Real Dirt - December 2006


Street Parks' Dirt

December 2006

STREET PARKS is San Francisco Parks Trust's partnership with DPW to:

Support existing community-managed gardens

Create more community-managed gardens

Get youth involved

Learn more.






	New Dirt This is the second issue of the Street Parks' Dirt - a newsletter dedicated to the spaces we dig. Here's what's in store: GROUND ZERO - Share breaking news from your garden. THE TOOLSHED - Useful people, places, and things. TALL POPPY - Outstanding gardeners. I SPY... - What's up with Street Parks Youth. This is a space to share what's happening with community activism, open space, fresh ideas and fresh air. Your contributions are welcome, encouraged and invited...share your photos, events, stories, tips and tricks. (Be sure to include your name and your garden.) Read the old Dirt. Submit to Dirt






	GROUND ZERO Breaking News from your Garden Greening Guerrero, San Jose/Guerrero - Grant money awarded for new plantings! The Greening Guerrero project is a product of the San Jose/Guerrero Coalition to Save Our Streets. The group has been in existence for over a decade and in the last five years through new neighbors coming together have worked out a project plan for creating a safer, cleaner, greener, and better usage of the streets Guerrero and San Jose Avenue from 30th to Market. The San Jose/Guerrero Coalition to Save our Streets, Greening Guerrero received $8000 from SF Beautiful to plant the median between 23rd and 24th Streets. Content from www.sanjoseguerrero.com. Read more about their plan. Support this project. Do-It-Yourself median greening. Read November's GROUND ZERO: Quesada Gardens Initiative irrigation in place Contribute your garden news






	THE TOOLSHED News You Can Use Fundraising 102 :: Applying for grants Q. Where can I get get a grant for my community project? A. Lots of local organizations fund community projects. One organization, SF Beautiful, just this year provided $73,000 for community projects. San Francisco Beautiful continues the legacy of its founder, Friedel Klussmann, by awarding grants to organizations that seek to maintain or enhance San Francisco´s unique beauty and livability. Projects must also encourage civic participation and create healthy, safe, and sustainable communities. The quarterly grants, which usually range from $1000 to $5,000, are awarded to a wide range of projects. When evaluating applications, SFB pays particular attention to the level of community participation and to the sustainability of the project beyond the term of the grant. Read more about SFB grants. Read November's TOOLSHED tip: Fiscal Sponsorship (you'll need it to get this grant). Share your tools






	TALL POPPY Outstanding Gardener CRIMA POGGE - Director, Center for Habitat Restoration, CCSF Crima is a teacher in the Biology Department at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) that students describe as rigorous, passionate, clever and "all in all a very interesting and fun teacher." Crima also spends time in the field as she serves as the Director of the Center for Habitat Restoration. Founded in 1997, the Center for Habitat Restoration (CHR) provides opportunities for students and volunteers to participate in local habitat restoration. Participants extend and supplement their own environmental education while exploring career opportunities in ecological sciences. The field of environmental restoration is one of the fastest growing fields of scientific and social research. It is one of the few fields of science which integrates individuals from a multitude of backgrounds and experiences. Habitat restoration also provides a strong force for social change, particularly in areas with lower socio-economic standing, which have historically been the hardest hit in terms of environmental problems. Restoration offers a way for people to take back control of their communities and affect a positive change. This enhances a sense of stewardship and community pride. Crima and several students from the Center for Habitat restoration participated in December's Street Parks Youth workday in the YES! garden in the Bayview. Read more about the Center for Habitat Restoration (search "habitat restoration"). See the pictures of Crima in action at the Street Parks Youth workday. Read about November's TALL POPPY: Jude Koksi, SFGRO Nominate a gardener






	I SPY... *What's up with Street Parks Youth* YES! garden - Street Parks Youth get down and dirty in the Bayview. It was sunny with a chance of rain as we gathered in the morning on the Quesada Avenue cul-de-sac. SFPT's Street Parks Youth (or SPY for short) crew was made up of YES! program youth, CCSF's Center for Habitat Restoration students, and Thurgood Marshall's Community Service and Gardening Clubs. We were joined by enthusiatic neighbors and local experts from the neighboring Quesada Gardens Initiative. Through the morning volunteers cleared soil for a retaining wall and weeded the slope to prepare for a new planting. During the summer, participants from the YES! program put in a retaining and small native garden in this cozy Bayview cul-de-sac. Neighbors were thrilled about the initial project and worked with SFPT to prepare the plan to extend the wall and the native garden. We worked hard all morning and were treated to a wonderful BBQ lunch with chicken and sausages, side salads and treats cooked by neighbor Bill Evans. SFPT provided the food and local volunteers brought the cheer. DPW supplied broken sidewalks. SFPT bought native plants from Flora Grubb gardens who pitched-in and donated salvias, echium, and other plants to this garden. We're off to a great start. It rained for a bit but we were able to finish the job in time to beat the storm. Contact Kearstin at SFPT to lend a hand - we'll be back in February. See the pictures from this event. Read November's I SPY...from the Inner Sunset. Schedule a workday in your garden

What's the Dirt?

SPY :: Our future in focus...

Street Parks Youth (or SPY for short) is a program that brings SF youth to SF community-managed gardens. We believe that by connecting youth to these spaces we can help to cultivate a sense of stewardship in San Francisco (and get some work done!).

Contact SFPT to learn more.

SPY offers youth a fun and rewarding way to give back to San Francisco. SPY crews are teamed up with professional landscape archictects, naturalists, outdoor educators, and other environmental professionals to connect them to career paths in environmental conservation.

See the pictures from SPY workdays.

Quick Links

What's coming UP in the garden?

	Habitat Planting :: Bayview Hill	January 3, 12-3pm	More info...
	Habitat Planting :: Buena Vista Park Restoration Project	Juanary 6, 9-12	More info...
	Learn :: Basic fruit tree care class	January 6	More info...
	Learn :: FREE Winter pruning class	January 27	More info...

Digging Deeper...

	Did you know that San Francisco lacks the open space that other major cities in the US offer? There are hundreds of acres of undeveloped public property in our City - these spaces can be reclaimed. We have a plan to help San Francisco reclaim these spaces - Street Parks. Neighbors, volunteers, and gardeners like you are helping to make the San Francisco landscape more green, more vibrant and more healthy. SFPT is here to help.

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