A tree planting at our August community workday

Our newly planted Kauri Pine

The mature Kauri Pine

Among all the introduced trees seen in the parks of San Francisco, the Queensland Kauri Pine (Agathis robusta) is one of the less common. Kauri Pines have leathery, evergreen leaves, and grow very tall. Like the more commonly seen Norfolk Island Pine, the Queensland Kauri Pine is in the auricariaceae family. The Panhandle has one mature Kauri Pine - located near Cole Street. Nearby are two young Kauri Pines planted in recent years, and now, there's a third, planted just this weekend by the Panhandle Park Stewards under the supervision of SF Rec and Park gardening staff.

In addition to volunteers from the community, the SF Bridgemen joined the work group on Saturday, helping with the other projects of the morning: cutting back sucker growth from the elms and redwoods, raking and pulling weeds, and trimming a few of the large shrubs found near Lyon Street on the south side of the park.

Thank you Bridgemen for your work on Saturday! 

There's an old salvia in here somewhere....

Still recruiting new leader to promote & continue the community workdays at the Panhandle Park

This volunteer position is still open! There is a need for a new community leader to promote monthly community workdays at the Panhandle. We are seeking a new volunteer to assume this role by the end of 2019 when my service will come to a conclusion.

-Dale Danley 

A volunteer job description follows. 

CONTACT -Dale Danley / dale987@gmail.com / panhandlepark.blogspot.com / @4thePanhandle

or 

North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association, Email: board@nopna.org

Panhandle Park Stewards 

 Volunteer leadership position: Director for Community Engagement 

The Director for Community Engagement is responsible for continuation and development of Panhandle Park Stewards, which mobilizes volunteers to take part in a monthly community workday. This volunteer position is accountable to the North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association (NOPNA). NOPNA is fiscal sponsor of this project, collecting and managing any funds for the Panhandle Park Stewards. The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department provides staff, tools, and management of the community workday.

Basic Responsibilities 

1. Attend the monthly community workday at the Panhandle Park, to greet volunteers from the community and provide a liaison with parks staff 
2. Disseminate information to the public about the community workday by managing a listserv, sending two emails per month 
3. Respond to public inquiries about the community workday by email and telephone 
4. On an annual basis, contact the staff of the parks department to schedule the community workdays and provide statistics of the number of participants during the previous year 

Additional opportunities

• Post photos and written descriptions to the website/blog dedicated to the project 
• Expand promotional efforts to let more people know about the workday by posting in social media, writing articles for neighborhood newsletters, and putting posters on the park bulletin board 
• Enlist other community based groups (e.g.,San Francisco Day School, Bridgemen, One Brick) to bring their volunteers to the monthly workday 
• Raise funds for the project through sponsorships and donations 
• Spend funds collected on items such as volunteer appreciation events 
• Monitor park-related plans and activities undertaken by the Parks Department and other city agencies including SFMTA, SFDPW, and SF Arts Commission 
• In collaboration with other neighbors and local organizations, write grant proposals for park improvements 

If interested, please contact Dale Danley (dale987@gmail.com) or the North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association.

Panhandle Park Stewards Panhandlepark.blogspot.com
North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association www.nopna.org

April workday, with major projects underway in the Panhandle

At our workday in the Panhandle on Saturday, April 13, volunteers from the community worked together on one of our most important ongoing projects: caring for the trees in the park. We removed weeds from around the trees so that the park workers can maintain a safe distance from the trees while mowing the park's grassy meadows. 

As part of the morning's work, we also performed some ongoing maintenance work in the rain garden, removing some of the weeds and trimming back some of the most aggressive growth. With the Panhandle Playground project having begun, a fence is now installed right at the very edge of the rain garden, allowing for the removal and eventual rebuilding of the pathway. 

A Groundbreaking event sponsored by Rec and Park and the San Francisco Parks Alliance is planned for tomorrow, Thursday, April 25, from 11 am to noon. All are welcome to attend, meet your neighbors and city officials, and learn more about the Panhandle Playground and other playground renovations.

Demolition of the playground looks complete

The irrigation project was also active on April 13, with some trenching around the southwest corner of Fell & Masonic. 

January workday report; playground project launching this month

Community volunteers gathered last week, on a sunny Saturday morning, to work with our park gardener. We scooped up mountains of eucalyptus bark and branches that have fallen in the recent stormy weather. We also removed weeds (& broken glass) from the rain garden. At the end of the program, we gathered for this snapshot, taking a minute to remember the projects over the past several years that have improved the area around the playground. 

Red-flowering currant is one of the California native perennials that flourished next to the playground. Enjoy their final blooms this weekend before the heavy equipment arrives! 

