GreatNonProfits 2009 Green Choice Winner!

GreatNonProfits 2009 Green Choice Winner!
Green Choice Winner 2009

Saturday, May 20, 2006

I would like you to meet our very special garden mascot, Miss Rhubarb, standing amongst the weeds!


Please join the Community Clean Team to beautify
District 5 and keep
San Francisco Clean, Green and Beautiful!
Community Day
Saturday, June 3, 2006
Ella Hill Hutch Community Center
(1015 McAllister at Webster Street)
Volunteers will paint out graffiti, create litter-free zones, and
tend to trees in neighborhoods all over District 5.
Volunteer in the Parks
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Hayes Green (Octavia and Hayes)
Volunteers will work on gardening & beautification projects
at Hayes Green and other district parks.

Events run from 9:00 am until noon

Monday, May 15, 2006


"We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race."

Cicero



Koshland Community Parties On!

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the community was out in full force. An absolutely lovely event on May 13th thanks to The International High School for there hard work and gorgeous singing, The Clara House for helping beautify the park, Safety Netowrk for the amazing arts and crafts table, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association for ALL their support, The Western Addition Drill Team for performing and haveing a delicious bake sale, The Beacon Center for making this all possible, Nancy Boy for the thoughtful gifts and raffle prize and everyone else for showing up and making it a great success.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Support Global Worming!!

"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves"


Over the past few weeks we have been dedicated to amending our compost pile and creating a system that makes sense to all who venture through our garden! We want you to have the freshest, most nutritious compost to feed to your garden plots. So, we think we have finally figured out a system that will work for us, will make sense to the children that frequent the garden, and of course is sensible to the gardeners that make this space so beautiful! We have the three bin system which means that each bin has an integral part in the whole process! (this is where the signs come in handy:). Sometimes the pile needs to be "stewing" and not disturbed ("SLEEPING") sometimes the pile can use some delicious garden and food scraps ("FEED ME"), and sometimes the pile has been completely crunched and munched by the decomposers and is ready to harvest ("USE ME"). Hopefully this will make things simpler for us, for you, and the decomposers scurrying to find the freshest organic material! We will continue to turn the compost piles and make sure that things are steaming for you. We hope this system will work out! Please let us know if you have any suggestions or questions about this whole composting thing!


Harvesting compost!! You can use the screen to sift through the "USE ME" pile into a bucket. Whatever does not fit through the screen you can throw into the "FEED ME" pile to continue to decompose. Just look for the "USE ME" sign to find the pile that is ready to harvest and give back to the earth!




The lovely three bin system. We try our best to turn the piles at least once a week to expedite this process. The more you turn the pile the faster the process of decomposition!



COMPOSTING TIPS:
We would LOVE to have:
healthy vegetable or flower plants pulled from the garden, vegetable or fruit scraps, crushed eggshells, fresh or partly rotted straw (not too much--very rich in carbon and could throw off the activity), fallen tree leaves (avoid the pine needles--very acidic), coffee grounds, tea bags/leaves, and other plant based products. If you are uncertain feel free to ask us!


Here are a few things that we should all avoid putting into the piles because they may attract some pesky rodents that are not always the most welcome:
meat bones, an abundance of newspaper (some is OK--but NO paper with colored ink!), dairy products, rocks, glass, plastic, or metal, fats or cereal products (attract those lovely rodents)and manure from most creatures of this planet. I am sure there are a few other things we missed. Once again, if you are uncertain just ask us and we will answer your questions the best we can!!

*Be sure to chop large materials so they will decay faster!
*Add a little water to the "FEED ME" pile if it looks dried out!

"Anyone can have dirt. Gardener's have soil"