Written by Aimee Hill | 13 February 2011

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus ruber

ORDER: PICIFORMES   |   FAMILY: PICIDAE

The Red-breasted Sapsucker was seen visiting Hayes Valley Farm on Feb 7, 2011 during the Urban Tracking and Nature Awareness workshop.  This is an unusual bird to see in such an urban setting and it's sighting speaks well for the biodiversity that the farm is creating in the heart of San Francisco.  Woodpeckers are a keystone species that themselves help add to the biodiversity of a place - woodpeckers consistently make new holes in trees, leaving behind the old holes as habitat to be used by others birds and animals.

• Identifying features: Upperparts are black barred with white, and they have a prominent white stripe across each black wing. They have yellowish bellies. Males and females look much alike. Juveniles are mottled brown but have white wing-stripes like the adults.
• Behavior: Four to five white eggs are laid in a cavity drilled in a tree. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female. Feeds by drilling neat horizontal rows of holes into tree trunks and then returning to those holes later to feed on the running sap and the insects attracted to it. Unlike most woodpeckers, they forage in healthy trees and can actually kill a tree if they drill too many sap-holes around its trunk, although this is quite uncommon. Call is a soft, slurred "whee-ur" or "mew. 
• Food: Feeds on sap, bark cambium, insects, especially ants, and some fruits
• Habitat: Woodlands, forest edges, and groves of aspen and alder.
• Range and time of year in Bay Area: Breeds from southeastern Alaska and British Columbia south to coastal California. Spends winters in most of its breeding range except interior British Columbia.
  

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Written by Lindsey Whited | 11 February 2011

This Sunday we will come together to celebrate Hayes Valley Farm’s one year anniversary! We have seen the farm transform over the past year from an abandoned highway ramp to mountains of fertile soil, plants, habitat, and thriving community. Come celebrate the fruits of love and labor that so many dedicated and inspiring individuals have taken part in creating.

Roots to Fruits: Celebrating our First Year of Growth, Sunday at 3:00pm.

Workday will resume as usual at noon and transition into celebration at 3 p.m.  We will begin by honoring our directors, who along with the hundreds of volunteers, have made the farm what it is today.

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Written by Katherine Anderson | 10 February 2011

Food has the magical ability to transport us to beloved memories.

Macaroni and cheese recalls childhood memories in so many of us. Chocolate will bring back a first date in college.  And crab cake sandwiches may just remind you of that special beach holiday you had with what’s-his-name. Whether you need to heal your body or boost your spirits, the right comfort foods can do it all.

Released by certain macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates & proteins), research shows that three little neurotransmitters - Dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin - are capable of bringing us joy and evoking tender memories. When protein is consumed and broken down through our digestive system, dopamine and norepinephrine are released in the brain and are largely responsible for memory recall. When starchy carbohydrates are consumed, serotonin is produced, triggering a anxiety-reducing, calming mood state.

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Written by Lindsey Goldberg | 09 February 2011

Rooftops: surfaces with incredible potential. The rooftop garden at Glide Memorial Church exemplifies the possibilities.

Herbs, vegetables and flowers, a greenhouse, a picnic table, a vermicompost system (compost with worms) is a classroom, a community gathering space, a volunteer opportunity and a place to find nourishment. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to teach and learn with the students from the Family, Youth and Childcare Center.

This afternoon was beautiful, clear skies, sunshine and a light, cool breeze. I met the kinder class at the FYCC and we walked over to Glide, with a snack of goldfish in hand to feed the worms on the roof. We broke up the goldfish into little worm bite-sized pieces and sprinkled the bright orange cracker on the top of the pile. “Mmmmmm….it smells so good in here,” commented Joshua. We peer into the pile and notice that the top layer was laden with fresh herbs: dill, thyme, mint and parsley. Yum! These worms eat well!

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Written by Rachel Buddeberg | 08 February 2011

What does a chapter 14 strategies discussion look like? I found out at the Strategies 101 meeting at Hayes Valley Farm. We read the introduction to chapter 14 - The Strategies of an Alternative Global Nation - in Bill Mollison's book and then walked around the farm to see where such alternatives might be implemented.

How can we spread the wonders of the farm to lay the seeds for an alternative global nation? The edges of the farm lead to two major thoroughfares: Oak and Fell. The people in the cars seemed mostly oblivious about what was going on next to them (a miracle!). One strategy to get them out of their cars might be to make them aware of the farm. Maybe we could put up signs that point out that food is growing here. We could include pictures of the highway ramps that were transformed into the farm. There is a parking lot adjacent to the greens, again we wondered how we could reach the people who park there. Maybe they don't realize that what is growing right next to their parking spot is edible, so we could share the bounty with them.

Then there are the people who live close to the farm. Some of them have lived there for a long time and might enjoy sharing their stories about the site - how it used to be a highway; how the poppies came right back as soon as the cars stopped; how they are now discovering the farm. This could be modeled after some oral history projects.

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