Garden Cruz: Organic Matters! 75 Hours of Organic Education

A new intensive organic gardening course will be offered at the UCSC Farm & Alan Chadwick Garden starting Wednesday, September 7. Designed to accommodate busy work-week schedules, this comprehensive course will take place on nine consecutive Saturdays and five Wednesday evenings, with the last class scheduled for Saturday, November 5. This is an ideal course for home gardeners, urban and community garden leaders, and school garden teachers seeking to learn new skills and enhance their gardening and homesteading knowledge.

Taught by staff and graduates of the CASFS Farm & Garden Apprenticeship, along with invited experts, the course combines lectures with hands-on instruction in the gardens, greenhouses, and orchards of the Chadwick Garden and UCSC Farm at UC Santa Cruz. Topics will range from compost preparation, soil analysis, bed preparation and planting, to sexual and asexual propagation, irrigation, pest and disease control, and fruit tree care, and will include workshops on individual crops, backyard chicken and duck raising, bee keeping, and more. Please see the attached flyer for a complete list of classes.

Cost of the 75-hour course is $1,200, with a $100 discount for Friends of the Farm & Garden members (memberships available at sign up). Register by August 10 to receive an additional $50 discount. Support for qualified UCSC undergraduates is available through UCSC’s Measure 43 funding. Class size is limited to ensure a high quality learning experience. A $300 deposit is required to hold your place in the class, with the balance due by August 24. To register or for more information, contact Amy Bolton at 831.459.3240 or by email.