We enjoy showing everyone what goes on at Live Earth Farm.

If you have photos you'd like to share, please send them to us! We'll try to update our selections regularly.

Also, if you upload photos or videos to sharing services such as Flickr, tag them "live earth farm" so that others can find them! (Live Earth Farm on Flickr)

Credits: Live Earth Farm thanks –

• Taylor Brady
• Constance Broz
• Elisa Broz
• Tom Broz
• Tana Butler
• Molly Culver
• Ken Eklund
• David Evershed
• Debbie Palmer
• Jessica Ridgeway
• and you!

Copyright is held by the photographer. All rights reserved. Let us know if you should be credited.

Permissions and privacy: if you are depicted on our site and wish not to be, please contact us.

Live Earth Farm is our classroom
The Discovery Program's “classroom,” Live Earth Farm, is a community-based small organic farm which exemplifies farm-to-fork environmental stewardship. This family-run farm is an ideal venue for teaching about where our food really comes from, and for learning about the vital interconnectedness between human communities and the Earth and our place in fragile ecological systems.

Connecting to the living earth
Our Discovery Program offers year-round farm-based educational programs on topics such as:

• Organic and nature-based sustainable farming
• Nutrition
• Local food networks
• Humane livestock management
• Environmental education
• Permaculture design

Wee Ones is very popular for 0-3 year olds and their parents. On the third Tuesday of every month we invite mothers, fathers, grandparents or caretakers to bring their babe in arms out to our organic farm. We spend an hour and a half exploring the farm's many treasures.

Schedule: Third Tuesday of the month, 10:30 am. We meet under the willow tree by the play structure. Cost: $10 to $15 per adult, free for children 0-3 years. No reservations necessary, but check our Scheduling Calendar before you come. Questions? Contact the Discovery Program.

Wee Ones gives our babies a place and time to experience nature, to smell, see, taste, touch, and hear all this organic farm and its wild spaces have to offer. In this way we set the stage for our children to develop their own healthy relationships with nature and food. It is a good idea to bring:

• Water / water bottles
• Close-toed shoes
• Hats and sunscreen
• Weather-appropriate clothing
• Stroller/ baby carrier

Activities are seasonal and include feeding the chickens, watching and petting the goats and kids, sniffing flowers and herbs, picking ripe fruits and vegetables, exploring the education and permaculture gardens, singing farm songs and reading farm books.

NOTE: Please don't park near
or block any door of the barn.

Environmental Stewardship: Our field trips offer a variety of hands-on learning experiences for schools and other groups. We emphasize a "seed to mouth" or "field to fork" full circle understanding of food production. We strive to share the ethic of environmental stewardship that is exemplified in organic farming practices.

Activities on the Farm: Field trip activities vary according to season and are tailored to students' age group incorporating California Science Content Standards. Possible activities for your group include seed planting and plant propagation, care for farm animals, composting, organic pest control, harvesting and tasting, as well as explorations of how and why things are grown organically. We welcome input from teachers on how to integrate field trip activities with their students' curricula and will gladly customize your field trip to suit your needs.

Duration and Group Size: Field trips are typically two to three hours in length and your group is invited to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy at the farm following the event. If you are interested in experiencing the delight of eating seasonal and local food, please let us know so we can help you plan and source your picnic menu. We have found that we are best prepared to offer a rich and focused experience to single-class groups; however larger groups and trips of longer duration (even camp-outs) can be accommodated by special arrangement.

Scheduling and Cost: The Discovery Program at Live Earth Farm offers field trips to schools and other groups from April through October (maximum of 36 students/children in any one group please). Please consult our Scheduling Calendar for available dates, then contact the Discovery Program. We schedule only two field trips per week and the schedule fills up quickly, so if you would like to set one up, contact us early in the season for the best availability. Cost is $7-$10 per student; our commitment to community outreach allows for reduced rates to a limited number of groups that could not otherwise attend. We also gladly accept more generous contributions that will go to maintaining this program for future visitors.

Various schools and other groups arrange for us to open the farm to them as a multidisciplinary, integrated educational platform. If you are a school, homeschooling group or organization and would be interested in setting up a similar educational experience, please contact the Discovery Program.

BLUE MOUNTAIN GROUP
Once a month, the Live Earth Farm Discovery program hosts a group of curious homeschoolers and their equally curious moms. We open the farm to them for educational explorations that might include our flora, fauna, cultivations, natural areas and of course, food!

WAVECREST MONTESSORI
We collaborate with the Wavecrest Montessori School of Santa Cruz to conduct a Montessori Middle School educational program for their 7th and 8th grade students.

