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11 October 2010
Sunday's photos from the Hayes Valley Farm Community all over San Francisco.
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06 October 2010
Over the past week we have been showered with support for our new Kickstarter fundraising campaign. In just 7 days we have raised over $3,330. If you haven't already, JOIN these 39 supporters now and help our farm thrive next year.
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05 October 2010
You can make a video of your 10 | 10 | 10 Garden Action and share it!
Here's one from Ryan at Just Good TV. Check out more Hayes Valley Farm VIDEOS too.
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30 September 2010
What do you get by mixing perlite, sand, compost and woodchips? With a little bit of light and water, this concoction is the perfect home in which to raise newborn seedlings. Seedlings require special attention and care for their first weeks of life, until they are baby plants ready to play in the nursery.
Hayes Valley Farm is building a network of mini-greenhouses to raise seedlings. Volunteers will be growing seedlings in their windowsills, kitchens, and backyards. On Sunday, Jay taught us how to create a soil mix the seedlings will thrive in, as well as an easy trick for spacing seeds.
How To Start Seedlings
Materials Needed
- 2 Flats
- Newspaper
- Seeds
- Compost
- Woodchips Sand
- Perlite (optional)
2. Mix the materials that will compose your soil:
- Handful of Perlite
- Handful of Sand
- 1/3 Part Woodchips
- 2/3 Parts Compost
The perlite helps retain moisture, the sand aids in drainage, the compost adds nitrogen, and the woodchips provide carbon. Jay said he didn’t recommend purchasing perlite because it is an expensive industrial product. But, in our case, it was donated, so we went ahead and used it.
3. Line a flat with newspaper and place another flat on top of it. Now, lay the soil mixture you created in the flat. The newspaper helps capture excess moisture.
4. Plant the seeds so that they are spaced a few inches apart. One effective technique is to lay another flat on top of the soil. Put a seed in every other space in the flat’s grid to ensure they are evenly spaced. Punch holes and place the seeds in the holes, so that they are about ½ inch deep. Cover the seeds with the soil.
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28 September 2010
The future of life on this planet may depend on what we eat. Factory farmed junk food is the #1 cause of climate change, but we can save the planet by going organic. The greenhouse gas emissions from factory farms, deforestation, industrial crop production, food processing, and long-distance distribution make the food sector the biggest cause of climate change, responsible for at least a third of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Factory farmed meat, dairy and eggs alone may contribute as much as 51%! But we can change food system pollution into food system solutions. A worldwide shift to local, organic food production would drastically reduce food system emissions and turn the world's farmland into a carbon sink to capture and store 40% of global greenhouse gas pollution.
Excerpt from Organic Consumers Association's "Food Agenda 2020: The Organic Alternative
Benefits of Kitchen Gardens
Community Health
We know that our culture is facing a nutrition-related health crisis. It starts with the rise in obesity and leads to other diseases. Diet and obesity related diseases (heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes) are the biggest killer in the Unites States today.[2] Obesity costs Americans 10% of our health care bills, approximately $150 billion dollars per year. This figure is expected to double in the next 10 years to $300 billion per year.
Not only do kitchen gardens provide fresh, healthy vegetables and encourage healthy eatting, they also give us an opportunity for exercise and human interaction. Kitchen gardens can be adapted for any skill and ability level, from individual gardens in barrels to entire backyards with perennial vegetables and fruit trees.
Community Building
As any current San Francisco gardener can attest, a garden becomes a magnet and a catalyst for community health just by being visible. As neighbors see eachother enjoying the bounty of a kitchen garden, perhaps pausing in the morning to enjoy the sweet flesh of a sun ripened strawberry, it often leads to sharing garden knowledge and garden surplus. Connections are made and bonds are established simply by seeing food production so close to the kitchen. A catalyst, because every gardener discovers the dilemma of too many zucchini or so much arugula they could feed the neighborhood. Surplus happens in a garden. Community bonds frequently follow a surplus as extra veggies and fruits are shared with neighbors. The garden caring and neighborly sharing leads to a diverse diet promoting improved eating habits and stronger community bonds.
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Over a thousand volunteers, neighbors, and community members have helped coordinate the farm efforts.