garden Planning Team
Pancho - Garden Planning Team
Tamara Loewenstein - Curator and Community Arts Coordinator
Leanne C. Miller - Muralist

St. Mark's Lutheran - 1111 O'farrell in San Francisco
Lauren Andersen, Produce to the People - Garden Planning Team
Megan , St. Mark's Lutheran - Garden Planning Team
Mary, St. Mark's Lutheran - Garden Planning Team
Rose, Martin Luther Towers - Garden Planning Team

Faithful Fools Rooftop Garden - 234 Hyde in San Francisco
Octavio - Garden Planning Team

Bethlehem Lutheran - West Oakland
Karleen - Urban Farming - Garden Planning Team
Tamara Loewenstein - Curator and Community Arts Coordinator
Bianca Muller - Muralist

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran - Berkeley
Rev. Katie Hines-Shaw - Garden Planning Team


Past leaders:
Case Garver - Program Assistant (September 2009 - April 2010)

In the News

Check out this great story about the Free Farm from KQED's Bay Area Bites Blog.

excerpt:

Or, what about starting from the very beginning, and growing more food from scratch right here in the city? Even in cities as highly populated as San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, a surprisingly amount of arable land is still available. Just look at the Free Farm, which was started on a vacant lot at Gough and Eddy Streets in January of this year.

Pastor Megan Rohrer, a young Lutheran pastor who works with a variety of homeless communities around the city as the executive director of Welcome Ministry, wanted to expand the work she was doing, going from feeding the hungry of San Francisco to growing food for those same communities. The St. Paulus Lutheran church was willing to offer an empty lot it owned to her and a dedicated community of volunteers to make a garden.

Meanwhile Tree, a longtime food-justice activist and community gardener as well as the founder of the Mission's popular Free Farmstand, was looking for a place to grow more local food to supply the farmstand. Once Megan's church connections met Tree's gardening expertise, the Free Farm was born. With grants from the Mesa Foundation along with several local Episcopal and Lutheran churches, plus a whole lot of wheelbarrow-pushing volunteer labor, the weedy lot has undergone an astonishing transformation.

What was once a trash-strewn, needle-littered eyesore that neighbors called "The Pit" is now a welcoming, mural-lined space full of neatly mounded raised beds planted with salad mix, potatoes, beans, broccoli and lettuce. Bricks salvaged from the St. Paulus church (which stood on the space before burning down in 1995) now form strawberry beds on the hillside and a winding spiral bed planted with flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Cold frames and a newly built greenhouse are filled with trays of tiny seedlings, everything from kale to tomatoes to marigolds started from seeds donated by church communities across the country. Bright garden-themed murals by local artist Leanne C. Miller cover the concrete wall on the west side, and there are plans to bring more artists and sculptors into the garden to create site-specific works.

Volunteers get down and dirty every Wednesday and Saturday from 10am to 2pm, building infrastructure, hauling mulch, manure and compost, planting seedlings, waterings, and more. A volunteer-made vegan lunch, often featuring produce harvested from the garden, is shared by all. Volunteers will also share in the harvest, with excess supplying the Free Farmstand (Rohrer hopes to establish another neighborhood Free Farmstand on the site) as well as providing fresh local produce for twice-weekly homeless dinners organized by Welcome. (For more information on Welcome's additional garden projects around the Bay Area, go to Urban Share.)

Read the whole article and leave comments about the article at: KQED's Bay Area Bites Blog

Succulent Fence - West Oakland

This morning, at Bethlehem Lutheran I attached some potato and onion sacks to the fence to serve as a barrier to keep the soil inside the garden. In order to make it prettier, I also planted some succulents along the fence. Their roots will not only hold the soil in place, but it also grow strong with out much water.

Succulents (plants with a waxy coating on their leaves - like aloe) are a great addition to California gardens, because they can cover large spaces and conserve valuable water resources. Mixing lots of different types of succulents next to each other can also make a very beautiful look and provide rich textures. I also think that the green and purple of the succulents look really beautiful next to the orange of the potato sacks.

Succulents are very forgiving, so they're great for inexperienced gardeners. You can transplant them by breaking off a branch/stem and simply sticking it in some soil. Just be careful not to over water them. You'll know if this is happening because they will start to turn brown.

