The San Francisco-based My Farm combines the local CSA produce with landscaping and gardening skills. San Franciscans (such as one of Green Zebra owners) pay a initial installation fee (usually in the $600-$2000 range) to have a crew set up irrigation, soil content and what ever else they deem necessary to start a backyard victory garden. From that point, they install a variety of vegetables, fruits, and even edible flowers (such as borage which benefits bees). And we have to be especially nice to the fast disappearing bees. We would love to salad-up in the Green Zebra garden with Jerusalem artichokes, tree collards, escorale, tomatillos, kohlrabi, corn and radishes.

The service costs about $35 per week but depending on the yard size and the bounty it produces that amount can be less. The more food that a yard produces the less the yard owner pays for the CSA box. The fee includes landscaping, gardening and a weekly CSA box. Such a deal. In this city it costs more for just a gardener to cut a lawn.

The workers utilize permaculture principles (or permanent culture) which to us looks like a serving of practical, functional and sustainable methods.

The My Farm model has spread to Marin and the East Bay faster than wild mushrooms and may soon come to an urban jungle near you.