UC Santa Cruz offers Water-Saving Irrigation workshop on Saturday, May 16

Wise water use will be the watchword this summer as area residents face the fallout of another dryer-than-average year. Learning to do as much or more in the garden landscape with less water will be the topic of a workshop on Saturday, May 16, from 1 pm – 3 pm at the UCSC Farm.




“The workshop will cover a variety of topics, including incorporating edible plants into the existing landscape and retrofitting irrigation systems to reduce your water-use footprint,” says workshop presenter Brent Greene, owner of Edible Landscapes and Garden Design.

Greene will emphasize ways to grow more food without expanding your existing garden space, and focus on drip systems and pop-up sprayers as water-saving alternatives to overhead sprinklers. He’ll also offer hands-on examples of various irrigation systems and a parts list for do-it-yourselfers to use the next time they venture into the gardening supply shop or hardware store.

Cost of the 2-hour lecture and demonstration workshop is $20 for members of the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden, and $25 for the general public, payable the day of the class (check or cash only). No pre-registration is necessary. Wear comfortable walking shoes. Memberships to the Friends of the Farm & Garden are available at the workshop.


For more information, call (831) 459-3240, email jonitann@ucsc.edu, or see http://casfs.ucsc.edu. The workshop is cosponsored by the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems and the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden as part of the 2009 Victory Garden series on home food production.

The UCSC Farm is located 1/4 mile up the gravel road above the Blacksmith Shop; free public parking is available across the street from the Blacksmith Shop in the Physical Plant parking lot, just inside the main entrance to the UCSC campus.