This spring Santa Barbara City College is literally breaking ground to grow food literacy along with tasty organic produce. Responding to increased demand for healthful locally sourced food, the college has designated an eighth-acre garden plot formally paved and occupied by disused portable classrooms. After de-paving and mulching the site to restore soil vitality, students from Environmental Horticulture 207 (Small Scale Food Production) will build, fill and maintain a series of raised-bed vegetable plots. Early crops will include organic salad greens like butterleaf lettuce and arugula along with cool-weather annuals such as kale and rainbow chard. As the weather warms over the spring, volunteers and staffers will layer in sun-loving heirloom tomatoes and peppers. The organic veggies and herbs will be hand harvested and used by SBCC’s acclaimed School of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management to feed students, staff and faculty. "Whatever you grow, we will make it taste good," says Charlie Fredricks, new head of the Culinary Arts program. Growing Solutions’ Don Hartley, along with SBCC grounds supervisor Mark Broomfield (a former EH student), will be supervising construction and maintenance. Stay tuned…more updates as we progress on this exciting new venture!
