Agriculture: Educator's Guide

GROWING THINGS: AGRICULTURE IN PALM BEACH COUNTY Educator Guide

Provided by

The Mary Alice Fortin Foundation, INC.

This Educators’ Guide to Growing Things: Agriculture in Palm Beach County was produced by the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum with the support from the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

©2017 Historical Society of Palm Beach County 300 North Dixie Hwy* P.O. Box 4364 * West Palm Beach, FL 33402-4364 (561) 832-4164 * www.hspbc.org Writer & Graphic Design: Rose Gualtieri & Christina Daniels On Front Cover: George Potter Collection – Picking Pineapples. HSPBC

For more information about the variety of educational programming offered by the Johnson History Museum and the Historical Society of Palm Beach Count, please visit our website: www.hspbc.org/in-the-classroom

TEACHER’S GUIDE TO GROWING THINGS: AGRICULTURE IN PALM BEACH COUNTY

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FLORIDA SUNSHINE STATE STANDARDS

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VOCABULARY

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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INTRODUCTION WHAT IS AGRICULTURE? GROWING THINGS IN THE EAST: THE COASTAL AREAS THE YAMATO COLONY CITRUS GROVES GROWING THINGS IN THE WEST: THE GLADES DREDGING FARMING IN THE GLADES SUGARCANE: KING OF CROPS PLANTING AND HARVESTING SUGARCANE PEST CONTROL NURSERIES CATTLE, DAIRIES, AND HORSES FARMING NOW AND IN THE FUTURE CATTLE, DAIRIES, AND HORSES FARMING NOW AND IN THE FUTURE IN THE FUTURE

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GROWING THINGS TRUNK INVENTORY

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GROWING THINGS: LESSON PLANS

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LESSON 1 – A BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE IN PALM BEACH COUNTY LESSON 2 – A HISTORY OF CORN LESSON 3 – AGRICULTURE TIMELINE LESSON 4 – NATURAL DISASTERS (1928 OKEECHOBEE HURRICANE) LESSON 5 – PESTS: PESTICIDES V.S. ORGANIC LESSON 6 – PEST CONTROL OPTIONS LESSON 7 – SUGARCANE AND CLIMATE

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APPENDIX

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Teacher’s Guide to Growing Things: Agriculture in Palm Beach County

The Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum’s Educators’ Guide, in combination with ongoing teacher workshops and field trips to its permanent and temporary exhibitions, will help you structure learning experiences that correspond to the following Florida Sunshine State Standards. This guide contains materials and resources to supplement and enhance student learning in the classroom and during in-gallery experiences, tying the GROWING THINGS traveling trunk to the state standards and enhancing school field trips.

Note: The USB found in the Teacher’s Guide has the following: Teacher Guide (PDF) Student Handout (PDF) Palm Beach County Agriculture Photographs (PowerPoint Presentation)

Teachers: All sections of this guide may be reproduced for your students.

Florida Sunshine State Standards

SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS: SS.4.A.1.2 SS.4.A.6.1 SS.4.A.6.2 SS.4.A.7.1 SS.4.A.7.2 SS.4.A.9.1 SS.4.C.2.2 SS.4.E.1.2 SS.4.G.1.1 SS.4.G.1.3

SCIENCE STANDARDS: SC.4.E.6.3 SC.4.L.16.1

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VOCABULARY

Acres – Land; a common measure of area: in the U.S. and U.K., 1 acre equals 4,840 square yards.

Agriculture – The science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock; farming.

Citrus – Any small tree or spiny shrubs of the genus Citrus,of the rue family, including the lemon, lime, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, citron, kumquat, and shaddock, widely cultivated for fruit or grown as an ornamental.

Crop – The cultivated produce of the ground, while growing or when gathered: ex. The wheat crop.

Cultivate – To prepare and work on (land) in order to raise crops; till.

Dredging – To clear out with a dredge; remove sand, silt, mud, etc., from the bottom of.

Equine – Horse.

Harvest – The season when ripened crops are gathered.

Herbicide – A substance or preparation for killing plants, especially weeds.

Horticulture – The science and art of cultivating plants.

Nurseries – A place where young trees or other plants are raised for transplanting, for sale, or for experimental study.

Pasture – Grass or other plants for feeding livestock.

Pest – An insect or other small animal that harms or destroys garden plants, trees and crops.

Produce – Agricultural products collectively, especially vegetables and fruits.

Till – To plow or harrow land for the raising of crops; cultivate.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION Introduction Palm Beach County covers nearly 2,500 square miles. That makes our county one of the largest in the State of Florida. It is also larger than some entire states.

Over the years, Palm Beach County has been known by several nicknames but the most important nickname is “Winter Vegetable Capital of the United States.” While most of the nation is under snow and ice and it is too cold to grow vegetables, Palm Beach County farmers can still grow crops. They grow more than twenty-six crops.

Where do farmers grow these crops? The answer is all across Palm Beach County. The total number of acres used for agriculture in the county is 467,480, which is more than any other county in Florida.

The western section of the county is commonly referred to as the “Glades” because it was formerly land that was part of the Everglades. Notice how the word “glades” forms part of the word Everglades. The Glades is part of a larger farming area in south Florida known as the Everglades Agricultural Area or EAA. The EAA covers an area of 700,000 acres in four counties. The Glades portion, which is in Palm Beach County, has over

427,000 acres.

There are also farms and other agricultural businesses in the eastern half of the county.

Most are in or near Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Wellington,

Jupiter, and Loxahatchee. The agricultural land in the eastern section of the county covers 39,870 acres.

Agriculture is very important to everyone. Farmers grow vegetables and fruit, and

raise the cows that supply the milk and meat that we eat. These are sold to companies that process, package, and sell the final product to grocery stores and restaurants. From the planting of the seeds to the selling of the food in the stores or serving the food in restaurants or at home, a lot of jobs depend on agriculture.

And, remember this: if it were not for farmers, you would have to grow your own food or walk through a lot of fields and forests hunting for something to eat. Now that we

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know how important farming is to us, let’s examine what agriculture is.

What is Agriculture?

The English word “agriculture,” comes from the Latin words ager (field) and cultura (cultivation). Agriculture is the practice of cultivating the soil for the purpose of producing crops and/or raising livestock.

It also includes the preparation of these products for

consumption.

Agriculture, or farming, simply means that farmers acquire a piece of land and clear

it of all native vegetation. Then, with tractors and other equipment, the farmers till the soil to make it loose. After this they plant seeds, such as sweet corn or watermelon. Farmers sometimes apply fertilizer, such as manure, to help the plants grow. The crop is then cultivated with equipment or sometimes sprayed with herbicides to kill weeds. Farmers also spray pesticides to kill predator insects that would eat the crop before the farmer could harvest it.

