Sunday, November 27, 2011

Gratitude, Nourishment and Community






Thanksgiving morning at GLIDE Memorial Church was buzzing with activity, community, prayer, song, and delicious food.

We harvested 8 pounds of food from the garden to integrate in the free meals program distributing meals to the community over the holiday weekend. Read more...

Friday, November 18, 2011

Get to know the plants growing at Graze the Roof






At Graze the Roof, we have an abundance of BIODIVERSITY; plants of different sizes, shapes, colors, tastes, textures, and functions. The biodiversity of the garden is one of the factors supporting the resiliency, and health of the system.

As my own gardening experience expands and my knowledge and skill-set become more and more refined, I am getting to know, really know and understand the vast world of plants. Like human beings, plants have personalities, tendencies, and unique characteristics. It is fascinating, magical and as I learn more, I become more enchanted by the miracle of life, growth and gardening...and it is so much FUN.

The first plant I am excited to introduce you to is PINEAPPLE SAGE or Salvia Elegans. It is a perennial shrub, meaning that it has an extensive root system and you do not need to re-plant it year after year like many edible annual plants that we know and love: broccoli, tomato, carrot, etc...

The leaves do smell like pineapple and the bright red tubular flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.

In traditional Mexico, this plant is used medicinally to treat anxiety and to lower blood pressure.

It is a beautiful plant and can thrive and be enjoyed in both in a containers or in the ground.

Visit our two pineapple sage plants at Graze the Roof during our volunteer workdays (Thursdays 10-2p or the first Sunday of each month between 10a-1p).

Happy planting! Read more...

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Gift to the Garden




Give a GIFT to the Garden this holiday filled season.

In collaboration with Artistic Program Director, Candice Jacobs of the Family Youth and Childcare Center, Graze the Roof is facilitating an arts integration opportunity for the youth in our after-school programming.

BEAUTFIY THE FENCELINE WITH YOUR TREASURES…AND WATCH IT GROW

A chain link fence has GREAT potential! Imagine the fence that surrounds Graze the Roof, GLIDE’s rooftop garden as our canvas…it can be colorful, interesting, imaginative, alive... It can be food, beauty, habitat…how will you leave your mark???

Give a GIFT to the garden by bringing in a container (shoe, tin can, old coffee mug, flower pot, toy truck, etc..) to become a part of our living wall! We will hang our treasures all over the fence, fill ‘em with soil and grow plants out of them!

WHAT WE NEED!...

Bring in a container…all shapes and sizes are encouraged! Please donate your old shoes, vintage boxes, and more to our living wall...help us transform a chain link fence into a vibrant edge of color, creativity and life!

All containers need to be turned in by: MONDAY DECEMBER 5th !!! Please bring to Graze the Roof every Thursday through Nov. 24th, 2011.

THANK YOU!

Email Lindsey at grazetheroof@gmail.com with any questions you may have regarding Gift to the Garden! Read more...

Friday, November 4, 2011

Graze the Roof Harvest meets the GLIDE Kitchen!






WE DID IT!

Over the past few months Graze the Roof has boosted food production and increased biodiversity and overall fertility of the garden and is now READY to offer this great abundance to the GLIDE kitchen. The GLIDE kitchen distributes 60,000 meals a month to community members in need of nourishment. The meal program is supported by food banks and local family farms.

Besides the meal program that serves 3 hot meals a day, seven days a week, GLIDE facilitates community-based nutrition and wellness education programming and advocacy programs for Seniors. The fresh greens and herbs from the rooftop garden will be distributed throughout these different offerings!

On Thursday morning we harvested 9 lbs of food from the garden! We will begin doing a weekly harvest for the kitchen and work with the kitchen team to plant and grow seasonally relevant herbs and vegetables that align with the needs of the dynamic food programs run by the kitchen team!

Thank you to all the volunteers for your support in boosting production and making this dream a reality!

Join us on Thursdays from 10a-2p to continue the dynamic cultivation of a food forest within the Tenderloin.

Email grazetheroof@gmail.com with comments, questions and/or ideas for raising awareness about this inspiring food security project. Read more...

Bunker Bags full of Spawn!







Using an urban mushroom cultivation technique as taught by Paul Staments in Mycellium Running . We created bunker bags yesterday during the workday! Graze the Roof now has 9 bunker bags sprinkled throughout the garden. A bunker bag is a burlap sack filled with layers of pasteurized straw and sawdust bricks filled with mushroom spawn. In the photos look under the milk-crate raised beds to see our bunker bags nestled underneath the crates as a shade-loving understory.

Thank you to Four Barrel Coffee on Valencia St. in the Mission for the donation of burlap sacks and to Far West Fungi in Moss Landing for the donation of the mushroom bricks. And a BIG thank you to all the volunteers who came out to make it happen! Read more...

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Mushroom Gardens come to the Roof







FUNGUS is fascinating, colorful and as a new forager of the forest, hunting for wild edible mushrooms, I have to say, fungus is fabulous! Mushrooms are rich in nutrition: vitamins and minerals as well as dense with regenerative properties, medicinal benefits and research shows we can partner with mushrooms for sustainable bioremediation projects. I'm a fan of fungus and as a gardener and foodie love this time of year because it is mushroom season in the forest and have always been intrigued by the idea of growing my own mushrooms...

Far West Fungi is a local, family run business that grows mushrooms and distributes widely. You can find their mushrooms at the Ferry Building and at farmer's markets around the city. They had an open house on Sunday to share the magnificence of their mushroom production; to teach and empower fungi.philes to grow their own gourmet mushrooms at home. We made the trek to beautiful Moss Landing where we met other folks passionate about mushrooms and the dynamics of urban agriculture.

We left Far West Fungi with trunk full of saw dust bricks colonized by shitake and oyster mushroom spawn...the foundation for creating a vibrant mushroom garden.

This week's volunteer workday will focus on creating mushroom gardens in the shady wet regions under our raised beds!

...Also I just observed oyster mushrooms growing out of our compost bin! Amazing!

Come on up to the roof this THURSDAY NOV. 3rd from 10a-2p to learn about and participate in the installation of mushroom gardens!

See you then!

-Lindsey Read more...