Campus Urban Farm

Location and Hours:

The Campus Urban Farm is located next to the Physical Plant and is open to registered staff and volunteers Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm, during the semester.

Visitors may schedule a formal visit by contacting dhurbanfarm@gmail.com directly with their availability to ensure a volunteer will be on-site to greet them.

Campus Urban Farm Informational Flyer [PDF]

Visit/Use the Farm

The Campus Urban Farm is available for events, tours, and lectures. It features an outdoor classroom area with solar power and seating, 19 raised crop beds, 2 hydroponic towers, 1 aquaponic, a herb garden, fruit trees and a chicken coop. To request a volunteer day for a group, book space, schedule a special tour, or organize an event, please submit the form linked below and a staff member from the Office of Sustainability will reach out to you within 1-2 business days.

Submit Farm Use Form.

For student or faculty research projects, email sustainability@csudh.edu with your special request.

Volunteer

The Campus Urban Farm accepts volunteers throughout the school year, and offers community service and service-learning hours. To get started, interested volunteers are required to sign up for a half-hour orientation training.

Orientations are available until the last month of the academic semester. If attempting to complete service-learning hours, please arrange for volunteer orientation before this cut-off deadline as no exceptions will be made to accommodate students missing service hours as a result of failure to complete orientation prior to this deadline.

Farm Volunteer Orientation Request

Farm Docent Training

Would you like to get trained and certified as a Campus Urban Farm docent? Complete your training and exam online. Download the Farm Docent Online Training Syllabus [PDF].

Background/Site Information

The proposal for the Campus Urban Farm was approved by the Presidential Cabinet in February of 2018. The proposal also had the financial backing of the Chancellor’s Office via a Campus as a Living Lab grant to support its launch. As a result, the Campus Urban Farm was able to begin operations incredibly quickly with the assistance of several service-learning classes and many motivated volunteers!

A former campus nursery located next to Physical Plant, the Campus Urban Farm occupies a footprint of approximately .11 acres with 30’x 80’ of available growing space. The current site is fully-enclosed with a gate and has a sidewalk encircling the main growing area. It has access to potable water and electricity. It is 100% solar-powered and off-grid.

Operations are managed by paid student interns/staff from the Office of Sustainability in conjunction with a dedicated faculty liason (Jenney Hall, Interdisciplinary Studies).

Other Campus Resources

CSUDH Seed Library: The CSUDH Seed Library offers seeds for vegetables, herbs, and flowers. All CSUDH Library users are welcome to freely take seeds from the collection. If you're successful in growing them and able to return some, please do, to help keep our seed library renewable. The collection helps promote food and climate justice within our community. For more information, visit the CSUDH Seed Library website (https://libguides.csudh.edu/seed)

News Coverage on the CSUDH Campus Urban Farm:

Urban Farm Takes Root on Campus (April 24, 2018)
April is Earth Month: The Green Jobs of the Future Start with Hands-on Learning (April 23, 2018)