Big changes are coming to these areas (in the left half of the picture above) as part of the playground project. Starting this coming Tuesday, Jan 22, crews will perform tree work on eucalyptus, cypress, and elms around the Panhandle Playground. Further details are at the department's project webpage.

Report of our October workday

On a beautiful fall morning, neighbors and families from the San Francisco Day School joined together with the the gardening staff of SF Rec and Park Department to take care of our local park, the Panhandle.

Four volunteers tackling the heavy duff left by the big trees 

Around our playground (which is slated for a complete rebuilding next year), grows a diverse mix of plantings, like well-established penstemons and butterfly bush. The area also has many large trees that shed their bark and leaves year-round...and so keeping the plantings in good shape takes some extra care and attention from the volunteers.

Four more volunteers wondering how to remove all the weedy grass from the rain garden

Adjacent to the playground, our rain garden has one problem area, on the west edge where seeds of invasive grasses pour in from the surrounding turf during each rainfall. This month's volunteer crew tackled the job of removing these grasses, and then planted in with some clumps of yarrow that grows nearby. Let's hope the yarrow begins to fill in this spot.

A sunny fall morning

Report of our September workday

On Saturday, local residents got together at the Panhandle to help our gardening staff with the continuing effort to keep the Panhandle Park welcoming and beautiful.

Brian suggested that maintenance of the irrigation system for the rain garden was overdue. That involved opening up the control box, and giving everyone a tutorial on the controls inside. 

It also required an assessment of all of the sprinkler heads, cleaning or replacing those that were clogged or damaged, and in some cases, digging out and and re-positioning the fixture. It was the most thorough maintenance of the irrigation that volunteers have been involved in, and will be important to give the garden some watering during the warm months ahead.

Not all of the volunteers on Saturday were wrapped up in the irrigation system, others were busy raking out beds, deadheading the blooms and removing weeds from the mound, and trimming back the shrubs surrounding the playground. We wrapped up with some raking of the leaves near the basketball courts.

Report of our July workday

At our workday on Saturday, Panhandle Park Stewards were out in force to help out our Rec & Park gardening staff with the planted areas around the playground and to recoup some of the pathways that had been covered in mud & debris.

Summer brings a lot of growth, and our rain garden needed some ongoing weeding and raking. Also widespread basal shoots (suckers) emerging from the roots of the elm trees in the area were sawed or clipped back to the ground. The eclectic plantings around the perimeter of the playground also received some attention. We want them to stay beautiful through their final days before the rebuilding of the playground next year.

April workday report

It was great to have USF students show up and join with our regular volunteers

After a morning of raking by a group of volunteers, a thick layer of San Francisco's own home-grown wood-chip mulch now covers the ground beneath the branches of the cherry, plum and horse-chestnut trees at the Panhandle's eastern edge. The mulch will protect the roots of these juvenile trees from the heavy feet of the many, many human visitors the park will see this spring and summer. Over the past several years, volunteers for the community workdays in the Panhandle have spent a good deal of time with this cluster of trees, amending the soil, sheet mulching, and removing weeds. They now provide a welcoming sight, with the pink blooms of the cherry and plum trees in early spring and the large panicles of the horse chestnut holding creamy white flowers in late spring.

Brian deposits a load of wood chips under Cheryl's watchful eye

We actually separated into two groups of volunteers, so that several young trees near Clayton could also get a layer of protective mulch. Once these projects were complete, and we were fortified by a snack of homemade baked goods, we ventured to the rain garden and mound to remove spring weeds. In comparison with the perpetually chilly March workday, the April workday was warm and sunny, so it felt good to work in the shade of the Panhandle's tall trees.

Panhandle workday on Saturday, April 14

Our next community work day is coming up in a week and a half: 

Panhandle Community Workday

Saturday, April 14

9 am - 12 noon

Meet at the Bulletin Board (near Oak @ Ashbury)

Tools & gloves provided

Join us at the first workday of spring! 

March Workday report

Volunteers from the SF Day School and from the neighborhood turned out for Panhandle workday on Saturday, March 10, and removed tons of eucalyptus leaf and bark litter so that our meadows can stay green & clean.  

It was good working with the students and their parents again this month. All the extra hands were needed after the recent storms had brought down so many leaves and bark out of the tall trees. 

Some of our the volunteers were veterans of turning out for the Panhandle workday, and others were out for the first time.

February workday with SF Day School

Our community workday last Saturday was bright and warm, in the middle of a very dry winter. We were greeted in the morning by Rec and Parks employees, who had placed more than a dozen new bunch grasses for planting into the mound. 

