8/24/09

Green Gulch Farm Trail, Part 1 of 2

A friend and I did this hike today. The long, uphill component and long, slow descent afterward tired me out. The key feature was passing through Green Gulch Farm, an organic vegetable and flower farm owned and operated by the San Francisco Zen Center.

But first we start from the trailhead. (Note: We had complete cloud cover and a cool ocean breeze the whole time. Which was nice, esp. considering the aforementioned "long, uphill component" and "long, slow descent".)

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I suppose the trails, being older than the farm, have an easement through the farmland. You pass through the compost operation first, where some sunflower and pumpkin seeds evidently germinated out of composted, well, sunflowers and pumpkins.

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Beyond that grow the greens and coles.

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Long rows with nice textures.

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(I think the bluish kale is 'Nero Toscana', right?)

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The weather here never changes.

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Dust from the road covers the leaves and fruit growing nearby.

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These dwarf sunflowers w/ huge disks have a lot of character.

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Since a Zen Center runs the farm, Zenniness prevails.

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The Farm gets more gardeny the farther into it you go.

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There's a lovely tool shed in the nursery area.

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This is what your work area looks like, right?

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The gardens are delightfully formal, with grass paths and clipped yews. The whole nine yards.

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Beautiful apple trees, perfectly maintained.

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These are the best-maintained apple espaliers I've ever seen.



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Here endeth Part 1. The trail continues into the coastal hills in Part 2.

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10 comments:

Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle said...

I never tire of seeing ( and being with ) the gardens and lands of Green Gulch Farms.

thanks for the tour.

Michelle

Pam/Digging said...

A wonderful hike. I love the signs of fall--a pumpkin! Thanks for taking us along.

Laurene said...

I really like this place. Makes me feel at home.

Les said...

The thistle shot was nice and that garden of greens was beautiful, especially the Swiss chard showing red with all the surrounding green. Funny though, I did not see any holes in the cole crops, where are the insects?

Christopher C. NC said...

The apple trees here will need a major ton of work to be whipped into shape. It is on the list.

Michelle said...

It always amazes me that those fog belt farms can grow such beautiful pumpkins. That is Nero Toscana kale, and it's looking a lot happier than mine. And we won't discuss my tool "area".

Thanks for sharing another great hike!

Bonnie Story said...

I loved that jolt of purple Stattice in the movie. GG Farm is indeed an amazing place. And, you are spot-on correct, that is THE permaweather there. Oh, how I yearn for a lovely straw-bale toolshed like that, with Buddhas and stuff... yes! I recall some Zen writings about sunflowers, how their flowerheads key toward the sun throughout the day, just as one's mind should key to Zen Mindfulness through the day. I went to an astonishing funeral wake at Green Gulch for a friend, Bob Katheiser, in the early 80's. He was a really great man, taken by AIDS, and the gravity of the place totally suited his memory.

Unknown said...

WOW. What cool pictures!!!! What did you think of the hiking trails?

Frances said...

What a place! Zenniness and gardeny all rolled into one. My workspace looks just like that, all I need is a Buddha. Lie. I would like it to look like that though, does that count? I can't imagine the weather always being the same either.
Frances

lisa said...

I feel calm and zen just reading your post! I like the field of teasel, they look so cool en masse'.