Successful harvest for MHS FFA
People toured facilities and bought from farmer’s market
It was a day for Monache High School’s FFA students to showcase what they’ve been working on all year at their second annual Farmer’s Day Saturday, and in the process they made a fair amount of money to help fund the school’s future ag activities.
About 500 people from around Porterville gathered at the MHS campus to pick up some student-grown plants, fruits and vegetables, take a tour of the school’s ag facilities, and even participate in a 5K run.
“I think it went extremely well,” said MHS ag teacher and FFA adviser Christie Bennett. “One of our main goals was to make it a community event. We wanted people to see exactly what we have out in our ag department behind campus. A lot of people came out Saturday and said they had no idea this was even out here.”
The day of events began with the 5K run at 8 a.m. Participants made their way along a route that started at the front of the school and made almost two complete laps around campus, taking in a good view of the 4-acre school farm along the way.
Last year about 20 people participated in the 5K, and this year just under 50 signed up and 35 were out and running the course.
“There was a huge cheering section for the runners — lots of parents and supporters. I think every runner had at least one person cheering them on,” said Bennett.
Attendees of the event, which included Porterville Unified School District board members, MHS staff and parents, were free to explore the orchards, greenhouses and livestock pens of the school farm by themselves or have one of the 75 MHS students who worked the event give them a tour.
Bennett said the feedback from people who got an upclose look at their work was overwhelmingly positive.
“All of them were really impressed with how much work has gone into the farm over the past few years and how good it looked,” said Bennett. “A lot of parents were there, and I loved seeing our students show them what projects they’ve been in charge of and what they planted. It’s really neat.”
The farmer’s market featured fresh winter vegetables including cauliflower, broc- coli, and cabbage along with fresh citrus like pomelos, blood oranges, cara caras, and navel oranges.
The plant sale was particularly successful, featuring perennial plants, fruit trees, succulents, and various gardening materials. Bennett said they sold half of their six-packs of vegetable plants like tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and cilantro. Stone fruit trees also sold well.
“Succulents are hot right now, and they were very popular Saturday. Our greenhouse has been depleted by two- thirds,” said Bennett, who added their succulent selection featured aloe vera and native species that fare well in the Central Valley climate.
“All of our large avocado trees also sold out. Every year people come for them,” said Bennett.
In the end, MHS students raised $4,000 from the day’s events, which will fund the school’s ag program, fees for participation in FFA judging teams, community service events, livestock shows, leadership conferences, and conventions.
Students worked for the last two weeks planting, trimming, picking and mowing around the school farm to get ready for Saturday’s event, and Bennett is proud of their commitment.
“All of our crops are operated by students. We don’t have a farm manager,” said Ben- nett. “They really know about this event and what’s going on. What I really enjoyed about Saturday is they were involved in all aspects of the event and really took pride in it.”
Monache FFA chapter is the largest in Porterville with 405 members and three staff advisers. They have earned two state championships in citrus judging and fruit tree judging, and were recently ranked No. 19 out of 330 high school chapters in the state of California. They were also recognized as the Top 2 or 3 teacher-led chapter for the San Joaquin Region.
For those who were unable to attend Farmer’s Day on Saturday, MHS ag products can be purchased Tuesdays between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. at the school until June. Succulents, native plants and perennial plants are still available, and onions and garlic will be available at the end of May.