>> you'll find a festive atmosphere on this community-organized farm. run largely by volunteers, there's a variety of crops, like collard greens, rainbow shards, strawberries, even artichokes-- all of this growing right next to a public housing project. residents who volunteer get to pick and keep their own food. >> let me show you how to pick 'em. look how beautiful it is. you want to put it inside? >> yeah. >> good job. >> kids play an important role on this farm. 9-year-old ristian and his 10-year-old buddy dejean were showing me the organic cabbages and greens they planted. >> these are called--i forgot what they're called. >> collard greens. >> yeah. [both giggling] and we have lettuce growing right here. [indistinct] almost done. it's like something you could come up here and do instead of being bored out there. >> erin williams has been involved in alemany farm for about 2 years. this is your

land! >> this is my land. but it's everybody's land. and i just love the fact that we @an have honey and beehives that we extract from. >> [indistinct] oh my gosh they're right behind us. >> they're right behind us. >> what is this we're lking at? >> so, these are boxes of the honey that we keep. and they actually have a layer of, kind of like-- >> like a tray? >> like a tray that collects the honey on top of the tray. >> growing and looking after so many crops takes an army of volunteers. and many of them have had little or no farming experience. but they often see once they get their hands in the soil, well, they're hooked. >> if you can't bring the people to the land, well, you gotta bring the land to the people. and that's what we're doing here. we've got this beautiful property. anwe're taking advantage of it. >> jason marks, who graduated from a farming program at u.c.- santa cruz, has been one of the farm managers for several years. he says this project symbolizes urban farming in america. and it's a great way for people--

regardless of their income-- to grow organic, healthy food. >> this is urban farming. yeah, this is how we do it. and again, you know, we're growing about 3 tons of food--about 6,000 pounds of food--a year, which could sustain several dozen families. and again it's not like we're producing--we're proud of the amount of food that we produce. but mostly its about showing people how much they can grow in their gwn backyard. >> and i noticed one of my plants had mold this morning. we transplanted it just in time. >> it's a lot of work. and they way that we're able to do it is because we've gct s many volunteers like you saw just planting the trees. this is really popular. every weekend we've got literally dozens of people who come out here and volunteer. and so, that's how we run this garden is through volunteer labor. >> yeah. yeah. i like this farm so much since all these fruits and vegetables growing here. >> you know, there's a victory gardens history in san francisco when people were growing-- i heard up to 40% of the city's food was grown within the city

limits. and i feel like that's totally realistic. >> we're starting trails of new agriculture of new things. we have peach trees. >> my mother-in-law always says she wants green beans and things like that. i'm like, "don't go to the store! i'll bring you some." you know it's right in the garden. she loves the organic beans as opposed to her beans. so, you know, everybody's just getting healthy around here. we need this in our community. >> if you know what nature is, you can survive through nature. >> the u.s. department of agriculture says there are thousands of community farms and gardens throughout the country. >> being a small little market garden, it's not as if we!re growing a toof food. but we are showing people in urban places like san francio how they can be their own food producers. >> this was just like perfect for me. so, it was just a garden. we can grow it ourselves. and we can eat it. and it's fresh. it's organic. so, absolutely, this really has been, you know, it's been wonderful. >> in san francisco, charlotte fadipe for "california country

tv." >> ah, flowers. whatever the reason, whatever the season, flowers are big business in california. surveys show the golden state sells about 500 million stems of flowers in a given year. but it takes much more than slipping a bloom into a vase to get a fresh bouquet to you. don garabaldi's family has been growing acres and acres of flowers for 106 years. pescadero is a sleepy seaside town not far from the city. the area has a mild climate and rich earth, the perfect setting to produce vibrant flowers. a rainbow of blooms are pied here on the hour, every hour, 6 days a week. >> we love it when we first work the soil with the equipment. you turn the ground over. it's got a nice, fresh smell to it. and you work in the soil, leveling it

