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It was one of those Free Farm Stand Sundays where when we were finished I got home and was exhausted, but felt it was such a great day. You can’t go wrong when the sun comes out and it turns out to be a beautiful day. In the early morning Griff arrived at my house when I was loading the van and dropped off surplus greens (chard, kale, and collards) from his community garden plot at White Crane Community Garden. Then when I arrived at the park, sitting at the garden gate was a small brown bag of lemon cucumbers with a note that someone dropped off. That felt really sweet. I haven’t gotten around to putting up a sign explaining what the Free Farm Stand is about for all the new people arriving, that it is more than your typical produce give away. Right when we started setting up, some  neighbors and people starting showing up with surplus to share from their backyards. Lemons, oranges,  apples and pears (from Vallejo!), Calamansi fruit, apples from Produce to the People,  and later some rue from Lisa’s garden (I saw people taking it). We seem to be getting less produce from the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market, but we are still getting a good selection of “hecka local” produce mostly from our farm.  The only other two places I have been consistently harvesting produce from are the permaculture garden which seems to be neglected and not getting replanted and the Esperanza garden which just notified me that they want to save their harvests for their volunteers and they might possibly set up a stand there on Fridays.  We had a lot of green beans and we are still going strong with zucchini and the new collards we planted are just starting to yield. We also had a nice collection of potatoes that are one of the most fun things to grow and harvest. Another nice touch at the Stand is that Michael brought some beautiful ginger flowers that he picked from his backyard garden that he put up for display and then later gave them away to some folks getting produce. Below are some photos from the Stand and the Free Farm.

One of the things that made my day is having Pancho back from his Ahimsa work in Arizona. He actually came to the Free Farm on Wednesday and I got to meet his family from Mexico. I love meeting my family of my friends; it just brings me closer to them.  By the way, Pancho’s dad likes giving hugs too. His stories about the immigration battle going on there were really interesting.

Pancho is really our best diplomat at the Free Farm Stand. I asked him to handle crowd control when people were lining up for the second round of produce. The lines were already long the whole day. I counted 64 people in the first line that went down from the gate down to the corner of 23^rd St. and we estimated we served maybe 200 people and that is being conservative in the count! We were really fortunate to have a woman show up to volunteer named Jamie who spoke Mandarin and Cantonese. Pancho and Jamie explained to the crowd in Cantonese, English, and Spanish that for the second shift we would like to give first priority to people who didn’t get produce already and that they should be at the front of the line. They pointed out that things here are run on the honor system and that we wanted everyone to feel like family rather than an institution, and that is why we don’t give out tickets. A young girl translated what they were saying into Arabic for her mother. Later Pancho and Jamie talked to some of the Chinese women and they expressed some criticism of how they were treated last week, like they were being singled out as a group and that they felt hurt. We apologized and I felt it was really great that because of Jamie we were able to initiate some dialog about these issues. It seemed like once we started handing out the produce things went more smoothly and were less tense than the week before.

At some point Jacob came by with his parents who were visiting from Los Angeles and that was also fun meeting them and seeing Jacob. They came just before the second round of produce arrived and Jacob pitched in to help sort it and get it on the table.

I just ran across a video on the internet made by SFSU students about the Free Farm Stand and the Free Farm. It was made on a day that we were serving in the rain and also there is some footage of a sunny workday at the Free Farm. I uploaded it to our section of “Free Farm Stand in the news” on the right sidebar. Also, if you check out the Free Farm blog at http://thefreefarm.org/ I uploaded a slide show that Jacob created about the history of the Free Farm.

