Little City Gardens

A lot has happened in the last 6 months in regards to our tenure on this fantastic piece of urban farm land.

As many of you know, this property is privately owned. We signed a 1.5 year lease in April 2010 with the property owner at the time. He suggested that we might be able to continue renting after that time on a month-to-month basis until when he was ready and had the proper permitting to develop. However, in January of this year he was pressured by the financial burden of increased property taxes to put the lot up for sale. We immediately began to think about strategies for saving this land from being sold to a new developer, and we began investigating connections with people and organizations who might have power or interest in preserving some farmland in the city.

In February we called together a meeting of a few creative friends and colleagues to brainstorm action plans for our predicament. Even though it happened on an unexpectedly rainy day and we all had to squeeze into the greenhouse and sit on buckets around the seeding tables, that meeting was one of the most productive and exciting moments of Little City Gardens. Great ideas were generated about how to approach our specific situation and about how to push forward a political agenda of getting more urban and peri-urban land specifically devoted to small scale agriculture business. We felt support and connection from this group and emerged from the meeting with a few ‘business advisors’. A good lesson learned: never underestimate the power of explaining your predicaments out loud!

One of the business advisors that stepped forward in that meeting was Karen Heisler of Mission Pie. Her support has turned out to be instrumental in the process that ensued and the journey that we are currently on. Without her skilled guidance, intelligence with making connections, and emotional investment in seeing farmers succeed, we very well may have given up. Karen is a consistent and invaluable support to us!

The land was sold to a developer within the month (February), and shortly after we began to work with the Yggdrasil Land Foundation, an organization whose mission is to catalyze the viability of biodynamic, organic, and sustainable farming for food security and the health of communities through land access, preservation, and renewal.

Together we worked to develop ideas for how this particular piece of land could be best used to further the aim of a strong urban agriculture movement, and we have articulated a concept for an Urban Farmer Incubator Program (we will explain this idea more later). Yggdrasil has recently submitted a pre-proposal to the State through the Urban Greening Grant Program requesting the financing to purchase the property and begin the Urban Farmer Incubator Program. If this funding does come through, Yggdrasil would be able to purchase the property and lease to Little City Gardens. Yygdrasil would ensure that a conservation or agricultural easement is attached to the property title so that it will be maintained in perpetuity as an urban agricultural site, and so that the property taxes and lease fees will be more appropriate to the type of land use. We have realized through our efforts to design a sound business plan that commercial urban agriculture may only be feasible if property tax can be reduced on farmed parcels so that farmers can afford the according rent.

Although we have some exciting ideas in the works and some strong collaborative momentum, our situation is still complicated, precarious and time sensitive. Our lease is scheduled to end in October, and until we have funds and are able to make a strong purchase offer, the current property owner is actively working on development plans. If we don’t receive state funds to purchase, we will be back to square one.

We certainly took a gamble starting a our farm on a short lease, but at the time it was our only opportunity and we are certainly happy that we took it. But at this point we have put over a year’s worth of hard work into creating a neighborhood farm that is really beginning to be fruitful, and it will be very sad for us if we have to pack up and leave just as our vision has materialized.

We are in the middle of our first summer season, which in our corner of the world can often mean being in the thick of fog or being blown around by a strong southerly wind. But we still have long daylight hours and enough sun that the sunflowers have grown tall, and the strawberries are ripening. The back third of the farm, despite our initial efforts to keep it mowed and weed-wacked, has slipped back into its original state — a seven foot tall thicket of fennel with an understory of wild radish, dock and blackberry. The only exception is a mounded area that we sheet mulched heavily this spring into which we planted 60 winter squash plants early this summer. The squash plants, despite not having been watered once, are climbing healthily all over the mound and have already set an amazing amount of fruit. Dry farmed squash! Its exciting for us to find a few crops that yield relatively well without being irrigated in the summer because our water bill sure is getting high lately.

Even though we are generally tired by the end of a long harvest day, we really enjoy the Monday CSA pick ups. Members come to the farm to pick up their boxes, and neighbors and friends come to shop at our farmstand. I find it rewarding to see so many adults and kids interacting at the farm and to feel like this place has something to offer them — vegetables, flowers, conversation, a table and benches to sit down and talk for a while and green space to run around. It feels good to be able to do this legally.

At the end of this week I will be leaving town for a month. Caitlyn is my hero! She is going to be working extra hard running the business (all the harvesting, delivering, seeding, weeding, watering, bed prepping, administration) without me! Luckily our friend Heather is going to be helping her out on harvest days. I am headed down to the Arizona/Mexico border to work with a humanitarian aid organization called No More Deaths. I worked with them for a month last year and it felt like very meaningful direct action. Some of you consistent readers may remember that i posted reflections about the experience when i returned last August. I will share more when i return.

