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Garden party at the Conservatory

June 21, 2013 by Elizabeth Weise

Sunnyside Conservatory neighbor Sally Ross weeding on June 15, 2013. Sally led a work party of over a half a dozen neighbors. The work stopped before noon, bumped by a scheduled wedding.
Sunnyside Conservatory neighbor Sally Ross weeding on June 15, 2013. Sally led a work party of over a half a dozen neighbors. The work stopped before noon, bumped by a scheduled wedding.

Story and photos by Murray Schneider

On Saturday, June 15 Joost Avenue resident Sally Ross led a corps of over half a dozen Sunnyside neighbors in a quarterly Sunnyside Conservatory gardening work party. From nine to 11:30 A.M. the crew weeded the Conservatory grounds, rich with drought-resistant plants, grasses and a number of towering palm trees.

“We have to stop early,” said Ross, who holds positions in both the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association and the Glen Park Association, “because a wedding is scheduled this afternoon.”

That cold and grey morning Ross pulled weeds that took root beneath a palm tree on the western edge of the Conservatory. The weeds didn’t look all that threatening, but Ross unearthed a definition for the inimical troublemakers that might brook little dissent among California gardeners.

“A rosebush in a wheat field is a weed,” she said with a voice of authority, serving notice that she’d thought long and hard on an irksome gardening conundrum, and that whatever usurper she’d been tugging had no place in any garden with which she wanted to be associated.

Ross has been part of a neighborhood grass roots effort to turn the Sunnyside Conservatory into a green showplace, a home for Rec and Park sanctioned music performances and private celebrations. For decades the building languished ramshackle and vacant astride Monterey Boulevard, a blight on the Sunnyside. Under a Department of Public Works imprimatur Ross’ neighbors also took it upon themselves to beautify stretches of Monterey Boulevard’s street medians. Now long portions of the street’s dividers host landscaping similar to that found on the Conservatory grounds.

Taking a break from their weeding labors, Robert and Keren Abra, who live on Judson Ave and Rec and Park's Dave Crossman enjoy refreshments baked by Sally Ross.
Taking a break from their weeding labors, Robert and Keren Abra, who live on Judson Ave and Rec and Park’s Dave Crossman enjoy refreshments baked by Sally Ross.

Bob and Keren Abra, co-chairs of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Greening Committee, planted and sustained all sections of the road median except the two in front of the Conservatory. During the garden party Abras, who live on Judson Avenue, worked along Ross while Dave Crossman, a Rec and Park gardener, hauled tarps filled with weeds to his truck.

Sally Ross and Don Norris weeding while Rec and Park's Dave Crossman prepares to bundle up weeds and truck them to McLaren Park for composting.
Sally Ross and Don Norris weeding while Rec and Park’s Dave Crossman prepares to bundle up weeds and truck them to McLaren Park for composting.

 

“This is my ‘beat,’” said Crossman, who has worked for the City for only a year and seemed really into his job. “I turned the sprinklers on at Miraloma Playground before I arrived, and when I leave here I head up to Dorothy Erskine Park.

Not before, however, he’d drive to McLaren Park and dump the Conservatory weeds, which will be composted. “I work with and supervise the group,” said Crossman, who lives in the outer Richmond District. “The tools and vehicle are provided by Rec and Park.”

But Ross, who knows that an army marches on its stomach, provided the confections. Her blueberry buckle and oatmeal cookies lined a table surrounded by urns of hot coffee, and Joe Schuver at Destination Bakery on Chenery Street better hope Ross doesn’t go public with her recipe.

“Actually,” she confided, “the blueberry buckle comes from Betty Crocker.”

The work party gathered around the table around 11 o’clock, talking and munching, flax and agave put aside in favor of pastries and beverages and a little architectural chat. “You know,” said Ross, “acanthus is the same plant the Romans used to decorate the tops of their columns.”

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Glen Park Association
3 weeks ago
Glen Park Association

Meet one of the Greenway’s most diligent volunteers -- A Townsend Warbler as far as Google knows. Progress in removing invasive oxalis is going well, but work remains! As the sun comes out, please join us at the Glen Park Greenway Native Meadow (between Lippard and Brompton Streets) to carefully remove invasive oxalis plants. Email our oxalis remediation lead, Kathy Keller at greenway@glenparkassociation.org if you can help! ... See MoreSee Less

Meet one of the Greenway’s most diligent volunteers -- A Townsend Warbler as far as Google knows. Progress in removing invasive oxalis is going well, but work remains! As the sun comes out, please join us at the Glen Park Greenway Native Meadow (between Lippard and Brompton Streets) to carefully remove invasive oxalis plants. Email our oxalis remediation lead, Kathy Keller at greenway@glenparkassociation.org if you can help!
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Glen Park Association
3 weeks ago
Glen Park Association

Join us THURSDAY JANUARY 19 at the Glen Park Association Quarterly meeting. We'll be in-person at the Glen Park Rec. Center at 6:30 PM. Our agenda includes:

-- A special presentation from QuitCarbon,
-- Meeting the new owners of @canyonmarket ,
-- Learning more about projects at @sfrecpark & @sfpublichealth, and
-- Electing 2023 GPA officers.

Have you renewed your membership for 2023 yet? Help keep our neighborhood vital by joining today at www.glenparkassociation.org/glen-park-association-membership/
... See MoreSee Less

Join us THURSDAY JANUARY 19 at the Glen Park Association Quarterly meeting. Well be in-person at the Glen Park Rec. Center at 6:30 PM. Our agenda includes:

-- A special presentation from QuitCarbon, 
-- Meeting the new owners of @canyonmarket , 
-- Learning more about projects at @sfrecpark  & @sfpublichealth, and
-- Electing 2023 GPA officers.

Have you renewed your membership for 2023 yet? Help keep our neighborhood vital by joining today at https://www.glenparkassociation.org/glen-park-association-membership/
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Coyote Yipps
Friends of Noe Valley Rec Center
Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project
Open SF History
Sunnyside Conservatory
Sunnyside History
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Tramps of San Francisco
Upper Noe Neighbors

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