Garden Oasis at Fort Mason

I discovered something very cool this weekend while wandering around the city. I was headed over to Fort Mason for the Craft Festival and decided to take a detour back to my car via the park above the festival halls there. I was looking for the Officer's Mansion where there's another event in a couple weeks that I'll tell you about soon. But as I was wandering, I stumbled upon this little piece of paradise in the middle of it all - The Fort Mason Community Garden.

If you go to New York or Europe, you see these little gardens around, where the neighbors have a little plot to grow flowers or veggies. But I've never seen that here until now. They were having a BBQ party in there, so at first I was hesitant to walk in, but then I found a different entrance that looked a little more "public" and welcoming, so I decided to go in and check it out.

There were over 100 plots of about 5' x 20' containing a whole range of plants. Some were vegetable gardens, and the tomatoes were looking quite good now. Others had an array of roses or dahlias for cut flowers, and there was even a nice simple zen garden in the midst of it all. I was quite inspired and decided that I may go put my name on the list. It's a 4-5 yr wait, so who knows what I'll be up to then, but at the rate the trees are growing around my back patio - my one hour of sun will be down to about 10 mins, so I'll be in need of a sunny plot. Plus, I'd love to grow my own tomatoes in the city!

If you're in the area, or just need a nice place to take a break - take a wander in. There are some lovely little benches and quiet places to sit and just enjoy the jungle of all the different plants.