"Most often we begin with a visit to the chickens where scrambling to hold hens makes for an amusing romp. After eggs have been collected and tasty morsels distributed, the group moves on to one of many possible activities. These might include milking the goats and harvesting lemons followed by a trip to the kitchen to make a quick version of goat cheese. Another day we might gingerly pluck copious quantities of snails from citrus trees, get a lesson in tree grafting from Farmer Tom, or plant seedlings to make their start in the greenhouse. A drizzly outing could include a hike around the farm to observe the changes brought by winter, followed by a visit to 'Toasty 2' (our wood-fired oven) to bake the 'best bread in the world'.

"No visit for our group would be complete without some time shared with Live Earth Farm's beloved goat clan. Whether they are birthing, nursing or simply frolicking, our children love to observe the goat's delightful antics. Each month, you are sure to leave dirtier, happier, and more informed about where our food comes from and how it is grown."

NOTE: Please don't park near
or block any door of the barn.

At our Summer Solstice Celebration, three of our favorite themes come together. First, there is food – fixed by many hands and brought to our potluck table (now about 30 feet long and getting longer every year!), and gleaned by eager young hands straight from the berry fields. Second, there is gratitude to the Earth for the bounty which it provides. And finally, there is community as hundreds of families talk, play and eat together under the summer sky.

We always have music at our celebrations – sometimes it is The Banana Slug String Band (a favorite of the children, and the 'Slugs' are members of our CSA!); sometimes it is Kuzanga Marimba, an 8-piece Marimba ensemble. Years ago we had a funk-band playing into the evening with lots of dancing. Sometimes members bring instruments and we make our own music!

Farm activities are plentiful too: ice cream making, pizza and bread making and baking in our wood-fired oven, walking tours of the farm, berry picking and eating... the children especially love climbing on our huge hay-bale structure, exploring our pond (tadpoles in the spring!), and meeting and petting the farm animals.

Bring a dish for the potluck:

Our Summer Solstice Celebrations are truly a community effort; members pitch in to help with event set-up and planning. It's pretty fun. If you'd like to help, contact us!

From the archives:

A video of the Summer Solstice Celebration 2009


A lovely video of 2007's Solstice Celebration, featuring Kuzanga Marimba!
(Be sure your sound is on!!)


A picture story of the 2003 Summer Solstice celebration

Like all our farm events, we hold the Harvest Celebration to connect children and grown-ups to the farm land through hands-on activities, and to bring the community together around art and music, a potluck feast and a bonfire. Each event has its own flow and dynamic based on Nature and its season, the farm and its rhythms, and the CSA community itself.

During the celebrations, children and grown-ups run freely (we have a great hay bale castle and a swing set) or be engaged in a number of guided activities such as: picking and eating strawberries, planting seedlings, picking flowers, petting the baby goats, milking the mama goats, and visiting the chickens. In 2001 we built a wood-fired bread oven (and built another larger one in 2008), and ever since, baking of bread and pizzas is 'a must' at all farm gatherings. Hand-pressing apples for juice and carving pumpkins are especially popular at the Harvest Celebration! CSA members often volunteer to organize and supervise some of these activities, and come up with their ideas. One year we made hand-cranked ice cream with freshly picked strawberries, and boy was it ever was a winner!

As part of our events, we like to give thanks to the Earth that nourishes us. We encourage the children to go into the fields and then come back and display what they have discovered and harvested. The grown-ups have a chance to share food, recipes and camaraderie during our pot-luck. Being appreciative for the land and its generosity is one way to give thanks.

Music always finds its place on the farm. When the bonfire is lit, drums, flutes and guitars emerge and make magical music to accompany the fire's own voice. Local musicians transform our fire circle into a dance floor (when was the last time that you danced barefoot on the earth?).

The Banana Slug String Band, a local music group famous (especially among families with children) for their ecologically inspired lyrics, also come on a regular basis to share with us their uplifting beats. On occasion one musician transforms himself into a redwood ("Look Mom, it's Plant Man!") to the delight of the crowd!

Our Harvest Celebrations are truly a community effort; members pitch in to help with event set-up and organization. If you'd like to help, contact us!

From the archives:

A sweet video of 2007's Harvest Celebration. (Be sure your sound is on!!)


A picture-poem of the 2003 Fall Equinox celebration


Festival by Firelight: fireside at the 2002 Fall Equinox celebration

Community Farm Days are kind of like our old Mini Camps, but for members of all ages! If you will be camping overnight on the farm, please bring your own food for night and morning.

At a Farm Day, you might plant seedlings, comb sheep, pick apples, or engage in any of the wide range of activities that present themselves at a working farm!