As you have likely noticed, The Encinitas Union School District (EUSD) Farm Lab which is located below Encinitas Ranch on Quail Garden Drive has seen some significant changes in the past year.  Here is an update on the project.

Partnerships:

EUSD has entered into a partnership with The Ecology Center to help run Farm Lab.  The Ecology Center is an environmentally focused non-profit organization which started in Orange County.  Their responsibilities in support of Farm Lab are numerous.  They have taken over the farming operations for the project.  They also offer extensive community environmental education.  The Ecology center has moved their unique mobile classroom, Road Show (a double decker bus) onto the north side of the Farm Lab property. When stationary, it is used for educational, farming, and art-based community workshops. They have also placed a geo dome on the campus and they are helping design and build out future phases of Farm Lab. Finally, The Ecology Center will support the school district with fundraising, marketing, and providing information about our programs.

EUSD is also still actively working with the Encinitas Environmental Educational Collaborative (E3 Collaborative).  Partners in the Collaborative include the YMCA, Seacrest Village, the Heritage Museum, the Leichtag Foundation, and Coastal Roots Farms.  EUSD has active partnerships in progress with all of these partners.

Farming:

The Ecology Center has planted or been harvesting tomatoes, peppers, basil, watermelon, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash and corn.  Since April, they have harvested over 4,500 pounds of produce!  The majority of that organic produce goes directly to the EUSD nutrition services department and is utilized for the salad bars and organic, scratch made pizza sauce at all nine elementary schools. Overages of crops are given to children visiting Farm Lab, sold to Jimbo’s, or donated to local food banks.  All crops on site are certified organic.

Construction:

Two new design/research studio rooms have been added to the site, along with additional rest room facilities.  These new learning spaces should be functional for student use by November.  One of the rooms is a Maker Space that includes a full kitchen. This will allow us to expand our site Farm to School program to a Farm to Table program. Decomposed Granite sidewalks and pathways were completed for building access, and a fire road was constructed on the east side of the property.  Further improvements to this part of the campus are planned for this year.

EUSD is also putting in additional parking on site.  Approximately 50 additional parking spaces will be added in the next month.  When Farm Lab hosts larger events, we will work with our E3 Collaborative partners to utilize some of their parking.

DREAMS Campus:

All 5,400 EUSD students, kindergarten through grade 6, are bused to the Farm Lab DREAMS Campus (Design, Research, Engineering, Arts, Math, Science) for one to five-day Project Based Learning experiences.  In addition to providing hands-on opportunities to solve real-world problems through design thinking, the curriculum builds student awareness of sustainable practices, environmental stewardship, and the importance of slow, organic food.

EUSD and the Ecology Center are working together to create a thriving community ecosystem at Farm Lab. Thank you for your continued support as we grow together.