off, making rows so you can plant your qeeds. and then 90 ys to 120 days down the road, you see the flowers come up, and your production, and we get a tremendous satisfaction out of that. >> yellow yarrow, delphinia, larkspur, stock, and dianthus pepper the landscape, and eventually make their way to bouquets around the world. >> once in a while i have tours here. we walk them through everything from bare ground to seed to the production growing to all the equipment that we use. and they're kind of amazed what it takes to grow all this stuff. it's a lot of countless hours and a lot of work. it's a lot of hard work. >> a day in the life of a flower arrangement means going from the farm to the mart to the florist, a process that starts around midnight. >> and there's a lot of space

out there. the streets are quiet. and in here there's just a lot of movement--the flowers and different things and deliveries. having a cup of coffee, talking about what they want for the next market day. and that's--that's what it's all about. >> hundreds of vendors supply the san francisco flower mart with flowers in every make, model, shape, and size. but this place had much simpler beginnings. in the late 1800s, local flower growers pould pedal their goods at lotta's fountain where market, geary, and kearny streets converge in downtown san francisco. today local growers continue to supply the mart with bushels of bouquets, providing the first crucial step in a day in the life of how flowers get to you. >> people that i know, most of them don't even know that the flower market exists. and if they do, they have no idea that it goes on in the middle of the night. >> and i think that anybody that comes here and sees what goes on in the early mornings, they can see the spirit and how everybody really enjoys it. just look at all these beautiful

flowers. this is the larst flower market in the world. it's got every variety possible. and if you can't find it here, it's not available or it's not in season. you're helping your dad today, huh? >> a little bit. >> yeah, that's good. don't forget to go and have a piece of cake over there. >> what's the celebration? >> anniversary, 48 yearsyeah. >> congratulations! >> i started out going to the flower market at 12 years old. i'm giving my age away, but--ha ha ha! it's been a lot of fun through the years, hasn't it? >> yeah, it sure has. we've been in this market a long time. >> a long timd. we've done a lot of nice things. >> and we've caused a little commotion >> a little trouble we've gotten in, with both the tenants and the customers... >> and the customers. >> and the wives. >> oh, yeah, the wives. >> we won't--ha ha ha! you know, actually at one time, back many years ago, they used topen up at 6:00, and then they changed it to 7:00. and now it opens

when you get there. heh! we actually get there sometimes at midnight, 11:30, and customers will be waiting 'cause they want to get their flowers. and they maybe come from a long distance, so they want to get them, and they want t beat the traffic. >> on@e at the shop, the flowers are pampered and processed abd placed in a vase. it's been a mere 10 hours since this larkspur left the farm in pescadero. it n@w heads out the door to brighten someone's day. california-grown goodness at its best. i'm dennis newhall for "california country." >> that concludes today's tour of the best of "california country." join us next time for more undiscovered treasures from the most fascinating state in the country. [captioning made possible by california farm bureau

federation] [captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--]

>> feel like it really is a community. they are not the same thing, but it really does feel like there's that kind of a five. everybody is there to enjoy a literary reading. >> the best lit in san francisco. friendly, free, and you might get fed. ♪ [applause] >> this san francisco ryther created the radar reading series in 2003. she was inspired when she first moved to this city in the early 1990's and discover the wild

west atmosphere of open mi it's ic in the mission. >> although there were these open mics every night of the week, they were super macho. people writing poems about being jerks. beatty their chest onstage. >> she was energized by the scene and proved up with other girls who wanted their voices to be heard. touring the country and sharing gen-x 7 as a. her mainstream reputation grew with her novel. theses san francisco public library took notice and asked her if she would begin carrying a monthly reading series based on her community. >> a lot of the raiders that i work with our like underground writers.

they're just coming at publishing and at being a writer from this underground way. coming in to the library is awesome. very good for the library to show this writing community that they are welcome. at first, people were like, you want me to read at the library, really? things like that. >> as a documentary, there are interviews -- [inaudible] >> radar readings are focused on clear culture. strayed all others might write about gay authors. gay authors might write about universal experiences. the host creates a welcoming environment for everybody. there is no cultural barrier to entry. >> the demographic of people who

come will match the demographic of the reader. it is very simple. if we want more people of color, you book more people of color. you want more women, your book more women. kind of like that. it gets mixed up a little bit. in general, we kind of have a core group of people who come every month. their ages and very. we definitely have some folks who are straight. >> the loyal audience has allowed michelle to take more chances with the monthly lineup. established authors bring in an older audience. younker authors bring in their friends from the community who might be bringing in an older author. >> raider has provided a stage for more than 400 writers.