Some farmers plant trees, such as oranges or apples. These trees live for many years and once each year the farmer picks the ripe fruit and sends it to market. Other farmers plant pastures for livestock such as cows and sheep. These farmers sell milk, meat, and wool. And there are other types of farms, too, poultry, sod, fish, horse, landscape plants, honey, and sugar. Some experimental farms try to develop crops that can be cheaply converted to ethanol and used instead of gasoline. Now that we know what agriculture is, let’s explore the history of agriculture in Palm Beach County.

Growing Things in the East: The Coastal Areas Agriculture in Palm Beach County was first practiced along the shore of Lake Worth

by the Seminoles. During the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), U.S. soldiers scouting the lake area found Seminole fields of pumpkin, squash, and other vegetables.

In the

1860s, the keepers of the Jupiter Lighthouse and their families were too far from places where they could buy fresh vegetables, so they planted their own vegetable gardens.

In the 1870s the first permanent settlers arrived on the island now named Palm Beach.

They began clearing land to farm and thought the area was a “Garden of

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Eden.” The sandy soil was so fertile that anything would grow. The early farmers did discover that tomatoes did not grow very well in the muck west of Lake Worth. However, if they added the ashes of hardwood trees to the soil, their tomato crops would grow.

In 1878 the Spanish ship, Providencia, wrecked on the shores of where the first pioneers were living and farming. Part of the cargo that the ship carried was 20,000 coconuts. Since coconuts are the seeds for coconut trees, many of the settlers thought by planting the coconuts in groves and harvesting them a few years later, they would have a cash crop to sell. They planted coconuts and soon the area was covered with thousands of coconut palm trees. And that is the origin of the name of our county: Palm Beach.

Pioneer farmers planted pineapples, pumpkins, coconuts, peas, beans, radishes, tomatoes, and lettuce. When the crops were ripe, they were harvested and boxed for transportation to northern cities.

However, getting the crops to market took a long

time. First, the farmers had to put their shipment on a boat, sail to the north end of Lake Worth, unload the boxes onto wagons, and haul it overland about seven and a half miles to Jupiter. Then, they loaded the boxes on boats again which sailed north up the Indian River to Titusville or Jacksonville. It would be many weeks before a farmer learned if his crop arrived safely and was sold. If the shipment was rotten, the farmer received nothing for his crops (imagine all that work for nothing!). If he was lucky, he received much needed money. For example, in 1879 the Dimick and Geer families actually got a shipment of tomatoes to market in good condition and made $480 an acre which was a small fortune then. Even though many shipments never made it to market before rotting, the farmers refused to give up.

A faster mode of transportation arrived in the 1890s when Henry Flagler built his Florida East Coast Railroad down the Florida east coast to Miami. Farmers were able to get their more perishable vegetables like tomatoes and bell peppers to market before they rotted. The railroad also allowed for great expansion of agriculture because it was so easy to ship the produce to the northern markets By 1890, pineapple was a major local crop. Since pineapples, nicknamed “pines,” needed sandy soil, the eastern section of the county was a perfect location for them. In the 1890s, the pineapple fields of the Windella Pineapple Plantation were located on land just

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north of the restored 1916 Palm Beach County Court House in what is now downtown West Palm Beach. By 1929 there were only a few farmers planting pineapples because plant diseases and freezes destroyed the crops and other more profitable crops were being planted. Also, farmers could not compete with cheaper pineapples imported into the U.S. from the Caribbean.

Through the years, Palm Beach County has had a number of farmers planting a variety of commercial crops from Jupiter to Boca Raton. In Jupiter, the Pennock family had both a dairy farm and an asparagus fernery (a type of fern). The fernery supplied greens to florists across the United States. At times, the fernery made almost as much a year as the dairy. Some pioneers experimented with different fruits to create new varieties. In the mid-1880s Elbridge Gale, a retired professor of horticulture came to the lake area. He homesteaded 160 acres in the area south of 45th Street in West Palm Beach. He planted several mango trees and from these mangoes Gale produced an improved variety of fruit called the Haden mango. Because of Gale’s work with mangoes, we have a town named Mangonia Park.

In Boca Raton, surveyor and farmer Thomas Rickards planted pineapples. He also planted 5,000 citrus trees on fifty-five acres nearby. Another early farmer in the Boca Raton area was Frank Chesebro. He planted potatoes, tomatoes, and banana trees on his farm. Too much rain, grasshoppers, and worms destroyed his crops. Yet he and his family continued to farm and, eventually, the Chesebros had one of the largest farms in Boca Raton.

Clint Moore had the largest farm at 1,600 acres with 500 farm workers that lived on his farm. He grew lima beans, peppers, eggplants, and snap beans. Years later, a road in Boca Raton was named after him.

Sixteen dairy farms prospered in the eastern part of the county although it was hard work. One dairyman, M.A. Weaver milked his cows by hand, bottled the milk, and delivered the milk himself to homes in West Palm Beach.

Farming in eastern Palm Beach County continues today although there are fewer farms every year. One eastern farm is the 900 acre Yee Farm, Inc. This family-owned

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farm grows different Chinese vegetables which are shipped from their packing house in western Boynton Beach, to customers all over the United States.

The Yamato Colony The Yamato Colony was an agricultural settlement of Japanese farmers. In 1904 Joseph Sakai brought the farmers to north Boca Raton. They called the land that they settled “Yamato,” which is an ancient name for Japan. In the beginning, the colony focused on growing pineapples because they could get high prices for the fruit. They also grew citrus and vegetables. Gradually they grew less and less pineapple because of plant diseases and low prices.

By World War II, most of the Yamato colonists had returned to Japan because they had saved up $500 to buy a house in Japan or left for other states. The colony ended when the few remaining farmers were forced to sell their land to the government because the land was to be cleared and turned into an army base. It is now Boca Raton Airport and Florida Atlantic University.

One Japanese colonist remained after World War II. George Morikami purchased and farmed 200 acres in Delray Beach until his death in 1976. He donated his land to Palm Beach County. Today the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is America’s foremost center for Japanese culture.

Citrus Groves Citrus includes fruits such as oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, lemons, and

limes. Citrus is not native to Florida. The citrus industry began when the Spanish settled Florida. They planted the first citrus groves in St. Augustine in the 1500s. Grapefruit seeds were brought to Florida and planted in the 1820s. Today, oranges and other citrus varieties are one of the state’s most important industries. There are about 750,000 acres of citrus groves in Florida.

Palm Beach County once had thousands of acres planted in citrus fruits, including the largest lemon grove in Florida. By 2000, most citrus groves were gone. The owners sold their land so developers could build houses. For example, on Lawrence Road between

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Gateway Boulevard and Lantana Road there were three citrus groves: Ridgeway Groves, Palm Beach Groves, and Knollwood Groves, one of the oldest groves in the county. Now, all three are residential communities. The last remaining citrus producer is Callery-Judge Groves in Loxahatchee. The owners are trying to convert their farmland to a planned community of homes and businesses. After that, there will no longer be commercial citrus production in Palm Beach County.

Growing Things in the West: The Glades Fishing before Farming

Before agriculture came to the Glades, fishing for cat fish was the business of the day.

