In 1990 this started with a vacant lot and an idea. ‘What if we tried to teach everyone in San Francisco to garden?’ In this Faces and Places, we’re highlighting the face behind one of the biggest little spaces in the City: Maggie Guerra Marks, from Garden For the Environment, hear her story below!
“Garden for the Environment was founded in 1990 by the SF League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) program during the second major California drought. We wanted to design and showcase a garden that would teach water conservation and organic gardening to the public, which at the time wasn’t widely practiced or understood. It was time for people to think beyond grass lawns and pesticide heavy plants – but still showcase a thriving garden
We began by offering gardening workshops for adults and school field trip programs for youth, and then in 1996 launched the Get Up! – our urban agriculture training program. Since then, our students have started urban farm projects, dozens of school gardens and successfully advocated for urban agriculture legislation. Our students are leading the urban agriculture movement across the Bay Area.”
“We wanted to design a garden that would teach water conservation & organic gardening… It was time for people to think beyond grass lawns and pesticide-heavy plants – but still showcase a thriving garden”
“We officially became a fiscally sponsored group of SF Parks Alliance in 2013, but we actually shared office space since 2009. We realized we needed help with financial management and oversight and administration.
Garden for the Environment has been on the corner of Lawton Street and 7th Ave since the beginning, it’s a huge part of who we are. The neighbors really utilize the space. We know UCSF doctors that regularly use the space on their lunch breaks, and preschool groups that visit for outdoor times, and of course the adults who sign up and visit us for classes. We really lucked out to be located in this natural neighborhood, at the foothill of Twin Peaks, while also at an urban corridor that connects Marin to the San Mateo Mountains – in between we have birds, creatures, insects and animals that live in the wild and protected space of the surrounding area. In fact, 7th Ave used to be a creek!
The Garden is open dawn to dusk 365 days a year – so come by and see our space anytime. Almost every week there is a workshop offered. Programs are listed on our website – It’s a great resource for those interested in learning more about gardening or new to it.”