As Earth Day approaches, we're turning our attention to the city's parks and green spaces, large and small.
At first glance, you might not notice it as you walk down Grove Street across from San Francisco City Hall. Please Touch Community Garden sits behind an old fence several feet below sidewalk level, in the foundation of the building which used to occupy the site. The Garden, a collaboration between artist GK Callahan and the San Francisco LightHouse For the Blind, is an oasis of tranquility in the heart of Civic Center.
Please Touch Community Garden is worth a visit, but it might take a little effort to do so—there is no entrance on Grove. In order to enter the garden, walk around the block to Ivy Street. There, in the middle of the tiny side street, is the sign that beckons you to enter.
"In 2010, Callahan was teaching at the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired," Garden Executive Director Rob Joyce told us. "From a window by his desk, he could look down on the vacant lot at 165 Grove St. which had become a magnet for garbage and illegal drug use."
Callahan saw the space as a location where LightHouse clients could participate in outdoor programming. Callahan and the LightHouse worked with John Updike of the San Francisco Real Estate Division—which controls this small piece of city land—to secure an interim use agreement to bring the vision to life.
Volunteers quickly signed on to the project, including a landscape architect, who made sure that the garden would be in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Joyce and others from the now-defunct Hayes Valley Farm came on board. They built soil, created wheelchair-accessible pathways from donated permeable paving stones, and cultivated fruit trees and other plants (there was even an active beehive on the site for a time).
"Artistic endeavors continued to be encouraged, with creative work continuing in the form of visual art on the walls, ceramic pieces donated by the Santa Clara Center for the Blind, and all sorts of whimsical installations," Joyce said. In 2012 the Garden was accepted into the Incubator Program of Intersection For the Arts.
"Please Touch Community Garden has continued as an all-volunteer project," Joyce added. "At the peak of activity, the garden was open three days a week to host LightHouse programming like seated yoga and garden workshops, to serve as a destination for school field trips, and to welcome visitors into an unexpected green oasis in the heart of San Francisco."
The Garden remains dedicated to making the space accessible to people with disabilities. Upon entering, visitors might notice a banister along the Garden's main path. There's also a large wooden table built into one of the Garden's side walls. Joyce explained how these features help people with disabilities to enjoy the garden.
"A banister along the edge of the path makes the space physically accessible," Joyce said. "But the intentional planting of lemon verbena, lavender, pineapple sage, and other beautiful scents next to that banister also serves as an invitation to the visually impaired community, as an indication that their experience was a primary design consideration for this garden."
An elevated wooden table, Joyce added, is designed to allow people in wheelchairs to fit underneath the table to care for potted plants. "We designed a raised table that was suitable for wheelchairs, at the correct height and with no obstructions below, where participants could easily tend to seedlings and young plants," he said. "This project fosters interaction between people of various mobilities and physical capabilities."
Joyce tells us that Please Touch continues to operate as an all-volunteer project. The LightHouse covers insurance, and the zero waste policy requires people to carry out anything they carry in. Watering the plants—which costs around $500 per year—is the only expense.
Garden volunteer Jim Donahue was happily watering those plants when we visited the garden recently. "I love plants," Donahue said. "I love nature, and I love being in the garden without the noise of the city. There are so few green spaces left in the city."
Joyce said that eventually the land will be developed and the garden will move on—just as apartments now occupy the former Hayes Valley Farm space. But he remains committed to finding more abandoned pieces of land that can be turned into interim green spaces for the community to enjoy.
For now, Please Touch Community Garden is open to the public by appointment. To inquire about volunteering or to set visit the garden, email [email protected]. Guidelines for visiting Please Touch Community Garden are simple and can be viewed here.
Volunteers are always needed, and there'll be a volunteer orientation held Sunday, May 15th from 1-3pm.