I guess the most exciting part of the day is just taking to all the old and new friends that stop by. I was thrilled for example to see Maggie, a former volunteer, who dropped by who is now living in Nevada City working on a CSA farm. She always fills me in with great stories. We got to talking about marijuana (you know I have never grown it even though I love the plant). She was saying a lot of strange stuff is happening in Oakland now with the marijuana industry there. With the possibility of it becoming legal in California I think the challenge is to keep marijuana growing and clubs in the hands of small growers, just like we want to support small farmers. The large corporations are out their waiting and prepared to step in to take over marijuana production and distribution and steer it in the direction that the alcohol, tobacco, and large scale organic  farming industry has gone now. Maggie said she heard of a marijuana grower in the east bay who has started diversifying what they grow to adapt to the changes coming. So they are the first CSA to offer besides fruits and vegetables, a marijuana option. It makes sense drug and food “medicine” in one basket.  I think that the best way to keep things from going corporate is to run a business with the built in safeguard of being free. Maybe once things are legal I will grow pot and give it away at our stand (with a free cottage industry making free vaporizers).

My friend Bilkis who was an intern with us for a year dropped by my house with some beautiful cloth bags she had sewn this summer, all made with scrap cloth she had sewn together. She made them for the Free Farm Stand and since there were not enough for all the people who come to the stand we decided to give them to volunteers. One of the bags with an American flag piece of cloth she glued on  the words The Revolution will be Harvested. I thought that was such a beautiful slogan I asked her if I could borrow it for my next blog post.Yes the revolution will be harvested
we are growing love and vegetables
our hands will get dirty
as we plunge them into the fresh soil
we have created
with the help of sweat, manure, and mycorrhiza
in America there is over abundance
and to level the playing field
we share the wealth
nothing new under the sun
and Free lives on
and Gandhi’s spinning wheel today
is the grow your own movement
distribute it freely
to those in need
yes the revolution will be harvested

First about harvesting the love: Our volunteers are always so wonderful and helpful. Last week at our “Eating” of our core group (more of a meeting while eating and sharing dinner), we had a beautiful goodbye to our 3 interns and one Mentee (an intern from the Metta Center in Berkeley). Susannah and Hannah will be back in school in September, but I think they may be dropping in once in a while because it is hard to pull away from the work we do. Also, Jacob will also be returning to school in Berkeley, where he will be studying peace and conflict resolution (like studying war no more). Our dear Case who has been with us since we started the farm, and actually was picking up trash there before we came as a Lutheran Service Corps volunteer, will be heading back to Ohio.  I can’t say enough about how grateful I am for not only their help, but for their friendship.

Susannah and I also attended the graduation ceremony at the Metta Center (http://www.mettacenter.org/) for the 2010 Mentees. The Metta Center is a “resource center for building a nonviolent culture” and they have a program where for ten weeks students from around the globe are immersed in learning about non-violence which includes partnering with local organizations that are doing social justice work and being interns or “Mentee’s” for the group. I was very moved by the event and the emotions of all the Mentee’s that were graduating.  They seemed to have all gotten a lot out of the program and I felt really special to be included in the family of mentors that worked with these young people. Now we are ready for the next crop of interns wherever they may come from.

It is really squash season at the farm and besides having quite a harvest from the Free Farm and 18^th and Rhode Island, Pam brought some extra zucchini from the garden at City College. She suggested we tell our shoppers to make zucchini fritters which is an excellent idea on how to use that vegetable that comes on hot and heavy this time of year. We also had a nice amount of Royalty purple beans, a small amount of lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, broccoli, and kale.

Danny from Sour flour, who also brought a load of zucchini from his plot at Potrero del Sol, thought that most people who come to pick up food don’t know that they can bring something to share and suggested that I put up a sign. I thought it was a good idea and will see if I can find a sign maker. At least for the summer we now have what has become two “shifts” when we distribute produce. We start distributing at 1pm and we get a long line for that and by 2pm most produce seems to run low or out. At around 2:30PM we now have a regular delivery of an incredible amount of produce from the farmer’s market at Stonetown mall. There is so much beautiful produce that we have been getting another long line for that. And this week and I don’t know if it will be a regular thing, we also got a new delivery of produce from Ft Mason farmer’s market. Unfortunately, we got a number of aggressive people who formed a new line as soon as the finished shopping the first time. I had to tell them and actually physically move them aside so that people that newly arrived could get first priority for produce. I also starting hearing people complaining about these people and two people said they had seen them sell produce on the street. I think this was bound to happen eventually and I will work harder at trying to get the message across that what we are doing is trying to promote peace and harmony and mutual respect.

