New Urban Sprouts Website

We are so pleased to announce that our new website is up and running. We are officially moving all of our blog activity to our new www.urbansprouts.org site. Please check it out and bookmark our new page.

Oxalis Challenge at Ida B.

I recently learned from my students that oxalis, an invasive and aggressive weed for many San Francisco gardeners, is also called sourgrass, whose flower stalk can actually be chewed. Although oxalis has another beneficial function, that is, to prevent soil erosion on slopes, I can't help but feel that every time I'm up at one of my schools, it's a renewed battle between oxalis and gardener.

Last week, I issued a challenge to my students at Ida B. Wells to pull out as much oxalis as they could from our two main beds, which would be documented as before and after pictures on this blog. Although some students went right to work, others required much more coaxing; many students seem to have an inherent dislike of weeding, even if it's just the patch in front of them. At the end of class and after three huge piles of oxalis, it still looked like we barely made a dent in the ratio of oxalis to vegetables. Note to self - next time, to prevent oxalis takeovers, try mulching early before the rains start.

Before weeding around the fava beans...


After weeding (one student's work)...



Mulching with straw with my afterschool class...

Urban Sprouts Video!

I am very excited to bring to you a glimpse of a day in our gardens. Thanks to our new Flip cameras, you can see Urban Sprouts in action preparing freshly harvested collards into delicious, simple, gourmet snacks!

Students at both Martin Luther King middle school and International Studies Academy have gotten excited about sharing their perspective of the garden to the community and each other. In the near future I hope to use the Flip camera as a medium of communication between the two schools.

Cooking with Local Ingredients

At Urban Sprouts, we want to connect students to local produce, whether it's food from the school garden, persimmons and lemons from someone's backyard, or fresh finds from the farmer's market.

At Aptos Middle School, the lettuce, arugula, and radish from our school garden were ready to be harvested and tossed into a salad. Students washed, chopped, and combined local fruits and vegetables with a sesame salad dressing and a persimmon vinagrette. Although some students were more interested in the cooking than in the eating, it was a first step towards creating healthy (and colorful) dishes using many local ingredients.

Additionally, students at Ida B. Wells Continuation High School learned how to whip up persimmon ice cream using only five ingredients (lemon, vanilla, sugar, buttermilk, and persimmons), and without a fancy ice cream maker. Thank you, Ms. Bressack, for donating the delicious persimmons from your backyard!

Outreach Committee Meeting- First Meeting 12/8 6:00pm

Help grow the school gardens movement!

We are looking for members to join our Outreach Committee. These individuals will work alongside our staff to represent Urban Sprouts at partner school events, community fairs, farmers markets, and other city-wide events.

Please join us for our first meeting
December 8th, 2009
451 Hayes St 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102

Questions or want more information? Please contact Audrey at 415.515.0967 or helpout@urbansprouts.org

Log Cabin Work Day

We are hosting our first garden work party at our newest site, Log Cabin Ranch.

Come out and:

* tour the site
* help plant our orchard
* build new garden beds
* lots of other exciting garden activities

As the garden is located in La Honda (about 45 miles south of San Francisco) we will be organizing carpools for all participants. We will be contacting those attending by December 10th to arrange rides.

To RSVP please CLICK HERE

Please note this is a San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department Facility and participants in the work day will need to be at least 21 years of age and bring a photo id.

Pictures from Log Cabin Ranch

Amazing Volunteer Week

Last week was a busy week in the gardens as we hosted 3 large group events. Employees and students from Wells Fargo, Haas School of Business, and Blueprint Research & Design performed almost 100 hours of volunteer labor as we built worm bins and compost bins, dug new beds, and completed some general garden work. This was a fantastic start to our new composting initiative as we are on track to build new compost bins, worm bins, and compost sifters in all 7 of our sites in the next few months. Thank you so much for your time and energy, it's always so great to welcome new folks into the gardens.











To bring your group out Click Here

Thank you, Yahoo! for a HUGE boost to our composting efforts!

Read on Yahoo!'s blog about this great compost project they funded for us, as part of their Purple Acts of Kindness.

