Block Party & Garage Sale

Saturday, July 11th

Join us for our 3rd Annual Goettingen Street Neighborhood Garage Sale and Block Party.

A portion of the garage sale proceeds will benefit the Goettingen Neighborhood Garden!

Enjoy an afternoon BBQ and Ice Cream party with your neighbors.

Goettingen Street between Olmstead and Dwight Streets.

Thank you

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

We had a fantastic plant sale on Saturday and we owe you all a great big thank you. We had beautiful weather, we met many, many new neighbors, and we sold quite a bit of plants. I think the estimate of our sales is in $800-900 range.

A thank you to each of you and also to our wonderful supporting businesses. Silvestri donated a unique, solid, gorgeous urn which was won by one of ourneighbors, the Sandoval family. yea! Subway and J.Georgie's donated snacks. Timi at The Botany Shop Florist donated a few great plants. Lowe's (down in S.SF) donated 12 large plants, including a few fruit trees. Rainbow Grocery gaveus a $100 donation which we used to purchase organic vegetable starters, hello
cheddar cauliflower and heirloom tomatoes plants!

And a big thank you to Joan Loeffler for including us in her last Zephyr Real Estate Newsletter. Thank you for supporting us Joan!

We also received plant donations from Ruth and Darlene and Betty and Kim...surely I forgot someone, so thank you too!

Until our garage sale in July....
All the Best,
Goettingen Neighbors Group
Trish, Mikki, Laura, Paki, Jeanette, Larry, Chris, & Charles

2nd Annual Plant Sale

Please join us this Saturday, April 4th
10:00am -2:00pm

GNG will host our 2nd annual plant sale fundraiser this Saturday. Please come by to say hello. We will have light refreshments available.

The NEN (Neighborhood Empowerment Network) Awards & Community Challenge Grant

It’s always nice to know that the hard work you put into a project is appreciated. Especially when that acknowledgement is given to you by the community and recognized by the Mayor of our great city, San Francisco. A couple of months ago, back in November 2008, Goettingen Neighbors Group (GNG) was recognized at the Neighborhood Empowerment Network’s 2008 NEN Awards. We shared an award with another group; we were chosen as “Best Community Building Project” for our Goettingen Neighborhood Garden Project!

The Neighborhood Empowerment Network (NEN) is the first of its kind partnership of city agencies, local non-profits and neighborhood organizations.

During this evening, we were also recognized as winners of a Community Challenge Grant. The funds from this award will be used to set the bib and hose for our water meter as well as continue our efforts to stabilize the hillside. The grant was awarded to us to install a water meter for the hillside; however, the water meter has been secured within the previous Fiskar’s grant we received last August. Perhaps we can use the funds to stabilize the hillside with edging along the staircase to keep the hill from eroding or maybe even the beginnings of another retaining wall at the extreme slope on the hill. We are still working out the details of the Community Challenge Grant, but hope to have them finalized in the next couple of weeks.

I have to agree with Mayor Newsom when he states, “ By celebrating what’s right in our communities and providing crucial resources directly to neighborhood groups to assist them in taking the lead in improving their quality of life, these two programs [The Neighborhood Empowerment Network and the Community Challenge Program] are ultimately making a difference in the lives of every San Franciscan.”

We are excited and motivated to continue our work throughout 2009!

Thank You for a Beautiful Garden

This is an informal thank you to all those who contributed to the fantastic effort that transformed the hillside into a lovely neighborhood garden. Without Project Orange Thumb and the forward thinking people at Fiskars, it would have taken months to come this far.

Lowe's was also a big part of the make-over. They supplied the materials and even sent a team of volunteers to assist with the hands-on gardening.

The San Francisco Master Gardeners sent a team of expert helpers. They were instrumental in overcoming some of the more challenging aspects of gardening on such a steep slope.

Without the guidance of SF Parks Trust, GNG would not have become as well organized or focused. We joined their organization as a Parks Partner in January this year. They provide us with fiscal sponsorship and give our group direction in areas such as fundraising, grant writing and project management. Thanks to Maria, Kiersten, Jasime and Julia, who worked hard on the that hot sunny day.

Liz Lerma and the folks at DPW assisted Fiskars and GNG with choosing appropriate trees for the hill. They made sure in the days preceding the event and during that waste and compost were discarded. Thanks to all those DPW people who worked and celebrated at the ribbon cutting ceremony. The garden received a special native blessing with burning sage.

Before and after the event Louis sculpted the terrain to help create a garden that GNG will be able to maintain for years to come. We are extremely grateful to him and his crew. They brought in power tools to break the rocky, clay-like topsoil that is prevalent in the Portola. No easy task!