Raised Beds Completed at St. Mark's Garden

Today we finished building 3 more raised beds (for a total of 5), a planting table and one storage bench. Next will will be:

1. covering the sand that covers the space with fine wood chips that are accessible for wheelchairs and walkers
2. building a few more storage benches for people to sit on and to store tools
   
3. filling the raised beds with a mixture of soil, compost and horse manure
4. install the drip system and timer
   
5. start planting!!

We'll also be adding some fruit trees to our garden as well. We know we have a lemon tree that we'll be putting in.

Today's workday at the Free Farm

Today at the Free Farm, we started putting some succulents in containers on top of the concrete structures near the sidewalks.

Each week, we have a group of volunteers who take the baby seedlings and put them into individual seedling trays so their roots can get strong enough to get planted in beds. Here are a few of the people who help sort some seedlings this week.
Lauren and Case, built some shelves from pallets so that we could fit more seedling trays in the green house.
Here are some photos of today's harvest

Progress at Bethlehem Lutheran in West Oakland

The first thing we did today is replace the wooden fence that was covered in ivy, rotten and falling over. We had to cut down part of the fence in order to get the two truckloads of soil into the space. Then last week, when there was a storm the make shift fence blew down and broke.
I was able to get two rolls of chain link fence from an individual in Oakland who had recently lost their job and was happy to get rid of it in exchange for $20.
Then, we set up the drip tape and the irrigation system that would handle the daily watering of our produce.
Then we planted some leeks (as seen above), onions, carrots, beets, green beans and lettuce. It was a very productive day and it felt good to see the garden really begin to take shape and get us one step closer to a harvest!

3rd Harvest at the Free Farm: 6 pds

Today, 6 pounds of lettuce (6 1/2 pound lettuce heads 3 pounds lettuce mix) from the Free Farm was given away at the Free Farm Stand. When we start having more bountiful harvests, we'll be opening a stand at the Free Farm to give away produce and seedlings.

2 Raised Beds Finished at St. Mark's

Today at St. Mark's Lutheran in San Francisco we finished two of the raised beds that will be at the site. This garden will primarily be tended by the residents at Martin Luther Towers, a senior living facility, so we want to make sure the garden could happen at a comfortable height and limit the amount of bending and squatting that would be needed. It has also been designed to be accessible for individuals in wheelchairs and using walkers.


The tall bed you see above is at a comfortable height for gardening while standing. The smaller bed will be pounded down in the sand and filled with dirt for people to garden while they are seated. Click here to see the garden plan for this site.

If you'd like to learn how we built this beds or just help at the St. Mark's garden, we hope you'd join us next Sunday (April 25th from 1-4pm) when we finish the rest of our beds.

Extra Bishop's Blessing

After our garden blessing service today, Bishop Marc Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California and Bishop Mark Holmerud of the ELCA's Sierra Pacific Synod helped us plant some seedlings. In amongst the seeds that were donated to the Urban Share Community Gardening Project were some seeds called "the Bishop's Flower." It was perfect for them to plant. We're going to nurse these seedlings, then I'll bring some to the Bishops and plant some at our gardens.

And of course since the bishops travel a lot and may not be able to visit their flowers often, we'll take photos of them so they can watch them grow.

Blessing of the Free Farm - Ritual

The text and photos below are from the blessing of the Free Farm. We've posted the information below in hopes that you will bless your own garden sites. Please feel free to use the service in whole or in parts. We planned our service by mapping out a route through the garden, you may want to do the same.

All Leaders were encouraged to add, substitute or subtract any words they desire or to offer their own blessing. Religious leaders were asked to dress casually in clothes suitable for gardening and to wear a sign of their faith - particularly those that had agricultural roots. For example, stoles are a sign of being yoked to God as an oxen is yoked to a plow. And bishops often have staffs used for shepherding.