There was an article in the LA Times this morning about Bay Area Urban Agriculture Zoning changes which includes Little City Gardens. This photo was taken by the reporter, Lee Romney.

Is anyone out there an accountant who would be willing to offer us a few hours of tax support? After attempting to do our first year of partnership taxes on our own, our heads are swirling and we realize that we could use a little guidance. We are looking for somebody trained who can help orient and get us started with the process (we have filed a tax extension for 2010). If you or anyone you know has the capacity to do this and might want to become a hero in our eyes please contact us at littlecitygardens@gmail.com. We will shower you with vegetables.

Thank you for considering.

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We reached an exciting milestone yesterday! It was the first official day of our Summer CSA. This first week’s boxes included rainbow chard, salad mix, green garlic and large bunches of sweet genovese basil, as well as a broadsheet/poster hand drawn by us with thoughts about farming in the city and the importance of a CSA model. We started our day early and with the help of a couple friends we harvested, sorted, trimmed and packed steadily until the afternoon, finishing just in time for customers to start showing up. We spruced up the farm, harvested some summery flower bouquets and brewed sun tea for everyone to enjoy. It was a treat to see kids running around between rows and to be able to hand out produce yards away from where it had been harvested just hours before.
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A note: So far this blog has been a place for Brooke and me to share our put-together thoughts, major updates, and carefully composed essays, but lately we’ve been needing a space to air some occasional end-of-the-day ramblings as well. A way to communicate to the world our intense and hopeful and frustrating and tiring and beautiful and overwhelming experiences of being farmers in the city, and a way to let you in on the daily conversations we have about urban farming’s complicated politics, its inspiring potential and its disheartening barriers. Because one of the most important aspects of farming in the city is the dialogue that can accompany it. Yes, the cabbage is beautiful and the turnips are sweet and delicious, but…

And it’s our responsibility — as visible, concerned farmers — to be honest and upfront with you about why and how. So, interspersed amongst the beautiful photos and careful essays, expect some more casual diary entries from us too. It’s the middle of the season and we have a lot to talk about. We’ll gush about our sweet strawberries, rant about the value of land in San Francisco, ramble about the wind or the slugs or the beautiful mornings and also, quite possibly, complain about our achy backs and compromised free time. We’ll be honest about the work we’ve devoted ourselves to, because it is multi-faceted and deserves to be shared.

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After our brief two days of sweaty hot summertime here in SF, it was cool and windy at the farm again today. While we weeded the beans and thinned the radishes, B and I talked about Antonio’s article today — how well written it is and how nice and frank he was about the need for us (urban farmers, activists) to maintain critical thought about what exactly it is we are each trying to do here. I see plenty of room (and need) in the city for both volunteer/education-based and commercial/production-based farming (and all possible combinations of the two), and I was glad to read a thoughtful description of both ideas that pointed out benefits and contradictions but didn’t draw any divisive conclusions about either one.

Also, I peeked into our hoop house today and felt so proud. This month’s most exciting success: basil! It’s at least 20 degrees warmer under there and this warm weather crop seems to love it. While we’re buttoning up our jackets and shivering from the chilly afternoon wind, the basil stays protected and cozy, growing visibly everyday.

San Francisco residents — We are very excited to begin our formal Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. This is a salad box subscription; you pay up front and then receive a beautiful box of fresh produce and salad greens each week for 12 weeks beginning July 5th. By signing up for this program you will become a valuable member and supporter of the only urban farm business in San Francisco! It’s customers like you who make this farm possible.

Click here (or see the permanent link now on the sidebar) to read a basic description of the program and all the details — what will be included in the box, pricing, etc — and to download an application. Please read through the details carefully to make sure this type of veggie box is right for you and your family and that you can make it to one of the pick up locations.

If you are interested in becoming a member, please fill out an application by June 20th. You can copy it onto the body of an email and send it back to us, or if you have any trouble let us know so we can arrange to get you a printed copy.

We look forward to beginning this relationship with you, and we are excited to start sharing the fruits of our labor.

Your farmers,
Brooke and Caitlyn

UPDATE: The summer program is all full for now. Thank you to all who signed up so quickly! We hope to add a few more members mid-season, as we increase our production, so please do still send in your application if you’re interested and we’ll put you on the waiting list.

We’ve been enjoying some beautiful produce lately. Fruits of our labor! Our bodies might be sore, but our bellies are full of green. Thanks to our loyal friends for all of your harvest help as the farm workload continues to ramp up. (Heather! Minnie! Richard! Ali!)

And thank you for all of your emails expressing interest in our upcoming CSA. We’ll be sending out applications and more detailed descriptions of the program within the next couple of weeks.

