Hello Friends –

If you don't have your spring garden in the ground yet, this is your moment! We've got loads of veggie starts in stock to get you going, and a whole day of delicious food-related gardening advice planned for you this Sunday.

Have Lunch in the Gardens this Saturday
May 15 11am to 1:30pm

Betty Zlatchin Catering will be serving a well-priced gourmet lunch in the Gardens this Saturday May 15. Enjoy mesquite-grilled Berkshire pork bahn mi and a vegetarian version with grilled Japanese eggplant, a delicious salad, fresh strawberry-lemon curd cupcakes, and Valrhona chocolate chip cookies while you relax.

Big Event: Edible Gardening! All Day Sunday

The range of choice edible plants we can grow in the Bay Area is one of the things that I find special about gardening here. And the craze for ultra-local food (as in, from your own backyard) just continues to grow! Our friends from Sunset magazine will be in the store this Sunday to talk edible gardening. And, how about expanding your harvest? We're offering a nifty workshop on getting the freshest eggs – from your own backyard chickens.

The Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles
Sunday, May 16, 11am

Join us as we celebrate the publication of Sunset's essential guide to growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs in your own backyard – The Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles.

A Beautiful, Edible Ornamental Landscape Sunday, May 16, 11am

Sunset garden editor Julie Chai will show you how to incorporate beautiful edibles into your ornamental plantings. Why choose between a beautiful garden and a functional one? Julie will introduce you to plants that do double duty, offering a great look in the garden and a delicious harvest as well. And she'll explain how to add edibles thoughtfully to your landscape without sacrificing your design. Your garden can have its best and tastiest year yet!

Isn't this edible landscape beautiful?

We Love Chickens
Sunday, May 16, 12pm

These days, almost every neighborhood has at least one backyard flock of chickens for eggs, fun, weed control, and fertilizer. We would love to see more pretty hens around town, especially if they could enjoy digs as stylish as Chicken Cribs. Andreas Stavropoulos, one of the creators of these hip (and easy-to-assemble!) coops, will be here to talk on this Sunday at 12pm, with sample Cribs in tow and a charming couple of birds for you and your little ones to meet.

Edible Gardening in Containers Sunday, May 16, 1pm
Sunset's test-garden coordinator Johanna Silver will help you turn your garden, fire escape, or patio into a cornucopia in containers. From plot to pan, Johanna will give tips on what to grow, when to grow it, and how to enjoy the fruits of your labor all year long.

The unexpected bounty of a container garden

Kids' Workshop – Sponsored by Little Lane Studios
Sunday, May 16, 11am

Our friend Julie Benjamin from Little Lane Studios will be offering a workshop for kids at 11am, 12pm, and 1pm. Your little ones will get to make beautiful printed fabric napkins with edible dyes – using veggies like beets. A fee of $10 will cover materials.

New Pots from Bauer Pottery

Los Angeles-based Bauer Pottery has helped spread vibrant color and California style across the U.S.for more than 100 years. We are super excited that Bauer has teamed up with Sunset magazine to offer a gorgeous collection for the garden! This Sunday you can get a peek at some of the newly available remakes of vintage Bauer pots. My favorite? The table-top Canoe Pot!

Yes, it makes a pretty fruit bowl, but just imagine it all planted with succulents.
What a centerpiece!

Castro Commons

I was asked to help redesign the new park at the intersection of Castro, Market, and 17th streets in San Francisco, now called Castro Commons. Getting to design public spaces is a dream come true for me. I would never have considered taking on a project like this without the participation of my secret weapon and frequent collaborator Seth Boor of Boor Bridges Architecture. You can read more about our collaborations here.

Castro Commons, a new public plaza at 17th, Market, and Castro

Castro Commons was created through the city's Pavement to Parks program, run by Andres Power, urban designer at the Planning Department. The P2P projects seek to temporarily reclaim unused swathes of concrete and quickly and inexpensively turn them into new public plazas and parks. The temporary plaza on this site was very popular with the community. Late last year we began a redesign of the plaza that is more permanent and will suffice until the city can find the money to completely rebuild the intersection.

Andres Power, Seth Boor, and Flora Grubb

We were so lucky to be able to work on the second phase of what had been a temporary experiment. Seth has a real talent for space-making, in this case under a tight budget (he contributed his design work pro bono), with an indefinite lifespan for the result.

Seth has some really interesting thoughts about his design process for this space which you can read here.

To sum it up, he said, "I quickly settled on two organizing principles for the redefinition of this tentative park: 'Make public space not public art,' and 'Build it like you mean it (even if it will be gone tomorrow).'"

Once Seth had defined the space, I worked on a plant design that would suit the neighborhood (it's the Castro after all – it had to be fabulous) and tolerate the windy, exposed conditions. Volunteers installed the plants on a community planting day.

Volunteers planting the first phase of the gardens

Greyson Danger Grubb Smith was on hand to oversee the plantings.

Boy, does the place feel solid now. Only the first phase of the project has been completed so far, but the Castro Commons has become a real place. Before we were even done watering the newly planted garden, the crowds settled in to bask in the sun and watch people go by.

They love it! Success!

Its not done yet. In the coming weeks, we will install two more phases. If you can, join us for the ribbon cutting ceremony on May 22.

SF Museum of Modern Art's 75th Anniversary

I am proud to be helping host the SFMOMA's 75th birthday bash on Friday, May 14, 2010. It's an exciting time for the museum, the first on the West Coast devoted to 20th century art, and now a home for groundbreaking contemporary and modern works. Check www.sfmoma.org/birthdayparty for tickets to the event – it promises to be a fantastic party, and the price benefits the education and exhibition programs at the museum. I'm getting a babysitter and drinking lots of coffee to stay up late, so please join me!

Join Us on Facebook

It's just like neighbors chatting about their gardens over the fence, but digitally. Please join us.

Come and see us.

– Flora and everyone at Flora Grubb Gardens