February Workday Re-cap

At the community workday in the Panhandle on Saturday, we gathered inside the work site of our capital project to coordinate our projects and get a close look at the work. The two re-graded and re-seeded mounds within the fence are quickly sprouting grass, but the third area, the planned rain garden, is experiencing slow drainage, causing a postponement of the expected planting. City staff told us that they would seek a remedy for the problem starting this week. The rainfall Thursday might have actually prevented a bigger blunder, since the pond arising from the moderate rainfall was large enough to have drowned some of the plants that we plan for the site. 

One aspect of the capital project, new bike racks, 

served several of the volunteers Saturday

Instead of planting the rain garden, we instead turned our attention to an area next to our gardener's shack on the way to the playground, and after sheet mulching, planted 20 other plants - manzanitas, ceanothus, dune sagewort, and salvia - provided through the Golden Gate Park Nursery. Around the back of the shack, we also dug out clumps of invasive grasses.

A larger group of volunteers was dispatched to Lyon Street, where we spread two truckloads of compost fines in the meadow, followed by mixing and scattering grass seed. This new approach to caring for the turf in the Panhandle will hopefully help make a thicker grass cover. The meadows may look pretty green when seen from a distance, but they're pretty bare when you're out in them. Thanks to SF Day School first graders, and other students, and their families for joining us for this important work.