Outdoor projects, open to all.

From beekeeping workshops to film nights, we celebrate the outdoors together. We gathered at Hayes Valley Farm first, then joined other projects around the city to flip compost, inspire young gardeners, and advocate for public space. Join a garden or grow community near you.

We presented over 168 unique projects at Hayes Valley Farm — and there were many other informal projects and activities that spontaneously evolved and kept the space vibrant. At Hayes Valley Farm anyone could propose a project. As long as it met the Farm’s mission and vision, it was a go!

A group called the Energy Consortium helped with projects as needed, and with resource sharing between groups. Projects had a variety of scopes; some were ongoing, others had a trajectory and still others evolved over time. The following exemplifies some of the projects and their results.

Activities & groups: Weekly food harvests for Project Open Hand, lactobaccillus cultures made for the soil from neighboring sushi bar and coffee bar scraps , early morning nature and bird observation, the biodiversity team Breakfast Club, Photo Adventure Club, Youth Education Branch, Guerrilla Grafters. Several other activities happened at the farm, groups met, people gathered — it was a wide open space with planned and unplanned activities.

Events: Farm film night, dusker (greenhouse installation, maps! installation), cardboard tube duel, 10/10/10 day of climate action, interdependence days.

Classes & workshops: Intro to permaculture, non-violent communication practice groups, weekly kitchen garden group, media and communications workshops, art and design.

Physical structures: Seed library, greenhouse, beehives, solar mobile charging station, cob oven, art installations (porcupine, twig sculpture).

Gardens: Freeway food forest, guilds of medicinal herbs and native plants, survival foods, perennial Andean crops, shade gardens, permaculture demonstration areas, alphabet garden.