Service of Blessing for the Free Farm

Apr 17, 2010

Gathering Song: Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell

Opening Words:

Welcome! Grace and peace to you. As we begin, you are invited to look at your surroundings here – Feel your feet in the dirt. Feel the wind on your face. We are standing on the remains of St. Paulus Lutheran, a church that fell victim to the destructive power of fire. While we typically stand aghast at the desolation that a fire can cause. Fires are also profound catalysts for new growth. Consider the Mountain Grey Gum tree (eucalyptus cypellocarpa) which has adapted to grow masses of fresh green shoots of leaves within days after a fire sweeps through. Fire is a natural element necessary to the harmony of nature. In the Christian tradition fire can also carry connotations purification. And now as we stand in the ashes and dirt of fire, we look around and see the budding of new plants. Hope springs eternal to the faithful and we look to this garden to be a sacred space that will provide nourishing food to those in need. This space will serve as a church without walls for the community providing a place for whole body health, education, worship, and food justice.

Song: Gather Us In vs 1,2,4

Prayer:

Spirit of grace and truth, we ask that you make your presence felt in this garden today and everyday. We ask that you make our hands and hearts both strong and humble as we work this ground. We ask that you provide the necessary balance of energy and rest for the gardeners. Inspire us, God, so that the words we speak here today may have a lasting effect on our lives and the lives of all that we connect with. Amen.

Blessings:

Gate

Spirit of grace and truth, bless this gate. May all that pass through it have the desire to do goodness and work towards justice. Place your angels on these fences and command them to dispel evil wherever it attempts to enter. May this gate speak “welcome” and “peace” to all that walk by.

All: God bless this garden and all of the life and potential that it represents.

Community Area

Participants walk to the community Area. Anyone interested in offering a blessing at this time is welcome. You may use your own blessing or the words printed below.

If no one speaks in this space we will observe a time a silence to remember the saints who have come before us, particularly the generation after generation of farmers that planted and collected seeds. The presider will end the time of silence by reading the words below.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless this community area. May it be a space of fellowship, trust, and communion. We ask that you open the hearts and minds of all that gather here, and that you would bless their hands for the work that needs to be accomplished.

All: God bless this garden and all of the life and potential that it represents.

Greenhouse

Participants walk to the greenhouse.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless this greenhouse. The earth is cool and dark, and far below, new life begins. May the soil in this greenhouse be blessed with fertility and abundance, with the heat of the sun, with the energy of the raw earth. May the soil be blessed as the womb of the land becomes full and fruitful to bring forth the garden anew.

All: God bless this garden and all the life and potential it represents.

Tool shed

Participants walk to the tool shed.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless this humble tool shed made from pallets. We give thanks for these tools that were bought, borrowed, donated or rescued from the dump. You are the God who turns swords to plowshares, help us to use these tools you have given us safely, with mindfulness and to remember to put them away neatly when we are done.

All: God bless this garden and all the life and potential it represents.

Labyrinth

Participants walk to the labyrinth.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless this labyrinth. Thank you for giving us times of stillness, peace, and meditation. Thank you for those blessed moments where your light can be seen briefly if not comprehended. Help us to find those moments in this labyrinth. Grace this place with your light so that it might inspire profound self-examination and reflection.

All: God bless this garden and all the life and potential it represents.

Strawberry terraces

Participants walk to the terraces.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless these strawberry terraces. May you help us to realize the juiciness rife with potassium that are strawberries. Help us to pause in our daily life and recognize what little wonders of creation strawberries are. If we could make communion wine from these strawberries we would be grateful for your ever present blessing on our lives.

All: God bless this garden and all the life and potential it represents.

Water Station

Participants walk to the raised beds.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless this water station. You who split the Red Seas, sprung water from rock in the desert, tamed the stormy waters and used water to name us your children, help us to be good stewards of this water that will be used to clean soiled hands, nurture plants and quench the thirst of those who toil.

All: God bless this garden and all the life and potential it represents.

Seedlings

Participants walk to the seedlings.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless these seedlings. May they grow into nourishing and healthy plants to sustain us in life. We thank you for the rain and the sun that is so graciously provided and we ask for the proper balance as these baby plants grow and mature.

All: God bless this garden and all of the life and potential that it represents.

Raised plant beds

Participants walk to the raised beds.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless these plant beds. May their growth be a reminder to us of the constant growth that we experience everyday. As God says in Genesis (1:11-12), "Let the land produce vegetation: seed- bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

All: God bless this garden and all the life and potential it represents.