Along the wild shores of Lake Okeechobee fisherman established their fishing

camps.

Before 1910 several fishing companies were founded and the million-dollar

industry employed 1,500 people. At its peak, the business shipped out an amazing 6.5 million pounds of catfish a year. By 1912, Lake Okeechobee had been fished out and the industry was gone.

Today the lake supports sport fishing and has been called the “Bass

Fishing Capital of the World.� When the fishing industry died, farming took its place in the Glades. However, before this area could really support farming, the land had to be drained.

Dredging By draining the swamps, it was possible to create farmland. In 1881 Hamilton Disston purchased four million acres of land from the State of Florida. It stretched from Orlando to south of Lake Okeechobee. Disston paid one million dollars, or twenty-five cents per acre. Draining the swamps would expose fertile muck, perfect for growing crops.

In order to completely drain the land, several large canals had to be dug from the Atlantic coast to Lake Okeechobee.

Those canals are the Miami, North New River,

Hillsboro, West Palm Beach, and the St. Lucie canals. For each mile that was cut, canals drained about 900 acres. Once the water drained off and exposed the rich muck soil, people began moving in and planting their crops.

Canals were beneficial because they also were a means of transportation. Settlers

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would take the boats to their new land and famers would ship their produce to the cities. However, there were times when boats could not travel the canals because they easily got clogged with silt (dirt).

Once roadways and railroads were built to Lake

Okeechobee, travel on the canals stopped. Canals continue to serve an important function today. The canals hold rainwater so the land does not get flooded.

Farming in the Glades Agriculture in the Glades started when people were able to drain the

land. Beginning about 1904, some of the very first farms in the Glades were established on Ritta and Torry Islands, at the south end of Lake Okeechobee.

Farmers planted

vegetables, some sugarcane, and banana, grapefruit, and avocado trees. One of the larger farms on Torry Island covered 700 acres. The owners had to cut down the pond apple trees (mistakenly called custard apples), to plant peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes.

South of the lake, farmers began settling Okeelanta. By 1917 it was the largest community in the area. It had 110 families, a hotel, town hall, lumberyard, blacksmith, and a barber. South Bay, on the lake’s shore, had at that time only twelve families.

To the northeast of Okeelanta, in what is now the downtown business area of Pahokee, farmers were protected by a high natural ridge. In February 1917, farmer J.R. Poland was ready to harvest his peas, beans, peppers, and potatoes. He heard that a frost had damaged crops throughout Florida. But Poland’s crops were not affected because the farm was protected by the high ridge. Other farmers in the area were also unaffected and made large sums of money for their cabbage, beans, and tomatoes. When word spread that the vegetable fields had not been damaged in Pahokee, people started buying muck land to establish farms in the area. By 1920, there were 624 farms on the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee with over 12,000 acres of crops.

When the canal from West Palm Beach opened, farmers in the Glades were able to ship their crops by barge to West Palm Beach where the crates of produce were transferred to the railroad for shipment north. Western farms were so productive that they out-produced other areas of south Florida. In 1920 Fort Lauderdale farmers shipped thirty railroad cars of tomatoes, but Glades farmers shipped more than fifty-five from West Palm Beach. In 1924 Conners Highway, a toll road, opened. Now, travelers could drive from

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West Palm Beach to Lake Okeechobee and farmers could transport their crops faster and easier which encouraged other people to take up farming in western Palm Beach County.

Over the years, more farms were established or sold to other farmers who were expanding. A. Duda and Sons came to Palm Beach County in the 1940s. Forty years later they had a 20,000 acre farm in Belle Glade and 7,000 acres in Hendry County. They grew celery, radishes, lettuce, sweet corn, carrots, and sugarcane. By 2005 the farm was the only grower of celery in the state. The Belle Glade farm produces 1.4 million fifty-five to sixty pound boxes of celery annually. In one-square mile of farmland they grow 18.4 million celery plants. A. Duda and Sons have other farms in California, Arizona, Texas, and Mexico.

Sugarcane: King of Crops Sugarcane is a tropical grass that grows well in muck. It was first grown in Asia over 4,000 years ago. The early settlers living along Lake Worth planted some sugarcane, but the ground was too salty. In the 1920s, in eastern Palm Beach County, farmers began planting acres of sugarcane, but the 1960s saw the most growth in acreage for the crop. Sugarcane growers use some 440,000 acres in the EAA, most in Palm Beach

County. It is the largest crop in the county.

One of the first people to invest in sugarcane was Frederick E. Bryant. During World War I, there was a shortage of sugar. Bryant decided he would plant fields of cane. He convinced the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open a sugarcane breeding station at Canal Point. Bryant and his partner, E. T. Anderson, started the Florida Sugar and Food Products Company. They built the first sugar mill in the Glades near Canal Point in 1921.

Bryant and Anderson merged their company with Southern Sugar Company which was later purchased by United States Sugar Corporation in 1931 just after U.S. Sugar was established.

After Fidel Castro and the Communist party took control of Cuba in 1959, they quickly confiscated all sugarcane farms in Cuba. Some of the Cuban sugar producers moved to the U.S. and started over. American growers in the Glades saw a chance to increase their sugarcane production. At that time, only 47,000 acres of sugarcane were planted in the EAA.

Just four years later growers harvested 138,000 acres of 12

sugarcane. The following year growers upped their output to 228,000 acres.

One Cuban family that started over was the Fanjul family. Their company, Florida Crystals, started as a small farm in 1960 in Palm Beach County. Since then, it has become a fully integrated sugarcane operation. The company plants and harvests sugarcane and then processes it at its sugar mills, packs it, and distributes the product throughout the United States. Florida Crystals has three processing plants: Okeelanta processes about 22,000 tons of sugar a day; Osceola mill processes 13,500 tons a day; and their Sem-Chi rice mill handles rice products. The company was the first to grow certified organic sugar and they also pioneered growing organic rice in Florida. To help provide power for its mills, Florida Crystals has a renewable energy plant. The facility also provides power for about 43,000 homes.

In the 1960s other, small to medium size, sugarcane growers in the Glades area formed the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. The Cooperative works together to harvest and process their sugarcane and then markets the raw sugar. For forty years the Cooperative had the largest sugar mill in the United States.

Planting and Harvesting Sugarcane South Florida’s climate and soil are perfect for growing sugarcane. The planting season is from September through January. Cane stalks are harvested and cut into twenty inch segments. They are laid in furrows and then covered with soil. It takes a couple of weeks for sprouts to appear. Sugarcane grows in thick rows and will be ready to harvest in ten to twelve months.

Sugarcane harvesting occurs between October and March. Years ago, field workers cut cane stalks by hand. They used a short machete to harvest the crop. Workers wore metal guards on their hands and legs to protect themselves from getting cut. The metal protection looked very similar to the medieval armor worn by European knights. Since the 1990s, sugarcane harvesting is done by combine-like machines. Mechanical harvesting cuts the stalks at ground level and transfers them to trailers which are taken to sugar mills for processing.