I read this article today in the Washington Post called “Why being a foodie isn’t elitist” by Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation. I recommend that you read it. I found it interesting because he names and deconstructs the most common critique made about the healthy food and sustainable agriculture movement. The article provoked me to articulate some of my own ideas on the subject.

I am sure that all small-scale organic farmers have heard the claim before that if they involve themselves in the work of sustainable agriculture that they are by default engaging in elitism. The small-scale farmer is often accused of inaccessibility, irrelevance, and of pandering to the wealthy. Small-scale farmers, offering healthier food and meaningful employment, not to mention better care of water and land, know how difficult it is to earn a living-wage through their work. Most settle for a very low income, relying on the satisfaction of their relationship to land and community as compensation.

Because their produce sits next to the subsidized, ecologically extractive, artificially cheap counterparts in the marketplace, it does seem expensive. But actually its not. For what it is, it’s still very cheap. For that reason it is an unfortunate paradox that organic farmers are often accused of elitism.

Caitlyn and I grapple daily with the question of how to make our food accessible. It is very important to us that a diverse range of people can enjoy our produce. It is also very important to us that we are able to respect our hard work by (hopefully soon) being able to pay ourselves a living-wage. While in some ways we would be emotionally fulfilled to work for little compensation and offer our produce at Safeway prices….we wonder if we would simply be perpetuating the unacceptable cultural norm of farming being a scantily paid profession (not to mention that we would probably get burnt out, exhaust our bodies and therefore not be a very sustainable business). We are still negotiating this balancing act of building a business that enhances the goal of community food security and demanding an elevated role for what we believe to be an important profession.

Although across the board small-scale farmers do take on the mission of making healthy food broadly accessible, I believe that it should not be the farmers job to make food cheap (in fact they can’t without sacrificing their own finances, health and sanity). It should be the job of our elected official, through public policy, to make healthy food cheaper. They should support sustainable farming by offering small-scale organic farmers the same, if not greater, subsidies than their industrial counterparts. In the meantime, if communities want to see farmers develop and employ the sustainable practices, which our governments currently use public resource to undermine, they may have to foot the bill by paying more for food.

No doubt, its a weighted issue. Those with more means will find it easier to pay more and those who are truly scraping by will find it harder to do so. For this reason access to healthy food is unequal. However it seems to me that we are making a crucial misinterpretation when we assume that healthy food is too expensive. The real issue at hand is that our economic system renders so many people too poor to afford healthy food.

I would like to see the issue of unaffordable food reframed. As I see it, food should not be cheap. Food is, and must be revered as, a thing of great value. Care for food, by natural extension, is care for soil, land and water, care for farming and the sensible stewardship of our natural resources, and therefore a care for communities and our stay here on earth. It seems of utmost importance that as a culture we assign a real worth to the embedded benefits of healthy food.

The devaluation of food can be understood as a tool of our current power structure, which encourages us to both disassociate with our natural resources so that they can be degraded and excessively extracted, and de-incentivizes us to involve ourselves in healthy alternative practices. This tool benefits a few and impoverishes many.

To an increasingly poor population cheap food is the only feasible option and therefore has become our addiction. In the context of this unneccessary epidemic of poverty, almost any healthy, sane, grassroots, farming or food distribution system, can be easily be cast in the light of irrelevance and critiqued as elite. In this way the system cleverly reinforces itself.

In his article Eric Schlosser poses the concept of food elitism in a new way. He does acknowledges that the snobbery of restaurant connoisseurs and food gourmands can be irritating and “if left unchecked could sideline the movement or make it irrelevant”. But he explains that if we focus on this trend we are failing to identify the truly dangerous food elite who are the corporate giants that increasingly control, through strong political lobbying, every aspect of our food system from seeds and fertilizers, to processing and distribution.

photo credit: blair randall

On Wednesday we had quite the crowd at the farm. Mayor Ed Lee, Supervisors Eric Mar and David Chiu, representatives of the SF Planning Department, members of the SF Urban Agriculture Alliance, reporters and photographers, neighbors, supporters and friends were all gathered at Little City Gardens to celebrate the new urban agriculture zoning code, to talk about its significance, and to watch the mayor sign it into law.

Although it was slightly overwhelming to see so many cameras and suits at the farm, it was a momentous occasion to celebrate this small but significant step forward for urban agriculture. Among the people who spoke (Mayor Ed Lee, Eric Mar, David Chiu, Eli Zigas of the SFUAA, Karen Heisler of Mission Pie, as well as Caitlyn and I), the overwhelming sentiment was that urban agriculture is a healthy activity to encourage and an important business sector to foster in our city. Now that a few politicians have been out to the farm, enjoyed the fresh air and sweet smell of food growing, we hope they will continue to act upon those encouraging words, as we are sure to need help crafting more urban ag policy in the future. A number of articles were written about the passage of the legislation.

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