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Welcome to the Test Plot log. Please check back for seasonal updates from our volunteers and stewards.

2023

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STARTING STARR KING
by Terremoto SF

UNDER THE EUCALYPTUS
by Victoria Bevington

WATCHING WEATHER
interview with Joey Farewell

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DEBS FIELD MOMENTS 
by Hannah Pae

IT’S RAINING OAKS 
by Joey Farewell

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OUR ELYSIAN SUPERBLOOM
by Jenny Jones

MAKING THE RAINBOW RIVER
by Dani Vonlehe, Jenny Jones, Dante Inguinez

VERTICAL MULCH UPDATE
by Nina Weithorn

DEBS FIELD NOTES
by Adrian Tenney

WHAT’S IN BLOOM AT BALDWIN
by Arely Media Perez

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ELEPHANT HILL RAINS
by Joey Farewell

VALENTINE’S DAY AT RIO
by Daniela Velazco

USC NEW PLANTS
by Nina Weithorn


2022

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FIELD DRAWINGS FROM SAN BRUNO MOUNTAIN
by Lian Mae Tualla, Tera Johnson

FIELD NOTES FROM RIO
by Daniela Velazco

STARTING THE USC CAMPUS PLOTS
by Alex Robinson

ELYSIAN AFTER 3 YEARS
Q&A with Jenny Jones

RIO AFTER 2 YEARS
Q&A with Jen Toy


2021

THE MAKING OF THE PLOT WITH THE VIEWS
by Daniela Velazco


MEET THE SUPER STEWARDS
All interviews by Daniela Velazco
+ Hannah Flynn

TANIA ROMERO

DANTE INIGUEZ + ANTHONY MARTIN

LUIS RINCON


PORTAL * INTERNAL USE
STARR KING
San Francisco TEST PLOT/ November 2023
TERREMOTO SF

The Starr King Test Plot sits on a serpentinite hilltop in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.  This site is part of an intermittant strip of serpentinite bedrock that stretches across the city to the northwest and ends in the Presidio (see purple blobs in the geologic map below. Starr King, a little patch of neighborhood open space, and meadows in the Presidio, are the only extant serpentine grasslands in the city. 

Terremoto plans to investigate various weeding and seeding methodologies that can be applied to the rest of Starr King and to Terremoto projects. We hope to grow some starts from archival seed from the site. And we’ll be figuring out how to water as little as possible since there is no great access nearby.

But first, we will get to know the site through regular observations for a WHOLE YEAR. During this time our only intervention will be passive restoration through the careful removal of certified grade A weeds.

We just met, but we’re looking forward to developing a deep relationship with this land. We’re hoping that by slowing, listening, looking and being with, we’ll develop an ability to hear what the site is telling us it needs. This slow, relational approach is borrowed wisdom from our friends at The Cultural Conservancy which we picked up on our visit to their Heron Shadow project. 

We’re also hoping to engage with local community through this TEST PLOT - Starr King regulars, volunteers from the Terremoto-verse, and new faces from the neighborhood. 


Follow our observations by clicking on the Starr King tab at the footer.