One of the Few Existing Gems of San Francisco has a Half-Life of 365 days

During my cool down at Kimbell.

On Saturday mornings, I have the luxury of heading down to the local sports and activities field, called

Kimbell. There I spend a good two hours playing the beautiful game of football (soccer in America). It really is a privilege. But what makes my Saturdays even more special is what I get myself into after football.

Almost six months ago, I came across (in my opinion) one of the coolest and brightest gems in the city of San Francisco. This Gem, is  The Free Farm Stand, located around Gough  and Eddy St. This farm which I would argue has its own ecosystem, dips down in the earth, can easily by overlooked; It took me two attempts to find it. And it is only about two minutes from where I play football.

This delicate piece of land is run by one the coolest people I have met in SF: Mr. Tree. Yes, his name is Tree and

Meet: Mr. Tree. I just put my phone in his face, stopped him in his tracks and said, ‘smile.’

he spends a lot of his time gardening and providing Free food to people who need it. I remember one of the Saturdays, Tree had told me that the garden produces thousands of pounds of produce every year and the plot of land is not that big, it is about half a block, I would say. Imagine how much food would be produced if there was a local garden on every block. But the garden includes a greenhouse, a composting area, an office, a tool shed, a labyrinth and a huge variety of plants. The farm is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10:00 am to around 2:30 pm. It is open to anyone who is willing to get their hands dirty. The farm provides free food, on site every Saturday between 1:00pm to 2:00pm and on Sundays from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at Parque Ninos Unidos: 23rd St & Treat Ave.

I remember my first time there, I had the task of taking out old lettuce and plants so that something else could be planted in place, washing newly harvested produce and composting. While I was working, the sun was shining and I was surrounded by snails (I have never seen so many snails in SF), earwigs, earthworms, birds, etc. Remember I grew up interacting with nature so I felt right at home but at this time I am a more mature person who makes the effort of relocating a snail instead of throwing salt on it. Or trying not to smash and ant instead of forcing it into a battle with another ant. I can happily say I now care for animals instead of just trying to satisfy my urge for amusement, via their life.  The people there are really cool, a handful of people  consistently show up but throughout my time there I have met many nice people.

I am currently trying to spend as much time as I can there because it will only be there till the end of the year (about 196 days). I am so upset that there is nothing we can do. The city will probably build housing where the farm is now. Some people would say, ‘good,’ but I bet there will still be people on the streets. Nonetheless the rest of the time we have there means a great deal to us (gardeners and volunteers) and to the people on the receiving end of our work.

You can find Mr. Tree at this email: thefreefarm.sf@gmail.com and he has a website: http://thefreefarm.org.

Welcoming Sign at The Free Farm Stand

Nice place to chill

Aerial View

Path down to the greenhouse, office, shed, eating area and endless possibilities.

I hope that you have already or will found/find a gem like this in your life.

Peace!