Events

Slice CSA Member Discount

We would like to extend a special invitation to Live Earth Farm CSA Members to attend Slice on September 14th for a discounted price.  For two weeks from July 30th to August 13th LEF CSA members will enjoy 10% off tickets to Slice.  In order to get your special price enter the discount code LEFCSA2013 or follow this link.  This discount is only available to the first 50 members to use it, so get yours while you can. To read more about the event that includes a farm fresh, multi-course, wine pairing dinner, live music, silent auction, student art, and a children’s program visit our blog post or the event web page.

Breathe in the farm fresh air while together, we build the future of healthy children, farms and communities.

UPDATE: Since the farm posted this opportunity in today’s newsletter, I have extended the promotion to end next Tuesday 9/3 instead of 8/13. Happy Labor Day folks!

The apple is a powerful symbol of learning, health, and of agricultural prosperity in the Pajaro Valley. On September 14^th, the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program invites you to celebrate our local farming traditions over dinner in our espaliered apple orchard. The funds raised at this event will support our education programs to instill pride in the Pajaro Valley’s agricultural heritage.

You can support healthy food systems and nutrition education in the Santa Cruz area by becoming a Sponsor, donating an auction item, or purchasing tickets to attend the event.  Please choose a sponsorship level using the Donate button on our event web page: http://liveearthfarm.net/slice-sponsorship/

In our fields and orchards, students like Esmeralda learn to farm and the value of that work. Help us supply such students with hands-on farming experiences this year.  Together we can make a difference for all the students we work with including under served youth living in the Monterey Bay Area.

On September 14th, 2013 the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program will host Slice, the 5th Annual Dinner on the Farm to support hands-on, farming programs for kids of all ages.  You can support the event by donating an auction item, becoming a sponsor, or purchasing tickets to attend the event.

Through LEFDP’s programs local under served youth learn to value sustainable agriculture. They actively participate in their own health as well as that of their food system, their community, and their environment.  This is why LEFDP aims to raise $5000 through the fall auction, to purchase and maintain tools and supplies.

The Auction is an area of support that anyone can participate in.  We welcome hand made items.  Knitters, quilters, and fiber artists of all kinds have contributed beautiful pieces in the past.  Amateur and professional jewelers’ pieces are always well loved.  Do you make jam, pickles or sauces at home? People will pay a pretty penny to give them a try. A second home, timeshare or weekend away will make any bidder put pen to paper.  Are you a masseuse or any kind of natural health practitioner? If you have season tickets to any of our Bay Area sports teams or a box at the theater or opera you could share with our guests. Wine club members could share their wine or ask their winery to participate in the event. Please get creative and find a way to raise funds for LEFDP programs through our Silent Auction on September 14th, 2013.

To donate an auction item: Fill out our online form or contact Dawne West at Dawne.West@liveearthfarm.net, 831.763.2446

Fine Wine, Organic Multi-Course Dinner, and Live Music in Live Earth Farm’s Espaliered Apple Orchard

2011 Small Plates Walking Tour

On September 14^th, the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program will host Slice, the 5^th annual organic dinner on the farm supporting the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program. Chef Jonathan Miller of Eat Right at Home will regale guests with fresh, local flavors from the very fields where the fare is served.  Paired with sumptuous local wines, and accompanied by live music and a silent auction, this dinner will delight. This is a local food and wine event not to be missed.

Dig!

Watsonville, CA, July 12, 2013 – On September 14^th, 2013 Slice, the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program’s 5^th annual farm dinner, will feature local chefs, farmers, artisans and winemakers celebrating the abundance grown in the Pajaro Valley.  Freshly prepared appetizers will be accompanied by live, acoustic music. After the multi-course wine pairing dinner, the event will culminate with student produced entertainment and dessert in the Espaliered Gala Apple Orchard. This year we are pleased to honor local farmers and producers maintaining the tradition of apple production in the Pajaro Valley.

