Tag Archives: Patricia’s Green

Off the Grid Opens in Hayes Valley

by Brian Goldstein

As the night fog rolls down the intersection of Linden and Octavia, neighbors order dinner around three encircled food trucks and enjoy the burgeoning Bay Area experience that is Off the Grid. With live music playing in the background, hungry customers look for food that will fill their stomachs and warm them up this crisp night.

Food trucks are ubiquitous in San Francisco, with innumerable options for palates bent on the adventurous, refined, or simple down-home comforts. Now Hayes Valley residents have a new opportunity to enjoy this unique dining experience, through an organized night market, in the heart of the neighborhood.

Hayes Valley residents enjoy the start of another Off the Grid night market

Off the Grid is a San Francisco business, started in 2010, that operates weekly open markets with a variety of food vendors. At present there are 12 such markets throughout the Bay Area. Off the Grid Hayes Valley operates in the Proxy Project, the temporary art, food, and retail space along Octavia Street that is dotted with reconfigured shipping containers. The market runs from 5PM to 9PM, with accompanying live music playing 6PM-7:30PM. Currently the market runs Wednesday and Thursday nights, with an additional Friday market beginning April 27. Three selected vendors, from a group of six, rotate for each night.

The Market Lit Up at Night

When I visited the market in March, I spoke with the Hayes Valley Market Keeper Tim Ng. Tim explained that Off the Grid selects market locations based on their unique characteristics. They chose the Proxy Project because it embodies a fusion of food, art, and culture. The location is also home to Smitten Ice Cream, Ritual Coffee, and other food trucks during the day. Tim told me that he initially met with local Hayes Valley businesses and the Hayes Valley Merchants Association. Such outreach is meant to reassure any neighborhood concern over increased traffic and litter.

What to order??

This night the three vendors included Curry Up Now (Indian Street Food), Senor Sisig (Filipino Fusion Food), and Chairman Bao (Chinese Buns). Each brought a unique take on San Francisco street food, one that is a welcome addition to the Hayes Valley neighborhood. You can learn more about Off the Grid and find vendor schedules for all their locations at www.offthegridsf.com.

DOGMA : Live in SF, Love in SF, Made in SF

Saturday, September 24, 2011, 11am – 3pm
Patricia’s Green, Hayes Valley, San Francisco
(Octavia between Hayes & Fell)
7×7.com Dogma

Two legs, four legs, two wings, big tail… all are welcome at the SF SPCA’s San Francisco street party—a pet culture event in the heart of the city!
Enjoy delicious food, locally-made arts and crafts, charming music, and family-friendly activities.

• Ask a Vet – live with Dr. Jeannette Goh
• Art, goodies and more from San Francisco artisans, craftsfolks, and merchants
• Take a Spin on the Prize Wheel
• Check out the new Mini Cooper/BMW
• Face Painting
• Enjoy music
• Adopt your next furry friend from the San Francisco SPCA and our rescue partners including Muttville, Family Dog Rescue and others.

Make a donation of $250 or more on sfspca.org and your pet’s photo will be in the window of a Pet Food Express store. Or make a $10 donation by texting DOGMA to 27722* thanks to our friends at mGive

ENTER OUR SUPER PET TRICKS CONTEST
Show off your pet’s star quality!
Enter your well-behaved pet* in our talent contest and we’ll see if you have the most talented friend in the city!
You could win fabulous prizes for your pet and yourself!

Registration: 11am – noon
Contest: 12:30pm – 1:30pm

*All registered/vaccinated pets—dog, cat, bird, ferret, or reptile!—are welcome; please see contest rules to make sure your pet is eligible.

Summer social at Living Linden Alley spot

Come join Neighborhood Parks Council on July 13th (Wednesday) from 6pm to 8pm at – Living Linden Alley (between Gough and Octavia).

This year Neighborhood Parks Council is hosting the Summer Social potluck style! Please bring a food or beverage item to share with your fellow park lovers. NPC will showcase delicacies from local vendors from around the city.

