UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology

The Center for Agroecology manages the UCSC Farm and Alan Chadwick Garden on the UC Santa Cruz campus, both internationally known sites for training and research in organic horticulture and agriculture. These sites are both open to the public from 8am to 6pm daily, with no admission fees. The crops grown at the farm and garden support our programming and feed students in need. Please do not harvest anything while you visit. Visit our Contact Uspage for directions and parking information. The Center also manages the historic Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, a campus and public meeting and event space, and the Cowell Coffee Shop, a non-transactional cafe for students. Additionally, a new land acquisition opportunity could add 214 acres of organic coastal farmland to the Center’s facilities. 214 acres of organic coastal farmland UC Santa Cruz and The Conservation Fund are collaborating to purchase and preserve more than 400 acres of land, including 214 acres of coastal farmland to be managed by the Center for Agroecology. The property, adjacent to UCSC’s Coastal Science Campus and Younger Lagoon, would significantly expand the university’s work on sustainable coastal agriculture and provide an innovative example of sustainable organic farming practices on the Central Coast. Located on upper campus near Merrill College, the Alan Chadwick Garden is often described as “magical.” Since the Garden’s establishment in 1967, apprentices, staff, and students have transformed it from marginal land into a productive model of small-scale agriculture and horticulture. They rely primarily on Garden founder Alan Chadwick’s “French-intensive/biodynamic” method, based on close spacing of plants in raised beds, maximum soil aeration and drainage, and careful use of organic fertilizers. Today, the 3-acre, certified organic Chadwick Garden exhibits a diverse collection, including ornamentals, annual and perennial food crops, an extensive planting of fruit trees (including more than 120 apple varieties), and native California species. Founded in 1971, the 30-acre, certified organic farm includes handworked gardens of annual and perennial food, medicinal, and ornamental crops, mechanically cultivated row crops, orchards, and research plots. Students, staff, and researchers use both the farm and Chadwick Garden as research and teaching sites. The Center’s offices, the agroecology laboratory, greenhouses and hoop houses, and an ecological aquaculture greenhouse are among the facilities located at the farm. Also on the farm are the offices of Life Lab, a non-profit organization that develops garden-based science and nutrition curricula and educational programming for students from pre-K through high school, and the Garden Classroom they manage. The youth empowerment and food justice program“Food, What?!”also has its headquarters at the UCSC Farm. The historic Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, originally built in the early 1860s as part of the Cowell Lime Works operation, opened in 2016 after a complete reconstruction effort. Located near the UCSC campus entrance at the edge of the UCSC Farm, the Hay Barn provides office space for Center for Agroecology staff and a reception area with interpretive displays and free educational materials, an entrance to the Farm, and campus and public meeting and event space. A generous gift from the Helen and Will Webster Foundation funded the initial reconstruction project. Visit the Hay Barn websiteto learn more about this historic building and to inquire about renting the space for your special event. Cowell Coffee Shop: For the Peoples The Cowell Coffee Shop: For the Peoples is a non-transactional cafe located in Cowell College at UC Santa Cruz. The cafe offers free food and beverages to students as part of UCSC Basic Needs programming. Many of the prepared meals available at the Cowell Coffee Shop feature produce grown at the UCSC Farm and Chadwick Garden. Cafe offerings are need-based and prioritize students without a meal plan.