Eating our Way Through the FarmSmart Tour

While we were staying at Rio Bend Resort near El Centro, California, some of our neighbors gave rave reviews of the FarmSmart Tour. It's an educational program provided by the University of California's Desert Research Department, where they explain different aspects of the crops raised in this area. We found out that the last tour of the season was happening while we were here, and they just happened to have room for us. How could we be so lucky?! Now we could ask the burning questions we had about the crops we have been seeing! For example, they explained that the fields of burgundy and green lettuce are trimmed with stainless steel mowers 4-5 times each season, and the clippings are bagged into spring salad mixes directly in the field.

At $25 per person, this tour had to get exceptional recommendations for us to spend that much money. But we are actually getting more than just a tour, because they are also feeding us as well. We began with breakfast snacks when we first arrived at 9:00. Then they demonstrated a recipe that used the carrots they raise here on their farm, and offered samples as well. Of course Denisa loved it because she likes all things vegetable, but Mark even liked it too.

We moved to the classroom, where we were schooled on the top ten crops of the Imperial Valley. We knew that lettuce was in the top ten, but we were surprised to see that beef was up there too. Many of the bull calves born in California dairies are brought to the Imperial Valley to be fattened on the alfalfa grown here. We were also surprised that two of the top ten crop money-makers were actually seeds (alfalfa and prairie grass). This area is responsible for reproducing the best seeds and making it available to others.

We found out about the farm laborers that pick most of the crops by hand. Most of them are transported daily from Mexico. We've experienced a slow border crossing, and that time can be multiplied for a busload of Mexicans coming into the United States. So some farms even pay for them to stay overnight in local hotels to avoid the loss of time at the border. These laborers are paid California's minimum wage--$10.50 per hour. During the harvest season they have very long days and work seven days per week. Recent changes in California labor laws mandate that anyone working over 40 hours per week must now be paid over-time. This change will probably be hardest on the Mexican laborers, who will be limited to the 40 hours because the farms can't afford the higher over-time wage. FarmSmart taught us so much more about the agriculture we have been witnessing for weeks!

We also got an explanation for the haze we have seen over the valley. Many days we can't see the mountains that surround us because of the poor air quality caused from several sources. One is the proximity to Mexico, where they have little regulation on pollutants coming out of their industries. But another big cause is the burning of agriculture fields. Because crops are grown year-round, farmers are always trying to plant a new crop as soon as possible after the harvest. Burning is the fastest way to clear the stubble and leaves from the just-harvested crop. 

Because bees are an intricate part of California agriculture, we also got samples of several types of honey to taste. In the cup is something new to us--powdered honey. It's supposed to be good to sweeten things like cereal.

We had worked up quite an appetite with all this learning, and the next thing on the FarmSmart agenda was lunch. Made almost entirely from products they grow here on the farm, we had salads that we could stack as high as we wanted. Denisa is a big salad fan, and her plate was especially full.

But the best part of the tour was in the afternoon, and included a hay ride around the farm.

We were shown the different test plots that are being used to research different aspects of crops. The University of California has a test group of olive trees, trying to determine the best variety, best tree spacing, best watering practices, etc. Olives might be the next big cash crop for the Imperial Valley.

Most of these plots are actually monitored by plant researchers that are trying to determine the optimal conditions for a certain crop's production. One of those researchers was in the field, and he explained that he was studying different methods of watering (drip and flood), as well as different quantities of water for the onion fields.

Just like in Yuma, all the water to grow these crops in the desert comes from the Colorado River. The water arrives through canal systems that are perfectly sloped that allows the water to flow without using pumps. Likewise, all these fields have to be perfectly sloped to allow the water to flow down to the end of the furrows. We learned that there is a science to getting the fields sloped correctly. One method of moving the water from the canal to the crop is using plastic pipes that siphon the water into each furrow in the field.

After a demonstration of how to get the water started in the siphoning hose, they asked for volunteers from our group to try it. Mark was the most handsome and best siphoner of the day.

Denisa wasn't the only one taking pictures of Mark's farming skills. The leader of the program (in the blue) was also taking his picture. He'll probably be on the cover of next year's FarmSmart brochure.

He was awarded a special lime green wrist band for his efforts, proving that he "DID IT" at the University of California FarmSmart Tour.

Some of the work being done here in California is actually with researchers from the northern parts of the country. Because they can grow two complete crop cycles per year here, it reduces the University of Wisconsin's research time from 7 years to 3 and a half years.

After our hay ride, we got to Denisa's favorite part of the day. We were taken to the  non-research section of the farm and allowed to pick anything we wanted. Since this is the last tour of the season, they kept encouraging us to take more vegetables home with us.

They provided bottles of water to drink, as well as bags to carry our harvest home. Denisa already has a bumper crop of carrots loaded into her bag.

We had to go deep into the fields, because past tours had already cleaned out the vegetables on the edges. We managed to find first-class heads of cabbage deep in the row.

Mark brought his pocket knife, which was a great tool for harvesting those cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower. Vegetables don't come any fresher than this!

After loading our bags of vegetables, we had built up another appetite. So we were treated with drinks, popcorn, and ice cream before we left. There were even prize drawings, where Denisa's ticket won a new cap for Mark. We wish we had scales, as it would have been fun to know how many pounds of vegetables we brought home in those two big bags.

We spent some considerable time washing and bagging all those vegetables and getting them into the refrigerator. They certainly made a pretty picture of vegetable goodness!

Denisa sees a lot of meals with extra servings of vegetables in our future. Mark is not as excited, but he is certainly a good sport. He knows that this vegetable harvest was a lot of fun for Denisa. We learned a lot, we ate a lot, and we are big fans of the FarmSmart program!