September 8, 2015 – We are getting into the thick of pie contest season, and as much as it piques my culinary interest to see tables laden with every imaginable pie, it always presents frustration that none of them are available to actually eat. This is why I am super excited about the pie potluck on September 12 to celebrate the completion of Phase One of the Cowell Ranch Hay Barn at the entrance of UCSC. There are a lot of folks involved with this gigantic project who happen to be really good pie bakers, which means that this event is sure to present a dizzying array of pies to try.
But aside from pie, there is a lot more on tap for this monumental unveiling. The scope of the barn renovation is vast, and will serve as a much needed headquarters for the Center of Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) and Life Lab. In 2013, EMB broke the story when CASFS Executive Director Daniel Press announced the $5 million grant made by the Helen and Will Webster Foundation to fund the restoration of the barn and turn it into a multi-use teaching, office and event space—a perfect new entrance to the Farm and new home for CASFS.
“In a lot of ways the Hay Barn represents CASFS—there is amazing history there, but also an exciting, modern, and sustainable future,” says Stacy Philpott, Acting Director of CASFS while Daniel Press is on leave abroad. “We are thrilled to have this amazing structure as a welcoming point to the UCSC campus and farm. It will provide a meeting space for all sorts of activities related to agroecology, sustainable food systems, and beyond.”
Initial reconstruction of the historic 1870 Cowell Ranch Hay Barn was completed over the past two years and was no small task. After lengthy feasibility studies, intricate dismantling, soil stabilization and excavation at the site, a new concrete foundation was poured followed by the recreation of the original frame using 10” x 10” redwood sill plates along with new and salvaged Douglas fir and redwood timbers. Adhering to historic building practices, like mortise and tenon joinery, the barn was officially raised on March 21, 2015 by community volunteers and professionals, matching the footprint of the 150-year-old original building and marking a new entrance to the adjacent 30-acre CASFS Farm and Life Lab’s Garden Classroom up the hill.
Life Lab will be utilizing the barn as office space in the future, but as early as this fall hopes to use the barn to receive the 120 field trips that visit each year for the much-lauded garden-based experiential education program. Until now, limited parking and confusing access points to the farm and garden have been difficult, to say the least. “We are happy to use our 3,000 little feet to start defining and developing the pedestrian trail from the Barn to the Farm,” says Life Lab executive director Don Burgett.
Preceding the pie potluck on Saturday, September 12 the fifth annual Farm to Fork Benefit
Dinner for the UCSC Farm will be the inaugural event inside the barn. Beginning with glasses of bubbly and nibbles on a farm tour, attendees will meander down the new path to the barn in a procession, arriving to a feast set inside the open, cavernous new space. Former CASFS Apprentice Amy Padilla and Heidi Schlecht of Feel Good Foods will be catering the organic meal, which will honor “CheFarmer” Matthew Raiford, who founded this annual fall fundraising event while an apprentice at the farm and who now owns and operates The Farmer and Larder restaurant and Gilliard Farm in Georgia.
After the dinner, the barn doors will open up to welcome more people to celebrate with a lively barn dance and pie potluck from 7-9pm. Music, drinks, dancing and lots and lots of pie for all! Register for the Farm to Fork dinner here. RSVP for the barn dance and pie potluck here.
But the work is not done yet. Phase two of the Hay Barn project includes interior finishing to finalize office spaces, conference room, kitchen and storage while outdoor landscaping will solidify picnic areas, a graded path to the farm, an amphitheater and bike racks. Visit here for more information on how to support the ongoing project.
About the author
Amber Turpin is a freelance food and travel writer based in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
