On the farm September 24th: Able Arts Community Market

Common Roots Farm is hosting the Able Arts Community Market with Helpers Community and Shane Tarkington Art.

Come to the farm to shop for art work and crafts created by artists with intellectual/developmental disabilities. There will be refreshments, a farm stand with produce and bouquets for sale, and other fun activities.

Please join us on Saturday, September 24th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM for a visit to the farm and the Able Arts Community Market!

Tribute Orchard dedication ceremony

On a lovely summer day in June, we gathered to celebrate the lives of all those who are commemorated here in the farm’s Tribute Orchard.

Thirty different fruit trees are now planted in memory of our honorees. By offering beauty and sustenance to farm customers, neighbors and visitors for years to come, Common Roots Farm’s orchard is a living tribute to loved ones.

Sarah Fairchild led a beautiful ceremony to dedicate the orchard, inviting attendees to hang hand written notes of remembrance to their loved ones on the newly planted trees. Fluttering in the wind, these notes remind us of all our honorees whose names will eventually be inscribed as part of a permanent sculpture being commissioned by the farm. A reception followed the ceremony and everyone had an opportunity to visit with one another, take quiet time to remember their loved one, walk the farm, and taste some refreshments made from the farm's strawberries and other produce.

Common Roots thanks Sarah for leading us in a meaningful dedication event and all who chose to remember loved ones here at the farm. We are grateful for your support, and even more importantly, we are privileged to continue to remember your honoree as we tend our orchard over time.

Click here for more information about our Tribute Orchard.

Lions Club International Director Dr. Dianne Pitts and Capitola Coast Lions Club Secretary Krista Brassfield

Lions Club helps the farm again!

Common Roots Farm is very fortunate to be the beneficiary of the Capitola Coast Lions Club’s generosity in our community. The Capitola Coast Lions are part of Lions Clubs International, a network of volunteers who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world. Capitola Club members have volunteered with various projects at Common Roots, including a recent tree planting event after securing a $1,000 contribution to support our emerging Tribute Orchard!

These same Lions also held a very fun and successful Restaurant Walk in downtown Santa Cruz earlier this summer. Over 425 supporters purchased tickets and enjoyed a wide variety of food prepared by more than a dozen participating local restaurants. This event was a first for the club, and by all accounts, the evening was both delicious and fun!

During a recent visit to the farm from Lions Club International President, Dianne Pitts, and her husband, Joe, the Capitola Lions Club presented Common Roots Farm with a very generous $8,000 donation made possible by proceeds from the Restaurant Walk. Wow! The farm has been vying for an electric utility cart to help transport produce and people around the farm and this donation will go a long way toward meeting that goal.

The farm is honored to have hosted Dianne for a farm visit and is very grateful for her leadership with Lions International in advancing many worthy causes championed by local Lions Club chapters.

Thank you to each member of the Capitola Coast Lions Club for going above and beyond to make our communities better and specifically for supporting the mission of Common Roots Farm. Your time and effort directly enhance opportunities for people with intellectual/developmental disabilities here at the farm. We are growing our impact and getting better at what we do thanks to your support!

UC San Diego students visit and learn at Common Roots

by Heidi Cartan, Executive Director

Last year, when Professor Matthew Hebst contacted me about bringing a group of his students from UC San Diego to visit Common Roots, I was intrigued. His summer course, Disability and Environmental Justice, sounded like such a unique offering that I could learn from, too! Professor Herbst's program “examines diverse approaches to inclusive community, and explores interconnections of environmental history, sustainability, and disability... embedding a two-week on-site experience in Santa Cruz within a five-week summer term...” I am a big believer that disability awareness comes best through direct experience so this sounded like a great opportunity.

In July, our farm had the pleasure of hosting these students during their time in Santa Cruz. We discussed Common Roots’ vision for food and flower production that engages people with intellectual/developmental disabilities, the impact of placing people with disabilities at the center of creating something the wider public values, and the importance of ecological practices. We also toured Coastal Haven pocket neighborhood where people with and without disabilities are building a community next door to the farm.

Professor Herbst and his students dove into probing discussions about the impact of disability on many facets of life. Together, we explored challenges to making the physical farm environment accessible to those with mobility disabilities, challenges to building a culture that welcomes those so often marginalized from purposeful work, and the struggles and opportunities that exist to be truly inclusive across economic and racial barriers, and other relevant topics.

Our visiting students did not shy away from getting into the soil for some field work, too. They planted, weeded, and did some harvesting of seed sunflowers while engaging with participants in Shared Adventures’ garden club. They even did a huge clean-up of our strawberry beds which our field team greatly appreciated!

I really enjoyed the chance to interact with these students and to think more deeply about all we do here at Common Roots. I hope Professor Herbst will return in the future, bringing more such thoughtful young people to our farm, thereby helping us improve on our work with each new experience.