Hayes Valley Sprouts a Farm

Residents turn city grant into a fruit tree orchard

One of the few remaining reminders of one of the City's ugliest days is turning into a beautiful garden thanks to the ongoing recession.

Near the remains of the old Central Freeway on Laguna Street, between Oak and Fell Streets, residents have been given a vacant land to harvest as farmland until the City can pass the small strip off to a developer.  And in the process the Tenderloin is no longer the only place you can find people proudly throwing a heaping pile of feces on the streets in San Francisco.

The new Hayes Valley Farm was cultivated by a $50,000 grant from the City to convert empty lots, not being developed during the economic downturn, into community benefit areas. Work started a few weeks ago to plant 150 fruit trees in the ashes of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

The mobile farm is temporary but that doesn't mean it comes without benefits. The City saves money on maintaining the properties, while residents get an excuse to throw an awesome work party (among other things of course)

The next party will be this Thursday at 2:30 p.m. and on Valentine's Day at noon for all you green thumb lovers.

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