Building REsources

According to the website, this is "San Francisco's only source for reusable, recycled and remanufactured building and landscape materials. We are a mix of old-fashioned junkyard, building materials store, remanfacturing facility and education center."



I came looking for some anti-gopher gardening ideas. I don't have gophers in my backyard garden (knock on wood), but they're pretty bad at my community garden plot.

Let's take a look around.



Old door gates make obvious candidates for trellises. You'd want to get a really nice one tho'. I think the one in front could qualify for some gardens.



And all this glass makes me want to build a greenhouse.



San Francisco still has lots of old buildings with old windows and old window frames. No surprise they would turn up here.



Do you know what these are?



These are the counterweights in old windows. They hold the window open when you lift it up.

Every old San Francisco residence has a mantle piece like this...



And this kind of plaster ceiling moulding for a light fixture.



Terra cotta sewer pipes. I've seen these used in a garden before--upright, in a line, at the back of a border and filled with succulents. I wonder if really long ones could be used to make interesting columns and focal points.



California used to have many terracotta manufacturers (now I understand there is just one) and some of downtown San Francisco's most beautiful old buildings have terracotta fronts or trimming that survived the 1906 earthquake.

All the sinks and bathtubs your garden could ever want...





They certainly do have lots of boards, and I like this washed-out white. That would give any wooden container a classic look.



What could you do with marble countertop in a garden?



Or the letter S?



Stoplight covers?



I recently started watching Project Runway--love it--and I'm thinking about the first challenge in the first season, where they take everyone to a grocery store, give them a small amount of money, and tell them to make an evening gown out of whatever they can find. Austen Scarlett chose corn husks. Even if I had a fabulous idea, I am not terribly handy. I'm more of a ready-wear kind of guy.

Put some hardware cloth under these and you have cool planters for herbs and trailers.



Something like this wouldn't fly in my home garden, but in a funky San Francisco community garden...could be perfect.


I was specifically looking for remnant lumber of some kind that I could build boxes or crates with, and sink in the ground to grow potatoes in.



What about a kitchen cabinet? Just take the doors off and voila.



Glass. To tumble and make mosaics with.





Or perhaps mulch.



Little points of interest.



The ultimate in kitschy garden ready-wear.



Stick some poppies or zinnias in here and voila.

"City Scapes and Public Places"

That's the name of the San Francisco City Guides walking tour I took today.

"City Guides got [their] start more than 25 years ago when a San Francisco mayor asked the city librarian to find volunteers to give tours in City Hall."

Today, City Guides offers walking dozens of different walking tours all over San Francisco "focus[ing] on the architecture, history, legends, and lore".

The best part? All tours are free. (Donations accepted.)

That's pretty cool because tourism in San Francisco is not cheap. Tickets for comparable commercial tours would easily start at $30.

Today, we're going to "discover hidden parks, rooftop gardens, and other delights while experiencing some of the colorful history and distinctive old architecture of San Francisco's financial district."

And why not. San Francisco's getting all tricked out for the holidays.





The roof garden at Montgomery and Market. I've always wondered how to get up here. The entrance is through the Galleria next door.







Coleonema album, Rutaceae. I like this plant. The foliage has a spicy fragrance.



You can get a good view of the Palace Hotel from up here--formerly the Palace Sheraton. I'm going to take the City Guides tour of that too.



And you can see this building...



which is built entirely around this smaller building...



and I've never noticed that before although I've walked right past it hundreds of times.

Moving on...



I didn't know Evel Knievel died today when I took these pictures of motorcycles.







The address is One Sansome Street.



(The tree is actually crooked, not the photographer.)



And this is Star Girl.





I was too busy taking pictures to pay attention to the historical narrative, or even to pay attention to where we were exactly. The guide took us into dozens of public buildings I never imagined entering by myself. I took a lot of pictures, including stuff that had nothing to do with the tour.



San Francisco has amazing old banks with incredible features and flourishes. Unfortunately, they don't want you taking pictures.



And many of the pictures I took anyway were too blurry to use. Heh, heh. But this one's okay.



The tour was full of interesting nuggets. Seriously. This is a "money museum" in the basement of an old bank.



And these are some relics from a pre-1906 apothecary shop found during a building excavation some years ago.





More roof garden action.



Every once in awhile you catch a little glimpse of the bay between the buildings.



And I learned these statues (which I like, but which many consider tacky) are made out of styrofoam so that if they fall, hopefully noone will die.





This is the Bank of America building.



You might know the Transamerica Pyramid...



But did you know there's a garden of redwood trees next to it?



With a fountain.









And I like plantings like this, with the redacted hardscape.



This was the last stop on the tour, but I'll end with this short clip of a mesmerizing fountain in one of the buildings we buzzed through.