Campus News
UC Santa Cruz Celebrates 30 Years Of Organic Farming And Gardening With Weekend Of Festivities October 3-5
SANTA CRUZ, CA–Thirty years ago, on a scrub-covered hillside of the young UC Santa Cruz campus, Alan Chadwick planted a revolution in gardening. The iconoclastic Englishman was a pioneer of organic, French-intensive gardening in northern California, and his influence has made its way from that steep hillside to farms around the world and to the […]
SANTA CRUZ, CA–Thirty years ago, on a scrub-covered hillside of the young UC Santa Cruz campus, Alan Chadwick planted a revolution in gardening. The iconoclastic Englishman was a pioneer of organic, French-intensive gardening in northern California, and his influence has made its way from that steep hillside to farms around the world and to the tables of the nation’s finest restaurants.
The training program Chadwick founded at UCSC has launched hundreds of students on careers in organic farming and gardening, environmental education, community development, the natural foods business, and international agricultural training programs.
UC Santa Cruz is celebrating Chadwick’s legacy with a three-day anniversary celebration October 3-5 featuring a special anniversary edition of the popular annual Harvest Festival, a symposium highlighting the activities of graduates of UCSC’s unique training program in organic farming and gardening, and an all-organic benefit dinner (see attached schedule of events for a full listing).
Chadwick was an advocate of gardening without synthetic chemicals or pesticides, and his techniques for producing abundance from limited space have been transported literally around the world by UCSC graduates. His emphasis on high-quality, organically produced food has been embraced by a generation of American cooks and has helped fuel the excitement over California cuisine.
The informal apprenticeship begun by Chadwick in 1967 gave rise to the UCSC Farm and Garden Apprenticeship and UCSC’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. More than 800 people have participated in the apprenticeship, a six-month residential training program for people interested in acquiring the skills and knowledge needed to grow crops with ecologically sound methods. Center staff and faculty conduct research on organic farming techniques and social issues in sustainable agriculture and are internationally known for their contributions to these fields.
Among those who will gather October 3-5 to honor Chadwick’s contributions and celebrate 30 years of UCSC’s apprenticeship program are farmers, educators, chefs, wholesale produce buyers, and former Peace Corps volunteers who have helped spread Chadwick’s vision. Among the former UCSC apprentices who will participate in an alumni symposium on Sunday, October 5, are Martha Boyd (1993) of The Food Project, a youth development program in Boston; Cathrine Sneed (1987) director of The Garden Project, a garden training program for prisoners in San Francisco; David Brodkey (1986), a teacher at Alianza Elementary School in Watsonville; Liza Buckner (1987) of St. Anthony’s Farm in Petaluma, a horticultural therapy program for people in rehabilitation; and Carl Elliot (1985), a Seattle-based urban gardening instructor and host of a radio talk show on gardening.
Schedule Of Events
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3 4:30-6:30 p.m. Reception for alumni and Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden, at Alan Chadwick Garden and Merrill Provost’s House, UCSC $10 8 p.m. Benefit dance concert Santa Cruz Veterans Memorial Building, 846 Front Street, Santa Cruz
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4 9-11 a.m. Legends from the Garden
Storytellers will share their favorite legends from the Alan Chadwick Garden and the UCSC Farm, and a memorial bench will be dedicated in memory of Page and Eloise Smith, early supporters of the garden and apprenticeship.
Alan Chadwick Garden, UCSC Admission is free. Tea and muffins will be served.
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Anniversary Edition of the Annual Harvest Festival
Featuring live Cajun dance music by Jr. Buclieu and the I-10s, hayrides, children’s events and crafts, food, tours, fresh-pressed apple juice, door prizes, sales of organic produce, and a special exhibition of apprentice alumni projects.
Gardening workshops will include "Zesty Cooking from the Garden" by Joe Schultz of India Joze; "Apple Varieties of Note" by Chadwick Garden manager Orin Martin; and "Natural Images–A Photography Workshop" by alumna Becky Lynch of Organic Matters.
Admission is $5 for adults; free to children under 12 and members of the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden
UCSC Farm
7 p.m. Benefit Organic Dinner
Some of Santa Cruz County’s best-known chefs will help make this fund-raising dinner a sumptuous feast; features local late-summer organic produce and organic wines. Dinner speakers include former apprentices Gary and Meg Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, and Cathrine Sneed of The Garden Project, a garden training program for prisoners and ex-inmates in San Francisco.
Portuguese Hall at Harvey West Park, Santa Cruz
Tickets are $40 for the general public; $25 for apprentice alumni and members of the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Growing Healthy Communities into the 21st Century
A symposium with alumni of the apprenticeship program, this event will feature panels of graduates discussing their work in the areas of education, community development, and farming.
UCSC Arboretum
$15 (includes a continental breakfast)