BY BEVERLY MATSUDA SCIENCE TEACHER NORTHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL 4515 PORTOLA PKWY IRVINE, CA My Externship Experience: Agriculture and Natural Resources

TANAKA FARMS January 17, 2011

5380 3/4 UNIVERSITY DR. IRVINE, CA 92612

Tanaka Farms is a year long family operated business, run by Glenn Tanaka  Spring – Produce stand, Strawberry and Cookout tours  Fall – Produce stand, Pumpkin patch  Summer– Produce stand, Watermelon and Cookout tours  Winter – Produce stand, Christmas trees

Fall Summer Spring

Located in the heart of Irvine

Where rural …

… meets urban

And meets the needs of an urban community

How does a small scale farm… During my externship experience I was able to study

Work with a community? They provide locally grown produce

CSA – Community Supported Agriculture

How does a small farm compete with larger farms?

 Produce stand  Tours  Education By offering a variety of services

 Be community based

Classroom Incorporation

How can this be incorporated into the classroom? Greenhouse techniques

When to use direct seeding versus …

Indirect seeding

Working with flats

Irrigation techniques

Transplanting

Timing in the field for weekly deliveries

The business end of csa deliveries

In summary, How can this be incorporated into the classroom? Functional skills can be practiced. Students can  Learn when to direct seed and when to do indirect seeding

In summary, How can this be incorporated into the classroom?  How to work with flats  Greenhouse techniques  Irrigation  Transplanting  Timing  The business end

A Learning Experience It has become more vital to blend farming knowledge together with the business aspect … watching the market, being versatile, and adapting to the future. Reflection: The small scale farmer is having a harder time competing against larger, mono-crop farming.

The end Thanks to the SOCCD Collaborate Grant