Released: March 21, 2025
Culinary Arts program will offer bite-sized treats from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Greenhouse tours every half hour.
Santa Fe Community College’s Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) program will host an Open House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Trades and Advanced Technology Center (TATC) on Saturday, April 26. The public is invited to meet in the lobby of the TATC to begin the CEA Open House activities. Visitors can sample bite-sized treats prepared by Chef Jerry Dakan of the Culinary Arts Department from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. while learning about the CEA program. Throughout the Open House, people can join a tour of the college’s 12,000-square-foot greenhouse that serves as a living laboratory for students to operate and manage various aquaponic and hydroponic production systems. This year the CEA students are having a plant sale with a large variety of herb and vegetable seedlings ready to transplant at your home. Also ongoing during the event is another Epic Used Book Sale. All books are priced at $1 and proceeds from the book and plant sale benefit the students in the SFCC Aquaponics and Hydroponics club. Both sales are sponsored in part by the Santa Fe Community College Foundation.
SFCC CEA Open House 2023 Greenhouse Tour
CEA Academic Director Charlie Shultz said, “This is a great time to tour the SFCC greenhouses. Our advanced semester Hydroponic and Aquaponic students are producing a variety of crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, Asian greens, peppers, herbs, lettuce, kale, algae and hemp in water-based production systems. People are often surprised to learn that worms compost all the greenhouse waste and that all the greenhouse energy is provided by the college’s solar array.”
Greenhouse tours will be offered each half hour, starting at 10:30 a.m., by SFCC-CEA students and staff. The plant and book sales will be ongoing during the 10 a.m.-2 p.m. event. Come early for best selections. Food samples prepared by the SFCC-Culinary students, faculty and staff will be available from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at no cost.
Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is a technology-based approach to food production and farming that allows farmers/growers/food producers and agri-tech businesses to optimize their growing conditions and resource management. Students participate in growing and research activities in both a smaller geodesic greenhouse, as well as our model 12,000ft2 off-grid greenhouse.
The purpose of SFCC’s CEA program is to revitalize agricultural traditions and develop sustainable growing systems, methods and practices in controlled environment greenhouses using aquaponics and hydroponics that support local food systems and promote economic development through food innovation and entrepreneurship.
SFCC’s CEA program offers students the opportunity to earn any or all of the following credentials:
- Controlled Environment Agriculture, A.A.S.
- Algae Cultivation Certificate
- Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Certificate
For more information about the CEA program, email Charlie Shultz at richard.shultz@sfcc.edu.
or visit: https://www.sfcc.edu/programs/controlled-environment-agriculture/. Follow the program on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/sfccgreenhouse.
For more than 40 years Santa Fe Community College has been the pathway to success for individuals and the community. SFCC provides affordable, high-quality programs that serve the academic, cultural, and economic needs of the community. The college welcomes over 10,000 students per year in credit, noncredit, workforce training, personal enrichment, and adult programs.
A “Best for Vets” and a “Military Friendly” school.
Visit sfcc.edu or call 505-428-1000.
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