Little City Gardens

Our early days:
How did you find the property you’re farming?
Any advice for fellow farmers looking to negotiate with a property owner?
Who currently owns the land?

Our visions & ongoing work:
Why a business?
What are your findings?
Have you pursued long term ownership? 
What does being for-profit mean to you?

Our land use:
What is your land use agreement? Do you pay rent?
What about LCG moving to another site?

Our growing practices:
What are you growing?
Did you test your soil before getting started?
Where do you get your water?
How to support:
Where can I buy your vegetables?
Do you need volunteers?
Do you offer tours?

Larger context:
How does your urban farm contribute to food security and social justice?
Where do you see your project fitting in with gentrification?

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How did you find the property you’re farming?

We first learned about it from a list of privately-owned vacant lots that a fellow SF gardener put together. While many of the lots on the list were mostly shaded or mostly paved, this one had an incredible amount of potential, as it is the site of a former creek bed. It was a dense tangle of weeds, and it was love at first sight. We put together a proposal introducing ourselves, our ideas for the lot, a brief description of our excitement about urban agriculture for context, photos of past gardens we’d worked on together, and letters of reference from those gardens’ landlords. Fortunately, the owner was very open minded and, despite some initial concerns, was willing to hear our ideas out. We negotiated with him for a couple of months in order to reach an agreement that we all felt comfortable with, and eventually signed a lease in Spring 2010. We also presented our project to the local Neighborhood Association and were met with some reasonable questions as well as resounding enthusiasm.

Any advice for fellow farmers looking to negotiate with a property owner?

Yes, give it a shot! Be bold and communicative and patient. In our specific experience, what proved effective was expressing confidence that building a farm on this property would be beneficial to many, while also understanding that the owner might not necessarily see that right away and would be protective of his right to decide what is best for his property. We appreciated his open-mindedness, and he appreciated our sensitivity.

Who currently owns the land?

In Spring 2014, the property was purchased by the Waldorf-inspired Golden Bridges School.

Why a business?

Little City Gardens was founded as an experiment in the economic viability of urban farming. We aim to be a self sufficient business, relying as little as possible on outside funding. We want to be accountable to ourselves and our immediate community via the sales of our produce.

As a business, we’ve been able to confront and speak to certain urban ag issues from a valuable perspective. The visibility we’ve offered around issues like small-scale farm economics, suitability of crops for our microclimate, market feasibility in our city, and urban land use has furthered conversations around the future of urban agriculture in SF and beyond. Our work has led to city and statewide policy changes in support of urban ag, has been cited in dozens of research projects, essays and articles, and was recently featured as a case study used to inform the newly emerging USDA Urban Farming Grant Program.

What are your findings?

We can, amidst this ongoing inquiry, draw several important conclusions. Most importantly, we have found that the single most important factor in an urban farm’s viability is secure land tenure. Long-term lease security (minimum 5 years) is crucial in order to be able to make efficient investments in infrastructure, plan crops wisely, responsibly care for the soil, and establish the necessary relationships and community partnerships that give an urban farm its rich cultural and environmental value.

Have you pursued long term ownership? 

When the school purchased the property in 2014, we were actively pursuing acquisition scenarios that would support our need for land security. We were in conversation, with the support of an incredible team of advisors and advocates, with both a land trust and with the PUC, and we were brainstorming interim ownership opportunities should these relationship possibilities not come to fruition quickly enough. We articulated visions for public / private partnership, researched educational / commercial hybrid farm models, and utilized data and observations from our first three years of work onsite to establish sound financial projections.

Obviously we didn’t get far enough to pull together a buyer in time, as Golden Bridges found and closed on the property very quickly. But we still hold this vision as one with great potential. We see strong possibility in the idea of identifying a parcel like this as largely ill suited for development and redefining its best and highest use as farming.

What does being for-profit mean to you?

