On September 26^th, the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program will host “A to Zucchini,” the 7^th annual organic dinner on the farm supporting the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program. Chef Andrea Mollenauer of Lifestyle Culinary Arts will delight guests with a sumptuous, multi-course meal, highlighting fresh, local flavors from “A to Zucchini” in a picturesque setting – the very fields where the produce is grown. Paired with fine local wines, live music and an auction, this dinner will delight.

Watsonville, CA, July 28, 2015 – On September 26^th, 2015 “A to Zucchini,” the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program’s 7^th annual farm dinner, will feature local chefs, farmers, artisans and winemakers celebrating the dazzling abundance of fruit and vegetable crops grown in the Pajaro Valley. The afternoon will begin with live music accompanying freshly prepared appetizers, a salsa dancing performance and silent auction. After the multi-course wine pairing dinner, the event will culminate with a campfire and dessert overlooking the Pajaro Valley.

This farm feast is the major annual fundraiser for Live Earth Farm Discovery Program’s on-farm education programs and field trips for local youth. Each year, over 2,000 students visit Live Earth Farm to learn about food, farming, and the environment. The programs are multi-sensory and hands-on, allowing youth to harvest and taste farm fresh foods – from apple to zucchini – while learning about organic agriculture, nutrition, ecology, and grade-level science concepts.

Local teacher Deborah Wine of Calabasas Elementary reflected on her 1^st grade students’ recent field trip to Live Earth Farm as “an amazing and beautiful opportunity for kids to connect with where their food comes from, each other, their farmers, and have fun too – at a place where they would never normally go.” Through LEFDP’s programs local, underserved youth are engaged and inspired to be informed stewards of their own health, their community and their environment. Live Earth Farm Discovery Program aims to raise $40,000 through “A to Zucchini,” the September 26^th fall fundraising event, to support farm visits, transportation costs and garden supplies for the over 2,000 students who will visit Live Earth Farm during the 2015-16 school year.

To purchase tickets or for sponsorship and volunteer opportunities please visit:

http://liveearthfarm.net/atozucchini/

Our Auction is awesome and raises $7,500 because of all of the great items donated by our community. If you make jewelry, canned goods or bath products, your craft can raise money for farm-based nutrition and environmental education. Can’t think of a talent of your own to share? You can take a letter to any business that you frequent and ask them to support LEFDP. Just visit our blog for a letter to print.

Auction Ask Letter pdf to download and print

Hello Friends,
Please Join us on September 20th from 4-8 pm
at Live Earth Farm
for a farm fresh feast in the fields in support of farm-based nutrition and environmental education from A to Zucchini

We look forward to celebrating with you the 2000 students who are learning to be stewards of the environment and our community health at Live Earth Farm in 2015 and the one’s whose lives we will touch in 2016.

Let’s share a delicious five course farm fresh meal, paired with lovely local wines, overlooking the Pajaro Valley. Live music, a silent and live auction, and a fun photo booth will all be topped off by a campfire to end the evening.

All our best,
The LEFDP Team

Our spring tour season is coming to an end this week. We had the privilege of serving over 25 different groups, classes, and schools. Some students visited for a few hours and others stayed for a few days. We never know what kind of long term or life changing impact the farm visit will have on visitors, but we know they all had fun and learned something about where their food comes from and how their food choices impact their personal, community, and environmental health.

We hosted over 150 students from H.A. Hyde and Calabasas Elementary Schools this spring. These Pajaro Valley kids were able to explore the farm because of the generous donations of our supporters. Thank you for making it possible to for them to hold a chicken for the first time, pull a carrot out of the ground, and eat fresh picked peas from the garden. These experiences connect them in a real way to the soil and to their food. Their wide eyes and big smiles show us that they will have fond memories of the day they visited Live Earth Farm.

Conquering nature deficit disorder and knowing where their food comes from are just two of the accomplishments this summer’s cohort of Live Earth Farm Discovery campers will be bragging about when they head back to school this fall. The farm-based day camps offer local kids the opportunity to play and work in the fields and animal pens of a working organic farm that is also host to diverse native habitats.

Watsonville, CA, April 14, 2015 – In the summer of 2015 the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program will host five weeks of summer day camps at Live Earth Farm in Watsonville. Thanks to a host of generous contributors LEFDP is offering 30 scholarships this summer making their nutrition, environmental, and community education experience available to a greater diversity of local kids.

The break down of camp offerings is as follows:

• June 15-19, Art on the Farm Camp – 9am-3pm – optional overnight on Thursday
• June 22-26, Farm to Table Camp – 9am-3pm – optional overnight on Thursday
• July 6-10, Sprouts Camp – 9am-noon – with OR without parent
• July 13-17, Art on the Farm Camp – 9am-3pm – optional overnight on Thursday
• July 27-31, Sprouts Camp – 9am-noon – with OR without parent

Sprouts Camp is for 3-6 year olds. All other camps are for 6-12 year olds. A Leaders in Training program for teens, ages 13+ runs for each of the 5 weeks of camp.

The LEFDP summer camps offer a unique opportunity to engage with the food that Live Earth Farm grows in an in-depth field to fork experience that lasts a whole week. LEFDP’s summer camps are limited to 25 kids in order to create an intimate experience for campers. During the week staff and LIT’s strive to develop a compassionate community of young farmers, artists, foodies, naturalists, and environmentalists. Early Bird prices last until April 17, 2015.

