CORRESPONDENCE - 75A SEXLINGER FARMHOUSE

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The Sexlinger Center for Urban Agriculture, Proposal Page 2 PHASE 1 - Restoration The following tasks are of the highest priority for operation for the Urban Ag Center and will serve as the foundation for its development. • Restoration of buildings • rewire, plumb, foundation and exterior repair, paint and finish • Orchard Restoration Trim and prune, feed, repair and /or establish irrigation Replace trees when and where appropriate Establish commercial and demonstration gardens PHASE II - Educational Program Development The Urban Ag Centerwill host both formal and informal education programs for students and the community at large. • School Field Trips • Organic and sustainable agriculture and gardens • Natural resources and current ecology practices • Community Workshops • Composting, low flow /drip irrigation, citrus care, etc. • Events and Presentations PHASE III - Community Gardens • Develop individual plots available to the community for personal and family gardening activities Funding- The Urban Ag Centerwould qualify for grants and similar funding opportunities under several different categories. For example, obvious categories relate to urban agriculture and access to healthy food, but others include, carbon sequestration, historic preservation and promotion, improving air and water quality, etc. While there are several funding sources and opportunities outlined below, make no mistake, funders need to know that they are supporting an organization that has enough land to actually carry out the proposed activity requiring funds. For example, many of the educational programs and special events would simply not be possible on a large urban lot of 10,000 square feet. In addition, selling fruit from 10 -30 orange trees would not produce enough return -on- investment to be economically feasible, as the most money that could be realized is approximately $5,000 per year. 1. Sales: The sale of produce, and value added agricultural products and other merchandise will provide a minimum operations budget. A farm stand or farm store could be established in one of the existing structures or built on -site for minimum cost. The Conservancy staff and interns will operate the "store." The Conservancy has also connected with produce growers and packers who have offered to buy, at wholesale rates, the fruit grown at the Sexlinger Orchard. Currently, this quality of produce is selling for anywhere from $0.49 per pound wholesale, to $1.10 per pound at retail locations. An individual tree can produce as much as 400 pounds of fruit annually. Averaging the wholesale and retail prices listed above, the revenue equivalent would be $32,000 per acre per year. 2. Grants: Funding programs for urban agriculture, local food and health and nutrition have increased in recent years. The recent establishment of the Urban Agriculture Initiative by Gov. Brown is just one such program available to small urban farms. The passage of the 2014 Farm Bill will also bolster these funding sources. The Conservancy estimates that as much as $100,000 could be raised annually through grant funding.