Nursery Building

The Nursery Building is on the left as you enter the fenced area in the back of the Horticulture Center. It comprises the nursery staff offices and lunch room, herbarium, the store and laboratory Classroom, where students learn hands on techniques for plant propagation and care.

Laboratory Classroom

The Nursery classroom is an expansive space with stainless steel tables and a concrete floor with drains, a perfect room for learning the arts of nursery production in all its phases. Students use this room to conduct media testing, to practice canning and potting techniques, to measure pH and EC, as well as learn how to identify plant parts.

Hoop Houses

There are five hoop houses near the back of the nursery area. They are used throughout the season to show the sequence of typical crop production. One house is the propagation house, the second is for lining out stock and the other 2 are for hardening off the crop before going outside. They have each been named to honor the contributions of The Westcliff Foundation, Golden State Bulb Growers, Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and Driscoll Strawberry Associates.

Greenhouse

The prize of the Nursery Area is the 8,000 square foot greenhouse complex named in honor of the Solari family. In the center is the Head House where much of the propagation goes on during the year by our students, staff and volunteers. On either side are the 3,600 square foot greenhouse areas.

One side is dedicated to Controlled Environment Agriculture - hydroponic tomatoes, basil and aquaponic greens. The other side grows Poinsettias in the fall, and lots of other nursery crops in preparation for our spring sale.

Shade Houses

The Nursery Area wouldn't be complete without its shade houses. The Spencer/Rooney North Shade House is the staging area for our CCOF Organic urban vegetable production. The other 2 houses are filled with various crops for sale during the annual Mother's Day sale.