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Dominique Piccinino teaches kids about bugs at the 18th and Rhode Island Street Permaculture Garden.

I recently read in SF Gate that San Francisco has just taken the first step into giving landowners a tax incentive to letting their empty lots be used for agricultural and educational purposes. The bill still has to be approved by the Board of Supervisors but is expected to pass as early as mid-July. Only empty lots would be eligible and properties would have to remain undeveloped for a minimum of five years. The hope is the bill would be to prevent urban blight and increase green spaces. Lots could even be used for bees and livestock– think of the farming possibilities!

To see what can be done with an empty lot, I visited an amazing permaculture garden at 18th and Rhode Island Streets on Potrero Hill. It got its start back in 2008 when the owner, Aaron Roland, read a story in the SF Chronicle about using vacant lots to grow food. The writer wrote about Kevin Bayuk who had found over a thousand vacant lots even in the dense city of San Francisco. His idea was to try to find owners willing to let their land be used for urban agriculture. When Aaron read the story he contacted Kevin and offered the space to be grown for food.

Since then, the sloping property has become a community garden developed with the principles of permaculture with help by project developer David Cody, permaculture students and the community. A good history of the project can be read in The Potrero View. The design works with nature but faster: building up the soil and catching and retaining rainwater in swales. The lot doesn’t look like your typical vegetable garden with rows of vegetables in square beds. Instead paths follow the contours of the hill with recycled concrete retaining walls The plots are planted heavily with fruit trees and many perennial vegetables that require less water. I noticed dwarf varieties of fig trees, apple trees, plums, pears and more. The front of the garden has cob benches that overlook downtown San Francisco and the far end of the property has a greenhouse/shed made of recycled doors. The newest addition is a pond and fish.

The garden is open to anyone and the day I visited, Branch, an educational program for kids was having a summer camp there. Kids were learning about bugs, picking fruit and making sun tea. It’s a great way to get kids into nature and there’s still two weeks left of summer camp with Branch and spots are available. Look here for more info.

It goes to show you there’s plenty of potential in an empty lot. Visit the garden and find out how to get involved on their Facebook page.

Kids work on artwork in a Branch summer camp at the 18th + Rhode Island Street Permaculture Garden in San Francisco.

The front of the garden has cob benches overlooking the San Francisco skyline.

Paths through the garden are mulched, beds have recycled concrete retaining walls.

A greenhouse/shed made from recycled doors.

TJ, Yolanda’s six year old son pops into a photo.

Yolanda Burrell has got to be the busiest urban farmer I’ve met. Besides vegetables, chickens, and home renovations, she’s got a husband, two kids and permaculture classes, not to mention a new store. She opened Pollinate, one of Oakland’s newest urban farm supply stores with Birgitt Evans just five months ago. Birgitt, a master gardener, who I interviewed and photographed for my book, Backyard Roots is her partner, so when Yolanda finally had an free morning for me to come visit, I jumped.

Yolanda and her family live in the Oak Knoll neighborhood of Oakland. Their home sits on a large 1/2 acre lot, and they grow their veggies in the front yard. The farm follows the permaculture principle of being accessible so harvesting and care is easy. And since it’s right out front Yolanda didn’t want an eyesore. The raised beds radiate out from four corners in the center of the yard and she punctuates the garden with lots of flowers. The beds a have thick mulch paths between them and she plants lots of permaculture veggies, like ground cherries that her kids love as well as tomatoes, squash, artichokes, beans, asparagus and plenty more. The back is where the two chicken coops are kept, along with a growing food forest with over 20 fruit trees, and play area for the kids.

I loved Yolanda’s urban farm but when she told me about her store I was really captivated. She and Birgitt have known each other 25 years and are both really into growing food. They’ve always dreamed of having a great farm store where customers could get everything all under one roof. They started “saving their pennies” and spent over a year planning. There were no outside investors. To learn more about how to do it Yolanda and her family visited urban farm stores in Portland and Eugene and found a couple of great mentors. They learned they would probably not get a vacation for two years and that they would work every day, even when they weren’t in the store. Yet they were not deterred. It became a mission to find a location that had indoor/outdoor space, a driveway for loading, and was not too far from either of them. When they found their spot at 2727 Fruitvale they quickly went to work, enrolling a talented neighbor to make farm tables, another friend to do graphics, and getting endless help from their families. So far, Pollinate has been welcomed by the neighbors and greeted with excitement. The two have yet to make a salary but business is good. The store is getting popular, they have workshops and classes as well as all your homestead needs. Yolanda says the “community wants them to succeed.” How could they not.