10-10-10

Forward this announcement widely:

Are you a city-dweller with a green thumb? Do you want to learn more about growing fresh-off-the-farm ingredients in your own house, condo or apartment? Then mark your calendars for 350 Garden Action Day, presented by Kitchen Garden SF, on October 10, 2010. We’ll be offering a day of bike tours, workshops, music, and urban farming with materials from Hayes Valley Farm.

On 10.10.10, Kitchen Garden SF will transform 350 balconies, community spaces and yards into plentiful food gardens to promote food gardening in San Francisco. Kitchen Garden SF and Hayes Valley Farm are issuing a challenge to San Francisco residents to register over 350 kitchen gardens. From potted herbs on windowsills to sidewalks, backyards, and reclaimed lots, no planting is too big or too small to be included. Sign up now at http://kitchengardensf.org/register and be counted as having a solution to climate change. Hayes Valley Farm will provide seedlings, compost and volunteers to assist with planting. Kitchen Garden SF will provide garden design and consultation. Cole Hardware and Sloat Garden Centers are offering a discount to all registrants.

The 350 Garden Action Day is part of 350.org’s 10.10.10 call to action for solutions to climate change, and is one of over 1,000 work parties happening simultaneously in 110 countries and throughout the Bay Area.

Joining us for the Lots of Abundance bicycle tour on Sunday morning, hosted by the San Francisco Parks Trust, the San Francisco Permaculture Guild and the Wigg Party. Bring your bike, a lunch, and ride around our beautiful city while learning more about opportunities for urban farming around town. The bike tour will commence at 10:45 AM at the only apple tree in Golden Gate Park, near Oak & Stanyan (map), and end at the Hayes Valley Farm at 1:30 PM. The bicyclists will then be deployed throughout the city to deliver materials, volunteer in a garden and document garden actions.

What is a kitchen garden? Well, it’s any space in which you grow food. Whether it’s a pot of herbs on your balcony, or some tomatoes in your backyard, kitchen gardens help bring local food production to urban areas. Kitchen Garden San Francisco is a network of gardeners, farmers, garden educators and permaculture designers who have been dedicated to helping San Franciscans grow their own food since 2009. Swing by the Hayes Valley Farm on October 10th, 2010 to help San Francisco grow.

To celebrate all our hard work, we will be having an after-party at Hayes Valley Farm that will feature live music, a twilight potluck, a seed swap, and much more. Pack up a picnic dinner and head over to the farm as the sun sets, because at twilight, the Pocket Seed Library Press will release its first publication: The Alphabet Garden Booklist. Stick around for some rousing performances from some of San Francisco’s finest local musicians and reward yourselves for all of your contributions to the urban farming community.