In August the Victory Garden project will begin to install and plant gardens in the back and front yards of fifteen san Francisco residents. These Garden installation work parties will take place on weekends and some weekdays between august 20th and November 1st. Each workday will last from 10am to 3pm; during which time we will clear, weed and level the ground, build three raised planting boxes, fill the boxes with soil and compost, install drip irrigation, and finally plant vegetable starts and seeds. Other creative embellishments (i.e. inground bed digging, fruit tree pruning, sign making, trellising) will depend on the size of the yard, time and desires of the residents.

We are looking for a small group of excited volunteers who are willing to learn the ropes by committing to attend at least 5 of the 15 backyard garden builds. You would be working with two Victory Garden Staff, 2 other volunteers, the residents and their friends, to transform these backyards into productive food producing gardens.

Backyard Garden Volunteer

If you are interested in being a Backyard Garden Voluntee, please fill out your contact information Note whether you are available on weekdays, weekends or both.

Are you a graduate of a gardening or agro-ecology program (such as the Garden for the environment GCETP, the Master Gardening Program or UC Santa Cruz)? Are you a self taught experienced food gardener?

Mentors to our new backyard gardeners

We are looking for mentors to our new backyard gardeners. You would be paired with one or two families who have just built or are about to build a home garden but have little to no previous experience. You would be present at the initial garden build to meet the new gardeners and get a sense of their growing space, their questions and needs. You would coordinate with them to return to the garden two or three times (preferably during transitional seasons-early spring, late spring, fall) to look at the plants, advise about harvesting, organic pest control, adding amendments, general plant health and appropriate plant choices. Some families may want to venture into compost making, keeping worms, planting fruit trees etc. Depending on your desire and skill level you could assist them in this process and guide them to helpful resources.

Collaborate with novice gardeners and grow your gardening community

If you are interested in this opportunity to collaborate with novice gardeners and grow your gardening community. Do you have woodworking or carpentry experience? We are looking for a volunteer who has a woodworking business or a home shop, to assemble simple wooden planter boxes for the Victory Garden Backyard Program. In addition to building 15 gardens this year we are putting together a Starter Kit for the myriad San Francisco residents who are ready to become food gardeners. We would like to offer these kits at very low cost to low income residents who may otherwise find the material obstacles to gardening difficult. Your help will help make this offer possible.

Bicycle builder

Are you a bicycle builder? We are looking for help to build bicycle trailers which can be used to transport gardening material by bicycle.

Thanks and we look forward to meeting you.