February Work day wrap-up

With huge participation, great planning and organization, and heavenly weather, the February Panhandle work day was a success this morning. Here are a few pictures that capture some of the fun and accomplishments.

We began at 9 for introductions and a rundown of the day's plans from Guillermo, Gloria, Zack and Charlie (department staff). 

Working with some of our regular volunteers from the neighborhood, students  from SF Day School worked to bring healthy soil into the children's garden around the perimeter of the playground. 

A small, hard-working group spread cardboard to suppress weeds, and then added soil to an area at the southeast corner of the playground. We'll get to plant this area soon! 

Students worked in small groups at a table in the playground making Shasta Daisy seed balls with clay, soil,  and water. 

 Wielding shovels, volunteers spread out and edged the mud and grass off of pretty much all the pathways in the center of the park. Compared to the muddy conditions of last spring, this is pretty miraculous.  Let's hope that the rains coming next week don't return the mud to the walkways.

Another group traveled east of Masonic with wheelbarrows, pitchforks and rakes to spread mulch under the big cherry laurel (one of my favorite trees in the park - seen below during one of last year's big picnic days). Considering the tree's huge canopy, that's a bigger job than it sounds like. Looking at past workdays, we spread wood chips on that tree in February 2010. How cyclical!

Thanks everyone!

Connecting the City

In this new video from the Bike Coalition and its Connecting the City initiative, a family from the Richmond enjoys the Panhandle and other scenic spots in San Francisco.