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.

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!

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.

Free Farm Workday - 7 Beds Completed!

Here you can see our Wednesday volunteers hard at work. In the bottom left corner of the photo above you'll find Tree planting some garlic in the terraced beds, some volunteers double digging , a raised bed being planted and some horse manure being spread where we will be double digging on Saturday.
To date we have completed 7 raised beds with our double digging and have only two more to go!
Tree, one of our expert gardeners, found a hammock by the side of the road that we are setting up at the garden. It will be a great space for people to rest and enjoy our garden.
One of the on going projects that volunteers are working on at the garden are steps made from bricks on our terraced hill that will provide a place for gardeners to sit and rest and to tend to the terraced plants a bit easier. The bricks for the steps come from the rubble of what used to be St. Paulus Lutheran before it burned down in the early 1990's.

Hope to see you at our next garden workday (at the corner of Gough and Eddy in San Francisco) on Saturday from 10-2pm. Vegan lunch served at noon.

Trees for Arbor Day, A Heap of Horse Manure and More Food Planted!

Major thanks to the folks at Redwood Ranch in Oakland for giving the Free Farm over 25,000 pounds of horse manure. Many thanks to our friend who drove the truck to deliver to us as well! With enough manure to last us for awhile our Saturday workday crew dug right in to prepare and plant more beds. Right now the Free Farm has 9 farm-style beds totaling over 1,000 sq. ft. We have 4 planted and another ready to go.






























































In the above photo you'll notice the beds are covered with a thin fabric. This stuff protects against, birds, bugs, and wind, as well as helping the plants grow quicker.

This Saturday the Free Farm observed Arbor Day by planting more food growing trees. Below a Lamb Haas Avocado tree is being planted.














We also planted Pakistani Mulberry tree! The Free Farm now has the avocado and mulberry trees I mentioned , and a weeping santa rosa plum, and a desert dawn nectarine.

What a great way to celebrate Arbor Day!

Workday - I am a rock!

Today at the free farm we did a little planting. Below you will see pictures of the seedlings we planted in the double dug beds, in our labyrinth and on our hill.
We also worked to double dig another bed since we have lots of seedlings that need to get into the ground as soon as possible before they go bad. But, you'll notice from the photo below, that in the middle of our double digging we discovered a huge boulder in the middle of our bed. It took a little work, but we were eventually able to get the boulder out and complete our raised bed so that it would be ready for planting on Saturday. After double digging, we added horse manure and compost to the top and worked it into the soil.


Below is pictures of our completed raised and the seedlings that are itching to be planted.


In addition to growing food for the hungry, the Free Farm also serves as an educational spaces that teaches people about the different ways it is possible to garden and grow food in Urban settings. The photo below shows four different types of gardening: 1) the double dug raised beds; 2) a terraced hillside; 3) planting flowers, sunflowers and herbs directly on the hillside in mulch; and 4) our labyrinth raised beds.
Come see the garden for yourself at our next workday on Saturday from 10-2. Vegan lunch is served at noon. Closed during heavy rain. Hope you'll join us!

Ready to Irrigate Means We Need Drip Tape!

Hi Everyone!

In the last post I told you that we have beds ready to plant food in. How exciting! All told our beds will provide us with over 1,000 square feet of planting space. As you may well imagine that much space is difficult to water with just a hose and spray nozzle. This means we need a drip irrigation system using drip tape to properly water our crops.














(Hand watering is ok for seed trays)




















(Hand watering is not ok for 7 more of these beds!)

This link has a picture of what I mean by drip tape. It also has a short rundown on how drip irrigation works. It's a good way to irrigate for large scale food production, and soon when we move beyond the two beds we have ready right now, it will be critical to the livelihood of our crops.

As always you can check out our wish list and learn a little bit more about our intern Pete, the person to contact if you can help out!