Nature in the City

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Nature in the City

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Our program areas are public education, community stewardship, conservation advocacy, ecological restoration and collaboration.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/natureinthecity.sf
Our website www.natureinthecity.org has upcoming events & volunteer opportunities, info about the nature in your own backyard, and links to local environmental organizations in your neighborhood. Our current community engagement projects include:
- The Green Hairstreak Corridor
- Nature in the City TREKS
- Nature in the City TALKS
- Backyard Native Plant Nursery Network
- and more! View more of our projects & programs at www.natureinthecity.org/projects.php.

10/31/2026

This week we are highlighting one of our favorite native plants: Deerweed!

Deerweed (Acmispon glaber) thrives in sandy soils and can commonly be found in coastal sage and chaparral. Deerweed is in the pea family (Fabaceae) and a powerful nitrogen-fixier, restoring soil health after wildfires. It blooms from spring to early summer, producing small yellow flowers that turn orange-red as they age. These blooms provide essential nectar for native pollinators. While the consumption by deer gives Deerweed its name, the larva of the Green hair Streak Butterfly are also known to graze on its foliage making Deerweed one of two host plants for the Green Hairstreak Butterfly.

We are currently propagating Deerweed in our native plant nursery to be planted in the Green hairstreak corridor so this little green butterfly can thrive in this little green city!

10/23/2026

It's not just any nursery workday....ITS THE HARVEST FESTIVAL 🕸 🎃🌟

And our last workday of the year! Come celebrate with us this Saturday. Pigs, pizza, and plants guaranteed 🌱

10/16/2026

Huge shoutout to our amazing teachers!! We know how busy they are -- we're super grateful for them spending the time and energy to take students outdoors and engage with nature. Big thanks to all who came to our teacher meetup this week!

Nature in the City partners with four SFUSD schools as part of our Green Schoolyards Project: Bret Harte Elementary School, Visitacion Valley Middle School, Thurgood Marshal High School, and Phillip and Sala Burton High School

10/16/2026

Happy Walktober folks!

We were delighted to host a Walktober hike following sections of the crosstown and double cross trails as well as featuring our beloved habitat sites: Adah’s Stairway and the Green Hairstreak Corridor!

Our guide, the fantastic Helen Doyle, took us on a journey through time as we learned about the transformation of San Francisco's landscape as we traversed from Duboce Park, over Twin Peaks, and down the Tiled Steps.

We hope all who attended had an a great hike and learned all about our restoration efforts along the crosstown trail. We hope to see you at the next one!

To catch another Walktober event visit crosstown trail.org!

10/10/2026

We searched for reptiles and amphibians on our walk with Ayanna Browne of PhoreigNature at the Presidio.

We started in the upland dunes then walked to Mountain Lake, where we spotted the native Western Pond turtle as well as the introduced Red Eared Slider.

We got lucky running into a volunteer with the Presidio Trust who was looking for turtles with his scope. Thank you Zip L. for helping out!

Thanks also to Martin for the fun video of the Western Fence Lizard.
🤩

10/07/2026

Hi all, I'm Raffy! I am Nature in the City's new Climate Action Corps fellow along with Akani. I grew up volunteering in Nature in the City’s Green Hairstreak Corridor, and witnessed the change brought by NTC’s projects in real time. I spent six years on the east coast where I got to meet amazing new plants, animals, and people while studying Geography at the University of Vermont and spending time between Boston and Tena, Ecuador. Now I'm excited to be back in the Bay, living on and working with my native soil. Akani and I will be working at the McAteer Nursery, in Green Schoolyards, and at Green Hairstreak volunteer events.

10/07/2026

Hi my name is Akani!
Im so excited to join the Nature in the City team as an Urban Greening Specialist with the California Climate Action Corps! I am a passionate about habitat restoration, urban farming, and public engagement with the natural environment. I will be working with my co-fellow Raffy to help steward the Green Hairstreak Corridor and 4 Green Schoolyards around the city. I am from Albany CA and recently graduated from San Francisco State University's School of the Environment. Im happy to be part of this amazing team and effort in enhancing habitat here in San Francisco!

10/04/2026

Photos from our August walk "Mini Parks and Green Spaces of Russian Hill".

We started at Fort Mason and checked out a bunch of hidden parks and steps - see the captions in the photos!

09/30/2026

Saturday was such a sweet workday! Thank you to everyone who came out to the McAteer Campus Community Farm.

We harvested and processed yarrow seeds, ate delicious pizza made by chef Josh, and enjoyed the live music thanks to students from SOTA.

We are so grateful for this community! Come out to our October 24th workday to enjoy a special harvest festival workday.

09/29/2026

Today was our California Climate Action Corps fellow’s first day! We jumped right into transplanting, sorting, labeling, and inventorying plants at the native plant nursery, and we got stuck distinguishing between California fescue and purple needle grass seedlings (last pic) for an embarrassing amount of time (if you have favorite tips, please share!) Welcome Raffy and Akani, we are so grateful to get to work with y’all for the next year!! 🐛🌱🦋🐞🌟

Address

San Francisco, CA
94117

Telephone

+14155644107

Website

http://natureinthecity.org/

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