Neighborhood Vineyards Proposal for Alemany Farm April 16, 2013

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1 The Neighborhood Vineyards Project (NVP) unites neighborhoods through the shared cultivation of vineyards within the city of San Francisco. Our vision is that every supervisorial district in the city will have a collaboratively-tended vineyard for the shared enjoyment and education of its residents. NVP proposes to use an uncultivated portion of Alemany Farm s land to plant a small vineyard. Our vision for this space is to provide a working vineyard in the Bernal Heights neighborhood which will create opportunities for hands-on education in viticulture and oenology, and future partnerships with high schools and colleges for urban youth to gain experience working in a vineyard. Having reviewed the Alemany Farm s Management Plan, we feel that this project aligns well with its agricultural production, education and green jobs skills objectives. 1 Page

2 TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION Phase 1: Clearing the hillside NVP will organize a team of volunteers to clear the brush and rocks from the hillside. Since the space is quite small, we anticipate that a team of 5-7 people could clear the area is one afternoon. Phase 2: Planting the vines After having taken detailed measurements of the area, we anticipate planting approximately 75 grapevines. Planting will consist of digging a hole for each vine, adding any necessary soil amendments and watering. NVP will organize a team of 3-5 volunteers who will be able to plant the space in an afternoon. Phase 3: Setting up the irrigation system After having planted the vines, regular watering is important to encourage the vines to root properly. Irrigation will be installed the same afternoon that the vines are planted. NVP will set up an irrigation system with a timer so that the vines can be watered on a regular schedule. After the initial clearing and planting, ongoing maintenance of the site will be relatively light. A proposed maintenance plan is described below. ESTIMATED PROJECT BUDGET Labor (approximately 30 hours for installation) $0 NVP will organize volunteers Irrigation drip-line & valves $50 Neighborhood Vineyards will donate this Irrigation stakes (what is this?) $10 Neighborhood Vineyards will donate this Irrigation timer $50 Neighborhood Vineyards will donate this Bench graft clones: $3/clone Grow tubes for clones: $2.50 each $225 Sunridge Nursery will donate these and they do not need a tax donation receipt $187 Sunridge Nursery will donate these and they do not need a tax donation receipt Soil Amendments $100 Neighborhood Vineyards will donate this; the soil analysis will determine whether this is needed, but it seems unlikely Total $622 2 Page

3 MAINTENANCE PLAN Neighborhood Vineyards proposes to assume responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the vineyard for five years, after which time, we will consult with Rec & Park about whether to renew the project for an additional period of time. We also would like to emphasize that maintenance of the site will be relatively light work given the size of the proposed vineyard and the lifecycle of the vines. The primary maintenance tasks will be: Watering This will primarily be managed through a drip irrigation system with a timer, which will be installed at NVP s expense at the time that the vines are planted. Once the vines are established (approximately 2016), we intend to move them onto a dry-farming system so that ongoing water is not needed. At this time, we will dismantle the irrigation system and donate it to Alemany Farms for use in other areas. Clearing weeds & brush Weeding and clearing the area is a relatively light task for 200 linear feet of space. We anticipate that this will take one person a few hours once or twice a month depending on the season. Pruning Pruning is a yearly task. Vines require pruning in the spring once a year, usually March. Pruning 75 vines could be easily done by one person in an afternoon. Depending on the growth of the vines, this may not be necessary in the first year after planting. Harvesting Harvesting the grapes in the fall (typically October) will occur once per year. The vines will not produce a crop until the 3 rd year (October 2016). This is also a task that one person could easily do in an afternoon. However, we would love to have a community celebration at harvest time of year and organize a group of volunteers. Harvesting will be done in accordance with Recreation & Parks Community Gardening Policies and San Francisco s Park Code. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES Neighborhood Vineyards vision is to create educational opportunities in the following ways: 1. Community members will be able to volunteer both to install the vineyard and then to help with tending on community workdays. Through this, residents will gain knowledge of viticulture specifically, and agriculture more generally. 2. We also will organize a Vine Sponsorship program that will allow ongoing interaction residents and the vineyard, including updates/photos of their vine and information 3 Page