Once the grasses were planted, our attention turned to the rain garden, which needed a good weeding after a few months without attention - especially the northside, which gets inundated with annual grasses. 

A bunch of Douglas Iris and a couple of alum root were also brought out by the parks department for planting into the garden. This kind of iris has been very successful in the garden, producing some spectacular purple blooms.

Nearby, families from the SF Day School worked throughout the morning to clear fallen eucalyptus leaves and branches, with a break for cookies freshly baked by Brian, our friendly Rec and Park gardener.  

January workday with the Bridgemen

It was all about raking eucalyptus leaves and bark, tons of it, during our first workday of the year last Saturday. Volunteers picked out their favorite rake (four choices offered!) and then ranged both east and west from Ashbury St. Removing the litter from eucalyptus trees is one of the best ways to promote the health of the grasses covering the meadows in the park.

It was incredibly helpful to have our numbers boosted by the turnout of the Bridgemen, a service organization affiliated with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Second Saturday workdays for the community at the Panhandle Park continue through 2018. The San Francisco Day School continues its active participation this year, too!

December workday report & the Panhandle gets its first signposts

Yesterday at the Panhandle, volunteers from the community joined with Rec and Park's gardening staff for the final community workday of 2017. Afterward, we gathered for our group picture below the new signposts, which, for the first time, proudly name our neighborhood park.

Perks of volunteering: holiday wreaths and homemade cookies

The morning's work centered around the plantings near the restroom. Starting at the mound, we planted approximately a dozen oenothera - evening primrose, the same variety that has done well nearby and produces yellow blooms on tall flower spikes, leaving behind lots of tasty seeds for the birds. The new primroses were placed in a bare spot on the mound, which otherwise has filled in well with coyote brush, ceanothus, yarrow, strawberry and other native plants since initial planting two years ago by park staff and volunteers.

For the rest of the morning, our crew of volunteers was busy with raking eucalyptus leaves from the grass, trimming the honeysuckle shrub bordering the playground, removing weeds from the rain garden, and doing some careful pruning of the dogwoods.

Tree planting at November workday in the Panhandle (pictures)

Thanks to the participants in our November workday at the Panhandle Park. Assisted by Brian and Frankie, the group took care of a tree planting - a cedar planted near Oak @ Shrader. 

Thanks to Dana for the photos this month

Join the community workday this Saturday, November 11

Coming up this weekend:

Panhandle Community workday
Saturday, November 11
9 am - 12 noon
Meet near the bulletin board (Oak @ Ashbury)
Gloves and Tools provided

October Workday CANCELLED for air quality

Our Rec and Park staff have made the decision to cancel the Panhandle workday on Saturday, Oct 14 due to the poor air quality. This decision is in keeping with a number of other outdoor activities that are being curtailed due to the same reason.

Check AirNow for information about Air Quality.

September Workday at the Panhandle

At today's workday, volunteers focused on some care for two Queensland Kauri trees, which were planted about four years ago and have been slowly maturing (close to a more mature specimen). We removed some protective wire mesh that had been wrapped around the trees, and propped them against the wind by (carefully) installing two new posts.

Meanwhile, other volunteers removed dead stalks of the nearby cabbage tree (cordyline australis), a monster of a specimen. Families from the San Francisco Day School were also out with us today and raked up mountains of eucalyptus leaves near the playground.

Coming Sept 9: final workday of the summer

Coming soon:
Panhandle Community Workday
Saturday, September 9, 2017
9 am - 12 noon
Meet at the bulletin board (near Oak @ Ashbury)

August workday at the Panhandle

It was a cold Saturday morning, and as we walked through the Panhandle we could hear heavy drops of condensed fog falling from the tall trees. But there was work to do! A large eucalyptus branch had fallen near the south path. In the mound full of perennials, Bermuda Grass was sending its ropy underground shoots through and around our plantings. Weedy annual grasses had infiltrated the rain garden. Thousands of leaves and passels of bark strips lay scattered across the meadows. And the stumps of dead trees stuck up from the turf, like unfinished business. Was there any way for us to accomplish all of the work? Fortunately, our regular volunteers were in attendance, and our numbers were bolstered by the Bridgemen, a group for gay, bi and trans men who get together and give back to the community in service projects. 

By the end of the workday, the weather was still damp and chilly, but the group had persevered through the challenging project. The tally was seven tree stumps removed. The cart was full of the stubs of roots and the pickup truck had a full load of weeds and leaves. The traces of our work removing the stumps showed in several areas with a topping of fresh soil. With the work done by the end of the morning, the Panhandle was looking great, and was more ready for tree plantings that are anticipated this fall.