Present Needs

Urban Share has a list of needs to drive the projects we're involved in forward. In order to have our needs met we have to ask. So, here's asking. Please bear in mind that you can either provide the whole in-kind donation of the item we need, or parts helpful in constructing it, or money to be put towards it.
Free Farm:

1. Plastic for a green house
2. Green house shelving (you'll see from the pictures below that we really need it)
3. A shed for our tools (new or used as long as it's waterproof)
   
4. Lumber for a composting toilet
5. Wheelbarrows
6. Knowledgeable folks able to lead others in tasks that need completing.
7. Hand tools
8. Lots of Compost/Manure/Woodchips

Check out this great greenhouse that the Farm received as a donation!

Living Generously.

I believe that everyone has a meaningful contribution to make. This has become abundantly clear in the gardens where all kinds of people help in purposeful ways. Right now, our projects are seeking donations. Can you donate one of these items or pick an item to pledge money towards?




Right now we have need for

• 100 foot lengths of garden hose
• Lumber for an outhouse, raised beds, a green house, a tool shed, potting tables, and more!
• Wheelbarrows
• Volunteer to make lunch one Wednesday or Saturday at the Free Farm.
• Time to work in the garden
• Access to a truck or hauling vehicle
• Leading a group in a wellness activity
• Digging forks, pitchforks, and hand trowels
  

Ready to Irrigate Means We Need Drip Tape!

Hi Everyone!

In the last post I told you that we have beds ready to plant food in. How exciting! All told our beds will provide us with over 1,000 square feet of planting space. As you may well imagine that much space is difficult to water with just a hose and spray nozzle. This means we need a drip irrigation system using drip tape to properly water our crops.














(Hand watering is ok for seed trays)




















(Hand watering is not ok for 7 more of these beds!)

This link has a picture of what I mean by drip tape. It also has a short rundown on how drip irrigation works. It's a good way to irrigate for large scale food production, and soon when we move beyond the two beds we have ready right now, it will be critical to the livelihood of our crops.

As always you can check out our wish list and learn a little bit more about our intern Pete, the person to contact if you can help out!

Lots of Compost Needed!

Hello friends of Urban Share and the Free Farm!

This time of year in San Francisco is the right season for planting! In order to take advantage of that our farm needs lots and lots of compost to work into the soil. It's probably our number one need right now in order to get food growing to give to those who need it most. If you or anyone you know, be they from work, or from school, your family, your church, or some other organization, has access to a large truck we would Love to use it. As a non-profit we can write a letter so the expense of using the truck is tax-deductible.

The picture you're seeing above shows 4 of our 9 planting beds that total over 1,000 sq. ft. We need the beds covered in 4" of compost, which equals a lot of compost. The issue isn't where to find the compost, it's getting it to our site, which requires a large truck. Can you help us out?

If so, please email me: case.garver@gmail.com

Plants in the Ground at Free Farm!

This past Saturday marked the first planted bed of food at the Free Farm! We have three adorable terraced beds of strawberries on a slope overlooking the farm.

We started with some compost from the dump

then dug out the side

of the hill to create a plane, or terrace, mixing in the compost.

We used rocks from the original St. Paulus Lutheran church structure to shore up the bed

Planting seedlings in

the new beds

And this is what you

end up with. Strawberries in the ground!

What's needed at the Free Farm and how you can help

Hi everyone,

This past workday saw some exciting progress at the Free Farm. We set up a valve and now have running water. Now our crops won't die!















This is a huge step for the farm, and the next step that comes from it is hooking up a manifold which allows us to run water multiple places. In order to water the whole farm we need to install a drip irrigation system which means we need a drip timer. Timers run about $60. We'll also need plenty of PVC piping to get the water to the plants.

We're also at the ridiculously exciting phase where we are preparing the beds for planting. This means we need to work lots of compost and manure into the sandy San Franciscan soil. Do you have a truck we can use to load up with compost?














We also have plenty of other items that can be donated, check out the last blog with our comprehensive list.

If you can help us feed hungry people with fresh, locally grown produce by donating any of these items please contact me at case.garver@gmail.com. I'll get you the specifics.