it ranges from fiction to academics stories to academic stories this service the underground of queer fell, history, or culture. >> and there are so many different literary circles in san francisco. i have been programming this reading series for nine years. and i still have a huge list on my computer of people i need to carry into this. >> the supportive audience has allowed michele to try new experiment this year, the radar book club. a deep explorationer of a single work. after the talk, she bounces on stage to jump-start the q&a. less charlie rose and more carson daly. >> san francisco is consistently ranked as one of the most

literate cities in the united states. multiple reading events are happening every night of the year, competing against a big names like city arts and lectures. radar was voted the winner of these san francisco contest. after two decades of working for free, michelle is able to make radar her full-time job. >> i am a right to myself, but i feel like my work in this world is eagerly to bring writers together and to produce literary events. if i was only doing my own work, i would not be happy. it is, like throwing a party or a dinner party. i can match that person with that person. it is really fun for me. it is nerve wracking during the actual readings. i hope everyone is good. i hope the audience likes them. i hope everybody shows up. but everything works out. at the end of the reading,

everyone is happy. ♪ >> you probably think you know all about the exploratorium. but have you ever been after dark? did you know there was a monthly party called after dark? science mixes with culture and adults mix with other adults. no kids allowed. every week there is a different theme. to tell us about the themes is melissa alexander. tell us about some of the previous themes we have had. >> we have had sex ploration, sugar, red, blue.

many things. >> what is the theme tonight? >> rock, paper, scissors. we are having a tournament tonight, but we have also used as a jumping off point to explore lots of different ideas. you can find out about rock, paper, scissors as a game as a reproductive strategy. you can interact with a piece of art created by lucky dragon. you can get your hair cut from a cool place called the public barber's salon. they use scissors only. you can find out about local geology, too. >> that sounds like fun. let's check it out. >> this is the most common rock on the surface of the earth. interesting thing is, most of this rock is covered over by the ocean. >> error congested a cool presentation on plate tectonics.

tell us about what we just saw. >> we wrapped up a section of a lesson on a plate tectonics, here at the exploratory and -- exploritorium. >> are you excited to see people here having fun and learning about science? >> the people that come here are some selected to begin with, they actually enjoy science. i teach teachers to have fun with their kids. the general public is a great audience, too. they're interested in science. >> we have a blast every time. they have different names. >> they have a bar and a cafe. everything i need. we are excited for the speaker. >> it is nice to be in the exploratorium when there are not

a lot of kids around. >> before tonight, i never knew there were major league rules to rock, paper, scissors. i am getting ready to enter into a competition. sarah's here to give me some tips. what do i need to do to win it? >> this is a game of chance, to a degree. one of the best ways to bring it home is a degree of intimidation, maybe some eye contact, maybe some muscle. it is a no contact sport. sheer i contact is a good way to maybe intimidate to see if you can set them off, see if they throw something they did not mean to. >> i am going to see what happens. >> i got kicked out in the first round. [applause] >> given up for sunni.

the rock, paper, scissors champion. >> what are you going to do now? >> i have been having so much fun. i got my tattoo. before we go, i want to thank melissa alexander for having us here tonight. how did you know san francisco needed a night like tonight? >> thank you for coming. everybody loves the exploratorium. we are reluctant to push the kids out of the way in the day, so i knew we needed to create one evening a month just for the rest of us to have a good time, the adults. >> absolutely. where can we find out what is coming up after dark? >> that is easy, exploratorium .edu/afterdark. >> thank you. thanks for watching>> when stepr

died, he was working on one of the biggest shows of his career, matter and spirit. it is a retrospective look at the many faces and faces of the life of an innovative artist from the california clay movement. stephen de staebler's developed in an area dominated by abstract expression. even his peers saw his form. >> he was able to find a middle ground in which he balanced the ideas of human figuration and representation with abstraction and found it even more meaningful to negotiate that duality. >> another challenge was to create art from a meeting that

