In honor of Tu Bishvat, the holiday celebrating trees and nature, young adults of the Jewish Community Federation worked diligently with Life Frames, Inc. and SF Recreation & Park Department on Sunday, January 12th to plant California native plants on the hillside next to the Oak Allee in St. Mary’s Park, as part of the Bernal Heights Living Library Nature Walk.  About 200 natives were planted amongst the beautiful Coast Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia).  The Nature Walk is growing !

Volunteers planted all California Natives:  Ceanothus (Ceanothus griseus horizontalis ‘Yankee Point’ and Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’), Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), Fremontodendron (Fremontodendron californicum), and Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri).

The Bernal Heights Living Library Nature Walk links schools, parks, public housing, streets, and other open spaces leading to the currently hidden Islais Creek at the south side of St. Mary’s Park.  The Nature Walk is creating a new, expressive,  narrative landscape that is a prototype for what could be occurring throughout the whole Islais Creek Watershed, the largest in San Francisco, that interlinks eleven neighborhoods:  Noe Valley, Mission, Bernal Heights, Potrero Hill, Bayview, Portola, Crocker-Amazon, Excelsior, OMI, Sunnyside, Glen Park.

More volunteer events are coming up on January 17th and 28th at St. Mary’s Park, and January 18th at Holly Park. If  you would like to participate, or for more information about volunteer planting days, please contact us:  info@alivinglibrary.org