TUSD FARMS

TUSD Farms picks up where they left off before the pandemic

BY PAWAN NAIDU

The Turlock Unified School District farm continues to provide students an opportunity to learn about agriculture practices. They are in the full swing of the school year and students can expect to take care of wildlife, monitor fruit trees and much more.

The TUSD farm started hosting weekly workshops on Wednesday for high school students to learn more about the agriculture industry. In one of the workshops in early October, Dr. Hallock visited with students and taught them about soil chemistry.

TUSD students don’t only learn on the farm, using new technology provided by the district, students take garden lessons to learn about plants and animals.

Turlock Junior High School taste tested peaches to compare the difference between processed and fresh market varieties.

Over 1,065 pounds of peaches and 600 pounds of plouts from the farm has been delivered to the Child Nutrition Department in the district.

Sixth graders at Brown Elementary began an ongoing plant science NGSS investigation where they will come up with a hypothesis, collect data to determine evidence and see what they can prove about plant growth.

The farm will have a swine barn full of piglets and blossoming fruit and nut trees in the spring. Soon, they will welcome dairy heifers, sheep and goats to the farm as well. The Pitman High School Samsung science team semi-finalists have been visiting the farm to prepare their project protocols and test samples.

The fruit orchard will be in bloom in the coming months, enticing bees and beautifully coloring the back of our farm in pink and white. The floriculture shrubs in the front of the farm are ready to expose their blooms as well.

High school FFA projects are beginning to be in full force at the TUSD farm. This year they will be planting winter crops and monitoring them as they harvest.

TUSD was just informed last week that they will be a recipient of a Golden Bell Award for their farm. For nearly 40 years, the California Schools Boards Association has used the Golden Bell Award to recognize outstanding publicschool programs and governance of school boards in school districts and county offices of education throughout California. A judging panel makes initial recommendations for the award and on-site validators assessed the programs in action.

Photo contributed

The Turlock Unified School District farm is a place of learning for all ages, while also providing fruits and nuts for the Child Nutrition Department.

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