An issue came up from two people that asked if the produce we give away is organic.  One person with a kid was particularly interested in the strawberries and whether they were organic or not.  I think that is a valid concern. Another person didn’t take the tomatoes because the volunteer giving them away didn’t know. If you look at our link page one can check out this site to see what is on conventional grown produce. There is also this link http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods. First of all I try to give away mainly organic produce that is grown locally. The best source is getting safe produce is to grow it yourself and that is what wwe are all aboout, is more than giving away produce is to encourage those who have space or time to garden. Also, setting up or participating in a garden produce sharing network or club like the Free Farm Stand  and getting produce from neighbors is another poissibility. Also, I only give away produce that I would eat myself and I do make compromises. It is hard to pass up some of the beautiful produce we get that seems so fresh.  If your budget can afford it I would recommend to first grow as much food as you can and then shop at at a farmer’s market and buy certified organic (I wouldn’t trust cerftied organic from Whole Foods via China).

Here is some information for those who want to know more about where the food comes from at our stand. The left over produce from the Ferry Building Farmer’s market which we put out at 1pm is marketed as sustainable which I assume is organic. It is run by CUESA which is the Center for Urban Education anbout Sustainable Agriculture. If you go to this page http://www.cuesa.org/markets/farmers/ you can see who the farmers are anad their biographies. The produce that comes around 2:30pm is from the Stonestown market. The market is run by the Agricultural Institute of Marin. They have certified organic growers, non-certified who grow organically, and conventional farmers. You can read the farmers biographies here: http://www.agriculturalinstitute.org/index/biographies. Of course, since this food gets all mixed up when it is picked up, there is no way really to tell what farmers the produce came from. We get a small amount of produce from the Noe Valley Farmer’s market which has both certified organic and non-organic produce (and organic non-certified) farmers. We put that out at 1pm. Here are the farmers who sell there: http://www.noevalleyfarmersmarket.com/2006/10/vendors.html#profiles. Last week we got produce from Ft. Mason Farmers market. They have certified organic vendors and non-organic vendors, but  I couldn’t find a list of who’s there and their biographies.

It is interesting that the experiments we tried out in the sixties are remerging and the two philosophies are making the press. Last week or so our friends at Little City Gardens made the New York Times about their attempts at making friendly capitalism work and getting zoning laws to change so urban farmers can sell their produce: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/us/13bcfarm.html. Here is a line from the article that I found to be at the core of this philosophy: “Sophie Hahn, a Berkeley community activist and stay-at-home mother, is growing enough vegetables for six families in her backyard. Wanting to recoup some of her investment from neighbors to whom she has been giving the vegetables, Ms. Hahn looked into getting the right paperwork from the city.” Then in New York, also in the Times, I read this article: “http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/nyregion/16free.html?emc=eta1”, about a Free Store in Brooklyn. “There is something about the communal aspect of this place that appeals to me,” Mr. Ballard said”. That communal feeling is what we want to foster too.

In that spirit here is an ad on Craigslist that hs been floating around:

Need a garden? Use ours free. (mission district)

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Date: 2010-08-14, 2:25PM PDT
Reply to: sale-xspre-1899039823@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

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A trusted person will get daily access to our garden. It’s in the Mission, by 16th and South Van Ness. It’s in an unused back yard, accessible only to building residents.

The garden is 10 x 15, raised bed, fenced in and previously used, but now it’s overgrown. You can use it for whatever you want to plant. Grow yourself some veggies. In return, we will have a nicer looking space. Any bonus veggies you want to give would be appreciated, but not necessary. We would just like a win win situation with no exchange needed.

