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Spring 2024

Garden Spotlight: Golden Gate Park Senior Center

We are pleased to announce that the Golden Gate Park Senior Center Community Garden was rebuilt through a major volunteer effort in February. 


With support from over 100 volunteers from City Year and Sales Force, we were able to double the number of garden plots, create new gathering spaces, and improve safe access, while also adding a new potting bench and tool chest to make gardening easier. The Community Gardens team would like to extend a special thanks to SFRPD's Volunteer Division, GGP Senior Center staff, and Golden Gate Park Section 5 gardeners who arrived early and stayed late to complete this special project. 


The improved garden space bolsters the goals of the Golden Gate Park Senior Center, supporting our senior neighbors' physical, mental and social well-being. To learn more about Golden Gate Park Senior Center Programs, visit this link or drop in during their open hours. 

Vegetable Spotlight: Chayote Squash

Now that temperatures are beginning to rise, it's a great time to get started on growing chayote. This delicious pear-shaped perennial likes to grow in sunny and warm conditions. Chayote is a member of the gourd family and is also known as vegetable pear, choco, alligator pear, and 合掌瓜 (hup jeung gua). It is very easy to grow from fruit and thus perfect for gardeners of all skill levels. Sautee it, pickle it, use it in a stew, slice it thinly and eat it raw in a salad – this versatile fruit is loaded with an array of nutrients and can be prepared in many ways. 


Click here to watch an instructional video by the UC Master Gardeners: YouTube Link

Happy Retirement Kathi!

After five years of working with the Urban Agriculture team, our beloved Kathi Baxter is retiring! Kathi brought an incredible wealth of outdoor youth education knowledge to our team, leading the development of new programs for our youngest community members to learn in our gardens. Because of her efforts, thousands of San Franciscan children learned about growing plants, met chickens, and made butter. But even more importantly, Kathi’s vision helped our city’s kids feel a sense of belonging, place, and pride as they brought their parents back to the parks and gardens, teaching them what they had learned. 


Please join us in wishing her the fondest farewell!

Upcoming Events

If your garden is holding a fun spring/summer event, please let us know (communitygardens@sfgov.org).


Image courtesy of The Compost Culture.


Wonderful wiggly worms! Dave, a generous community member has offered to share a bucket-load of his Red Wiggler worms with the community at our April 6th Garden Resource Day event. Garden Resource Days are a community effort so when people offer to share their own resources, items, and materials at our events, it helps make it extra special. Thank you Dave and to all those who have shared their plants and materials in the past!

 

If you're interested in getting your hands dirty with vermiculture (composting with worms), check out this video by the UC Master Gardeners to learn how to create your very own worm bin. Once you have a safe happy home for your critters set up, come see us at our April 6th event and don't forget to bring a small container.

Upcoming Workshops

April


Get You Garden Growing: Introduction to Organic Spring Vegetable Gardening: Interested in planting a vegetable garden but not sure what to plant or where to start? Come to Alemany Farm to learn the basics of getting your garden up and running and ideal planting times for each crop in a Bay Area climate.

When: Saturday, April 6, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Where: Alemany Farm, 700 Alemany Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94110

Suggested Donation: $30 per person; no one turned away for lack of funds

Sign up at Introduction to Organic Spring Vegetable Gardening


Free Urban Composting Workshop: Learn how to make your own backyard compost... for FREE! Keep precious organic matter and plant nutrients in your yard and improve your soil.

When: Saturday, April 6, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Garden For The Environment: 1590 7th Avenue San Francisco, CA 94122

No registration required. Free admission.

Sign up at FREE Urban Composting Workshops 2024


Succulents in Pots & Succulents in Gardens: No matter the size of your yard or your apartment windowsill, you can find a place to grow succulents!

When: Saturday, April 27, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Where: San Francisco Public Library, Merced Library, 155 Winston Drive

No Registration required, go to Master Gardeners: Succulents in Pots & Succulents in the Garden for more information


May


Master Gardeners Plant Clinic at the San Mateo Arboretum: Come anytime between 12:00 to 3:00 pm for this walk-in plant clinic. UC Master Gardeners will be available to answer your questions from general information to advice about specific problems. Bring samples of your problem plants in clear plastics bags for better diagnosis. If you suspect insect damage, try to include some of the insects so they can be correctly identified.

When: Sunday, May 5, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Where: San Mateo Arboretum in Central Park, 101 9th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401

No registration required. Free admission.

For any questions, feel free to email mgsmsf@ucanr.edu


Bonnie Ora Sherk Garden Tour and Workshop: Workshops in collaboration with John Bela and Bonnie Ora Sherk exhibition at the Fort Mason Center For The Arts & Culture. These workshops are free to the community and open to all ages

When: Saturday, May 12, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Fort Mason Center, Gallery 308, 2 Marina Boulevard San Francisco, CA 94123

Register Here!


