Biographies of Speakers for the 2008 Smart Gardening Faire


  • Brian Barth
    Live Earth Farm
    Permaculture: One of the Smartest Garden Arts

  • Brian Barth is the owner of Tree of Life Ecological Services, an ecological landscape consultation and design business, and the caretaker of the Mataganza Garden Sanctuary, a one acre ethno-botanical garden sanctuary at the Live Earth Farm in Watsonville. He initiated this garden as a place to demonstrate holistic and environmentally-sound approaches to agriculture, building, culture, and community. The Garden Sanctuary also serves as a venue for educational and community events, such as Permaculture Design Courses, an on-going internship program oriented towards college students, herbalism studies, Junior High School On-Farm Education, and spiritual retreats. There and at other central coast venues, Brian has facilitated workshops and courses and given public talks in the areas of Permaculture Design, sustainable water management in the landscape, edible landscaping, food forests, ecology as a tool for personal growth, plant propagation and appropriate horticulture, and local ecology. His current interest is in aromatic herbs and in the near future he and his partner Bernadette Lehmann intend to put their accumulated skills and experiences into practice in a diverse farm enterprise producing herbal products, tree crops, nursery plants, and animal products. In the mean time he continues to reside in his yurt in the Watsonville hills where he tends to the Garden.


  • Brett Graf
    Habtat Gardens
    Water-Smart Landscaping

  • Brett Graf, Owner and Operator of Habitat Gardens in Santa Cruz, is a Licensed Contractor, Ecological Landscape Designer, Consultant, and Garden Coach. He is a Certified Permaculture Design Consultant, Certified Western Herbalist, and Certified Landscape Horticulturist, and has been professionally working and educating in related fields since 1993.

    Brett has experience in landscape design, installation and maintenance, integrated pest management, habitat restoration, nursery production and management, backcountry trail construction, wilderness survival, various forms of construction, and teaching to individuals and to groups.

    He is the Coordinator of the Monterey Bay Working Group of the California Chapter of the Ecological Landscaping Association, Founder and Coordinator of the EcoGarden in Santa Cruz, a member of the Santa Cruz, Permaculture Guild, Co-Chair of the Garden Committee at the Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange and member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

    Brett has a love for gardening and a deep understanding of what it takes to develop a successful garden. Habitat Gardens donates 10% of all income to organizations that support a healthy environment and social justice.


  • Dan Harder
    UCSC Arboretum, UC Santa Cruz
    The Light Brown Apple Moth Reconsidered

  • Dr. Daniel Harder is the Director of the University of California at Santa Cruz Arboretum and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz. He obtained his BS degree in botany from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

    As Director of the Arboretum he oversees the maintenance of world-renowned collections of Australia, New Zealand, California natives, and southern hemisphere species within a 100 acre botanical garden on the UCSC campus. Dr. Harder is an expert on plants of Asia and the Pacific Region, and Africa and has published numerous papers on his research on the floras of Central Africa and Viet Nam including works on the pharmaceutical properties of plants, taxonomy, ethnobotany, and new species discoveries.


  • John Laird
    California Assemblyman, 27th Assembly District

  • Assemblymember John Laird was elected in 2002, and again in 2004 and 2006, to represent the 27th Assembly District, which includes portions of Santa Cruz , Monterey and Santa Clara Counties . In 2004, Mr. Laird was named by Assembly Speaker Núñez to join the Assembly leadership team as chair of the Budget Committee, a position to which Speaker Nunez reappointed him in December 2006. Along with the Budget Committee, Mr. Laird serves as a member the Labor and Employment, Judiciary, and Natural Resources Committees.

    In 1981, Mr. Laird was elected to the Santa Cruz City Council, where he served nine years, including two one-year mayor's terms, becoming one of the first openly gay mayors in the United States . He served as an elected member of the Cabrillo College Board of Trustees from 1994 to his election to the Assembly in 2002.

    John Laird lives in Santa Cruz with his partner John Flores. He is fluent in Spanish, has traveled widely, has conducted extensive family history research and is a life-long Chicago Cubs fan.


  • Bobby Markowitz
    Earthcraft Designs
    Rainwater Harvesting & Water-wise Plant & Irrigation Choices

  • Bobby Markowitz is the president and owner of Earthcraft Landscape Design.  Bobby has been in the landscape business for over 30 years, and for the past five years he has focused his work on rainwater harvesting design in conjunction landscape design in the Central California area.  To date, there are numerous systems in operation offering their owners independence, security for fire protection, and flexibility to irrigate gardens during a drought or water moratorium.

