the free cart!

Saturday, August 28-- a bountiful harvest at the Free Farm. Zucchinis, beans, tomatoes, yellow squash, broccoli side shoots, collards, and heads of lettuce were plentiful and abundant--we even heard from the odd strawberry, pea pod, mustard green, and arugula!

our tomatoes have been loving the warm weather...

We spent the morning harvesting, and after lunch "the cart libre" was out in all its colorful glory, and neighbors came to share in the bounty.

Signs of things to come...pumpkins are starting to form in our pumpkin patch...

lots of good leafy greens (bok choy, kale, and chard) growing strong in our temporary greenhouse...its all a big circle, from seed to harvest and back again...

Thanks to Kris for the lovely photos!

Farm life without our summer interns

Two of our fabulous interns are gone, at least for now, and Hannah and Case will be taking off soon. I already miss them all, they have become part of the Free Farm family. I have been so appreciative of all of their help and actually I have been appreciative of all the help we have been getting making this farm happen. It is truly a miracle when I think about the transformation this once pretty much barren lot has taken. There is so much more life here now. Yesterday I observed a hummingbird visitor checking out the hummingbird sage. Our visits from our neighbors who come by to chat also bring a community of life to the place. I am waiting for us to build more real soil and the micro life to flourish. It is also a blessing to share our produce with people in need and to see neighbors faces light up when you talk about collards and greens.
Things are moving ahead in terms of just getting the Free Farm built. Most of the planting beds are made. We now have a beautiful bike cart and bulletin board. All the beds are labeled, the labyrinth is finished, we have two new hose bibs, and we have a somewhat enclosed area where we can grow warm things. Phil just planted another sweet potato plant and a kiwi. The tomatoes are growing crazy and need to be pruned and tied up. We have a lot of baby seedlings that need potting up and will be ready to plant in a few weeks. We are harvesting mostly squash and beans right now and are saving lettuce to give to the Friendship Banquet dinner on Tuesday nights for people with HIV and their families (Griff harvested about 30 heads of lettuce for our first donation). Talking about gratefulness and appreciation, we are deeply appreciative of St Paulus Church for so generously allowing us to use this land to serve those in need in our community.
When I was closing up on Wednesday our dear comrade and farming buddy Pancho dropped in with his family. He has been gone for over a month doing beautiful love work in Arizona and then went traveling to Seattle with his family from Mexico. I can’t wait to hear more stories from him. I really enjoyed meeting his family and his dad likes to give hugs as much or more than Pancho. Lucky for us we will be seeing him Saturday.

We can really use new interns or at least some people to help us with a few regular tasks: blogging once a week, cooking a vegan lunch once a month, either Wednesdays or Saturdays, an artist to help us make a new flier and possible business cards, greeting visitors at the gate, weighing and distributing produce on Saturdays, or record keeping in our newly designed planting log binder. We are also currently looking for lumber (like 2 X12’s) and re-bar to help us finish our two new terraces.

If you want to see a history of the farm through photos check pout Griff's previous post.

Photo Gallery: Building the Free Farm, Jan 2010-Present

click the photo for gallery

Just a few of my favorite things

For those of you who don’t know, I have been interning at the Free Farm over the summer and unfortunately this is my last week here. To say the absolute least, being at the farm has been magical. In my last blog post I thought it would be appropriate to go through just some of my highlights.

Regardless of the tasks or projects at hand, the one constant thing about a workday at our farm, is the trademark free vegan lunch. Not only is the lunch without exception delicious and healthy, the time away from work offers volunteers, new and old, an opportunity to build relationships. We share stories, debate ideas, and marvel at the progress the farm has made. Some call it community building, but in the end it is those relationships that form the sacred fixture that holds the farm together.

In the same light, I am constantly reminded that the entirety of my working here was based on my learning from the other volunteers. From teaching me why we need to inoculate the beans before we plant them to learning about why beehives swarm to hearing the richness of each volunteers’ individual journeys that brought them here—my experience here obviously and completely out did the traditional office internship.

Each workday will inevitably include planting and/or harvesting. Naturally, these activities are fundamental to farming, yet, for someone like me (I have only taken care of one plant in my life before this summer) I have taken great pleasure in the chance to directly connect to creation, care, and giving of food. Now, I actually love to get my fingernails dirty (reminding me of my childhood when I didn’t care a bit about coming home with a white shirt turned brown from mud). And kneeling down to put seedlings in the soil or picking ripe crops also takes my eyes down to the plant-eye-level. It is only from this level that I can truly appreciate the miraculous world that exists down there—how incredible what a little change of perspective can do.

Also working at the farm has given me the many occasions to talk with members of the community beyond the chain link fence lining the farm. It has been a great pleasure listening to the praise of those who pass by. It seems as if at least a dozen people stop by the fence each workday staring in amazement at what we have done here. It is a delight to see people so excited when spotting a favorite vegetable of theirs on the farm. Likewise, every so often a neighbor will come by to tell us the stories of the church, when it burned down, and what the lot was like before January.