Garden Workday at San Francisco Community

Members and students of Urban Sprouts, Project OLE, and Justice Brothers came together for a garden workday at San Francisco Community School on a bright, sunny October afternoon.

Armed with wheelbarrows, shovels, and hand tools, we created new beds bordered by rice wattles to prevent soil erosion and to maximize garden space. Volunteers and staff also harvested summer crops, prepared compost, cleared established beds for fall planting, and carried out general garden tasks. Our day was even captured by film students from San Francisco State University for a short documentary on urban beautification in the Excelsior district.

What are we growing now in our newly prepared beds? Peas, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, radish, cover crops, garlic, yarrow, cauliflowers, strawberries...

Join Us and Make a Difference

Great News: the world is catching on to our message that school gardens can nourish us and strengthen our communities! The Obamas put food gardens in the spotlight on the White House lawn, and now more than ever parents and teachers are asking Urban Sprouts for support and advice.

The movement is growing because this year, in times of recession and food crisis, the need for school and home gardens is greater than ever.

Today, just like the Obamas, we have SO much work to do. Local schools and families rely on their strong partnerships with us as other programs are cut. Schools all over California and the West want to learn our methods as they start new school gardens.

That's why we're inviting YOU to join us! Why support Urban Sprouts? Read here how your gift to us will go directly to bring school gardens to more young people, families and schools.

Or click here to GIVE YOUR GIFT TODAY, OF $35, $50, OR $100!

Thank you so much!

School has been in session for only about two months but already so much has been happening in our gardens.

At ISA the high school seminar got the daunting opportunity to install a drip irrigation system for our garden. This project took a lot of team work and problem solving skills in order to piece together and bury our water pipes. The whole project could not have been done without the help of our dedicated volunteers Casey and Carter. This week we’ll also be saying goodbye to Ms. Stones, our favorite sub, who has been working with us since the beginning of the school year.

At MLK we’ve been working on soil, starting seeds and most recently: worm anatomy! We also had our first Garden Work Party at MLK. We worked on making our garden more accessible, creating a better outdoor classroom seating area and putting together tables for our greenhouse.

Composting at Ida B. Wells

Students at Ida B. Wells are beginning to see themselves as part of the nutrient cycle. Rather than throwing out all food wastes, we're taking discarded scraps from the school's cooking class and returning them back to the earth in the form of compost.



Last month, Mr. Hannon's class, our volunteers, and Urban Sprouts intern, Kevin, pitched in to build compost bins at Ida B. Wells. Instead of buying all new materials for the bins, we decided to recycle wooden pallets, which are usually tossed out after only one use.




We sat down to cut up compost materials the following week to speed up the decomposition process. We have yet to reach the 3' x 3' x 3' volume needed to really get our pile going, but we're slowly adding yard waste from our garden and organic food scraps from the Ida B. Wells kitchen. In the end, we hope to harvest compost to enrich our soil and help our garden flourish!

Urban Sprouts Grows Up

We've reached a milestone! Urban Sprouts has just finished a three-year funding cycle with the Network for a Healthy California's Local Food and Nutrition Education channel. Phew!

We've grown and matured so much during these three years - from a mostly-volunteer staff of one, to a strong team of five serving 7 schools and over 700 youth every year. We've learned that valuing our school partners and cultivating youth leadership help us to do our best. We've worked to grow and expand while staying true to our vision, of quality and consistent programs, but tailored to the needs of unique communities.

Please see for yourself! Lisa Chen on our Advisory Board and Adriani Leon on our staff created this presentation with me and we presented it in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. Take a look!

Urban Sprouts 3-Year Retrospective

View more presentations from Abby Jaramillo.

AND you MUST read this colorful, graphic and fun short handout that summarizes who we are and what we've done in our five years of school gardening! Created by Lisa Chen.

Public Policy Institute of California

A HUGE thank you to the fabulous volunteers from the Public Policy Institute of California!! This past week 6 PPIC women spent a rather warm afternoon with us, prepping the International Studies Academy garden for it's first day of classes. Armed with shovels, rakes, and a pickaxe they transformed a huge unused area of the garden into a fantastic new growing space. We are so excited to have these additional beds for our students to utilize. This is the second time we have hosted volunteers from the PPIC and we hope they are able to come back soon.

