Volunteering Day at Alemany Farm

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Last week, the Panorama team headed out on a volunteer trip to Alemany Farm to get our hands dirty with some gardening. It was a fantastic day and a brilliant opportunity to get involved with our local community. We learned so much about where the food we eat comes from, and we left with a huge appreciation for all of the great things that Abby, the farm manager, and the volunteers at Alemany Farm are doing for the community.

What They Do at the Farm

Alemany Farm is a community farm that aims to increase food security and educate local residents about how they can become their own food producers. They offer a number of opportunities to get involved, including everything from workshops for kids and community workdays to corporate volunteering days and internships. All of this amazing work leads to a productive farm, and each week they donate their freshly-harvested produce to neighbors, volunteers, and groups like The Free Farm Stand, which is a volunteer-run project that distributes free produce to the local community. In recent years, they have raised 25,000 lbs of produce and given it all away for free!

Not only does Alemany Farms develop produce, but they also produce skilled workers and thoughtful leaders. As well as learning hands-on job skills through their work at Alemany Farm, volunteers and interns are encouraged to be active decision makers. For example, volunteers have autonomy to decide when a crop is ready to be harvested or if a plant’s life-cycle has ended and it can be removed from the bed. The development of skilled and eco-conscious leaders is hugely beneficial for our local community.
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Our Day at the Farm

During our time at the farm, Abby gave us a wide range of projects to work on and we loved every minute of it. Alemany Farm is a sustainable farm, and they produce their own compost that is then used to help nourish the plants they are growing. We started the day by working on the compost production and then moved on to planting a fresh bed of leeks.

After a quick water break, we made our way up the hill to fertilize a group of trees. With the colder weather of the winter months coming in San Francisco, the volunteers are making their final preparations to ensure the plants make it through the cold season. To lay the fertilizer, we cleared the wood chips around the base of the trees, removed weeds from the soil and then dispersed the fertilizer, before covering the base with wood chips. Once all the trees had been fertilized, we returned to the plant beds for our final task of the day: harvesting the green beans.

45 minutes of searching and picking later, we had gathered a bountiful harvest of greens beans. As is tradition at Alemany Farm Volunteer Days, the trip ended with a collection of all the produce. As you can see in the picture at the top of the page, it was a successful day of harvesting! Once the produce had been weighed, volunteers were invited to sample some of the food before it was stored for distribution the next day to the local community.

Thank You Alemany Farm!

Thank you to Abby and all of the people at Alemany Farm for welcoming us to the farm, teaching us about sustainable farming, and, most importantly, for striving to provide healthy, sustainable food to their community.

If you would like to get involved with Alemany Farm, they hold community workdays from noon to 5pm every 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month and the Saturdays in between, plus every Monday afternoon from 1 to 5pm. Individuals can simply show up on the day, but they do ask that corporate groups contact them in advance. For more information, visit their website, or contact us!
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