Labor of Love

I have been giving a lot of tours recently and talking a lot about this and that about our Free Farm.  Thinking about the farm now, the thing that stands out in my mind   is that we have such an excellent bunch of volunteers and that they are the ones that somehow make our farm work so well. So this is a shout out and thank you to all the many people who show up and help out in some way.

One of our wonderful volunteers who was around for too short a time, Pam O'Dea, who often gave wonderful massages to our volunteers and others, has been keeping in touch through email. She had to leave town as I understand it because the high rents here pushed here out. Now she is on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. Inspired by her work on the Free Farm she took up planting a vegetable garden and she just wrote me that her first harvest is in.

I also want to say that we have so many talented Free Farmers, like our bee keeper Pam, who with some other Free Farmers, printed a beautiful handout on handmade paper for OutsideLands (see previous blog post), plus making oragami pots for the event also. Then there is K who often leads us in singing at our volunteer lunch (I loved the "Thanks" chant last week). She also is an amazing pianist who played at our volunteer appreciation night and here is a heads up for a free recital she is playing soon:

"I will play classical music (Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, etc.) and improvise on some of my original compositions.

My students:will play more traditional, classical, and jazzy tunes +duets.

These kids are amazing (ages 10, 10 and 9, respectively) and I'm pretty proud of them.

Come one, come all--it's guaranteed entertainment! "

When: Sunday, August 19th @ 5 pm - 6:30 pm

Where: Sherman Clay piano store, 647 Mission St (between 2nd and 3rd, close to Montgomery BART Station)

Reception to follow.  Free.  Donations welcome ($5 - $10 suggested).

http://www.facebook.com/events/402212269837392/

This is what makes the Free Farm so special in my mind is the community of beautiful stars shining in their unique way and spreading the light and love around them.

Last Saturday we hosted 23 visitors from around the country that were part of the bicycle tour for the American Community Garden Association conference being held here in San Francisco. I was part of the team that made lunch for everyone and I lead them all on a 30 minute tour. They were all such a great group of people, almost all gardeners and many involved in wonderful projects themselves. When they left, I felt they got something out of the tour and they seemed very happy with the visit.

Here is a photo of one my favorite things we grow at the Free Farm, pepino dulce (Solanum muricatum). We harvested a bunch on Saturday and brought them to the Free Farm Stand on Sunday:

The pepino are the small fruit with purple stripes and tastes like a cross between melon and cucumber.