June 1^st Love Monday at Discretion Brewing to Benefit LEFDP Farm-Based Education for Health: Families, Environment, Community, Economy

The June 1^st Love Monday at Discretion Brewing will support farm camp scholarships for local kids the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program. 20% of the day’s beer sales will support LEFDP’s environmental and nutrition education programs for local youth.

Watsonville, CA, May 22, 2015 – The Live Earth Farm Discovery Program will be featured in the Discretion Brewing Love Monday program on June 1^st, 2015, 11:30am to 9pm. The weekly event supports local, non-profit organizations by donating 20% of beer sales for the day to the featured program. Funds raised at the event will help LEFDP provide ongoing opportunities for youth to visit Live Earth Farm to learn about organic farming, local food systems, and nutrition.

Through LEFDP’s programs local, under served youth build confidence in learning to be active caretakers of themselves, their community and their environment.

Discretion Brewing is a family-owned company dedicated to producing handcrafted organic beer of consistent high quality. They are known for quality and elegance in both their products and their presence in the community. The taproom is open every day from 11:30am to 9pm and serves food from Main Street Garden & Café designed to be shared and paired with the beers. The brewery and taproom are located at 2703 41^st Avenue in Soquel.

See their post about this event here.

Community members have until May 31st to vote for Live Earth Farm Discovery Program to receive funding for on-farm environmental education programs for local youth.

Watsonville, CA, May 20, 2015 – The Live Earth Farm Discovery Program is a finalist to receive funds through New Leaf Community Markets’ reusable grocery bag incentive program that supports local environmental non-profit organizations. Community members can vote online at www.newleaf.com/community/envirotokens/ through May 31st.  If selected, shoppers at New Leaf’s Westside, Downtown, and Capitola store locations will have the option to donate their reusable bag credit to Live Earth Farm Discovery Program. Funds raised through the Envirotoken program will help LEFDP provide hands-on environmental education opportunities for local youth at Live Earth Farm, an organic family farm in Watsonville.

LEFDP reaches out to local youth and families, with an emphasis on underserved students, to provide experiential learning opportunities throughout the school year and during the summer. Participants learn about organic farming, local food systems, ecology, and nutrition. They leave the farm informed and inspired to be better stewards of the environment and their own health.

Whenever you reuse a grocery bag at New Leaf, you receive a 10¢ Envirotoken to donate to the non-profit of your choice. At the request of longtime customer, Ron Goodman, New Leaf started the Envirotoken program in 1993 with a twofold goal: to support local nonprofits working for the environment and conserve resources by encouraging recycling. Every May, at every New Leaf store, customers have the opportunity to vote for Envirotoken recipients for the coming year. These nonprofits are supported by our customers throughout the year and each time you use a reusable grocery bag. Giving back to the community, each time you shop.

New Leaf caters to their core with lots of organics. Back in the early 80s, New Leaf founder, Scott Roseman, upgraded a funky co-op to a well-run, community market—offering the Westside of Santa Cruz (and beyond) the healthiest food around. Today, they are seven markets and growing, and as the first B-Corp grocer in California, they continue to raise the bar for food stores everywhere.

Are you …

• employed by a philanthropic tech company?
• a member of a local service club?
• an employee of a bank with a charitable giving program?
• connected to a corporate or family foundation?
• on staff at a company with a matching gifts program?
• affiliated with a B-corporation?

If you are, you could help Live Earth Farm Discovery Program!

Our new Development Coordinator is pursuing grants to support our on-farm education programs for children and families. There are many funding opportunities that require employee or member support.

Please help us pursue funding for farm field trips, summer camp scholarships, transportation to the farm for underserved participants, and more, by lending your support to a grant request. It’s easy!

Contact Brooke at development@liveearthfarm.net if you are connected to one of these organizations, or another corporate or family foundation or charitable giving program. Thank you for your support!

Strawberry Sauce

photo credit: Eat Live Run

There is no better time to get sweet strawberries than right now. We are coming into peak season for this delicious fruit. When I’m not eating them fresh, I’ve been making strawberry sauce. It is so simple and so versatile. I’ve been adding it to my oatmeal, smoothies, yogurt, ice cream, pancakes, and so much more.

Ingredients:
strawberries
sugar
lemon juice
vanilla (optional)

photo credit: Eat Live Run

I used about 10-12 pounds of strawberries (an entire flat) when I made this sauce. Start by washing the berries and taking off the stem. Add them to a large pot on the stove. Add some sugar, this will depend on the sweetness of the berries. Right now they are at their peak,so I only added ¾ cup for about 10-12 pounds of berries. I also added the juice of 1 lemon to help balance out the sweetness. Feel free to add some vanilla extract, or even better, a vanilla bean. Cook over medium low heat and use a fork or a potatoe masher to help break up the berries. Let the berries cook down for about 30-45 minutes or until it starts to thicken. It’s as simple as that. You can store the sauce in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week, or put it in freezer bags and store it for months. The 10 pounds of berries I used turned into a little over 2 quarts of sauce.

Enjoy!

Check out this Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes recipe from Eat Live Run, for something to smother your strawberry sauce with.