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Pest Control Insects, rats, and mice are a constant problem for farmers.

They use different

methods to control these pests. One Glades sugarcane grower decided to try a natural method instead of poisons. About twenty-years ago Wayne Boynton was losing crops to rats and mice. To rid his fields of them, he turned to barn owls who feed on the pesky rats and mice. Boynton set up large birdhouses all over his sugarcane fields for the owls to nest in. As soon as the owls moved in, they began catching and eating the rats and mice. A pair of nesting owls can eat at least 1,500 rats and mice a year. This is one method of using Mother Nature to control rats and mice instead of using chemicals and pesticides.

Nurseries Agriculture also includes ornamental plants like the flowers your mother gets on

Mother’s Day, or the shrubs in the garden at home. Nurseries have been in operation in our county since the early twentieth century. One particular flower grown in Palm Beach County had a festival named after it. The gladiolus flower (gladiolus-singular; gladioliplural) is a brightly colored plant from Africa. The 1940s and 1950s were the heyday for gladiolus farming. Centered between Boynton Beach and Delray Beach, there were at least eleven nurseries growing gladioli.

With fourteen varieties of gladioli grown in Boynton Beach and Delray Beach nurseries, Palm Beach County became the leading source for the popular flowers in the

1950s.

The yearly average of gladioli shipments to the north was about 15 million

dozen.

In 1957 a freeze in the area caused some growers to retire or sell out to

developers because their flower crops were destroyed. There are now only a few gladiolus growers still here. You can still buy locally grown, fresh cut gladioli at the Delray Affair every year.

Nurseries continue to supply people and businesses with ornamental plants. In the

1970s, one Delray Beach nursery provided plants to all the flower shops in New York City.

A Boynton Beach nursery continues to grow and ship thousands of the red Christmas

plants called poinsettias all over the United States.

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Cattle, Dairies, and Horses You would not know it today, but once there were large herds of cattle in Palm Beach County. As a matter of fact, the first dairy in the county was located in Palm Beach. In the late 1890s pioneer Harlan P. Dye brought the first dairy cows to the area. His dairy was located at the north end of Palm Beach on the grounds of what is now the Palm Beach Country Club. Dye later went to Cuba to operate a dairy farm to supply milk to U.S. troops stationed there after the Spanish American War (1898).

In the years that followed, others established dairies in the county. By the late 1930s there were sixteen dairies serving the county. Just after World War II, there were about twelve dairy farms in the area between Atlantic Boulevard in Delray Beach and Boynton Beach Boulevard in Boynton Beach along Military Trail. A dairy located in western Delray Beach had 1,500 dairy cows producing 7,000 gallons of milk every day.

There were also cattle ranches in our county. In 1940 U.S. Sugar started one of the first large beef cattle ranches in the Glades. Another ranch was the King Ranch south of Belle Glade where they had 40,000 cattle. They now have a large sod farm on the property which is one of the largest in Florida. King Ranch also grows sugarcane and vegetables.

By the 1990s most dairies and cattle ranchers had moved out of the county to other areas in Florida to continue their dairy or beef cattle operations. Dairymen and ranchers sold their valuable land to developers who then constructed residential communities and businesses on the former pastures.

The equine (horses) industry in Palm Beach County brings in $150-200 million dollars a year. There are about 6,500 horses in the county. During the winter season when the equestrian events are held, the number climbs to over 13,000 horses. Almost 8,000 acres of land are used for horses. The industry is mostly located in Wellington and it includes the sports of polo and professional horse jumping. Some of the world’s best polo players come here with their horses to play polo during the winter. Polo has been played here since the 1920s, but it was not until the last few decades that Palm Beach County has become been an international polo destination. Wellington is also a major center for horse shows. One of the leading horse training centers is located in Boynton

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Beach.

The facility includes 200 acres of training grounds for race and show

horses. However, there is very little commercial horse breeding in our county. There are about 500,000 horses in Florida.

Farming Now and in the Future Twenty-first century farming in the Glades is now mostly sugarcane with smaller fields for vegetables, sod grass, and rice. But growing vegetables does present challenges with the new laws that prohibit the use of certain chemicals and pesticides, and current restoration projects in the Everglades.

Modern farming methods include industrial

agriculture. Industrial agriculture involves large fields and/or numbers of animals. It also

includes a lot of pesticides and fertilizers and high levels of mechanization.

Nurseries continue to supply people and businesses with ornamental plants. In the

1970s, one Delray Beach nursery provided plants to all the flower shops in New York City.

A Boynton Beach nursery continues to grow and ship thousands of the red Christmas

plants called poinsettias all over the United States.

Cattle, Dairies, and Horses You would not know it today, but once there were large herds of cattle in Palm Beach County. As a matter of fact, the first dairy in the county was located in Palm Beach. In the late 1890s pioneer Harlan P. Dye brought the first dairy cows to the area. His dairy was located at the north end of Palm Beach on the grounds of what is now the Palm Beach Country Club. Dye later went to Cuba to operate a dairy to supply milk to U.S. troops stationed there after the Spanish American War (1898).

In the years that followed, others established dairies in the county. By the late 1930s there were sixteen dairies serving the county. Just after World War II, there were about twelve dairy farms in the area between Atlantic Boulevard in Delray Beach and Boynton Beach Boulevard in Boynton Beach along Military Trail. A dairy located in western Delray Beach had 1,500 dairy cows producing 7,000 gallons of milk every day.

There were also cattle ranches in our county. In 1940 U.S. Sugar started one of the first large beef cattle ranches in the Glades. Another ranch was the King Ranch south of

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Belle Glade where they had 40,000 cattle. They now have a large sod farm on the property which is one of the largest in Florida. King Ranch also grows sugarcane and vegetables.

By the 1990s most dairies and cattle ranchers had moved out of the county to other areas in Florida to continue their dairy or beef cattle operations. Dairymen and ranchers sold their valuable land to developers who then constructed residential communities and businesses on the former pastures.

The equine (horses) industry in Palm Beach County brings in $150-200 million dollars a year. There are about 6,500 horses in the county. During the winter season when the equestrian events are held, the number climbs to over 13,000 horses. Almost 8,000 acres of land are used for horses. The industry is mostly located in Wellington and it includes the sports of polo and professional horse jumping. Some of the world’s best polo players come here with their horses to play polo during the winter. Polo has been played here since the 1920s, but it was not until the last few decades that Palm Beach County has become been an international polo destination. Wellington is also a major center for horse shows. One of the leading horse training centers is located in Boynton Beach.

The facility includes 200 acres of training grounds for race and show

horses. However, there is very little commercial horse breeding in our county. There are about 500,000 horses in Florida.

Farming Now and in the Future Twenty-first century farming in the Glades is now mostly sugarcane with smaller fields for vegetables, sod grass, and rice. But growing vegetables does present challenges with the new laws that prohibit the use of certain chemicals and pesticides, and current restoration projects in the Everglades.