4 about the viticultural process. Our hope is to launch the first two educational elements right away. 3. As the vineyard matures, Neighborhood Vineyards will collaborate more closely with high schools, community colleges and universities to set up work experience and educational opportunities that link the urban vineyard with education and job paths to the wine industry. PROJECT PARTNERS Neighborhood Vineyards, Jenny Sargent & Elly Hartshorn (Co-Founders) Collectively we bring 16 years of experience in viticulture, oenology, wine making, community organizing, volunteer management and farm work. We have been searching for a spot to realize our dream of bringing a working vineyard to San Francisco for the better part of year. During that time we have had the pleasure of meeting many wine enthusiasts, professionals in the field, educators and excited neighbors hoping to see this dream become a reality in their neighborhood. Elly Hartshorn s introduction to the wine industry was in the vineyard driving a tractor on her family-owned, family-operated 50 acres in Northern California. She studied viticulture and oenelogy at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and brings a decade of wine industry experience to the project. In her career she s worked as a winery marketing director, founded a wine marketing & graphic design firm dedicated to helping artisan winemakers achieve sustainable business models, and lived in France telling the story of French winemakers and importing wine direct to US clients. She has worked on artisan farms in France learning the ancient traditions of cheese-making and studied organic viticulture and agro-tourism in Bordeaux, Provence, France and Mendoza, Argentina. She has worked in all sectors of the wine industry, is knowledgeable of the issues and opportunities facing wine producers, and is committed to making wine more approachable for regular people. Jenny Sargent brings six years of grants management, non-profit administration & fundraising experience along with an obsession for sustainable agriculture & community building. Since 2006 Jenny has served as a Development Director & freelance grant writer for various community-based non-profits. She has ample experience in all areas of non-profit administration including grant writing & management, program planning, evaluations, data collection & data systems creation, fundraising events, individual donations and corporate sponsorships. In she traveled extensively for 12 months in Hawaii and France, digging in the fields, learning from farmers & growing a passion for sustainable, community-driven food systems. During this time she managed a volunteer farm worker program for a sustainable retreat center on Hawaii s Big Island & worked daily on farms, vineyards & orchards. Jenny is a UC Berkeley graduate & currently works for a neighborhood resource center serving the southeast communities of San Francisco. 4 Page

5 Sunridge Nursery, Andrew Jones Andrew Jones has expressed great enthusiasm for Neighborhood Vineyards first site at Alemany Farms. We are working with him to arrange for the donation of deep root green benchgrafts for the vineyard. These plants are already sprouting which will allow us to plant in the spring rather than the fall (the usual time for planting new vines) and give us a jumpstart on the growing season. We are also in communication with Andrew to donate grow tubes for the vines which will protect them from wind, predators and insects while they are establishing their root system. Lino Bozzano, Vineyard Manager Lino is a well-known vineyard manager in California s Central Coast; he is currently the VP of Vineyard Operations at Laetitia Vineyard & Winery. He has agreed to act as our primary consultant for the planting and ongoing maintenance of NVP s vineyard sites. We will be working with Lino to interpret the findings from the soil and water analysis, select the clonal varieties best suited to Alemany Farm s climate, and select appropriate soil amendments if necessary. Lino will also provide ongoing consultation for watering, pruning and additional tests needed for the vineyard. A&L Labs, Soil & Water Analysis As a respected leader in vineyard soil analysis, we have sent samples of the water and soil from Alemany Farms to A&L Labs for testing. We will be working with this lab on an ongoing basis to determine what soil amendments are necessary in the future. We would be happy to share these findings with Alemany Farm if they would be beneficial for growing in other areas. Brent Roath, Soil Scientist Brent is a retired soil scientist with the US Forest Service and our main consultant for collecting water and soil samples. He has helped to take preliminary measurements and samples of the Alemany Farm site. Brent will be consulting with us on planting the vines and installing the irrigation system. Thank you for taking the time to review the proposal and please feel free to contact me directly with any questions or comments. Best regards, Jenny Sargent, Co-Founder Neighborhood Vineyards Project th Street San Francisco, CA jenny@neighborhoodvineyards.org 5 Page