We grow produce and flowers for sale to local restaurants, markets and neighbors. While our cities need non-profit farm and garden programs, and the funding and comprehensive educational programming that this structure affords, we also need farming to be valued as a viable career option for young people. We need self-sustaining farms that offer jobs and make tangible the economic realities of small-scale food production. We need efficient, sustainable farm systems to be visible and tangible in our cities. We strongly believe this is an important part of a healthy urban agricultural landscape.

We do not run this farm so we can make money; we make money so we can run this farm. We prioritize intensive and high yielding food and flower production, sustainable organic practices and soil care, the implementation of careful and creative farm planning, and hands on education. Over the past six years we’ve hosted thousands of people – young and old – through internships, visitors, school groups, and farm tours. We also host weekly workdays – all experience levels welcome – where we dig into group projects and discuss (and experiment with) soil biology, plant care basics, appropriate tools, food pricing and crop selection. While we are proud of the work we’ve done to offer a working model of food production and sales in San Francisco, growing high quality produce, herbs and flowers, the most fulfilling part of this work, by far, has been the relationships, dialogue and educational experiences this space has facilitated.

What is your land use agreement?

Our original lease in 2010 was co-written with symbiosis in mind. We would activate, secure, and maintain the longtime unused property – one that frequently brought in neighbor complaints of blight, neglect and unsafe conditions – serving as grounds keepers and neighbor liaisons in exchange for the ability to operate our working farm.

Today’s situation is a bit different. We cohabitate with the current property owners, as they use the back half of the space, operating an outdoor classroom five days a week, and we maintain our role as grounds keepers. We run our farm while simultaneously contributing to Golden Bridges’ forming identity as an ‘urban farm school’. It was mutually acknowledged in our lease negotiations that without LCG’s presence, the school would need to pay the full time salary of a grounds keeper in order to maintain the space’s current atmosphere and appearance. Instead, as before, we cover our own part-time salaries with our produce and flower sales, and we receive a small monthly stipend from the school that covers part of the water bill.

If the property is developed, what about pursuing another site?

While our customer relationships, planning systems, tools and buildings are hypothetically transferrable to another site, much of our work is embedded in the soil of 203 Cotter Street. Our understanding of this space’s specific microclimate, our deep relationships with neighbors, and our extensive soil building efforts are bound to this plot of land. While we will of course consider all available options, our profound relationship with and investment in this particular space cannot be undervalued. We will gratefully continue to steward this piece of land for as long as we are able.

What are you growing?

We focus mostly on cooking greens, tender salad greens and herbs — crops that do well in San Francisco year round. We also grow turnips, radishes, beets, onions, garlic, artichokes, edible flowers, squash, and many different culinary and medicinal herbs. Since 2014, cut flowers have become a significant contributor to the farm as well. We sell mixed bouquets in Spring, Summer and Fall.

Did you test your soil before getting started?

Definitely! We took samples from several different areas of the property and sent them to the University of Massachusetts for testing. The tests came back satisfactory, showing no traces of heavy metals. We are fortunate to be farming a piece of land that, due to it being a former creek bed, has remained mostly undeveloped and therefore uncontaminated.

Where do you get your water?

For the first year we piped it in from a neighbor’s hose spigot, and we reimbursed that neighbor monthly. In 2011, we were approved for a grant from the SF Water Department (a grant program sparked by our advocacy) and in 2012 had our own water meter installed on the property (a value of $5-7K). From there we hired Goodscapes, to reroute our irrigation setup to this new meter and install underground piping along the whole length of the property. Ideally, we would love to move away from relying solely on city water and build an extensive rainwater catchment system and potentially tap into the groundwater that we know exists at this former creek bed.  We have experimented also with dry farming crops like winter squash and potatoes with some success.

Where can I buy your vegetables?

We’re currently selling directly to restaurants, and offering occasional veggie boxes to SF residents through email ordering (direct neighbors get first dibs!). Please sign up for our email list to receive announcements and order information.