Modern farming methods include industrial

agriculture. Industrial agriculture involves large fields and/or numbers of animals. It also

includes a lot of pesticides and fertilizers and high levels of mechanization.

The use of farm machines has made agriculture better. Because of mechanization, farming is more efficient and has a higher level of crop production. Other recent advances in agriculture include hydroponics, organic farming, better management of soil nutrients, and improved weed control.

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Some growers practice organic farming. These farms use renewable resources, soil conservation, and water to help the environmental quality for future generations. As many as thirteen Palm Beach County farms grow organic vegetables. Florida Crystals practices organic sugar farming. They are the only sugar grower to produce certified organic sugar. The company is also a pioneer in growing certified organic rice.

Pero

Family

Farms

practices

an

advanced

method

of

agriculture—

hydroponics. They have 8,000 acres of farmland in Delray Beach. With today’s yearround demand for fresh vegetables, Pero Farms also uses a state-of-the-art hydroponic greenhouse operation to grow vegetables in a large airplane hanger. They get 228,000 bell peppers from one hydroponic acre and only 13,000 peppers can be grown on one acre of land. This farm is the only commercial hydroponic grower in Palm Beach County.

In the Future Some people have said that agriculture in the Glades will end. Farming depends on the muck soil that lies over the limestone bedrock. The muck has subsided over the years. This has been caused by drainage and cultivation of the land and from compaction by machinery, burning, oxidation, and shrinkage caused by dehydration.

Scientists and farmers are trying different ways to preserve the soil. Some growers practice what is called successive planting. Instead of harvesting a crop, tilling the soil, and then letting it sit bare, farmers plant the next crop right away. This helps preserve the muck. Another method is to flood the field for several months. This is also great for water birds.

There are other issues to face in the future. These include how to produce enough food for a growing population, how to produce food on farms that are profitable and also protect the environment and natural resources, and how to farm and not upset the Everglades Restoration Project with harmful chemicals from fertilizers. Farmers already limit the use of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. Therefore, rainwater runoff will not carry as much contaminates into waterways and wetlands.

Farmers must decide what they will do in the future. They face muck subsidence and the westward movement of developments that surround their farms. Some of them sell

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their land for more money than they earn from farming. Others stay and create new ways to keep farming, like hydroponics. Some sell their farmland to local or state governments who will protect and conserve it.

Those farmers that continue to grow vegetables in face of these challenges will be the ones that come up with new methods to provide us with the food we eat. Though there are problems, farmers are smart and innovative, and they will rise to meet the challenges.

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GROWING THINGS TRUNK INVENTORY

1 Cabbage 1 Romaine Lettuce 3 Tomatoes 1 Stock of Celery 3 Cucumbers 3 Bell peppers 3 Ears of Corn

1 Florida’s Farm History! Teacher Guide 1 Bag of Slash Pine seeds 1 Junior Master Gardner Handbook 1 Gardening for Grades book 1 Wildlife Gardner book 1 Project Food, Land & People binder

2 Bags of Sugar

1 The Honey Files: A Bee’s Life Teacher Guide

2 Bags of Peat moss

1 The Honey Files: A Bee’s Life DVD

3 Vinyl Posters

1 Black Gold and Silver Sands book

1 Citrus Poster

1 Teacher Guide

2 Eggplants

21 Agricultural Images

5 Florida’s Farm History! Books Electrical copy available online: https://archive.org/details/FLfarmhistory

1 USB Teacher Guide

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GROWING THINGS: LESSON PLANS Lesson 1 – A Brief History of Agriculture in Palm Beach County

Grade 4 Student Target Benchmark: SS.4.G.1.3 Objective • Explore a major cash crop of Palm Beach County.

• Explore the history of Agriculture in Palm Beach County.

• Explore the climate in Palm Beach County.

Material • Watch: o Who needs dirt? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCSIrlk0GTs o SugarCane Mills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_fgp7zYKk o How does rice grow? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxAEiHCErSA • Print A Brief History of Agriculture in Palm Beach County worksheet.

• Dictionaries Teacher Background Notes Over the years, Palm Beach County has been known by several nicknames, including “Winter Vegetable Capital of the United States.” When most of the nation is under snow and ice and it is too cold to grow vegetables, Palm Beach County farmers grow 26 major crops. Palm Beach County agriculture occupies two distinct areas. The western section of the county is commonly referred to as the “Glades,” because the land was formerly part of the Everglades. The soil is organic muck, nicknamed “black gold,” because it is so fertile. In 2007, the Glades contained over 427,000 acres within the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), which covers 700,000 acres in four counties. The facilities that support Glades agriculture include three major sugar mills, a rice mill, a dozen vegetable packinghouses, and a sugar and molasses shipping facility located at the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach.

Warm-Up Questions

Ask the following questions orally to measure student’s background knowledge. o Ask after students watch who needs dirt video: o Why is dirt important for plants? o Do you think that plants can grow in any type of dirt? Why or why not? o Ask after students watch sugar mill video: o What is a sugarcane mill? o What product do we get from sugarcanes? o Ask after students watch all three videos: Do you think that dirt is important for growing things in Palm Beach County? Why or why not?

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Activities o Students should complete the attached worksheet by reading and answering the questions and using a dictionary to define the vocabulary words. o Students will create a for-sale sign for farmland in Palm Beach County. o The posters should include via words or pictures: the price for the land, an explanation or demonstration of the fertile land to the customer, and an explanation that the customer can grow winter vegetables.

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A Brief History of Agriculture in Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County covers over 2,300 square miles and is one of the largest counties in the State of Florida, and even larger than some other states.

Over the years, Palm Beach County has been known by several nicknames, including “Winter Vegetable Capital of the United States.” When most of the nation is under snow and ice and it is too cold to grow vegetables, Palm Beach County farmers grow 26 major crops. During the 2006-07 season, 467,480 acres were used for agriculture in the county, which is more than any other county in Florida.

Palm Beach County agriculture occupies two distinct areas. The western section of the county is commonly referred to as the “Glades,” because the land was formerly part of the Everglades. The soil is organic muck, nicknamed “black gold,” because it is so fertile. In 2007, the Glades contained over 427,000 acres within the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), which covers 700,000 acres in four counties. The facilities that support Glades agriculture include three major sugar mills, a rice mill, a dozen vegetable packinghouses, and a sugar and molasses shipping facility located at the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach.

In the eastern half of Palm Beach County, there were 39,870 acres of agricultural enterprises in 2007, mostly in or near Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Wellington, Jupiter, and Loxahatchee Groves. The sandy soil in this section is used mostly for crops such as bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, and Chinese vegetables; plant nurseries; and equestrian (horse) uses.

Without farmers, we would have to grow our own food or walk through a lot of fields and forests hunting for something to eat, as the early pioneers did. Farmers grow vegetables and fruit, and raise cows that supply milk and meat for us to eat. These products are sold to companies that process, package, and sell the final product to grocery stores and restaurants. From the planting of the seeds to the selling of the food in the stores or serving the food in restaurants or at home, a lot of jobs depend on agriculture.

