For the next month and a half, anyone visiting this site will see a widget on the left side of the page showing the progress of the Hayes Valley Farm Kickstarter project to help fund the farm in the coming year. Here’s why:

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Hayes Valley Farm is an amazing urban farming project taking place in the middle of Hayes Valley in San Francisco on the 2.2-acre lot that was formerly the on/off ramp for the central freeway. Since 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the elevated road and led to the central freeway ending on Octavia Boulevard, the lot has been vacant and lonely, unused and surrounded by a chain-link fence. The Hayes Valley Farm project started work in January, and in the last 8 months, the site has transformed. The chain-link fence remains, but it is decorated with art from students at a nearby school, the on-ramp has become a “freeway food forest,” hundreds of cubic yards of mulch have been spread and planted with fava beans and more to start healing and renewing the soil, and the community has come together to get their hands dirty while meeting and enjoying the company of those who live in the neighborhood and beyond. It really is an awesome thing to watch grow and be a part of.

To help raise funds for the coming year, the Hayes Valley Farm team has set up a Kickstarter project with the goal of raising $20,600 to buy tools and supplies, and more importantly, continue building the educational programs for local schools and community. Kickstarter is a great concept where “backers” pledge to donate a certain amount of money if the total pledges reach a pre-set goal in a set period of time. This model encourages projects to set goals based on what they really need, and backers know that while their donation alone may not mean the project’s success, their public pledge of support might encourage others to chip in and raise the amount the project really needs.

When I started writing this post, the project was at under $1000 pledged; two days later it was over $3000. Go check out their Kickstarter project page and the Hayes Valley Farm website, then join me as a backer and help them reach their goal!