was typically viewed as kraft material. his transforming moment was an accident in the studio. an oversized vertical sculpture began to collapse under its own weight and spread onto the floor. he sought a new tradition before him, landscape sculpture. >> you feel this extended human form underneath the surface of the earth struggling to emerge. eventually, it does. it articulates his idea that the earth is like flesh, and the archaeology and geology in the earth are like the bones, the structure of the earth. this tied in with his idea of mother earth, with the sense that we are all tied to nature and the earth. >> a half dozen bay area museums and private collectors loan the massive sculptures to the museum for its matter and spirit retrospective. but the most unusual

contributions came from stephen himself. a wall of autobiographical masks and hence from the early decades of his private study. >> he had one of the most beautiful studios i have ever been in. when you walk in, your first impression is of these monumental figures that you see in the exhibition, but if you went into the back corner of his studio, there was a series of shells with these diminutive figures. he told me, these are the heart of my studio. these little, and held intimate study is that he referred to as his sketchbook. a painter might make drawings. stephen de staebler made miniature sculptures. >> during the 1970's, he was inspired by the monuments of egypt. he assembled a large rocks of clay into figures that resembled the ancient kings and queens. he credited a weathered appearance by rubbing glazes'

into the clay while still wet. the misfires from his killed were brought in his backyard in his berkeley home. he called it his boneyard. in the last year of his life, he dug up the artifacts from his own history, and the bones were rearranged, in the were slimmer figures with wings. >> even if you knew nothing about his life or career, you sensed there was an artist dealing with this fundamental issue of life and death, the cake, netting back together, and you feel there is an attempt to deal with mortality and immortality. there is a seeking of spiritual meaning in an existential stage. >> during his 50-year career, stephen de staebler worked to form and out of the clay of the ground and give it a breath of life. matter and spirit gathers the many expressions of his meditations. and gives the viewer and insight into the artist's life.

learn more about the retrospective on line at >> i think a lot of times we look a community and we say, there is this one and this one, and we all have our own agenda, when our agenda is to create great work. if you're interested in that, you are part of our community. >> it is a pleasure to have you here tonight. >> we are trying to figure out a way to create a space where theater and presentation of live work is something that you think of, the same way that you think of going to the movies. of course, it has been complex in terms of economics, as it is for everyone. artistically, we have done over 35 projects in four seasons from

presenting dance, producing theater, presenting music, having a full scale education program, and having more than 50,000 visitors in the building almost every year. a lot of our emerging artists generate their first projects here, which is great. then we continue to try to support figuring out where those works can go. we have been blessed to have that were produced in new york, go unto festivals, go on to the warsaw theater festival. to me, those are great things, when you see artists who think there is no or else of someone being interested in me being a woman of color telling her story and getting excited about it. that is our biggest accomplishment. artists becoming better artists. what is great about surely coming back to brava, we have

this established, amazing writer who has won a slew of awards and now she gets an opportunity to direct her work. even though she is an amazing, established writer, the truth is, she is also being nurtured as a director, being given space to create. >> and the play is described as ceremony and theater meet. in the indigenous tradition, when you turn 52, it is that the completion of an epic. the purpose of this ceremony is to celebrate. whenever you have been caring for the first 52 years, it is time to let it go. they have given me carte blanche to do this. it is nice for me in the sense of coming back 25 years later,

and seeing my own evolution as an artist and a thinker. the whole effort even to put the indigenous woman's experience center stage is very radical. because of the state of fear, it is a hard road to hold up an institution. it really is a hard road. i am looking at where we're 25 years later in the bay area and looking at how hard it is for us to struggle, to keep our theaters going. i would like to think that i am not struggling quite as hard personally. what i mean by that is that in tension, that commitment. what i see is that we're here to really produce works of not be produced in other places, and

also to really nurture and women of color artists. i think that that is something that has not shifted for me in 25 years, and it is good to see that brava is still committed to that kind of work. you know? ♪ >> happy birthday to you happy birthday to you ♪ >> windy will talk about the reflection of the community, we can only go with what we have on our staff. south asian managing director. african-american artistic director. latino outreach person. to us, aside from the staff, aside from the artists that we work with him being a reflection of oz, yes, the community is changing, but brava has always tried to be ahead of that, just that sense of a trend. i tried to make about the work that shows the eclecticis