On one hand I have been wondering that perhaps the farm’s presence in the community has initiated a dialogue with the city. I don’t know why each of them stop but for me I hope that the farm tells people that at the least it is possible to take care of each other and our shared space in a different way. But on the other I also wonder that if I never tried farming, I could have easily been one of the many who pass by the farm plugged into their headphones in and enthralled in their phone without even glancing at the vibrant color and completely failing to notice the magnificent beauty below his feet.

It seems kind of strange asking you to come by the farm just as I am saying goodbye. But if you haven’t in awhile, make an effort to come back. And when you do, bring a friend, spouse, neighbor, and/or child. Who knows the visit might end up giving them the gift of seeing the world from a plants-eye-view.

Digging It!

Last Saturday at our workday there was a lot of digging that went on. Besides the two new terraces that were being finished, we had a great crew digging up the potatoes (53.5lbs). Then on Sunday the Temple Emanu-el crew was out doing some more shovel work, helping to create new beds. They come out to volunteer the first Sunday of the month.  Here are some great pictures taken on Saturday.

potato harvesters

from left to right Mountain Rose, Russian Banana, 

Nicola, Peruvian Purple, French Fingerling

rainbow of vegetables

vegetable swordfight with St. George runner bean 

and Purple Haze Carrot

so much growth

Yesterday we were blessed to have a large group (20+) of volunteers of all ages from Mt. Vernon, Washington. I am sure I can speak for the rest of the Free Farmers when I say that we were all so very impressed by the work they accomplished. After the morning gathering we swiftly made small teams for different tasks and projects.

First, a group joined Page in putting terraces on the slope between the community area and the bulletin board. From afar, it looked like a tremendous amount of work. In the middle they placed concrete blocks to make stairs. (It’s hard to imagine, but does this mean more room for new beds?)

Second, a team of very capable men moved half of a dozen concrete boulders, some of which likely weighed hundreds of pounds. The concrete blocks were transformed to create a staircase to the tool shed. And in the process of doing so it appears as if we have created another potential bed.

Additionally, another group amended the bed behind the labyrinth where some unhappy pumpkin plants used to be and planted new lettuce. Meanwhile, I spent some time planting more beans and amending another bed with a wonderful group of volunteers.


Every so often this summer, I have to force myself to take a step back and take notice of the incredible transformation that has taken place at the farm. I remember at my first workday at the farm back in early June, John (who has volunteered here since the very beginning) told me that the farm was only 15% complete. While of course there is no way to precisely calculate this progression, each time I step back I am in amazement at how we collectively always find room for growth, especially when we find room for new beds and new ways to beautify the farm.

Gray day, bright people

I guess I don’t realize that we have great weather sometimes until it doesn’t show up. Since I started working here in early June the sun has never failed to come out at least once during our farm workdays, until yesterday. It was grey, overcast, and quite chilly (especially when most of us expected sunshine) on the farm. Who knew, but I think cold affected us. Without the sunshine to photosynthesize and energize us for our individual tasks, we were left relying on each other in different ways. Instead of many simultaneous tasks worked on with a few volunteers apiece, yesterday we stayed in larger groups strategizing about the details of our projects and teaching each other along the way.

Early in the day, John took a group of us to check out the beehives. He showed us a thick layer of hundreds of dying and/decaying bees on all sides of the beehives. On a closer examination we could see them being eaten by ants. John reminded us that an opportunity to see this is usually reserved for National Geographic or Discovery channel shows.

Others spent time to find space in our existing beds to plant lettuce and mustard greens. Also, when starting to re-amend a bed for beans and mustard greens, many of us noticed that the bed was uneven and the soil was sliding down. So, it seemed like each volunteer had a different proposed solution and strategy, but rather than competition, cooperation was the guide to our problem solving. Eventually all of us easily agreed that the quickest and simplest idea was to prop a 10 foot piece of lumber against the end of the bed with stakes, and then we all got to work. The rest of the amending, prepping, planting, and watering were all done with an unusually high attention to detail.

In the spirit of sharing expertise, Griff took sometime and taught me and Susannah how to make compost by layering sticks, “brown stuff”, “green stuff”, pee’d on hay, and “cooked stuff” (very scientific, huh?) with straw laid on top.

And near the end of the day Lauren led a group of young volunteers in starting to dig out a place for an underground pipe to transport water from one end of the farm to the other.

All in all, although the day was chilly and the cold may have slowed us down, it also gave us a chance to be more attuned to the little things at the farm. It was a day of teaching, learning, and trying to stay warm. Even though the sun didn’t show, our fellow volunteers shined bright.

Free Farm

. . .

UPDATE: On Sunday and Monday two of our long-time and super dedicated volunteers opened the farm for two outside groups to see what the Free Farm is all about. On Sunday morning Shandra gave SF bikers who were on the Lots of Abundance Bike Ride (http://sfpublicpress.org/events/2010-07-18/lots-of-abundance-bike-ride) a tour. And on Monday Griff led an Episcopal youth group from traverse city Michigan and they built a new bed, planted new collards, cleaned up, and walked the labyrinth.