Contact by email, and please give us a few references or reasons you are trustworthy to invite in.

I just got an email from an international publisher of art and design books who wants the Free Farm to be included in a new book to be called Urban Farming.  They want to “celebrate the energy, attitude, and creativity” of “committed amateurs” like us. It often feels like we are committed amateurs trying our hardest to grow a lot of food to feed the masses and to do so in a way that fosters community and sharing.

We are still working on maintaining a regular weekly supply of farm grown produce. Our biggest challenge is coming up with a constant supply of seedlings to replace the plants when we harvest them.  I need to take a chill pill on this, because no matter how much food we grow, it will never be enough to supply to everyone we would like.  What transforms our project from a food giveaway program to a special community event is that we encourage people who come to “shop” to consider growing some of their own produce and bring their surplus to share. To be honest only a small number of people who come by understand what we are really about and bring something to share like extra fruit or produce that is growing in their backyard or community garden. So it makes it all the more special and exciting to me when people come by Sunday to the stand with a bag of something to share with others.

This week I didn’t meet the person who brought the cucumbers (18lbs!). Also, someone brought 15lbs of lemons, Produce to the People brought  23lbs of cherry plums, a neighbor also brought plums. Pam brought a small amount of produce, but more exciting is she brought me a half dozen broccoli plants  and she showed me how to identify the eggs on the back of the leaves that turn into caterpillars that destroy the plants. Plus she brought some florist tape and showed me how to wrap the stem with the tape to prevent root maggots.  A  blind neighbor and her lovely children, who were some of the first  people to come to the stand two years, came by to share with me some granola they made, and on the lid of the plastic container they put it inwas a “label” on it with a drawing by one of her sons. Actually I think the kids made the granola too.  I cherish all these people who bring something to share with others, it just makes the stand a lot more fun and wonderful;  it is like a secret part of what is going on that  you have to be in the know to know it is happening.

More on sharing: Mike continues to amaze me with his contribution to our free farm stand performance. The bread table is like a beautiful side show and this week besides the hummus he brought, a number of people, including myself, brought samples of our jams and compotes. Phil and Robyn brought jam and I think her apricot jam (one of my favorite fruits) was out of this world.

The amount of leftover stone fruit from the farmer’s market has probably reached it’s peak in the last few weeks and again this week the amount we got was almost unreal.  I am cooking more jam as I write, made from the over soft leftovers of the leftovers.  We need a fruit processing team who can be called on in a moment’s notice to pick up leftover fruit and process it. We also need more canning jars and lids and a food dryer would be awesome. It would be great to store some of this bounty to give away during the winter when there is little local seasonal fruit around. Let’s turn loose on the world free jams and chutney’s  (and hard ciders and wines for our celebrations)!

I noticed that the Hayes Valley Farm and the Wigg Party had another produce giveaway on Sunday.  From the photo I saw they had a truck load of stone fruit also. I wonder if they have a need for jam makers too. Morgan who is one of the organizers wrote about how easy it is to do, to collect the waste from the farmer’s market and give it away. I would agree to a certain degree, but the hard part is to sustain a regular project over a long period of time. How many of us are in it for the long haul? I wonder if this is going to be a weekly event and what their hours will be. Also, there is a lot of food going to waste out there and how do we all work together and not duplicate efforts collecting it and sharing it, and not compete for the free resources out there?

Talk about running a project that really needs a reliable volunteer crew every week, I feel that the Free Farm Stand has been so lucky so far to cultivate such a crew.  Though I do need to find some people interested in learning how to coordinate the stand so I don’t have to be there every week. For example, coming up Sunday  September 19 I need someone to run the stand that day because I have to go to a design meeting for a greenhouse at the Free Farm.

Last Saturday Finn took over coordinating the Free Farm so I got a much needed break and spent some time getting my own backyard garden in shape. This Wednesday Griff will take my place again at the farm. I really appreciate being able step away once in a while.