Discussion Questions:

1. Use your dictionary to define the following words: Agriculture, Occupies, Distinct, Fertile, Facilities, Molasses, Enterprises, Nurseries, and Equestrian 2. Why is Palm Beach County called the “Winter Vegetable Capital of the United States?”

3. Why is it important to grow winter vegetables in Florida while other states are covered in ice?

4. What is black gold and why is it important for agriculture?

5. How did the early pioneers get their food?

6. What do farmers grow?

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Lesson 2 – A History of Corn Grade 4 Student Target Benchmark: Social Studies - SS.4.E.1.2 SS.4.G.1.3 Science - SC.4.E.6.3, SC.4.L.16.1 Objective • Explore a major cash crop of Palm Beach County.

• Explore the history of Corn.

Material • Print A Brief History of Corn worksheet.

• Dictionaries Teacher Background Notes o With an estimated $1.42 billion in total agricultural sales for 2016-17, Palm Beach County leads the State of Florida, all counties east of the Mississippi River, and its one of the ten largest in the United States. Palm Beach County leads the nation in the production of sugarcane, fresh sweet corn, and sweet bell peppers. It leads the State in the production of rice, lettuce, radishes, Chinese vegetables, specialty leaf, and celery. (More information: http://discover.pbcgov.org/coextension/agriculture/Pages/default.aspx ) o Sweet Corn – Sweet corn is the kind of corn you buy at the grocery store to eat.

You can eat it off the ear (corn-on-the-cob). You can also buy it in cans or in the frozen food aisle. Fresh sweet corn is found most often during the summer and is sweet and juicy. o Field Corn (dent corn) - The most abundant type of corn grown in the United States is actually field, or dent, corn. Almost all of the corn you see in fields is dent corn.

Unlike sweet corn, dent corn has a hard outer portion about the thickness of your fingernail. The inner portion of the corn kernel is soft and floury. Field corn is referred to as dent corn because of the indentations or “dents” on the top of each kernel.

• Field corn makes up 99% of the corn grown in the U.S. • More field corn is grown in the U.S. than any other crop, including wheat (what we use for bread) and soybeans Warm-Up Questions Ask the following questions to measure student’s background knowledge. o What is corn? o What products are made out of corn? o Sweet corn is a warm- season crop that grows best at temperatures between 60 and 80 °F. Do you think it is wise to grown corn in Palm Beach County? Why or why not?

Activity o Students should complete the attached worksheet by reading and answering the questions and using a dictionary to define the vocabulary words.

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Name_______________________________

A Brief History of Corn

Since ancient times, corn has played an integral role in human history. Corn is in the grass family, and it is native to the Americas. The exact origin of the grain remains unknown, but tiny ears of corn have been discovered at ancient village sites and in tombs of early Native Americans. Evidence of corn in central Mexico, where it was domesticated from a wild grass, suggests it was used there as long as 7,000 years ago.

Cultivated corn is known to have existed in the southwestern United States for at least 3,000 years.

To the Aztecs in Mexico, corn was a staple of their diet that provided flour and vegetable dishes. Here in the United States, many different Native American tribes have traditionally grown corn—also known as maize—and used it for both food and practical purposes. Corn was so important to some Pueblo tribes of the Southwest that it was considered one of the three sacred foods (along with beans and squash), so sacred that some groups even worshipped it. Indeed, Native American mythology is rich with stories involving corn and important religious events. Eastern tribes shared their knowledge of corn production with the early European settlers, saving many pioneers from starvation.

Use of Corn Along with wheat and rice, corn is one of the world’s major grain crops. It is the largest grain crop grown in the United States today, and the United States is the largest producer of corn in the world. Corn is used as food for humans and as feed for livestock.

Many American foods come from corn. We eat the kernels of sweet corn right off the cob and heat popcorn kernels for a tasty snack. Field corn (also called dent corn) can be processed and separated into its different components to make corn-based sweetener, starch, meal, and oil, which are used in a wide variety of foods.

Corn cobs have been used as a soft-grit abrasive and to provide furfural, a liquid required in the manufacturing of nylon fibers. Corn has been used as a source for producing biodegradable plastics. Additionally, ethanol (a type of renewable fuel made from corn) has shown the possibility of becoming a major new fuel for the world’s automotive industry. From foods of the past to fuels of the future, this highly diverse crop has played a major role in human civilization.

Corn Production As miraculous as the many uses for corn may be, the way corn develops and grows into a productive plant is equally fascinating. To understand the vast amount of seed produced by corn plants, consider the following example: A single seed (kernel) can produce a plant that will contain at least 600 kernels per ear. On one acre of land, anywhere from 22,000 to 35,000 individual plants may be grown. In general, hybrid corn varieties produce one to two ears per plant. If each plant produces at least one ear of corn, the yield will be 13,000,000 (thirteen million) kernels of corn from that single acre. A 400-acre farm would then yield over five billion kernels. In addition, consider that US corn yields have increased more than 500% since the early 1900s. With the development of technologies like hybrid corn varieties, synthetic fertilizers, and new farm machinery, more corn can be produced on less land than ever before.

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Activity Questions 1. Use a dictionary to define the following words: a. Domesticated b. Staple c. Practical d. Worship e. Mythology f. Biodegradable g. Hybrid h. Synthetic

2. What is maize?

3. Palm Beach County leads the nation in the production of fresh sweet corn. Why do you think this is a good thing for Palm Beach County?

4. Name two uses of corn.

5. How many kernels does one single seed produce?

6. How is more corn being produced on less land?

7. What is a life cycle?

8. Explain the life cycle of corn.

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Lesson 3 – Agriculture Timeline Grade 4 Student Target Benchmark: SS.4.A.7.2, SS.4.A.9.1, SS.4.G.1.3 Objective o Utilize timelines to sequence key events in Florida history o Summarize challenges Floridians faced during the Great Depression. [. . . the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and the Mediterranean fruit fly.] o Summarize Palm Beach Counties’ agricultural history.

Material o Show the following video to help students understand time lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=842mEdbuTJs o Before attempting this activity, this activity is a wrap-up to the other lessons included in this activity box and It is suggested that the class completes a personal timeline activity: https://www.education.com/lesson-plan/time-of-my-life/ o Print Timeline of Palm Beach County o Dictionary Warm-Up Questions After showing the video on time-lines, ask the following questions orally to measure student’s background knowledge: • What is a time line?

• Why are time-lines important?

Activities Students should complete the following activities in a group of 3-5 students: • Print one to three copies of the Timeline of Palm Beach County worksheet per group.

• Students should complete the attached worksheet by reading and answering the questions with group members.

• Allow students 10-15 minutes to answer questions. When students finish answering the questions, discuss the answers with the class.

• Students will create a poster of Palm Beach’s timeline.

• Students must select the five dates and events that they think is most important to Palm Beach’s agricultural history.

• Students will create a timeline with graphics to illustrate the different events.