If you have any questions about what to bring, please email council@sfnpc.org

At the event NPC will recognize 11 volunteers, park group and coalition members for their tireless effort and determination in bringing their community together to revitalizing San Francisco’s open spaces. These outstanding individuals and organizations have contributed to collectively making our parks and playgrounds across San Francisco’s 11 districts clean, green and safe.

Thank you again to the outstanding volunteers chosen this year.

more info

Patricia’s Green Needs Support


by Henry Ostendorf

Friends of Patricia’s Green (FoPG) needs support to help maintain our well-used, and loved, park. While our Saturday garden workdays have drawn up to two-dozen volunteers there have been other publicized events with few volunteers other than committed HVNA board members.

At our January board meeting the following priorities were developed. 1. Palms are in desperate need of pruning and appear to be diseased. 2. Main bed needs attention, three Ginkos have died from overwatering and many of the smaller plants have never done well perhaps due to poor soil. 3. Hebes soon are reaching the end of their lifespan or have aleardy died. A regular replacement schedule is needed.

While Patricia’s Green has seen increased Rec and Park visibility over the last two years much of our part time gardener’s time is spent picking up trash and maintaining the lawn used mostly by pets. Little time remains for anything else.

If you use and love the park please consider helping as you can. HVNA needs to hear from you so that we can develop a Green e-list to contact you about any FoPG workday events, advocacy needs, and committee meetings.

Email: green@hayesvalleysf.org

SF Parks need your help

by Phil Ginsburg, General Manager, SF Recreation and Park Department

What would happen to our quality of life if San Francisco’s 225 neighborhood parks suddenly closed? Where would we play without our 179 playgrounds, 82 recreation centers and clubhouses, 72 basketball courts, 60 soccer and baseball fields or 9 swimming pools?

Public parks and recreation facilities play an essential role in our lives, whether we’re children, teens, adults or seniors. They offer a welcome respite from the rigors of our daily schedules, providing us with the opportunity to relax, exercise, explore and rejuvenate our spirits in ways that are personal and meaningful to us.

But our parks are in trouble. Here in San Francisco, years of budget cuts, including a whopping $12.4 million deficit for this fiscal year alone, have left the Recreation and Park Department at a critical juncture. Despite being 200 gardeners and 60 custodians short, our park maintenance scores have never been higher. We survived our most recent budget challenges by implementing creative revenue generating initiatives and scouring our operation for staff efficiencies, including a new gardener apprentice program.

We’ve also implemented a complete reorganization of our recreation model that’s more efficient, saves money and improves the quantity and quality of programming at our recreation facilities by asking the public to play an active role in deciding what types of programs are needed at each individual site.

We can no longer adequately staff our smaller clubhouses or operate our recreation centers and pools seven days a week. Recognizing that further reductions to our budget would have drastic impacts we’re pursuing grants and philanthropic support to help keep the doors open. We’re looking for community partners to provide relevant programming at these sites to keep them active, safe and fun.

We need your help. Visit our website – www.sfrecpark.org – and join our email list. Ask your elected leaders to support a more financially sustainable urban parks system.

Scene on the Green [August-September 2010 print edition]

The Dog (Birth) Days of Summer

Both pets and Hayes Valley neighbors enjoyed Patricia’s Green during an early July doggie birthday party for Zoe (corgi, aged 4) and Louis (a rat terrier/papillon mix, aged 2). Owners Lindsay and Jamie & Susan supplied cake enough for all well-behaved invitees and party crashers.



The Queens’ Tea Party

Mrs. Vera, Mr. Tina and Jack Davis hosted a tea party on Patricia’s Green on Saturday, July 24. Those invited were Radical Faeries, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Drag Harpies and local celebutants. The invitation said “When people are asking for a theme we tell them to dress up. When they press further, we say don’t wear pants (unless of course, they are fabulous,) even further we say the theme is Faerie, Something Bright and Colorful.”



The fare was varied, as for any good high tea. There were savory sandwiches: cucumber, watercress and egg salad, The sweet end was taken up with yummy cupcakes and a St. Louis favorite, Gooey Butter Cake, all served on linen, china and silver. It was a perfect day for big hats, sundresses and sunglasses. The children in the park were most gracious to briefly share the climbing dome with the party goers so they could stage a group photo.