Compost

Participants walk to the compost piles.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless this compost. May it give the plants the nutrients they need. As we encounter its smells, let them be a reminder to us about the order and chaos of life and death. For as it is written in Genesis (3:19), “by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

All: God bless this garden and all the life and potential it represents.

Murals

Participants walk to the murals.

Spirit of grace and truth, bless these murals. Thank you for the gift of art. Thank you for t he talent you have instilled in us. Thank you for our anxious moments of being where we can do nothing but mock you with our own creations. Thank you for being an untouchable creator. May these murals be signs of peace and justice to all that look upon them. May they be welcoming to all who need welcomed. May they be distracting to passers-by that they may become interested and volunteer. May they be inspiring to all the gardeners as they toil.

All: God bless this garden and all the life and potential it represents.

Commissioning:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

All: And also with you.

Brothers and sisters: We have come together to commission this garden for the glory of God and building up of the body of Christ. From this day forward let it be a place for the gathering of the people of God, a place for proclaiming the Gospel through Word and Sacrament, a place for bringing life and hope to us and to this community.

Let us pray: Direct us, O Lord in all our doings with your most gracious favor and further us with your continual help, that in all our works, begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy name and finally, by your mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen

Peace to this garden.

All: And all who enter here.

( Psalm 122) “I was glad when they said to me “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city that is at unity with itself; to which the tribes go up the tribes of the Lord, the assembly of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord. For there are the thrones of judgement, the thrones of the house of David.

(Psalm 122 cont.) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls and quietness within your towers. For my brethren and companions' sake, I pray for your prosperity. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek to do you good.

All your works praise you, O Lord,

All: and your faithful servants bless you.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe. In the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and you created heaven and earth. You have made water for us sign of rebirth and by it we share in the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ. Pour out your Holy Spirit, so that new life may be given to all those who believe. To you, O god, be given praise and honor and worship through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

All: Amen

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe. You have revealed your love for your creation in your Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. Inspired by him, we seek to hold fast to the truth and to know your purposes. Purify the hands of those who work here, and grant us grace to hear your love in all that is proclaimed from this garden.

All: Amen

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe. The heavens and earth cannot contain you, yet you are willing to make your home in human hearts. We are the temple of your presence, and this garden is the house of your church. Accept us and this place to which we come to share with others the covenant you make with us, to praise your name, to receive your forgiveness, to hear your Word, and to be nourished by the body and blood of your Son. Be present always to guide and illumine your people. And now, O god, visit us with your mercy and blessing as we dedicate this garden to your glory and honor and to the service of all people in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen

Closing Song: Canticle of Turning vs. 1,2,4

Benediction

Go in peace and tend the garden!

All: Thanks be to God

Save the date: May 22nd Fundraiser

Order your tickets now: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/107417

A family friendly afternoon at the Free Farm. Food from Mama's on Washington Square, Green's Restaurant and many more. Wine tasting. Coffee from farm:table. Carla's kid's corner. Music and Poetry. A fun and very special afternoon.

A special talk by Novella Carpenter, author of Farm City, a book about her first year running Ghost Town Farm in Oakland. Novella Carpenter will speak at 3:30 pm.

Join us and support Welcome. We provide a communal response to poverty with a simple philosophy of providing food, education and counseling to the communities we serve. Learn more at www. sfwelcome.org

tickets $75, $50, $25. Pay what you can afford, no one turned away for lack of funds. Consider buying two tickets to sponsor one of our community members.

Our Organization:
When Welcome was founded in 1996, our initial mission was to work with the homeless in San Francisco's Polk Gulch District. In 2008, our work resulted in over 155 people moving indoors. We continue to work with the same low income individuals to help them learn the skills they need to remain indoors, to improve their quality of life and to become self-sustaining individuals through meals, one-on-one support and creative community projects that address the health needs of those living in poverty.

Location:
At the Free Farm at the corner of Gough & Eddy in San Francisco

The Free Farm:
Is a farm that will grow 12,000 pounds of food that will be distributed for free to members of the community. You can find information about the free farm at thefreefarm.org

Order your tickets now.

Whole Health Activities Begin!

