Kids learn about farms
Lodi students pick corn, hear about organic fruit
COURTLAND — “Wow!” exclaimed Santiago Navarro, 9, at the sight of his multi-colored corn, minutes after picking it fresh off the corn stalk Tuesday morning at Steamboat Acres.
He was visiting the Courtland farm with his Beckham Elementary School fourthgrade class while participating in the Field Trips on the Farm program.
The picking of the corn was the culmination of a morning spent touring the farm, led by sixth generation family farmer Michael Neuharth, who farms the land alongside his wife, Tara.
“This program helps students gain an understanding of the process to get food from the farm to their lunch boxes,” said Melanee Cottrill, associate director with California Farmland Trust, adding that it gives students an appreciation for the farmland that surrounds them.
“Our hope is that these kids will see farmland is inherently valuable and a fundamental, irreplaceable part of our food system, not just open space to be built upon,” she said.
The program, sponsored by Raley’s through the California Farmland Trust, also gives students an opportunity to learn outside the classroom in a hands-on environment.
“Do you see the little white boxes out there?” Michael Neuharth said, pointing to white boxes along a field. “They are our owl boxes. We have owls out here to protect our farm and they help keep our rodent population down,” he said, adding that sometimes if you’re out there late at night, you’ll see them fly around.”
The owl boxes are not the only sustainable approach at the farm, as the pears and cherries are certified organic,” Neuharth said, explaining to the students how that means they don’t spray any weedkiller on their orchards.
The students toured the farm on a long wagon attached to a tractor. As it passed by a turkey manure pile, a chorus of ‘eewws’ was heard from some of the students.
“This is the real farm experience,” Neuharth laughed. “You get to smell the good stuff as well as the bad stuff.”
After arriving at a field the students poured out of the train-style wagon and Neuharth explained how he has been able to make his farm more efficient with the use of machines. First, with the help of a tractor they lay down a plastic mulch, which prevents weeds from growing, Neuharth said.
“How do you plant the seeds?” a student asked.
“Good question,”! Neuharth said, explaining that the seeds get put under the plastic into the dirt.
“We have a really cool, awesome machine that plants them through the plastic,” he said. With the help of the planter machine, they manage to plant 5,000 seeds in one day, spaced 13 inches apart. The work would take three to four days if it was done manually.
A drip irrigation system is then used to make sure water gets to every plant.
“And every place where a seed was put into ground, a plant grows!” he said.
Neuharth then explained how a pumpkin plant needs both the male and female flowers to produce a pumpkin. To help attract bees, the farm grows sunflowers, in addition to installing beehive boxes.
“The important part of the seed is called the germ, it’s the brain of the seed,” Neuharth explained. “As soon as it gets water, it starts growing a corn plant. The amazing thing about the seed, is it knows where to put the roots and it knows where to put the plant, no matter what orientation it sits in the ground.”
It takes 72 days — or 21⁄2 months — for the sweet corn to grow, he said, and after they have harvested all the sweet corn, they pick up all the plastic mulch and drip tape, another labor-intensive task they used to do by hand.
“And who wants to do that?” Neuharth asked. “So I built a machine to lift the plastic up and roll it into a ball.”
The lesson of efficiency and use of machines in farming was well understood by the students.
“I learned that farmers use a lot of machines to help plant vegetables and fruits, and it makes it easier so they don’t have to waste a lot of time,” said Alfredo Sahagun, 9,
Tuesday’s tour also included a stop at the Lodi Raley’s grocery store, where managers showed students how produce is delivered to the store, is organized, and then readied for purchase. The students finished off with a lunch provided by Raley’s — bringing the farm-to-fork concept full circle.