Master gardener Orin Martin celebrates 40 years at the Alan Chadwick Garden

Student News

Every morning at about 7 a.m., Orin Martin takes a slow stroll through the Alan Chadwick Garden, soaking up the quiet as he observes the verdant beauty around him."There's a saying that the best fertilizer is the footsteps of the farmer—or, as I like to say, the shadow of the gardener," says Martin, who this month celebrates his 40th anniversary with the UC Santa Cruz Farm & Garden.
At 68, Martin could retire, but he isn't remotely interested.
"When I'm here at first light, with the fog lifting, it's a transcendental moment," he says. "Like when you hear the first few notes of a John Coltrane saxophone solo, and the hair on the back of your neck stands up, and every cell in your body knows you're alive."
Thus speaks a man in love with his work. Martin remains fully engaged with all aspects of his job as manager of the Alan Chadwick Garden: planting, propagating, pruning—and passing on the knowledge he has acquired over four decades.
"I get to hang around really bright, motivated Gen X'ers and Millennials who go on to succeed at things I would never dare to try," Martin says of the students and apprentices with whom he shares his days. "I just love these kids. They are so intrinsically motivated. They want you to teach them, and they want to go out and do things. They're the light of the world."
If it sounds like Martin has the dream job, he'd be the first to tell you no one would have predicted it 40 years ago.
This snapshot of Orin Martin is pinned to a garden bulletin board that is crowded with yellowed newspaper clippings and faded notes.An unlikely gardener
"Growing up, gardening to me was an onerous chore my old man made me do when I messed up," Martin recalls.
That changed after ...

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