    Bobby is a licensed landscape architect and a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).  In addition, he is a certified professional by the American Rainwater Catchment System Association (ARCSA), and a member of the International Rainwater Catchment System Association (IRCSA) and the U.S. Green Building Council. 

    Recently Bobby studied rainwater harvesting in Australia, Hawaii and New Mexico.  In addition to his design work, he is involved in lecturing and consulting regarding standards for rainwater harvesting.  It is Bobby’s belief that there are many ecological reasons for combining landscape architecture with rainwater harvesting.


  • Roxanne Evans
    EcoCentric Design Company
    You are Here: Plants That Want to Live in the Monterey Bay Area's Microclimates

  • L. Roxanne Evans has a deep love of nature and created her company, EcoCentric Design Co., guided by the primary ecological principle of designing with nature, not against it. She has been active in the restoration and organic farming community in CA for over 18 years.

    Roxanne has an A.S. degree in Landscape Horticulture, with skills certificates in Landscape Design and Restoration Landscaping from Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA. Installed in Jan 2006, Roxanne is the CA Coordinator of the CA Chapter of the Ecological Landscaping Association (ELA).

    An active communicator, she speaks and teaches workshops on ecological landscape design whenever possible. Her past experience includes developing extensive curriculum for and teaching at EcoGarden in Santa Cruz; speaking at the Water Conservation Showcase in San Francisco; leading talks for the California Native Plant Society, Santa Cruz Chapter and for the Monterey Bay Master Gardeners Smart Gardening Faire; and developing curriculum for the Monterey Bay Green Gardener Certification Program offered by Ecology Action in Santa Cruz.


  • Cynthia Sandberg
    Love Apple Farm
    How to Grow Better Tomatoes

  • Cynthia Sandberg, owner of Love Apple Farm, is passionate about growing great tomatoes. She propagates and sells over 100 different varieties of tomatoes in Ben Lomond, both as plants in the spring and fruit on her farmstand in the summer. Love Apple Farm is also the exclusive kitchen garden for world-renowned Manresa restaurant of Los Gatos. Cynthia gives gardening classes at her farm year round, including "How to Grow Better Tomatoes," "Tomato Master's Class," "Summer Vegetable Gardening," "Compost and Vermiculture," "Keeping Chickens," "Drip Irrigation," and "Winter Vegetable Gardening." Her talk at the Smart Gardening Faire event will focus on her tips and tricks on getting more tomatoes than you ever thought possible. See her educational gardening blog at www.GrowBetterVeggies.com for more information on her classes, tomato plants or fruit sales.


  • Roy Sikes
    Soquel Creek Water District
    Weather-Based Irrigation Controller Installation Program


  • Monique Smith Lee
    California Bat Conservation Fund

  • Monique Smith Lee (“The Bat Lady”) has been rehabilitating bats for the last six years.  Working with the California Bat Conservation Fund, she is given the delicate task of caring for injured bats and bat pups.  Four years ago Monique became part of the Education Program team.  The team’s objective is to dispel widespread misconceptions about bats while working with conservationists to replenish shrinking bat populations.  Monique will do a Powerpoint presentation on bats.  The California Bat Conservation Fund will have a booth at the Faire and bats will be available for viewing from 10 to 2.


  • Robin Stockwell
    Succulent Gardens
    Succulent Plants: Conservationists of the Plant World

  • I am a grower of succulent plants and have been since 1972. My primary focus with succulent plants is functionality and I am working to promote the use of succulent plants in landscaping and container gardening. I want people to know that succulent plants are very efficient and require little water, nutrition, and care. I refer to succulents as, "the conservationists of the plant world." Succulent plants are also quite beautiful. Their foliage comes in almost every color of the rainbow and their flowers appear throughout the year.

    I work with landscape architects and designers, have appeared on radio, T.V., in newspapers, and magazines. I have spoken to numerous clubs, at Sunset Magazines Celebration weekend, and at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show My plants have been in award winning landscapes.

    My nursery of over two acres, is open to the public Monday thru Saturday and is located at 2133 Elkhorn Rd, Castroville, Ca. 95012. We conduct tours by appointment.


  • Thomas Wittman
    Gophers Limited
    Controlling Gophers and Moles without Poison

  • Thomas Wittman, founder of Gophers Limited, has been involved with non-toxic pest control for over two decades.  His experience ranges from pest control on his own organic farm, consulting for the University of California specifically on gophers and ground squirrels, residential and commercial pest control, to leading interactive training sessions for UC Extension, vineyards, farms and institutions.   The training will consist of an in-depth biological and identification section, several ideas for controlling invasion, various non toxic methods of control including trapping, attracting predators and minimizing food sources.  Pest animals covered will be gophers, moles, voles, ground squirrels and larger pests.