Working together, we can move a mountain - literally!

If anyone ever thought that Quesada Gardens Initiative volunteers don't work hard, Saturday's volunteer day puts that thought to rest. A mountain of compost was donated by Greenwaste Management (thank you Sanjay Bhas!), and dropped off by the Bridgeview Garden on Saturday morning. The pile was several car-lengths long, and about as high as a person. The goal was simply to get the pile into the garden, and mix it with the dirt in the planting beds.

A dozen volunteers from Stanford and USF - absolutely amazing contributors most of whom had volunteered many times before - had put their backs into the task for hours when they stood back to see they had merely dented the mountain. And so the "bucket brigade" formed, and voila two-thirds of the mountain melted away under the heat of determination.

That seemed as much as could be done, so volunteers walked down the hill to Jeffrey's place for a bite to eat.

But, who knew, a few resident volunteers who had been working on the garden that day decided to keep at it, and were joined by other residents. The mountain was 100% moved before sundown. A special shout-out goes to Darian Smith who was among the first to arrive and the last to leave, shovel in hand the entire time.

Darian worked alongside his grandmother, Annette Smith, David Hallender, and Tony Tarket, QGI's Horticulture Chair. Joining them for the final push were Shane, Nathan, Shanika and Shane's dog Keela (mostly moral support).

A few blocks away, in the Latona Garden, another group of residents were hard at work on this new garden. Among the community-builders were Rhonda, Peter, Lucinda, Brian, the Piochie sisters, Michelle Williams and daughter Alyssa. Part of the day focused on a sandbox for community children, which had been added to the garden several weeks ago and, on Saturday, received an artful facelift.

Stop by the Latona Garden to see new brickwork, signs, and a huge planter box contributed by our partners at the University of San Francisco (special thanks to Maxwell Gladdish and Dionisia Montanez).

The consistent, positive contribution all these people make to life in Bayview goes well beyond the gardens they work so hard on. They are examples of how residents can come together to define their own community spaces, participate in and lead change, and express their optimism for our neighborhood.

To each student, professor, resident and supportive passer-by, thank you!