Pajaro Valley Teens Weeding

Esmeralda is a student at Pajaro Valley High School who wants to go to college. For eight weeks this spring she has learned how to secure and hold a job, cook healthy meals, how to be a conscious consumer in our local and international food system, and how to grow food in LEFDP’s education fields. This summer she is back on the farm for her first job.

Through LEFDP’s programs local, under served youth build confidence in learning to be active caretakers of themselves, their community and their environment.  This is why the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program aims to raise $20,000 through Slice, the September 14^th fall fundraising event, to support farm visits, transportation costs, and garden supplies for the 1500 students who will visit Live Earth Farm in 2014.

Sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are available, as well as early bird ticket prices until July 19^th.
http://liveearthfarm.net/celebrations-events/events/

Dig! Silent Auction under the oaks

The Live Earth Farm Discovery Program (LEFDP) is a farm-based education not for profit organization in Watsonville, California.  LEFDP makes seed to mouth, farm to fork, and child to community connections through a variety of hands-on educational programs serving the youth of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and Monterey counties and beyond. A special emphasis is placed on reaching under served people in the Pajaro Valley to bolster individual, community and environmental health.

Saturday’s 18^th annual Solstice Celebration was alive with joy and excitement.  It was probably one of the best attended, judging by the circle of people that just kept growing and growing, winding in all directions around several pot-luck tables of delicious and carefully prepared food.

The weather was beautiful and everyone who attended, especially the children, brought the farm alive by exploring and participating in the many activities offered throughout the event.

Although I spent most of my time giving tractor rides, people were spread throughout the farm picking berries, face-painting, climbing around in the newly erected straw-bale fort, making pizzas in the cob oven, playing with the farm animals, going on self-guided tours to explore the native corridors around the fields, and as the sun set, children helped me light the bonfire and we danced to Kuzanga’s uplifting and lively marimba music.

I always cherish the Summer Solstice; it is a moment when I feel connected to our community, revitalized to embrace the rigors of summer. Many thanks to all who participated and helped make it another great celebration. – Tom

Join us Saturday, June 22nd from 2:00 PM till Dark

“From you I receive, to you I give, together we share, and so we live.” – Herbalist Song quoted from “The Apple Grower” by Michael Phillips.

You know the start of Summer is just around the corner when you open your shares this week and get a strong whiff of Basil. Things are really picking up, and I find myself with little time to write my piece for the newsletter this week. I can’t miss the opportunity, though, to invite everyone who is in some way connected to the farm to join us for our 18^th Annual Summer Solstice Celebration on June 22^nd.

It is a Live Earth Farm tradition to celebrate the changing of the seasons and witness the diversity of crops in the fields and orchards, of which many are approaching maturity to be harvested over the coming months (see Crop and Field Notes: Blenheim Apricots).  The Summer Solstice always marks the moment at which we like to pause to acknowledge all the hard work already put in throughout the Spring. It’s time to take a short breather in preparation for the greater harvests ahead.

By celebrating as a community, I like to believe that we recognize the common link we have with the land, the food, the people, and how this connection weaves Live Earth Farm into the larger foodshed we all live in. The Summer Solstice celebration has something for everyone to enjoy. I hope to see you all here on the 22^nd.

On June 22^nd, the community will gather at Live Earth Farm for their annual Summer Solstice Celebration. This longstanding tradition of celebrating Santa Cruz agriculture at the changing of the seasons will include lots of farming fun for the whole family. Celebrants will be invited to pick and eat warm strawberries right from the field, join Farmer Tom on tractor tours, make pizzettes in the cob oven, milk our goats, make farm fresh cheese, get their faces painted, explore our hay bale fort, and sample craft beer and sausage, all before our potluck, bonfire and live music at sunset.

On June 22^nd, 2013, 2pm to dark at 172 Litchfield Lane in Watsonville, the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program’s annual Summer Solstice Celebration, will welcome the local community to the farm to celebrate summer in the fields. Tickets are $10 per car in advance and $15 at the door and can be purchased on the event web page. In keeping with our mission to provide programs for everyone in our community, no on will be turned away.