Before the work day this past Wednesday we had our first whole body health activity at the Free Farm. Our free yoga gathering helped volunteers and members of the community start the day of with some good stretching.

We're looking for qualified individuals (trained folk or students who have some supervision) to lead free whole body health activities at the Free Farm. They could include, but will not be limited to:

• Reiki
• Tai Chi
• meditation
• support groups
• acupuncture
• skill share classes
• self defense
  
• poetry
• singing/open mic
• book clubs
• insert the practice or hobby you use to relax or keep your body healthy

This is a great way for individuals to complete the hours they need in order to get certified or to give back to the community in a beautiful space. If you're interested, please contact megan@welcomeministry.org to learn more.

We'll keep a schedule of events, get the word out to encourage folk to come or make appointments for you - whatever you prefer. Leaders will be expected to open the gate (there is a numerical code), maintain a safe environment at the farm, make sure everyone leaves before they do, and make sure everyone who participates signs a waiver.

Get Connected

This is what's going on with Urban Share this week.

• Wednesday the 14th yoga at the Free Farm. We have 10 mats that can be used if you need one. First come, first serve. Yoga begins at 9am.
• Then, Wednesday workday at the Free Farm from 10am - 2pm with a vegan lunch provided.
• Saturday, the 17th the Free Farm is holding a blessing ceremony for the garden with Lutheran Bishop Mark Holmerud, Episcopal Bishop Marc Andrus, clergy from the Free Farm and folks not-involved with the church.
• Sunday, the 18th St. Mark's workday constructing raised beds together.

Rest assured there will be plenty of pictures of religious people in their funny clothes, early morning farm yoga, and St. Mark's progress.

Til then here are some photos of what it looks like to volunteer with Welcome at Urban Share gardening events.

Present Needs

Urban Share has a list of needs to drive the projects we're involved in forward. In order to have our needs met we have to ask. So, here's asking. Please bear in mind that you can either provide the whole in-kind donation of the item we need, or parts helpful in constructing it, or money to be put towards it.
Free Farm:

1. Plastic for a green house
2. Green house shelving (you'll see from the pictures below that we really need it)
3. A shed for our tools (new or used as long as it's waterproof)
   
4. Lumber for a composting toilet
5. Wheelbarrows
6. Knowledgeable folks able to lead others in tasks that need completing.
7. Hand tools
8. Lots of Compost/Manure/Woodchips

Check out this great greenhouse that the Farm received as a donation!

Free Farm Harvest Helps Feed at Welcome Community Dinner

This Saturday's harvest of lettuces from the Free Farm went to Welcome's 2nd and 4th Saturday community dinner. Over 150 meals were served with a side of super fresh, super local, greens.


The greens started off in covered beds here. (Thanks to Carling for this great photo taken at the Saturday workday!)











Then they were harvested and packed up.










And finally found their way onto plates to feed Welcome guests!

Fence Gardens - 3 Types - DIY

Today at the Free Farm, we completed 3 projects that will grow on the fence. Our goal is to get some plants growing on the fence to make the space look prettier (both inside and out) and to create a noise barrier from all the street noise.

Here are three easy do-it-yourself projects that would be easy for you to complete on your own.

Our first project is the easiest. Take a plant that grows quickly like a vine, and likes to climb and train it to climb a fence. How do you train a plant? I used twine. It's as easy as gently tying it to the fence guiding it in the direction you want it to grow.

The photo to the left is of a Marsh Mallow (yup that's it's real name) that was growing wild near the fence at the Farm. So, I trained it to climb the fence and labeled the plant so that it could be read on both sides of the fence.

The second project, is also very simple. In fact all I did was fill a metal container with soil (potting soil + horse manure), plant a passion fruit and train the vine to attach to the fence. The passion fruit also has some support from some bamboo shoots to help it get to the fence and grow tall.

As you can see from the photo above, we needed the container because this section of the garden has concrete on it. If your fence is next to soil, you can plant right into the ground.

The third project is a little more complicated, but only took an hour from start to finish. I made a small pocket out of potato sacks and chicken wires. Then I filled it with dirt and planted a nasturtium and trained it to the fence.

Click here if you would like the complete instructions on how to make the vertical garden pocket on a fence.