Space Hunter

It is becoming more and more clear to me and Jessie that we simply need more space.  After all, more space= more food.  While being eternally grateful for the space we were given, it is simply not enough to really make the kind of dent we're hoping to make in the restaurant alloy.  With that now said, I do know that there is a way to make this happen without becoming a full scale farm.  With our garden project we intend not to sustain a restaurant entirely, but merely HELP to sustain a restaurant.  I have yet to be convinced that we need to move to the sticks.  All around me, in this city, there are spaces.  There are unused spaces that need food, and lots of food.  What if we all changed the way we thought about usable space? What about tearing up that inedible sod for a little arugula? I am sure that there are many San Franciscans with un- or underused spaces.  All we really need is a little more than we've got to really make things cook!  

So now we're putting out our feelers and looking for space.  We ideally would like to find people that have unused space that they would be comfortable donating.  I mean hey...free landscaping anyone?  Not to mention front row seats to the ever-expanding food sustainability movement.  In exchange for the space, the donors would have a weekly share of veggies and potentially some deals at the restaurants we serve.  Now that is community! a direct link between producers, farmers, and restaurants. 

So help us out.  We need all the community we can get.  IF you have space you'd donate, or know of space that is up for grabs, email us (email).  

Fighting with Phood!!!

And now a word from our sponsors.  Phood Fight Inc. is a company started by Peter Hood of Weird Fish, St, Francis Fountain, and Boogaloos.  The  Amyitis garden was initially funded by Phillip Bellber and Carolyn Blair but now Phood Fight is the company helping us to keep things going.  In a way Phood Fight manages the way these restaurants use their products.  We intend to insure that our restaurants are using the greenest and most sustainable solutions to restaurant materials and food.  Look at it as Green Management if you will.  We'll keep you posted on how it moves along.

NEW!!

I have decided to  add a link of the week.  We'll post links that we like related to local food related resources.  

This week we liked tablehopper.com.  Tablehopper is a really cool website for Bay area foodies, farmers and restaurateurs alike.  Check it out and find a new place to grub!!

Best, 

David

A little help from my friends

Now back from my epic journey, I have once again plunged into the garden with about as much abandon as I can muster.  Thanks to Jessie, the garden looks and feels lush and vibrant.  The rows that she planted are thriving in a prosperous fashion and are delicious.  Weird Fish, (18th and Mission) started by former Boogaloos Manager Timothy Holt and Boogaloos G.M. Peter Hood, has been buying the veggies from the garden wholesale as a way to cover our costs.  There is still some experimentation required to get the financial kinks worked through.  Getting costs covered during a start-up year for a garden is tough.  There are many little expenses, even when we are using a lot of recycled and found material for construction.  I'd say though that we are off to a good start.  The real challenge will be our first winter here in the garden.  Not knowing how much we'll be able to produce may lead us to be even more creative.  Only time will tell.  

It is becoming clear to me as this project grows how much we need community support.  Even with a small garden, we need all the hands we can get.  Holding down day jobs and producing food for restaurants is a tall order.  There never seems like enough hours in the day.  Luckily, we have the interest of some potential volunteers.  Each week we'll be welcoming the help of local volunteers to help with things like weeding and maintenance.  Boogaloos employee Joel Scott came out to help us this week with his pickup truck.  He helped me move organic debris and trash from the space as well as collect some wooden pallets.  We'll be using the wood from the pallets to build a compost bin.  Hopefully we'll use red worms to most efficiently compost the organic refuse.  More on that later. 

Go on down to Weird Fish to sample this week's harvest; Baby salad greens with Arugula and Mizuna, wild green onions, Baby Tat Soi and Baby Russian Kale.

Wish us luck

David