The LEF Discovery Program entreats guests to participate in our local food system through farm and garden projects and games, goat milking, cob oven baking, a farm stand and several local artisan booths. The day will culminate in a community potluck dinner, bonfire, live music, and fire dancing.

This year we welcome local artisans to share their craft including Penny Ice Creamery, Happy Girl Kitchen Company, Companion Bakeshop, 3 of a Kind Juice and Corralitos Meat Market & Sausage Company.  We are also happy to welcome two musical additions Joshua Lowe & the Juncos and Kuzanga Marimba.

The Summer Solstice Celebration is one of three annual, on farm celebrations open to the public; all of which aim to further our mission of helping local, under served youth build confidence in learning to be active caretakers of themselves, their community and their environment.  Children and adults will delight in interacting with farmers, animals and harvest, all with expert help and child friendly tools.

We welcome volunteers in number of different capacities including greeters, station leaders, potluck handlers and more.  Volunteer and their families attend for free. Please get in touch!

Starts at 10 o’clock.

We’ll begin the day on the upper portion of the farm, so use the Litchfield Lane entrance (please follow the signs).

Together we’ll go on a walking tour/tractor ride through fields and orchards.  Be prepared to have some outdoor fun for 2-3 hours planting tomatoes, harvesting carrots, helping Peter in the Children’s Discovery Garden, visiting the baby goats and the chickens, picking and tasting a few strawberries, and finishing the farm tour with a field picnic at 1:30pm. Pack your own picnic, we’ll supplement with harvested goodies and lemonade. We request a $10 donation per car (proceeds go to our Discovery Program).

See you this Saturday!

The morning of our 4th annual Sheep to Shawl dawned warm and sunny.  The lower barn and surrounding area was prepped for throngs of people hoping to glimpse the sheep shearing, make some cool crafts and eat some delicious food!

For the first time this year, we invited local artisan food vendors to the event. Companion Bakeshop, Penny Ice Creamery, and Storrs Winery set up in the field surrounding the sheep pen, intermingled with craft booths and vendors selling jewelry, wool, and clothing.

The sheep were sheared in the packing area with the spinning and weaving booths and  our farm stand featuring Garden Variety Cheeses.

Children swarmed the craft booths, washing, dying, felting, knitting, and carding the wool from the sheep being sheared across the way. Parents sipped wine, and observed the talented crafters, admiring farm themed bottle cap earrings and other goods for sale.

The aroma of chili and cornbread from Happy Girl Kitchen mixed with the intoxicating scent of strawberry cinnamon sparkling juice and lemon poppyseed ice cream from 3 of a Kind and Penny Ice Creamery.

The importance of community and art became apparent as new and old friends alike shared stories and laughs in the grass, as children ran through the fava bean fields with the dogs playing tag and as beautiful creations came out of the felting, and dyeing stations.

All in all, we had over 200 visitors and the Discovery Program made over $1500 dollars at the event to support our education programs for underserved members of our community! Thank you for all who participated!

On March 23^rd, 2013 the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program will host the 4^th annual Sheep to Shawl event at Live Earth Farm.  Professional shearer, Bruce Wool, will demonstrate his trade throughout the day, while his wife spins yarn alongside him.  Guests will participate in hands on demonstrations of every part of the process of making wool into clothing and art.  For the first time this year Storrs Winery will provide tastings while their vineyard grazing baby doll sheep are shorn.

The Live Earth Farm Discovery Programs 4^th annual Sheep to Shawl event, will feature hands-on stations demonstrating the entire progression of processing wool, local artisans sharing their wares, and Storrs Winery sampling their local, wine.  The event will take place in and around our renovated turn of the century redwood barn rain or shine.

The Sheep to Shawl event is one of three annual, on farm celebrations open to the public; all of which aim to further our mission of helping local under served youth build confidence in learning to be active caretakers of themselves, their community and their environment.  Children and adults will delight in interacting with our sheep and shearer, dying yarn, making drop spindles, trying knitting and crocheting, and washing and combing yarn, all with expert help and child friendly tools.

Find more information on our Upcoming Events Page

Sign up and/or prepay for the event!