Farm Field Trip

Readers: Today I visited one of my in-law’s farms that are here locally in cache valley. This farm is well known to many people as “Little Bear Bottoms.” In the summer, they run a waterslide and in the fall, they host a corn maze. In fact the sign that says Little Bear Bottoms is a piece of visual rhetoric. Rhetoric is defined as “The art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience.” [1] The sign is a display of rhetoric because it is locally known. Many people I have talked to while at work are familiar with this farm and their activities.

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 I had the privilege of riding around the farm with the owner, Paul Clark. I also enjoyed the time I spent talking with his wife Shelayne. Although I had previously spent time at their house I had not had the opportunity to go around the farm and learn more about their operations. Talking with them was a very interesting experience coming from an agricultural standpoint because I consider myself uneducated with regards to agriculture. Where I grew up was an urban area and my parents have little to no experience with farming.

My conversation with Paul was diverse. We talked about different types of crops that were local and the differences between his farm, and neighboring farms. What I found extremely interesting was the fact that it was not a competitive setting. In the urban world that I grew up in, it often seemed that the person with the nicest car, or the best boat was winning in life. However, after my discussion with Paul it was apparent that this was not a concern for him. It was about helping your neighbors and working together. The comparisons he drew were not of personal gain but of a commutative effort. One question that I brought up after he made a comment about GMO product was, “what is GMO?” he responded by explaining to me that “allot of produce now is GMO or Genetically Modified Organism. The reason for this is because they can modify seeds and produce more crops per acre.” I then took a picture of the alfalfa field that we talked about which was GMO. I also took photos a few other locations that we visited during our conversation. It was nice talking to someone that was not simply in charge of an event, but the person who is responsible for producing and choosing which crops to grow.

When I talked with Shelayne we first talked about someone that we both knew. She had met this person many years ago, when she worked at Pepperidge farm. They had worked there together and I currently work with this person as well (I am not naming this person because I have not asked for permission) Shelayne worked at Pepperidge farm to help support and sustain her husband as he in the beginning of starting this little farm operation. This was long before they had the ideas to do a corn maze and a water slide. She described to me when they first moved to Wellsville there was a feed lot that they decided to purchase. However, the location for the slide was basically just a big garbage pit. As they were cleaning the junk out of this gully they had the idea to put a water slide down the side of this hill. Slowly they built a bigger and bigger slide and eventually the LDS ward wanted to use it for a ward activity. As time passed it eventually became a hot spot for many people. They have never done any advertising but spend the whole summer completely booked.

This was a very interesting experience for me to understand how a farm operation work, But not just a farm operation but a small business. They have been very successful and I respect them allot. This was a good opportunity for me to see how a farm can develop and grow.

Seedfolks Scholarly Book Review

Seedfolks book review

Seedfolks, by Paul Flischman is a book that ties a metropolitan area with farming. What I would like to discuss during this book review is how farming has been able to bring groups of people with different struggles together. This can be noticed in the background throughout most of the book. Some of the struggles people deal with that farming has helped are, communication, cleanliness, and loneliness. Through farming in metropolitan areas there has been improvements in these three fields. The book, Seedfolks helps to illustrate these improvements and will provide evidence of such.

After man evolved, it had to learn how to communicate. Language and communication has been some of the keystones to human development. Without communication, our world that we currently live it would not be possible. Research, Construction, and progress would be hindered. Farming requires communication. The ability to phrase ideas or desires can be fundamental to a farms success. Paul Flischman does not talk about communication specifically this in his book, but it can be examined in multiple instances. One of these instances was when the character Sam held a competition for finding the best way to store or transport water for their gardens. Sam had to communicate to the people of the garden that their methods of getting water were strenuous, and that there had to be a better way. Through Sams’ efforts and the help of a little girl this problem was then solved by collecting the water from the rain. (Flischman, 49) Doing this eliminated the needs for carrying water long distances. This is a perfect example of how communication based with farming has helped farm success and human development. It was also through communication that the character Leona could solve the gardens garbage issue.

