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04 January 2011
For our second day of camp the theme was CREATIVITY and we surpassed my wildest dreams with four full hours of creative expression. As the young wonderers arrived they developed their own creative activity of building a big imaginary fire by stacking rocks and sticks and lighting the "ivy fuse" with magic wands. This was a wonderful way to start off the day as we imagined the warmth from the fire while a chill formed in the air and sporadic rain drops began to fall.
For our opening circle, Sunshine Cauliflower led a short, invigorating yoga practice referencing nature and connecting us to our outdoor space. As we concluded our circle the rain held off, so we moved on to creating decoupage with rocks, wood, plants, and flowers found on the farm. We each selected a piece of wood or rock and slathered it with glue. Then we beautifully arranged leaves, stems, and flower petals on top to create original pieces of art to take home for display.
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03 January 2011
Another year, another 365 days to wake up and smell the compost. 2010, we hardly knew ye. 2011, we need you to be big for us.
The turning of the calendar is always a great time to reflect on the past year and to look forward to what’s about to unfold. 2010 was a great year for the Wigg Party. It honestly seems like yesterday we were ringing in the new decade with all our friends at the Sunshine Castle. 2010 brought us the very first Wigg Party Party (February 10th 2010 – for posterity’s sake), the birth of our self-preservation series of re-skilling events, thousands of pounds of food rescued from the waste stream through our Fresh Produce Share-With-Alls, two Carrotmobs, many a local-food sharing event, 10.10.10, the advent of wig-wearing (pretty sure we invented this), Sunday Streets, (PARK)ing Day, BP/ARCO protests, many moments of merriment and about 100 boxes of chalk applied to our beloved Wiggle. In 2010, the Wigg Party grew from a small group of friends with an idea to a bona fide movement in our little corner of this beautiful city of San Francisco. If 2010 marked the birth of a number of key elements of the growing sustainability movement (Hayes Valley Farm, Underground Farmers’ Market, the Hub SoMa, Fix Fell, Fix Masonic, SFBC’s Connecting the City, SF Urban Agriculture Alliance, I Bike SF, I Helmet SF, SF Bike Party, to name *just* a few!), 2011 will be the year many of these elements get together to figure out how to create some major victories for our city and our society.
Read more: "2011: The Year of Synergy in Sustainable San Francisco" at The Wigg Party.
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28 December 2010
I didn't have the pleasure of being at the farm for week one of Winter Wonderfarm, so I was grateful for the repetition of some of last week's activities on the first day of week two. We set off with a wondrous farm tour led by veteran wonderers Mr. Cute Cocoon and Cat. We learned about the cob oven and how to cook in it, and Puppy informed us that the oven is inhabited by Winnie the Pooh. Of course, when it's time to heat things up, Mr. Pooh is sure to take a stroll around the farm. (Please note: Mr. Pooh does not store his honey in the oven).
Booka the Wormologist wiggled by to teach us all about the importance of worms at the farm. We held a worm race, and Cat did the honor of inventing delightful names for our race worms: Zachi, Sassafrass, and Enzolina.
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27 December 2010
Our Final Day of Week One at Winter Wonderfarm
I look down at my wrist and remember a wonderous week at Hayes Valley Farm. Four loops of yellow bookbinding string hold four magical beads on my wrist. Four pearls of wisdom that represent the knowledge I’ve gained at Winter Wonderfarm and the experiences I will share with the greater communities in which I exist.
Day Four of Winter Wonderfarm was guided by the theme of Community. The day was dedicated to honoring our fellow farmers, our brethren and sistren of students and educators, and the webs of relationship that connect us to our friends and family around the world. On day four, Winter Wonderfarmers celebrated community through music, art, and culinary mastery.
We began the morning in the freeway food forest. We stretched our bodies, relaxed our minds, and awakened our senses to the cool breeze and sunshine around us. Janelle led us in two trust-building exercises to showcase the belief that communities thrive through bonds of trust, communication, and mutual understanding.
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23 December 2010
My name is Chase and my nature name is Feather, “Whoooooooo, (shake, shake, shake...)”
“Good morning Chase Feather, (shake, shake, shake)” we respond.
Our check-in this morning involved making a noise and a movement to represent how we were feeling. From subtle and soft to big and boisterous we said “Good Morning” to each other and to the Farm. Day Three at Winter Wonderfarm commenced... with blue streaks against a gentle gray sky, lots of smiles and sparkling eyes. Today was wonderful!
Connection was our theme, meaning deepening connection to place, each other and the possibilities that each moment holds for discovery, learning, trust-building, creativity, and FUN!
We got a special visit from Carla of City Grazing and her two dear friends, Cow and Petunia, GOATS!
Cow and Petunia had never visited Hayes Valley Farm and they were very excited to spend part of the morning with the young farmers. We learned a lot about goats! Garden Wizard, Yannick Organic lovingly referred to these soft, furry friends as natural lawn mowers. They will eat just about any plant, and can help to manage a weedy situation. We learned that they have four stomachs, they have really nice, white teeth, and they are vegetarians. Also, goats have a lot in common with worms, their poop is really great for farms and gardens. We took the goats on a tour of the farm, the young urban farmers were gracious hosts, offering our soft, furry new friends kale, fava leaves and broccoli greens, Before the goats left Hayes Valley Farm, they had a late breakfast of dew speckled ivy. Thank you Carla, Cow and Petunia! We hope to have the goats back to the farm soon!
Today was a day of firsts: The first day of our first 
The word "engineer" comes from the Latin "ingenium", meaning "cleverness". My particular brand of cleverness involves writing software, but I consider myself among peers who design automobiles, fancy molecules, and suspension bridges. There's a common ethic among all engineers: a can-do attitude that whatever the problem, there must be a solution.
As a part of our 6-week program with the 1st graders at FAIS, the budding wormologists and the HVF Youth Educators created worm-ariums to observe what worms do underground. We filled up two jars with four different layes of earth: clay, compost, mulch and leaf matter. We borrowed a few of our red wiggler friends from our worm bin on site and placed them on top of the leaf layer, closest to the top of the jar. We poked holes in the lid to ensure circulation of oxygen, and reminded the wormologists that they needed to cover the worm-ariums with a dark cloth because worms do not respond well to excessive exposure to light.f They agreed to take diligent notes and draw their observations in their farm journals (hand-made from all recycled materials found at Hayes Valley Farm).
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Over a thousand volunteers, neighbors, and community members have helped coordinate the farm efforts.