Have you ever noticed that chunk of ivy covered, ruined Central Freeway at the corner of Fell and Laguna? Well it's about to become something a whole lot more interesting than just a bleak reminder of the days when Hayes Valley was nothing more than a collection of grime caked liquor stores and plastic blow-up lady shops. The Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development has engaged with a local non-profit, Hayes Valley Farm, to temporarily develop the on-ramp as a sustainable, organic urban farm. Blessed be!

Over the last few weeks, farm volunteers have been dumping piles of freshly manufactured organic soil all over the on-ramp and will soon be planting a wide assortment of fruit trees and assorted consumable plants. Hayes Valley Farm hopes to use the farm as an educational tool for the public, similar to Alice "Pol Pot in a Mumu" Waters's "Edible Schoolyard" program over in Berkeley. Farm members get varying discounts on produce grown on the on-ramp plus free workshops and reduced cost farming courses.

The parcel on which the farm is being created is already slated to be redeveloped as housing once the market bounces back. In the meantime, this may end up being a potentially superb temporary use of under-utilized land. Plans are in the works to build similar farms on empty parcels all over town. One for our neighborhood, please!