Little City Gardens makes a go of urban agriculture in San Francisco

A blend of over 25 varieties of lettuces, brassicas, fava greens, herbs, wild greens and edible flowers

Chloe Roth
San Francisco Chronicle
April 29, 2010

Excerpt:

Can two people earn a living wage growing and selling produce within the city of San Francisco? This is the question that Brooke Budner and Caitlyn Galloway set out to answer when they launched Little City Gardens in the Mission District of San Francisco. Armed with a commitment to urban gardening, a business plan and high hopes, but free of any pretensions that the answer to their question would be a resounding “yes,” Budner and Galloway are taking Little City Gardens to the next level. That is, with a little help from the global community.
“…How does your garden grow?”

Put your ear to the city’s soil and you’ll hear a murmuring growing louder by the day about slow foods, local foods, organic foods and sustainable agriculture. Talk of underground food movements resounds across the Bay Area and similar food-focused communities nationwide. But above ground, it can be hard to find employment in these fields: particularly in an urban setting like San Francisco and especially during a time of economic turmoil and rising unemployment.

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Texas native Brooke Budner is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. She moved to San Francisco in 2007 after a yearlong internship at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center. Budner wanted to continue growing food so she climbed up on the roof of her apartment in the Mission to scan the neighborhood for viable options. Two doors down she saw a perfect patch of weeds. A little research and a few phone calls later, the neighboring landlord gave the green light for her green thumb. To Budner’s surprise, the landlord asked for nothing in return, save to “keep it beautiful.” “No one just trusts anyone right away, sometimes with good reason,” Budner says. “But this is a beautiful example of trust and mutual benefit. He’s been the biggest supporter of the garden. He likes the sense of activity and the land being put to use.” Within a few months, Budner transformed the vacant plot into a flourishing vegetable garden.

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