Explore Ecology and One Cool Earth want students to take another look at vegetables, especially the bland yet divisive cauliflower. “Getting to grow it in the garden, it’s like this little baby that they get to check on every so often,” Explore Ecology Garden Program Director Genevieve Schwanbeck said. For our Education Today issue, Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood talks veggies and funding with the nonprofits that help run school gardens [5]. Also in our annual issue, New Times Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal gets behind the stats for local county education office-run schools, which help the most at-risk students [6].
Also, read about the growing Gifford Fire in North County [3]; the theater that keeps melodrama alive on the Central Coast [18]; and the organizations working to bring a farmers market to Guadalupe [21].
Green thumbs up: Explore Ecology and One Cool Earth show Central Coast students the value of a garden-to-table lifestyle
By Caleb Wiseblood
Unequal footing: Central Coast county education offices look at metrics beyond the California Smarter Balanced assessment for student success
By Bulbul Rajagopal
This article appears in Aug 7-17, 2025.