Mission Mission

Says our buddy Kerry in a recent Facebook post:

Check out (and buy) these awesome kits my friend Britta invented and sells! You can grow a hydroponic garden from recycled water bottles plus they look really awesome hanging in a line in your window. Also if you know of any investors, tell them, so Britta can really get this project going next-level-style.

The Windowfarms Project website is pretty fun to look at, so do visit it, and perhaps buy a kit as well.

Some may view this as a thinly veiled passive aggressive attempt to keep drunk hipsters out of the park during one of the hottest Saturdays of the year, but I don’t quite see it that way.

Rather, the City was trying to throw the neighborhood a sprinkler party, but sadly no one seemed to want to participate.

Que lastima?

Previously:

Dolores Park Community Meeting Recap

Glen Canyon Park Just Might Be the New Dolores Park

Do you want to protect your right to throw an alcoholic energy drink themed flash dance party in the park without being hassled by the po-po? Who doesn’t?

Well now is your chance to be heard in front of the people that make these decisions:

Dolores Park Works has organized a community meeting to discuss safety, law enforcement and 19th & Dolores has been set. The big day is just two days away, Wednesday, September 1st, from 6:00-8:00, at Mission High School cafeteria, which is located across from the tennis courts in Dolores Park (entrance to cafeteria off of Dolores & 18th).

We will be covering:

• 19^th & Dolores pedestrian safety & proposed changes
• Park patron safety and law enforcement

Get to work folks, you have about 30 hours to formulate a convincing argument about how we live in a police state and that NIMBYs are harshing your mellow, man. See you there!

More info at DPW, thanks to Andy B. for the gentle reminder

Planning for the proposed park on 17th and Folsom is shaping up nicely.

The current design includes such non-standard park fare as a community garden area, an outdoor classroom, greenhouses, rain-collecting barrels, and even “demonstration gardens for wildlife habitat and water conservation”. Holy crap, was this thing designed by EarthFirst?

As if that weren’t enough, the park also features espaliered fruit tree fences and a bioswale! What, you don’t know what those are? Good thing Curbed SF did this thing called “research” that we casual bloggers keep hearing about:

And so you don’t have to look them big words up: a bioswale is a planted filter for water runoff from paved areas, sort of a ditch with a reason. Espalier, originally French and both a noun and a verb, is the technique of training a plant, most commonly a fruit tree, to grow on a grid or a fence.

[via Curbed SF]

Spotted on 24th at Bartlett

The photo comes from something called Pristine Parks Project, from their photo set Dolores Park – July 15, 2010. It’s a bunch of photos of stuff people left on the ground at Dolores Park.

Civic Center has one.  Embarcadero too.  Hell, even the Castro and Noe Valley have their own!  Fortunately, the arbitrary injustice that prevented the Mission from holding its own farmer’s market ends this Thursday.  Formerly available only to those unafraid of braving the underground and its ridiculously long line, the Mission Community Market makes its long-awaited debut this Thursday from 4-8pm at Bartlett Street between 21st and 22nd. 

And it promises to be more than just a mere famer’s market, offering live music, mural painting, craft vendors, and even Capoeira!  Think of it as an organic, edible indie mart with a taste of traditional Mission culture thrown in, along with food carts from the La Cocina stable (and plenty of snarky Mission bloggers).  While some have pondered whether we really even need another farmer’s market in SF, allow me to be frank in my reply:  As if!  Let’s hope this ambitious weekly event becomes another fine Mission institution!

[Photo by Pete Su]

I never know what to do with old bicycle inner tubes. I mean, you can only be Rambo for Halloween a couple of times before it gets old. Usually they end up in a box with CD spindles, strips of fabric, and other junk that falls under the nebulous “future art project” materials collection. Somebody should remind me that I don’t actually do art projects.

So it’s a good thing Mission Bicycle Company just got these swell mini-wallets that are made from recycled tubes. Seems like a cool idea for those of you interested in lowering your rubber footprint:

This super thin wallet is perfect for a night out or a training ride when you don’t need to carry every card you own.

• Fits in your front pocket
• Pocket for folded cash
• Pocket for credit cards
• Window for your ID

What do you do with your old tubes?

Just finishing up work and wondering how you might be able to take advantage of the warm, sunny weather in the Mission today?  Well, head on over to Dolores Park for an evening featuring local faves the Ferocious Few along with talented up-and-comers Il Gato (who just released their new album All These Slippery Things), the Shants, and Wolf & Crow.

Bring a blanket (unicorn pattern works best), booze (might I suggest some champagne?), and a few friends (needn’t be ferocious) to check out one of those timeless summer shows that makes me proud I live in this neighborhood.  The fun starts at 6pm and lasts until dark!

[Photo by killerKAMera]

Once a girl asked me to meet her under the “pepper tree” in Dolores Park. This sounded like a solid plan, compared to my usual method of sending a million vague texts back and forth on arrival.

Once I got to the park, I realized there were a lot of trees in the park and I didn’t have the faintest idea what a “pepper tree” looks like. Hell, I didn’t even know pepper came from trees. Then I leaned against a palm tree in frustration and wondered, “is a palm tree really a tree or is it just an oversized monocot?”

It turned out that the pepper tree is located near the tracks on fruit shelf section of the park. I was late, and by then my date had found another guy to hang out with who had an adorable dog. My fate was sealed.

On the bright side, if you take this bi-lingual tree tour put on by Friends of the Urban Forest, you’ll never have to go through what I did:

Join us on Sunday July 11 for a free two-hour tour of the beautiful trees in and around Dolores Park.  Chris Ingram, owner of Mr. Prune Tree Care, will lead this bilingual (English/Spanish) tour.  Chris is an ISA Certified Arborist as well as a pruning and horticulture instructor throughout the Bay Area.  Meet at the J Muni stop at the lower corner of the park at Church and 18th streets.  The tour starts at 11:00 a.m.

[thanks Alexis for the tip, photo by Noah Berger]