Dear Farm Friends,
We hope you will join us in July and August to experience the abundance of the farm at the height of our summer growing season. The days are long and the sunflowers are getting tall, there’s a profusion of daisies, mallows, California poppies and many other flowers in bloom, and all our typical summer crops are growing strong. The birds, butterflies, bees, and ladybugs are here — you should be too!
There are lots of doings at the farm over the summer. Aside from our regularly scheduled workdays listed below, check out these other upcoming activities:
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OUR WORKSHOP SERIES continues in August with offerings that can provide you with ideas and strategies for gardening in our current drought.
Irrigation & Water Management
August 1, 12:30 – 3pm • Instructor: John Stokes
Learn how to design, install, and maintain a low-volume irrigation system in this popular workshop. See how we do it at the Farm. We will cover: options for low-volume garden irrigation (emitter line/drip tape/micro-spray); mist systems for greenhouses; small orchard layouts; considerations for zoning systems, including manual and automatic controls; basics of assembling a drip system; hands-on installation of a small system; soil moisture and watering schedules. Class size limited to 8 people!
John Stokes is a co-founder of The Urban Farmer Store and a volunteer co-manager of Alemany Farm.
Native Plant Landscaping for the Bay Area
Sunday, August 16, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Instructors: Jim Cartan & Vicki Wilderman
This workshop will focus on how native plants can be used to enhance yards and gardens or other spaces. Join these experienced native plant stewards to explore the native areas at the Farm and learn about the benefits of and various uses for drought tolerant native plants. Bring your curiosity and your questions!
Jim Cartan is manager of Alemany Farm’s native plant demonstration garden,and Vicki Wilderman is a volunteer co-manager of Alemany Farm.
How to Register for Workshops:
Send us an email at community.gardeners@gmail.com and tell us your name(s) and the name of the workshop(s) you’d like to attend.
Suggested donation: $20 per person; no one turned away for lack of funds
Our workshop presenters are volunteering their time; all donations will benefit Friends of Alemany Farm via our fiscal sponsor, the San Francisco Parks Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
You can make a donation on our online donation page. In the “in honor of” field on the donation form, please enter the name & date of the workshop you’re attending. Alternatively, you can pay with check or cash at the workshop. Checks should be payable to the San Francisco Parks Alliance.
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Urban Ag Resource Center Day
Saturday, July 18, 9am – Noon
SF Rec & Park’s Urban Ag Resource Center program returns to Alemany Farm. Bring your own containers and bring home some compost, soil, or mulch for your home garden. It’s free! SF DPH will also offer a free class (10-11am) on lead awareness in your home garden. More info here.
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August 8 – Afternoon Snack
Join us for our Saturday community workday, which will include a late afternoon snack of Italian regional foods in our outdoor kitchen. We have a couple of Italian cooks who want to share their culinary heritage with us as the farm chores wind down! More details to come.
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And of course, you can join us for our regularly scheduled community workdays. Get your hands dirty, make some friends, and bring home some veggies:
Sunday, July 19, Noon – 5pm (including work in our native plant areas!)
Monday, July 20, 1pm – 5pm
Saturday, July 25, Noon – 5pm
Monday, July 27, 1pm – 5pm
Sunday, August 2, Noon – 5pm (including work in our medicinal herb garden!)
Saturday, August 8, Noon – 5pm
For more information about visiting the farm and joining our community workdays, see our Get Involved page.
We look forward to seeing you at the farm soon!
The Farm Team