Jan 12, 2016 – With the goal of getting more young people to become organic farmers, Lakeside Organic Gardens owner Dick Peixoto has donated $2 million for an organic education center in the Pajaro Valley.
Envisioned as a cross between the Steinbeck Center and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, he says: “We want to bring kids at a young age into the center for a day to show them what we do and get them excited about organic systems.”
Adults will also be welcome at the center. “We want to show them that our organic production has surpassed our conventional yields,” he says.
Classes will be offered for beginning farmers and backyard gardeners on specific topics like pest management and soils.
There will also be educational experiences on new farming technologies and on history. “Many times we need to re-learn what farmers did before, in the days before pesticides, and how to re-direct the cropland back to Mother Nature,” Peixoto says.
“Hopefully we can inspire young people to become organic farmers,” he says. “We’re not afraid of competition, there is enough market for everyone. I’d love to see more new farmers get going.”
The center will be operated by Agri-Culture Inc.—a Pajaro Valley non-profit dedicated to ag education. Executive Director Jess Brown says the new center—to be called Peixoto Organic and Sustainable Farming and Education Center—could be “another jewel for our area.”
“We are planning an all-encompassing center that includes research and experiences where the general public can go and learn,” says Brown.
“We’re still in the planning stages right now. More money is needed, but this is a great start,” he adds.
Peixoto hopes to see the center open by the end of 2017 and would like to locate it near his Watsonville headquarters on Holohan Rd.
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