If you are interested in bringing your group or organization out to the garden please contact us at helpout@urbansprouts.org

Fall Newsletter Hot off the Presses!

Read our Fall 2009 News by clicking here!

In this issue:

• New school family Farmers-in-Residence grow their own food
  
• Meet new staff Wendy, Adriani & Ami
• Learn to make Potato Towers from Wendy
  
• Get Adriani's Portobello mushroom burger recipe
• Read up on Ami's new site, Log Cabin Ranch
• All our generous donors & volunteers
• Photos & more!
  

Front Page News:
Urban Gardens to Feed School Families!

Urban Sprouts’ youth learn to love growing and eating healthy foods and begin to demand them in meals at school and at home. So what do you do if there IS NO affordable fresh produce for sale near your home?

This fall, twelve ‘Farmers-in-Residence,’ families from Urban Sprouts partner schools, will grow their own fresh, organic and healthy food right on school grounds . . .

Keep on reading here!

Support Urban Sprouts

Please join us for an evening of great food for a great cause.

Frjtz Fries in Hayes Valley has generously offered to host a fundraising night for our gardens on October 4th. From 4pm to 9pm a portion of all sales will be donated to Urban Sprouts.
Bring your friends, families, co-workers, all are welcome!

October 4th 2009
Frjtz Fries
581 Hayes Street (at Laguna)
4:00pm-9:00pm
Hope to see you there!

For more information please click here

Job Opening: Operations Manager

Position: Operations Manager
Classification: Part Time – 15 to 20 hours a week
Location: Hayes Valley, San Francisco, California
Reports To: Executive Director



The Organization
By cultivating school gardens in San Francisco’s under-served neighborhoods, Urban Sprouts partners with youth and their families to build eco-literacy, equity, wellness, and community. Our gardens help students become more engaged in school and connect with food, the environment and each other.

Summary
Urban Sprouts seeks an Operations Manger to assist the Executive Director in the areas of general administration, finance, and some development support. These responsibilities will be complemented by our fiscal sponsor’s accounting and administrative staff. For this reason, an advanced level of experience in bookkeeping is not necessary; a fast-learner with 3-5 years of experience in an administrative or financial role in a nonprofit organization is sought.

Responsibilities:
• Administer staff expense reimbursement in accordance with program budgets
• Maintain effective systems for documentation and filing of financial records
• Track all income and expenses in QuickBooks. Reconcile with fiscal sponsor’s books on a monthly basis
• Prepare quarterly reports for board and staff
• Complete invoicing for local and state government contracts
• Oversee budget for each program and school site
• Work with Executive Director to develop annual budget
• Manage fundraising and donations processes (processing donations, sending thank yous, pledge reminders and maintain Salesforce database)
• Assist in planning of Fundraising events and other fundraising activities as needed
• Other special projects as they arise
• Manage general public inquires to Urban Sprouts via phone and email

Requirements:
• At least 3-5 years experience in an administrative or financial role in a nonprofit organization
• Bachelor’s degree
• Knowledge of QuickBooks and Salesforce or similar accounting and contact management database
• Interest in issues related to youth, urban gardening, local food, social justice, urban schools, and the environment
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Strong computer skills, organizational and project management skills must be demonstrated
• Strong skills in interpersonal communication, collaboration, and emotional intelligence
• Ability to work independently, flexible, detail-oriented, strives for excellence, creative thinker

This position involves coordination with staff and outside parties such as funders, and requires strong communication skills and the ability to work independently and learn quickly. A successful candidate will be highly detail oriented. We are a small non-profit, so the ability to be flexible and pick up occasional tasks outside of the core job description is important.

This is a part-time position working 15-20 hours per week, $47,000-52,000 FTE, depending on experience, and includes health and vacation/sick benefits.

To Apply:
Please send a resume, cover letter and contact information for three references, via email to Abby Jaramillo, Executive Director, at abby AT urbansprouts DOT org.

Position open until filled; date of original listing 11/10/09. No phone calls please.

Thank You University of San Francisco

We'd like to give a big shout out to the members of the USF Foreward Summer Bridge Program. These incoming freshmen spent the afternoon with us at June Jordan and were a tremendous help. In just a few hours they installed all the beds for the Farmer-in-Residence program and mulched the existing garden!! We greatly appreciate their assistance and hope they come back to visit soon.