June


Master Gardeners Plant Clinic at the San Mateo Arboretum: Come anytime between 12:00 to 3:00 pm for this walk-in plant clinic. UC Master Gardeners will be available to answer your questions from general information to advice about specific problems.

When: Sunday, June 2, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: San Mateo Arboretum in Central Park, 101 9th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401

No registration required. Free admission.

For any questions, feel free to email mgsmsf@ucanr.edu


Garden For the Environment: Growing a Garden, Where to Start: Do you have a space that you would like to turn into a garden, but don’t know where to start? This class is perfect for beginner gardeners or anyone looking for a refresher. 

When: Saturday, June 8, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Where: Garden For The Environment: 1590 7th Avenue San Francisco, CA 94122

Get your tickets here for $25-$50


Bonnie Ora Sherk Garden Tour and Workshop: Workshops in collaboration with John Bela and Bonnie Ora Sherk exhibition at the Fort Mason Center For The Arts & Culture. These workshops are free to the community and open to all ages

When: Saturday, June 9, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Fort Mason Center, Gallery 308, 2 Marina Boulevard San Francisco, CA 94123

Register Here!

What to Do in Your Garden Now

April

  • Prune back herbaceous perennials such as salvia to promote plant bushiness.
  • Plant edibles such as lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, zucchini and berries. 
  • Sow bean, corn, cucumber melon and winter squash seeds directly into the ground. Consider pole beans since they will produce all Spring and Summer and into the Fall. Consider using a soaker hose to conserve water in your vegetable garden.
  • Transplant tomato seedlings. Pinch off all but the top two pairs of leaves and set the seedling into a deep hole. Backfill, keeping the top leaves above soil. Tomato roots grow deep (24 inches or more) so make sure roots will have depth to develop.
  • Transplant cabbage family vegetables since they will be harvested before July heat.
  • Chop cover crops and work them into the soil before they have a chance to seed. They add great organic material that will break down over 2-3 weeks and feed soil.
  • Remove aphids from plants with a strong stream of water.
  • Pick off cabbage moth eggs, caterpillars, snails and slugs by hand, or use non-toxic slug bait.
  • Start planting summer annuals such as lobelia, begonia, marigolds, cosmos, petunias, snapdragon and alyssum.
  • Plant gladiolus, dahlias and lilies for summer color.
  • Don’t use insecticides in your garden -- you might harm bees and beneficial insects, which help control aphids, mites, whiteflies and other garden pests.


May

  • Plant late summer edibles such as pumpkins, squash, sunflowers, peppers, basil, and melons.
  • Prune spring-flowering shrubs after bloom is past.
  • Release ladybugs and other beneficial insects to help control aphids, mites, whiteflies, and other garden pests.
  • Let self-seeding annuals go to seed instead of deadheading. 
  • Keep your strawberry crop clean by spreading bark mulch around plants, and lifting flowers and leaves above the mulch. This also reduces water requirements and cuts down on weeks.
  • Harvest radishes when the crown begins to show above the soil. Avoid split radishes by not over-watering.
  • Dig new potatoes as soon as the plants begin to bloom. Start by gently bringing up the soil with a pitchfork about a foot away from the plant. Separate out the tubers by hand.


June

  • This is a good time to plant beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, pumpkins (start now for Halloween), summer squash, and tomatoes. These warm-season plants need lots of irrigation: take this into consideration and plant only as many as you need and can water consistently all summer.
  • Feed tomato plants with a low-nitrogen fertilizer when the fruit starts to develop; too much nitrogen encourages more foliage and less fruit. Mulch the tomato plants to conserve moisture.
  • Clean: dead flowers, fallen fruit, leaves and nuts to discourage fungal growth and pests.
  • Adjust watering schedule, according to the weather and changing needs of your plants. The water requirements of your plants peak in July and are high in August. Pay close attention to the moisture needs of new plants in your garden. Established perennials, shrubs and trees need infrequent but deep watering. 
  • Water when temperatures are cooler and air is still, usually in the early morning. Water deeply to moisten the root zone, but not deeper. Container plants may need daily watering, as soil in pots can dry out quickly and damage plant roots on hot summer days
  • Compost:
  • Apply ½ to 1” of compost around landscape plants and work in lightly, followed by a layer of mulch.
  • Mulch:
  • Apply 2-3” of mulch where existing mulch is thin or soil is bare, to protect against heat and water stress in growing roots. 
  • Keep mulch back 12” from tree trunks and 6” from perennials to discourage pathogens.
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