From HumanBeIn.org:

We are being called to defend the land we grow on.
While 36,000 housing units are left empty in San Francisco, property owners and developers plan to build condominiums and high-end housing structures at the cost of displacing urban farms and gardens.

To keep the land arable, the earth able to breathe, and the people of San Francisco able to grow and eat local, nutrient-rich, organic food in the city, people will walk to a potential development site on June 1st to plant food, build a village, and hold space together.

We can out-grow the old power structures!

There will be a dialogue and discussion about the loss of urban gardens to development in San Francisco at the Free Farm at 1 pm (thefreefarm.org) This will be followed by a gathering of folks who will take direct action in Jefferson Square Park directly across Gough Street from the Free Farm. We will get ready to move, plant, and hold space at 2pm. Follow us on twitter @LiberateLand or #liberatetheland if you are late!

The Free Farm

The first bands, workshops, and activities have been confirmed for June 1st, a schedule will be out soon at: http://humanbein.org/schedules/

Please bring skills to share, food to eat, tools, seedling, starts, instruments, and what you need to build a beautiful village on the earth!

For a printable poster to distribute click here: http://humanbein.org/print-out-flyers/

E-Mail us at HumanBeIn2013@gmail.com with offers of material and other support Thank you!

More at HumanBeIn.org

Following daytime marches against the Monsanto corporation, East Bay residents will gather at the Gill Tract Farm at 5 pm on Saturday, May 25th and stay into the afternoon on Sunday, May 26th to share food, music, and educational workshops on sustainable farming methods and social justice topics.

This weekend, the goal of Gill Tract farmers and supporters is to disengage from the war of attrition between the publicly-planted crops and the UC’s plow, which has thrice destroyed countless seedlings planted over recent weeks.

Effie Rawlings, a local community gardener and UC alum lamented the loss of the thousands of pounds of fresh food that would have been produced, but said that “the plants in the ground here are a symbol of our commitment to this farm. Regardless of whether the plants thrive or are tilled under, seeds have taken root in the hearts of local residents, and we will continue our connection here through educational projects and community events.”

This weekend, farmers plan to begin laying the foundation for a community-based research project that studies soil health, and how to improve it. “Accessing soil that is free from toxins and is also nutrient rich like we have at the Gill Tract is the main challenge of urban farming” says Anya Kamenskaya, a green building apprentice and UC alum. “The south side of the Tract presents a great opportunity because most of the soil is relatively pristine, with a few patches that have been damaged by structures. We think those patches can easily be restored, and intend to demonstrate and record our findings so that other urban farmers can benefit.”

This community research project is a way for farmers and neighbors to maintain the space for public education and benefit, that cannot be plowed under. “The UC cannot disrupt this research by plowing it, because they will only be contributing to the remediation of the soil,” says Kamenskaya.

The farmers feel that beginning to develop community-driven research on this site is a way to involve the public on publicly-administered land. These efforts parallel those of Dr. Miguel Altieri, UC Berkeley Agroecology professor, on the north side of the Tract. This summer, Dr. Altieri will lead an urban agriculture participatory research project on the north side of the Gill Tract, one that he has used for similar research for over 20 years.

When: Saturday, May 18 at 11 a.m.
Where: San Pablo and Monroe, Albany, CA

Albany, CA – On Saturday, May 18th, hundreds of East Bay farmers, Albany residents, and UC Berkeley students will return to the Gill Tract to replant an urban farm on this public land and put it to public use.

Occupy the Farm envisions a future in which East Bay communities make use of all available land – occupying it when necessary – to create urban agriculture alternatives and meet local needs in the face of economic and environmental crisis. The long term goal on the Gill Tract is to establish a productive farm and preserve this rich natural resource in perpetuity, emphasizing much needed research into sustainable urban agriculture, open access, and participation by the larger East Bay community.

On Saturday, May 11th, Occupy the Farm peacefully marched onto the Gill Tract to challenge the UC’s renewed plans for private, commercial development of this public agricultural resource, replacing 5-foot high weeds with thousands of squash, kale, basil, corn, lettuce and tomato plants, and even flowers.

Rather than recognizing this as an opportunity to position itself on the cutting edge of urban agriculture and participatory research, the University raided the farm on Monday, May 13, at 4:30 a.m. and violently arrested four peaceful farmers, three of whom were held for more than 60 hours before being released without charge. The University then ploughed over the farm that morning, destroying thousands of starts that, if nurtured, would have provided sustenance to local communities.

“This land has been vacant for years,” said an Occupy the Farm member, Matthew McHale, “the UC only destroyed the crops because it’s afraid that if the community sees what an amazing asset this would be as a community farm, they would refuse to let it be paved over.”

In protest of the UC’s actions, more than eighty farmers and community members re-converged on Monday afternoon for a rally, then marched back onto the farm to replant the field and recover some of the starts they had planted over the weekend. The University plowed the farm again Tuesday morning.

Since Occupy the Farm first planted on the Gill tract in April 2012, the group has organized at least 10 public forums focused on the Gill Tract as an asset to community-driven participatory research. The UC Berkeley administration has consistently failed to attend, despite being invited repeatedly. Students on campus however, support turning the land into an urban farm; last Spring the Associated Students of the University of California Senate unanimously passed a resolution in support of Occupy the Farm.