People of the garden also had to make efforts to clean up all the garbage. At the start of Pauls’ book, it describes that the lot was covered in trash. Even a couch, that was inhabited by a homeless teenager, was present in the middle (Flischman, 3). However, the desire of the garden people to farm helped motivate the city into cleaning the lot (Flischman 28). If these people had not been farming there would be no need for the lot to be cleaned. After the lot was cleaned the garden people refused to let people dump their trash their again. The worked together to get the city to clean up their neightborhood and kept it that way. They have a pride in ownership of their community that was missing before. There was a homeless teenager by the name of Roice that I would like to examine. I would imagine that he was rather upset about the couch being removed, but he later found employment by one of the gardeners by the name of Curtis (Flischman, 56). The people of the garden also came to find that he was rather sweet and good hearted. This is a good example of how metropolitan farming has helped clean city streets of garbage and help homeless people find a purpose. I am sure that this can be portrayed in many farms and not just the examples in Pauls’ book.

People of the garden also learned how to become friends. The feelings that are portrayed at the beginning of the book give the reader the feelings of isolation and loneliness. The further the reader gets into the book, the warmer the feelings. Why does Seedfolks do this one might ask. My response would be that the group of people are becoming friends. Humans are naturally social creatures. We like attention and we like having friends. Towards the end of Seedfolks it is apparent that there is a new circle of friends that has arisen, causing us as readers to feel warmer. One of the key role players in the book that tied people together was Anna Fleck. She was a teacher that tied many of the groups together. She was mentioned multiple times throughout the book by different people. It is apparent based on this data that she was what some might call a social butterfly. One example of this is when Ms. Fleck talked to her student Virgil. (Flischman, 40) it can also be concluded that the reason Ms. Fleck talked to her student was due to farming. If there was not a community garden they would not have crossed paths. Gardening gave people an excuse to cross cultural barriers and start conversation that would not have happened without the garden.

In conclusion, it is apparent that through farming people have crossed communication barriers leading to human development. Through farming people have also helped metropolitan communities become cleaner and friendlier. I am confident that there are many more instances and examples of these improvements due to farming. However, to me, these are some that I feel have been in the background of Paul Flischmans book and are easy to see in our own community.

Works Cited:

Fleischman, Paul, and Judy Pedersen. Seedfolks. Print.

Agriculture is everywhere?

The reason I am starting this post with that question is because the idea is something I have never considered. Now, I recognize I am not savvy when it comes to noticing my surroundings. I have never been one to enjoy sporting events like football or baseball. Nor I have I understand things that are common in culture like art. In my perspective, art is a perfect design. Art is an algorithm that takes into consideration all inputs and handles them accordingly. This I can say is hard wired into my brain. Consider agriculture. The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear that word is tractors and farm equipment. Specifically, those that have advanced computers and GPS systems. When I hear that word, the last thing that comes to my mind is fresh produce in a supermarket.

                Agriculture is all around us. It might be the last thing that is on my mind but when I take a step back it is not hard to recognize its presence. From the salad, a health-conscious individual might be consuming, to the frozen hot pockets I eat when I am up late at night writing a new computer program. Something other than plastic had to go into making those hot pockets. Next time you are in the supermarket, I suggest you take that to heart. All products have an origin. The key is to ask yourself, ‘Where did it come from.’ After doing this I am sure you will find that most products have roots back to agriculture.

                One good example I have heard, was a story my wife told me about her sister. She grew up in a small farming community and has experience around agriculture and produce. The story she told me was that when her sister was in high school, she brought home a boy that she though was cute. One day they invited the young man to join them for dinner. However, the chores around the farm were not yet complete. My wife’s sister and the young man went out to milk one of the cows. The young man was astonished to find out that milk came out warm. He thought that It was always cold. He also believed that it had to be cold or else it would rot. The reason I relate this story to you is because I often feel like I fall into this category. In fact, I never even considered milk came out warm until she told me this story. I do not recognize that agriculture is all around unless I take a moment to stop and think about it. I most definitely do not consider where things come from. But if you and I take a moment to do that, I believe it is undeniable that agriculture is all around us.

images taken from, http://www.mediaite.com/ and  www.saladbarmn.com

The First and Foremost

Hello everyone. my name is Dallin, and i am not an addict. Well, actually i am. I am addicted to learning. I love learning new things and applying them to every day situations. This can be seen with a few of my other blogs that are automotive based. My Intent in this blog is to talk about things i am learning with respect to farming and farm culture. I have never known much about farming, but my beautiful wife's family is a long line of farmers. With their help, and the help of Utah State University, I hope to close that educational gap. My goal here, and the purpose behind my posts are things i am learning about farming. Feel free to comment, or give advice. Welcome to my Blog.