Cultivating the Next Generation of Organic Farmers and Gardeners

Since 1967, UC Santa Cruz has been a destination for those interested in learning organic farming and gardening skills through the Apprenticeship training program at the UCSC Farm and Garden. The Apprenticeship is the premiere experiential education program of UCSC’s Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS).

The Grow a Farmer website serves Apprenticeship alumni along with the growing community of beginning farmers with resources, event information, and a beginning farmer forum. Alumni of the CASFS Farm & Garden Apprenticeship can access job and land listings, list their farms and projects on the “Where Are They Now?” map, and find information on fellow alumni.

Explore this website to learn about the work of our alumni, what’s happening at the UCSC Farm & Garden, and how you can support this work. To learn more about the Apprenticeship and its alumni, visit the About Us page.

The Apprenticeship provided me with the tools I needed to grow food; but perhaps more importantly to help grow new farmers and gardeners and to contribute, at least in a small way, to the efforts to ensure that agriculture in our culture is sustained and that all people will one day be food secure.

~ Patrick Archie, 1994 apprentice, Director of the Stanford Student Farm and founder of Bronco Urban Gardens, San Jose, California

Center photo of Darryl Wong copyright David Fenton; used by permission

Alumni Profile

Herb Machleder

After a career as a cardiovascular surgeon, Herb Machleder decided to try his hand at gardening. He became certified as a Master Gardener in Los Angeles and wanted to be a part of the school gardens movement growing in the L.A. area, but felt like he needed more knowledge and experience before he could be a good resource. Read more ...

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