Sow the seeds of neighborly good will by volunteering for the
eighth annual Noe Valley Garden Tour Saturday, May 11. Each
year, dozens of volunteers staff the garden entrances,
welcoming visitors and checking (and occasionally selling)
tickets. Shifts run from 9:30 a.m. to noon, noon to 2 p.m.,
and 2 to 4 p.m. Each shift nets the volunteer one free tour
ticket.
The 2013 tour features nine
gardens, all maintained by their owners. The list includes the
rooftop garden at On Lok Senior Center, 225 30th St., and the
backyard garden at the Noe Valley/Sally Brunn Library, 451
Jersey St.
New this year will be a
container gardening class offered at the library by Friends of
Noe Valley, which organizes the tour every year.
“In addition to our featured
backyard gardens, we have a focus on the ‘gray to green’
garden movement,” said organizer Linda Lockyer. The tour map
will also identify the former swaths of concrete that have
been transformed into gardens, she said.
Once again, the Noe Valley
Merchants and Professionals Association (and a personal
donation from Debra and David Niemann) will pay for
transportation for tour participants. Umpqua Bank is
sponsoring the tour.
All proceeds benefit a
neighborhood beautification project. Last year’s $2,000 went
to the garden reading area at Alvarado Elementary School and
to the Friends of Upper Douglass Dog Park for an arborist in
preparation for a major renovation project. This year’s
beneficiary is the Noe Valley Library garden, which was torn
out last year when a new retaining wall was built.
Volunteers have one more
perk—an invitation to a pre-tour GTTYP. That’s Garden Tour
Thank You Party, and it takes place in the garden of Jana and
Geof King, whose garden was voted best last year.
Tickets, which come with a map
and guide to the gardens, cost $15 for adults under 65 and $12
for seniors. They will be sold online at the Friends’ website
and at Just for Fun, Video Wave, Small Frys, Cliché Noe,
Independent Nature, and Taylor’s Home and Garden, and the Noe
Valley Farmers Market each Saturday up to and including the
day of the event.
To volunteer, visit www.friendsofnoevalley.com
and send an email, including preferred time shift and phone
number.