The garden is a great place for group volunteering projects and we can accommodate groups of all sizes and skill levels. If you are interested in bringing out your group or organization please click here for an application.

Log Cabin Ranch

This summer, through a partnership with the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, we began installing our 7^th school garden. Our new site is located on the grounds of the Log Cabin Ranch in La Honda; this residential treatment and rehabilitation facility for adjudicated young men is located on over 250 acres about 45 miles south of the City. This summer the young men visited farms in the area, read articles, installed their irrigation system, completed their garden design, built 4 large garden beds, and planted their fall crops. For the upcoming school year our garden educators will continue to work with the youth, staff, and SFUSD teachers to complete the garden installation, build a composting area, and connect the garden to their classroom curriculum. We are also hoping to be able to incorporate their fresh garden vegetables and herbs into the Log Cabin kitchen once the harvest begins.

For more information or to get involved with this site please contact helpout@urbansprouts.org

To view pictures from the site click here

For more information about Log Cabin Ranch click here

How Your Gift will Make a Difference

This year, our movement is growing because the need for school and home gardens is greater than ever.

Hit by economic recession, families face hunger, lack of access to healthy food, public schools struggling with less funding than ever, and a food system in crisis from oil dependence and outbreaks of disease. We’ve come to know urban neighborhoods with zero grocery stores and rural counties with no access to eating the fresh fruits grown by their own hands.

The simple act of growing your own food brings hope, joy and nourishment! In an Urban Sprouts class, young people dream of the variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers they’ll design into their school garden; a few months later they feel the thrill of digging purple potatoes and magenta beets right from their own soil.

In these times, just like the Obamas, we have SO much work to do.

That's why we're inviting YOU to join us! Click here to GIVE YOUR GIFT TODAY, OF $35, $50, OR $100!


How will your gift make a difference to over 700 youth and their families?

As you may know, Urban Sprouts’ garden-based education classes take place at public middle and high schools, and in the summer at a local community garden. We also give school parents plots within the school garden to grow their own food to feed their families.

Some of Urban Sprouts’ Accomplishments from the past year:

• We provided garden classes for 742 middle and high school students, who each experienced at least 20 hours in the garden;
• We partnered with 7 public schools, including our newest partner, Log Cabin Ranch, part of San Francisco’s juvenile justice system;
• 65% of students’ responses said they eat more fruits and vegetables after participating in our programs; 75% of Summer Program students reported this;
• 53% of students’ responses said they care more about the environment than they did before participating in our programs;
• We were awarded a prestigious three-year grant to expand our new Family Farmers-in-Residence program from the California Department of Public Health (Network for a Healthy California);
• We raised $226,000 to support school gardens in San Francisco; of this 76% went directly to program salaries and materials;
• We created a full-day training to share our methods and program model with more schools and community groups throughout California and the West.

I’d like to give you a more concrete sense of what your contribution will enable us to achieve. Using our streamlined approach, more of your dollar goes directly to help youth and their families grow their own fresh and healthy food.

1. It will cost Urban Sprouts approximately $1,000 to build new vegetable garden beds for our Farmers-in-Residence at our partner school, International Studies Academy, in the Potrero Hill neighborhood.
2. $5,000 enables an entire class of 35 students to grow, harvest and eat fresh food from the school garden each year, helping these young people to make inspiring changes in their eating habits that last a lifetime.
3. $25,000 provides an entire school garden program at one school for a full year, which revitalizes schoolyards, build excitement in the classrooms, and bring fresh, organic fruits and vegetables within closer reach.
4. $40,000 is our ultimate goal, to fully fund our new training and coaching leadership program that will offer six trainings each year, including three hours of one-on-one coaching for each participant, to be held in urban and rural communities throughout California and the West.

Now that you have an idea of what it costs us to provide our programs, I encourage you, click here to make the most generous gift possible, whether it is $500 or $50.

I want you to know that we truly rely on people like you, committed supporters who really understand our vision and who invest seriously in our work.

Please join us in this meaningful work, by making your donation today.