Patch of dirt yields a modest experiment in promoting sustainable food production

By Yo Noguchi

In the Mission District of San Francisco, a young couple from Vermont is promoting sustainability within the local food market and encouraging conscious lifestyles by launching Amyitis Gardens.

It’s a 15-by-30-foot patch of dirt that yields argula, radishes and other fresh vegetables that end up on the plates of customers at the popular Boogaloos Restaurant nearby.

The couple, David Stockhausen and Jessie Alberts, worked on mid-sized organic farms in Vermont that were part of the Community Supported Agriculture program for four years prior to moving to California. Having also worked as residential and commercial landscapers, Stockhausen and Alberts felt qualified to start a gardening project of their own when they moved to San Francisco.

Stockhausen proposed the idea of a locally managed organic garden to their employers, Carolyn Blair and Phillip Belber, owner of Boogaloos Restaurant.

“I had been talking at the restaurant about my background as an organic farmer in Vermont before I moved out to San Francisco. Unaware that Blair and Belber had a space, I would often push for us at Boogaloos to get a little greener and to source things more consciously.” Stockhausen said.

In July, Blair and Belber gave in to the concept and offered funding as well as space inthe backyard of their Mission District apartment off 22nd Street. (AND WHY IS NAMED AMYTIS?)

Alberts and Stockhausen first sketched out the landscape designs in order to predict what supplies were necessary to make their plans a reality. Fortunately, they found that the majority of the supplies could be acquired through donations from other likeminded gardeners and through second-hand venues such as Craig’s List.

“Aside from a couple tools and the compost and amendments needed to rehab the soil, most everything was found,” said Alberts.

By early August, an interpretation of the blueprints had been constructed and the garden was under way.

“We decided to stick to small baby greens such as baby salad, arugula, radish, kale and chard and some yellow squash, haricot beans, and specialty scallions for a start. With successive plantings we speculated we could get a consistent flow of good greens throughout the fall and winter seasons here in San Francisco,” Alberts explained.

Amyitis Gardens had its first harvest on the second day of September. With five full bags of leafy greens in hand, Alberts was able to make the five-minute walk to Boogaloos where the salads were prepped and served within the hour.

Restaurants like Boogaloos, on the corner of 22nd and Valencia Streets, and Weird Fish, located a few blocks away on 18th and Mission Street, provide the neighborhood with the culinary appeal that the Mission is famous for.

The Mission District of San Francisco seemingly undergoes constant changes that have made it a burgeoning hot spot for city tourists and locals alike. It is increasingly becoming the freshest reference point for popular and alternative culture, music, art, and cuisine.

Stockhausen and Alberts believe that the businesses responsible for growth in the Mission must confront the issues of our nation’s current shortage in energy and resources. The time has come when these questions are not only imperative to ask, but also to answer.

“If you can grow food right in your backyard, you should,” said Stockhausen. If more people did, I believe that we’d increase food security. Right now all of our proverbial eggs are in a couple large baskets, so to speak. If we are all getting our food from only a handful of sources, what happens if they fail? I think the answer is, we starve.”
Coming from a sister restaurant of Boogaloos in Vermont called Penny Cluse, Stockhausen moved out to San Francisco a little under three years ago with Alberts and immediately began working at the hip breakfast diner that retains the architecture of its previous life—a pharmacy.

“There is such a great confluence of new young people and Mission old timers cohabiting together. I think that creates a fertile environment for change and growth- perfect for Amyitis,” Stockhausen explained.

Joel Scott, a server at Boogaloos, has begun to volunteer at the garden along with others from the Weird Fish and Boogaloos establishments.

“I’d like to see gardens like Amyitis all over the city. I would like to see it as my full time day job!” said Scott.

At this point, the Amyitis Garden space is consistently farmed at its highest potential. It seems now that the most challenging hurdle is simply a lack of space. The limited labor and physical space can produce only five percent of the total amount of food used at these restaurants. Although this seems like a miniscule amount of juice for the squeeze, Stockhausen says that’s beside the point.

“I think the real idea is to inspire others to do this too,” he said. “Together we can provide a lot of food for a lot of people. This is just the beginning of a grand experiment in moving towards a sustainable community, a sustainable city. Only time will tell how well it is received.”