The Temescal Amity Works Storefront is closed as of January 2007. We are still maintaining the website and the network, and are continuing the project in a more nomadic fashion. The cart is parked in a garage on Shafter Avenue and still roams the neighborhood, the deep freeze of Dec. 2006 did not kill the local oranges, and there is still hoards of citrus to be picked and shared, fresh or preserved..

Our new nomadic nature makes electronic communication all the more neccessary, so please get in contact with us to get on our email list. We can keep you informed of harvest activities, upcoming walks and other programs.

Thanks to all who visited us on 49th st. over the last 2.5 years. We miss the space but still hope to see you in the neighborhood.

Subject: Thanks for the tomatoes
Date: December 4, 2006 2:50:39 PM PST
To: bigbackyard@amityworks.org

I never got a chance to say thanks.....last spring/summer while walking past your storefront we picked up some free tomato plants. Just wanted to let you know that they grew into healthy and productive members of our backyard with the last fruit harvested this past weekend.
Jill Shearer, LEED® AP
Turner Construction Company

This weekend gave us three amazing drop-offs from neighbors. Hachiya Persimmons (far below) from 38th st., Avocadoes from 47th st. (below) and an anonymous bag of Fuyu Persommons waiting in the alley when we opened the storefront. By 5:00 PM all of them were given away.

Down at the other end of 41st st., we got yet another call for figs. This apartment building had 2 venerable fig trees in its back yard, one mission and the other adriatic. Linda (below) had recently pruned them and restored them to an "orchard" state, so we (with help from two visitors from Albuquerque, far below) picked masses of them in under an hour. We made many jars of conserve and gave bags full away on the street.

Monday morning: a sticky hour picking adriatic figs from an impressive tree on 41st. st.
The figs were perfect.

We picked four different varieties of apples and some wonderful pears with Karen and Anisa (and Kenya) in their incredibly large backlot. The storefront smells of apples, with a slight tang of ferment in the air.

We are awash in apples, courtesy of Myrna's generosity and her amazing yard. She has four different heirloom trees that were planted 15 years ago, and this year produced (in her own words) "more than she had ever seen". Come pick some up at the storefront this weekend; we are adding some extra hours on Sunday 10:30-12:00 to help distribute this abundance.

If you have had a chance to read the East bay Express this week, you might have read about Temescal Amity Works in the 3 part article by John Birdsall about scavenging urban waste. In that article, John describes a fortunate Amityworks trip to pick up surplus from a neighbor on Webster St. in the form of 2 bushels of fresh tangerines.
We gave away many of the tangerines fresh and made a dozen pints of Tangerine Preserves with the remainder. If you stop by, please sample some and/or take some home: its sweet and very "kid-friendly".

Temescal Amity Works harvested surplus oranges, lemons, pomelos, and limes this past winter and spring. All that we gathered was re-distributed fresh or made into communal preserves or jams and given back to the neighborhood. We made a Temescal neighborhood marmalade, which is still available free at our storefront. Come see us before take a jar home with you!

The Amity Works storefront will be closed for drop in pubic hours June 1- August 22nd. Public hours and programs wll resume in the fall. Join us then for NPR (Neighborhood Public Radio) a bread baking marathon, a fall movie series and more. Look for our fall program schedule in the Temescal News and Views. Alternatively, email us at bigbackyard@amityworks.org or call us at 510-428-1210.

In the meantime if you have too many plums, apricots or lemons on your tree, pick a bag and take them to your neighbors!

Pole beans, fava beans, cacti, citrus, figs were some of the crops that SALVATORE BARBERIO grew in his large front yard on 49th street, just down the street from Amity headquarters. His garden has been a continual inspiration for Amity Works and many in the neighborhood. Salvatore passed away last April.
Born in San Giovanni in Fiore, Italy on October 2, 1930, he moved with his family to Oakland in November, 1969. Salavatore's garden tells a history of the neighborhood, reminding us of the Italian families who settled in Oakland in the 1900's and brought many of their agricultural practices with them from their homes in Italy. Many of these folks shared gardening tips with newcomers to the neighbhood, giving them cuttings of grapes and fruit trees to start in their own yards.

Bakesale Betty generously let us share their kitchen this afternoon to make maramlade made from fruit from several Temescal citrus trees. We collected oranges, limes and lemons from Irene, Karen S., Lorraine, the Miles Avenue compound, the Avon Street compound and Mark R. to make this years Temescal Neighorhood Marmalade. We distribute the marmalade FREE from our project space. Thank you Nico, Natalie and Irene. (pictured)

We stopped to see Adriana on Avon Street and pick mexican limes and lemons for the Neighborhood Marmalade project. We are going to experiment making a pomelo and mexican lime marmalade this weekend.

The last month we have been busy picking citrus, mostly oranges and meyer lemons. We have also had small deliveries of jerusalem artichokes, kale and lettuce from winter gardens.

The amity pushcart has new pneumatic wheels and a rebuilt front end. This new design is easier to maneouver up and down curbs but rattles less as we go. Thanks to Reuben Margolin for rebuilding the cart! If you are interested in your own rickshaw for local transport, Reuben makes beautiful bike driven vehicles. Check them out here.

The Big Backyard is a crop-sharing program building on the history of the neighborhood as an Italian-American community that was planted with citrus and fruit trees by its original immigrant families. Today, these trees still bear fruit while the time needed to harvest them has dwindled. Much of the Temescal harvest stays on the ground or is hauled away by the city.

The Big Backyard is based around a hand-built, steel pushcart that we made to collect surplus fruits and vegetables from neighborhood yards, which we give away at our storefront, deliver to people's homes or re-distribute in the forms of collective preserves, marmalades and fruit butters. If you have extra fruit or vegetables growing in your yard, please contact us and we will pick it or pick it up.

Temescal Amity Works can be emailed here:
bigbackyard@amityworks.org
or call us at:
510-517-4149

If you would like to participate in the produce sharing or have any other questions about the project, flag us down when you see our cart rolling through the neighborhood. Alternatively, you can email us at bigbackyard@amityworks.org