• Students will present their posters to the class.

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Timeline of Palm Beach County 1830s Seminoles planted small fields of pumpkins, squash, and other crops along Lake Worth.

1860s Keepers of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse plant small vegetable gardens. Augustus O. Lang plants and cultivates lemons, limes, oranges, and guavas on what is now the island of Palm Beach.

1870s First permanent settlers arrive on Lake Worth and clear land for farming. They grow sugarcane, pineapples, pumpkins, potatoes, coconuts, peas, beans, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado pears.

1880s Thousands of pineapples are planted in the Lake Worth region. Jupiter and Lake Worth Railroad opens. Vegetables are transported 7.5 miles by rail from Juno on the lake to Jupiter then transferred to steamboats traveling north.

1890s Four great freezes (1894, 1895, 1896, 1899) damages or destroys pineapples, green beans, peppers, citrus, and other crops. Henry Flagler extends his railroad from Titusville to West Palm Beach then to Miami. This allows for faster shipping of crops to northern markets.

1900s Dredging and draining of the Everglades begins under Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward. Ritta Island, at the south end of Lake Okeecbobee, is settled by farmers. Speculators begin buying land in Everglades. Dredging of the canals in southeast Florida to Lake Okeechobee begins. o Palm Beach County is formed (1909) 1910s Famers start arriving in the Glades and begin clearing land and planting crops. o United States enters World War I (1917-1918) o Three year drought (1917-1919) strikes the Lake Okeechobee area lowering water levels. Eighty-five Years of Family Farming Time Posts 1920s USDA opens sugarcane breeding station at Canal Point. First sugar mill opens in Canal Point. Conners Highway connects the Glades area with West Palm Beach. The Everglades Experimental Station opened in Belle Glade. There were 101 pineapple growers in Palm Beach County cultivating 925 acres. Florida East Coast Railroad extends line from Okeechobee City to Canal Point and Belle Glade. Farmers can ship crops from depots in the Glades. Earthen levee completed from Bacom Point to Moore Haven to keep lake from flooding crops.

1926 Hurricane strikes southern Lake Okeechobee, breaks levee at Moore Haven and kills over 300 people.

1928 Hurricane devastates Palm Beach County. Dike breaks and floods the Glades wiping out settlements and killing at least 3,000 persons.

1930s Construction of Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee begins. Farmers start growing celery away from the lake shore where tomatoes and beans are grown.

Hurricane floods coastal areas from Boynton Beach to Jupiter. 85-mile long Herbert Hoover Dike completed three-quarters of the way around Lake Okeechobee.

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1940s United States enters World War II (1941-1945) A camp was set up in Belle Glade for 200 German POWs working in a canning factory. o Famers in Palm Beach County awarded the Army “A” Award for agricultural achievement. In the winter season of 1942-1943, $22 million worth of vegetables are grown on 84,000 acres. First Gladiolus Festival held in Delray Beach. o Hurricane floods cover agricultural fields for weeks. Farm animals starve or die of disease from standing in the high water. Hurricane damages crops in Palm Beach County and floods many cities. This led to the formation of the Central and Southeastern Flood Control District, which later became known as the South Florida Water Management District. 707,200 acres are designated as the Everglades Agricultural Area.

1950s Weaver Brothers Dairy is largest in Palm Beach County with over a thousand cows. Five farms combined to ship two million dozen Gladioli to the north. Thomas Produce is founded by John Thomas, Sr. It would become Florida’s largest vegetable grower in Florida with about 14,000 acres in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, and Hendry Counties. The height of cattle ranching in Palm Beach County. 1960s President Dwight Eisenhower cancels Cuba’s three million ton sugar quota. Scientists develop a new hybrid of corn called Florida Sweet. 1970s DuBois Farms formed by four family members.

1980s Bowman and Sons Dairy is largest dairy in county with over 1,500 cows. Most dairy farms and ranches have sold out and/or moved to other areas of Florida. 1990s All sugarcane growers switch to mechanized harvesting. 2000s Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma take severe toll on county farm fields, especially citrus. 1,110 farms and nurseries in Palm Beach County. U.S. Sugar agrees to sell its 180,000 acres to South Florida Water Management.

Discussion Questions:

1. Define the following words: drought, dredging, shipping, breeding, cultivating, dike, flood, devastates, hybrid, and mechanized.

2. When did the Jupiter and Lake Worth railroad open?

3. What allowed for faster shipping of crops to northern markets?

4. How many people died in the 1928 flood?

5. Why was the Herbert Hoover Dike constructed?

6. What is the purpose of the Central and Southeastern flood control district?

7. What company is the largest vegetable grower in Florida?

8. What is the name of the farm formed by four family members?

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Lesson 4 – Natural Disasters (1928 Okeechobee Hurricane) Grade 4 Student Target Benchmark: SS.A.1.2.1, SS.A.6.2.3, SS.4.G.1.3, SS.4.A.7.1 D

Goals: • Students will explain how weather impacts Florida’s agriculture.

• Students will evaluate the bust of the roaring 20’s.

• Evaluate the impact disasters on Florida’s economy.

Background Story: There was a bad hurricane in 1926 that destroyed many Miami developments. People no longer trusted buying Florida land. The land was also overpriced. As if the land collapse was not bad enough, a terrible hurricane hit South Florida in September of 1928 with winds in excess of 125 miles per hour. Traveling parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, the storm suddenly turned west across Palm Beach County into the heartland of the muck lands. The migrant workers and small farmers of Lake Okeechobee were asleep. Few had radios.

They had no automobiles for a quick escape. As the winds of the hurricane moved counterclockwise across the lake, the south end of the lake was dried up. When the storm passed by, however, a huge tidal wave crashed down on the people of Belle Glade and MooreHaven. Over 13,000 homes were destroyed. 115 were dead in Miami and the tidal wave had drowned 300 people. The news of people drowning in a wave, thirty miles from the Atlantic Ocean amazed people across the world. The nameless migrants were piled up and burnt to prevent plague. The major developments were in ruins, many of them unable to recover. It would take years to rebuild the confidence and spirit of the Florida Land Boom. When the Great Depression hit Florida, it had a limited impact since so many Floridians were already in weak financial state. A year later the arrival of the Mediterranean fruit fly would hurt the citrus industry. Certainly, many Floridians wondered if Florida would ever see again such wonderful and confident times as the Florida Land Boom.

1. Class Discussion: § Students should read the story to understand the underlined words. § Ask the class what they think a natural disaster is and what each underlined word means. § Have the students write the answers to the discussion questions for 10-20 minutes, then discuss the answers with the class.

2. Class Activity: 1. Students should form groups of 3-5 children. Then have the students write a play using the information from the Background Story.

2. Explain that the students should explain how weather affects agriculture in Palm Beach County within their play.

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Background Story

There was a bad hurricane in 1926 that destroyed many Miami developments. People no longer trusted buying Florida land. The land was also overpriced.

