Project Clearinghouse

Supporting year long food justice and science education development in Calabasas Elementary Community Garden

Sustainability Problem and Proposed Solution: 

Our project aims to alleviate food insecurity for the Calabasas community in Watsonville by providing families with a space to grow fresh organic food all year round. We also aim to increase water savings in Calabasas Elementary by upgrading our old irrigation system to a new one that would be more efficient.

Jump to: Contact | Project Description | Metrics for Success | Results
Project Categories: 
Food
Awareness, Education & Engagement
Social Justice
Water
Project Status: 
In Progress
Campus Organization: 
Colleges Nine and Ten
Affiliated Department, Unit or College: 
Colleges Nine and Ten, (H)ACER Program
Project Location: 
Off campus

Calabasas Community Garden


Stakeholder Contacts: 
Contact NameEmail AddressContact NumberDepartment
Michelle Hernandez
Mherna81@ucsc.edu
4086487828
Colleges Nine and Ten, (H)ACER Program
Linnea Beckett
lbeckett@ucsc.edu
Colleges Nine and Ten, (H)ACER Program
Flora Lu
floralu@ucsc.edu
Colleges Nine and Ten
Yolanda Perez
yolandaperez5031@gmail.com
Calabasas Community Garden
Erika Hernandez
eherna70@ucsc.edu
Colleges Nine and Ten, (H)ACER Program

Project Description: 

This year the ongoing UCSC and Calabasas Elementary School (CES) collaboration, which supports a one-acre Community Garden in CES, has been awarded a Carbon Fund grant to build a greenhouse in the Calabasas Community Garden and upgrade all irrigation in the school garden and the community garden, located side-by-side at CES. These efforts seek to provide families in the Community Garden access to a space to grow fresh organic food year-round and begin cultivating seedlings for their plots in the Garden before the season begins. The greenhouse can also serve as teaching space for agro-technology to be implemented in the CES science curricula and for community-based workshops and events. In addition, funds will be used to replace all current old irrigation in both gardens to a more efficient new irrigation system that will support water savings in the gardens!

Metrics for Success: 

To demonstrate success we will look into water expense for the school, before and after project is completed.

Results: 

Our project will be completed when the full irrigation system is installed and greenhouse is built.