If it weren't for the consistent effort of all five contributors at GNG, the hill wouldn't have been on the map. Laura, thanks for your tireless networking. Trish thanks for being the backbone of our administrative and communications needs.


Mikki, is not only a gracious host to most of our meetings, she is our SAFE Neighborhood Watch captain and generates a huge amount of support from her family and friends.


Paki, without your diligence in watering the hill, those wonderful plants would have wilted by now. Thank you too for bringing your family members (and photographer of the slide show to the right). Lastly, the blogger, Cybil. I'm just happy to be a part of such an amazing group of ladies. Thank you, GNG!



Along with the following photos of friends who helped on August 26th, the following link will show photos from the Fiskars website. There is also a time-lapsed video of the entire event! Again, thank you to everyone who made it happen!

Fiskars: Revitalized San Francisco Neighborhood Gets Garden Makeover

Press Release - Source: Fiskars

Tuesday August 26, 9:36 am ET
Fiskars Project Orange Thumb and Lowes transform bare ground into a thriving garden - in a single day

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Where this morning there was a steep, bare slope dotted with struggling bushes, tonight Goettingen Street boasts a verdant hillside garden. Brightly flowering ground cover holds the fragile soil, while colorful vines and bold colors peek over new terraced walls.

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The most amazing part: the entire transformation took just a single day – thanks to the combined efforts of a determined team. Fiskars joined with Lowe’s to bring nature back to San Francisco’s Goettingen neighborhood through Fiskars Project Orange Thumb initiative.

A team of over 50 tilled and planted from early morning to late afternoon at the revitalized garden site on August 26. The makeover included all donated labor, design time, project coordination, tools and all necessary supplies. Fiskars selected the Goettingen Neighborhood for this project and coordinated, developed, designed and managed the day long makeover. Lowe’s donated all planting materials and supplies for the project.

“The Goettingen Garden is the second in a series of national gardening projects for Fiskars. Our successful garden transformation in Chicago (May, 2008) proved the importance of gardening to provide beauty, sustainable food resources and a place of community,” said Paul Tonnesen, President of Fiskars.

Master Gardener Joe Lamp’l, nationally known as “Joe Gardener,” created a garden design that includes many native and drought tolerant species, such as Russian Sage, Purple Hopseed and Oakleaf Hydrangea.

“It has been a dream come true to be selected for the Fiskars Project Orange Thumb Program,” said Trish Winum, member of Goettingen Neighbors Group. “Goettingen Neighbors Group has worked together to make our streets safer, build community, and beautify our neighborhood. Fiskars has helped us meet our objectives while putting Goettingen Street, together with the Portola District of San Francisco, in the spotlight. It's been a fantastic experience.”

The San Francisco initiative is an extension of Fiskars’ successful Project Orange Thumb garden grant program. Started in 2003, Project Orange Thumb provides community garden groups with the tools and materials needed to reach their goals for neighborhood beautification and horticulture education. Most recently, Fiskars’ Project Orange Thumb successfully completed a garden makeover on Chicago’s south side in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood.

Fiskars Project Orange Thumb – San Francisco has additional support from: The City of San Francisco Department of Public Works, San Francisco Parks and Trust, Lowe’s, Radisson Hotels, United Industries, Hines Horticulture and the Goettingen Neighborhood Group.

To receive high-res photos or b-roll from the San Francisco garden event, please visit: http://gmedia.fiskars.com/sanfrancisco/media.

To receive high-res photos or b-roll from the Chicago garden event, please visit: http://gmedia.fiskars.com/altgeld.

Interview availabilities LIVE or via telephone 8/26 – 8/27/08

ABOUT FISKARS PROJECT ORANGE THUMB:

Since 2003, communities across the country have received more than $200,000 in tools, plants and expertise through Fiskars Project Orange Thumb. Designed to foster neighborhood pride, the grant program has helped to install rain gardens, establish neighborhood vegetable plots, and re-vitalize local parks, creating many beautiful, bountiful spaces that share hope, lift spirits and build community bonds. For more information, visit Fiskars.com

Please join us at 5:00pm, Tuesday, August 26th to celebrate our new Garden Makeover

Please join GNG, SF Parks Trust, Fiskars, DPW, the City of San Francisco and your fellow neighbors here in the Portola at our ribbon cutting of our new Goettingen Neighborhood Garden.

Where: The corner of Goettingen and Dwight Street in The Portola District of San Francisco.

When: 5:00pm Tuesday, August 26th

Why: You LOVE the Portola and are estatic to see our new neighborhood garden.

Who: You, your family, and all of your neighbors.

What: A newly planted, designed, neighborhood garden at the Goettingen Hillside.

We welcome you and are excited to meet you!





This is what the hillside looks like today. We'll post the "after" photos next week.