Do you need volunteers?

We’d love to have you! Volunteer days are generally Wednesdays 12-4pm, but please send an email first so we know you’re coming. We like to steer volunteers toward this specific day and time so we can be sure to have projects ready. Other days of the week tend to be more focused and fast paced.

Do you offer tours?

We are able to offer a few guided tours and discussions each season. If your group is interested in a tour please contact us to discuss fees and scheduling.

And, less frequently asked but equally important:

How does your urban farm contribute to food security and social justice?

A strong grassroots economy is one key to healthy resistance of the destructive capitalist system that is ravaging our agricultural land-base and water sources, patenting and genetically modifying our seeds, waging war, maintaining dependence on extractive non-renewable energy sources, devastating ecosystems and keeping communities in perpetual poverty.

We must create alternative ways to provide for each others basic needs. We need to work toward an economy that is generated from the bottom up, and is based on innovation, ingenuity, appropriate technology, hard work, and communication. Revitalizing the field of small-scale, sustainable farming is a crucial piece of this. This revitalization must happen in rural and suburban America, as well as in urban centers. We need more healthy food everywhere. We need more food-system literacy, more agricultural skills, more self-sufficiency training everywhere. We need more jobs. We need thousands of new farmer activists in this country to grow our food and to fuel the conversation about how to build food security, sovereignty and economic justice.

Financially self-sustaining farms are not as common as they could be, especially in cities. Many farms rely on outside funding. Little City Gardens is currently the only commercial urban farm in San Francisco. We are using our work and our farm as an experiment to test the waters of urban farming in San Francisco. We aim to demonstrate the benefits, confront the obstacles and hopefully push past them. As we work, we collect valuable observations and experience about how to best organize an urban farm for economic viability. Right now, commercially viable urban farming is relatively uncharted territory, but perhaps in years to come it could be a more widely accessible and realistic vocation. In order for urban agriculture to become a component of a healthy grassroots economy, we need more models that prospective urban ag practitioners can follow.

Where do you see your project fitting in with gentrification (which is particularly rampant in SF)?

Unfortunately a project like ours (a project we genuinely think of as authentically good, important, and revitalizing) can contribute, directly or indirectly, to gentrification in urban areas like San Francisco. It would be part of a trend that we have seen over and over again in countless cities with artists, musicians, and now local food producers. Gentrification is currently a very omnipresent force. We are in the midst of a tech boom that is flushing a lot of money into San Francisco, shifting urban dynamics before our eyes.

Gentrification is an especially tricky thing to discuss. Developing strategy to combat it can feel like a Catch 22.

We do not support the pattern of wealthier people displacing poorer people. It is part of the unfortunate set up of capitalism that in order to succeed as small-scale sustainable local food producers, we have to market our products at a higher price. This means that, in order for a business like ours to stay afloat, a significant amount of our produce is purchased by upscale restaurants. These restaurants, like art galleries and boutiques, absolutely do play a role in gentrifying neighborhoods. We hope that our beautiful and vital garden which is enjoyed by many in the neighborhood will not ultimately contribute in any way to displacing any of the surrounding residents. But it could.

We know that it is not the farms, the food, the art or the creativity that are unjust forces. It is the imbalance of wealth in our society that is. We try to act with an awareness of how we are absorbed into the pattern but also try not to let the critique of the pattern thwart our mission to build a sustainable food business and contribute to a community-based economy. We know it is imperative to build this kind of infrastructure. Like other artists and creative people whose bright work attracts wealth, we work hard and struggle to pay our rent. We work, not because we envision a beautiful, polished, fancy city, but because we believe in a vibrant, self-sufficient and just one. We hope that by leveraging our relative privilege and forging ahead with this business, we can identify and push through as many barriers as possible in order for this type of work to be made more accessible to a larger population of potential urban farmers.

If you have thoughts or insight to share, please do.