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

"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.

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"

Veggie Starts Are On The Way!!

With a little break from the rain last Friday, we were able to get down and dirty in the garden and start preparing beds for the veggie starts that are en route to our Garden. The gardeners of Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center in Marin County have offered to start seeds for us as a kind gesture to help out our local, urban garden:) We often have difficulty germinating seeds in our garden because the temperature often doesn't get warm enough to nurture and entice the seeds to sprout as well as potential RAIN for days on end (BUT, the end may be in sight...let's keep our fingers crossed!).

We spent the day turning over garden beds and amending the soil with our very own delicious and nutritious compost!! We also turned over the roots of fava beans (a legume) and mixed them deep into the soil. We planted these fava beans to act as green manure and which consists of plants that you grow for the purpose of digging them under and allowing them to decay in the soil. Fava Beans are one of the best choices for green manure because they actually add nitrogen to the soil and act as an all natural fertilizer. Bacteria actually live in the roots of legumes continuously fixing nitrogen which are in the form of little white balls--also known as nitrates! When the legumes die their roots release tons of nitrogen into the soil!! How Cool?? Be sure to spread the word:)

We also came across several of our best friends--the lovely EARTHWORMS!! Charles Darwin once said: The plow is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions;
but long before he existed the land was in fact regularly plowed, and still
continues to be thus plowed by earthworms. It may be doubted whether
there are many other animals which have played so important a part in
the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures.

Working hard in the garden:) We think everyone should cash in their gym memberships and start digging in the dirt! You can get big muscles, eat delicious & fresh food and Mother Earth would show her appreciation with garden gifts day in and day out!!
ENJOY THE SUNSHINE!!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

A special shout you to Walden House for participating in the Lower Haight Clean Up. What a difference a large presence can make, we must have painted 25-30 poles on Haight Street. Thanks! Also, Wednesday night Suzi and I had a fun and productive garden meeting at Cafe Du Soleil. Thank you Laurie, Richard, Hallie and Jeremy for coming. Spring is here even though the rain has barely stopped. Lots going on and we hope to see you in the garden.

SAVE THE DATES

May 6th

Friends of the Urban Forest Tree Pruning Workshop

Koshland Garden

9:30am-12:00

FREE

And, May 13th

Workday in the morning until 1:00pm and then

Community Celebration in the afternoon.

BBQ, Bake Sale, Youth Preformances, District 5 Summer Resource Information, and lots more!

March Showers Bring April Flowers.....

In an attempt to celebrate the now 23 days of rain in the month of March, I thought I would inspire you with a few pictures of the verdant veggie starts, fabulous flowers, and sweet sunshine that will soon brighten the days to come
(keeping my fingers crossed).

This Sunflower Displays A Beautiful Ray of Sun on Koshland Garden



Spring Tulips Begin To Blossom Thanks To The Early Wet Spring Season
Photo Taken By Barbara Wenger

Currently, Koshland Garden has 4 available plots that are in need of some nurturing hands and loving attention. Spring is the perfect time of year to begin a community garden plot. The wet soil creates the perfect conditions for seeds to germinate (or sprout). So, take advantage of our lush Spring and begin to give birth to a bountiful garden plot.

Don't Forget!!!

April 8th
Lower Haight Clean-Up Day
Join Koshland Garden and the Lower Haight Merchants Association to clean up the Lowee Haight Community. Wonderful breakfast goodies will be provided for your hard work.
When: 9am
Where: Being There Cafe (corner of Steiner & Waller)

May 6th
Koshland Garden Presents: Spring Pruning Workshop
In partnership with the Friends of the Urban forest, a pruning workshop will be held to teach tree pruning skills.

When: 9am - 12pm
Where: Koshland Garden

Working with Walden House in Spotty Weather

What a fantastic day in the garden - minus the very occasional rain storm and wind - with Ryan, Jose and Shaeffer. We all worked hard on some good old garden maintenance including turning the compost, weeding, mulching some fava beans, and planting spinach and squash. Highlights included the compost mouse and super fat earth worms. Thanks for your hard work and good attitudes, looking forward to seeing you in April. Rebecca

Welcome

Greetings all. This is the Koshland Park Community Learning Garden Blog, our online journal and photo album of garden and community happenings. We look forward to hearing from you. For more info, please email either Rebecca rabozzelli@yahoo.com or Suzi suzi.palladino@gmail.com.

Peace, Love and Gardening ever after.