As if the land collapse was not bad enough, a terrible hurricane hit South Florida in September of 1928 with winds in excess of 125 miles per hour. Traveling parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, the storm suddenly turned west across Palm Beach County into the heartland of the muck lands. The migrant workers and small farmers of Lake Okeechobee were asleep. Few had radios. They had no automobiles for a quick escape.

As the winds of the hurricane moved counterclockwise across the lake, the south end of the lake was dried up. When the storm passed by, however, a huge tidal wave crashed down on the people of Belle Glade and MooreHaven.

Over 13,000 homes were destroyed. 115 were dead in Miami and the tidal wave had drowned 300 people. The news of people drowning in a wave, thirty miles from the Atlantic Ocean amazed people across the world. The nameless migrants were piled up and burnt to prevent plague. The major developments were in ruins, many of them unable to recover.

It would take years to rebuild the confidence and spirit of the Florida Land Boom. When the Great Depression hit Florida, it had a limited impact since so many Floridians were already in weak financial state. A year later the arrival of the Mediterranean fruit fly would hurt the citrus industry. Certainly, many Floridians wondered if Florida would ever see again such wonderful and confident times as the Florida Land Boom.

Discussion Questions 1. What is a natural disaster?

2. How many natural disasters happened to Florida in the background essay?

3. In the roaring 20’s Florida’s land was wealthy! How did the hurricane change that?

4. Americans had little money during the Great Depression. Why do you think the depression barely impacted Florida after the hurricane?

5. What do you think the word plague mean?

6. Would you want to farm in Florida after the 1926 and 1928 hurricane, the Great Depression and the arrival of the fruit flies? Why or Why not?

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Lesson 5 – Pests: Pesticides V.s. Organic Grade 4 Student Target Benchmark: SS.A.1.2.1, SS.A.6.2.3, SS.4. A.6.1, SS.4. C.2.2

Goals: • Students will evaluate the pros and cons of using pesticides.

• Students will develop an understanding of organic products.

• Students will explore the organic industries economic growth.

Warm-up Lesson: Write the following vocabulary words and questions on the board. Have the students work with a group of 3-5 students to see if they know what the definitions or answers to the following questions/vocabulary words are.

• Define: Pest, Pesticides, and Organic • Answer: - Why do you think farmers want to eradicate pests?

- Do you think that pesticides are harmful for humans?

- Do you think it is better to use pesticides or not?

Teacher Notes: Health Implications of Organics: Although a subject of particular debate, many recent findings show that organic food is healthier than conventionally grown food. According to the USDA, an extensive European Union-funded study found that organically grown foods contain more beneficial compounds, such as the vitamins and antioxidants needed to combat many diseases (see References 5). Organic milk, meat and eggs are regulated to ensure they are free of hormones administered to conventional livestock and poultry.

Health Implications of Pesticides: Pesticides affect human health in three ways: through skin contact, inhalation and ingestion. Acute and long-term exposure to pesticides can cause serious health problems for farmers who apply them. The majority of other people are affected by drinking contaminated water and eating contaminated marine life (see References 3). Pesticides have been linked to neurological disorders, endocrine and reproductive disorders, immune system deficiencies and cancer. According to the World Health Organization, acute pesticide poisoning (APP) is responsible for significant annual mortality, especially in developing nations Activity One: • The teacher will pass out the Organic V.s. Non-Organic worksheet below.

• Students will then break-out into groups of 3-5 students, for 20 minutes.

• Students should answer review questions and write two reasons pesticides should or should not be used.

• Students will then share ideas to the class and vote on the best responses.

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Activity Two: • Students should research (Current event on the effects of pesticides in Palm Beach) or use the one attached.

• Students will then write a letter to the Florida Governor, convincing him that pesticides or organic products are needed for agriculture in Palm Beach County.

Work sheets: • https://www.englishclub.com/reading/health/organic.htm (Organic v.s.

NonOrganic) • http://miami.cbslocal.com/2017/03/30/feds-refuse-to-ban-pesticides-linked-toharm-in-childrens-brains/ (Feds Refuse To Ban Pesticides Linked To Harm In Children’s Brains- News article) • Example of constituent letter: https://feaweb.org/veto-senate-bill-850 Write letters to: Rick Scott, Governor The Capitol 400 South Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001 Email: rick.scott@eog.myflorida.com Web: http://www.flgov.com/ Phone: 850-717-9337

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Reading Exercise: Organic Foods level: intermediate Are organic foods really more nutritious than non-organic foods? Read about this issue in the reading practice exercise below.

Organic food is very popular these

days. It can also be very expensive. Some organic food costs twice as much as nonorganic food. Parents of young children, and even some pet owners, will pay high prices for organic food if they think it's healthier. But many others think organic food is just a waste of money.

There is one main difference between organic and non-organic food. Organic farms do not use agricultural chemicals such as pesticides that stop insects from damaging crops. In many countries foods that claim to be organic must have special labels that guarantee they're grown organically.

Some people think organic also means "locally grown", and originally this was true. But over time organic farming has become big business, with many organic foods now being grown by large agricultural companies that sell their products far from where they're grown. Processed food made with organic ingredients has also become more popular. At first, only small companies produced these products. But as demand overtook supply, big food companies that had been selling non-organic products for many years

also began selling organic products. Small organic food companies found it difficult to compete with these big companies, and many didn't stay in business much longer.

Is organic food safer and more nutritious? This is an important part of the debate.

Many farmers and consumers believe it is. They think agricultural chemicals can cause serious illnesses like cancer, but there isn't much evidence proving this is true. However recent studies have shown that eating organically-grown produce reduces your chances of developing heart disease. Many doctors think it's more important to stop dangerous bacteria from contaminating foods. These bacteria can contaminate both organic and non-organic fruit and vegetables, and doctors recommend washing produce carefully before eating it. Meat, fish and chicken can also become contaminated, so washing your hands before handling these foods is also very important.

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Many doctors also believe we should reduce the amount of sugar in our diets, and there is a lot of evidence to support this idea. They recommend carefully checking the list of ingredients on processed food and drinks for all the words that really mean sugar, like glucose, sucrose and fructose. And they remind us that the aim of most big food companies is to make lots of money, even if they damage our health while doing so. This means processed foods that are called "organic" can also be very unhealthy if they contain lots of sugar.

Most people agree that naturally grown food tastes better. Is tastier food worth the extra money? That's a matter of opinion. Whether organic food is healthier or not is still not clear, so more research is needed. However, consumers of organic food often say "better safe than sorry" when it comes to what we eat.

Review Questions

1. What is the main difference between organic and non-organic food? a) use of pesticides b) size of company c) location of the farm 2. Which is usually more expensive? a) pet food b) organic food c) non-organic food 3. Many small organic food companies found it difficult to _______ . a) waste money b) stay in business c) find cheap pesticides 4. Recent studies show that eating organic produce can _______ your chances of having heart disease. a) develop b) increase c) reduce 5. Dangerous bacteria can contaminate a) organic food only b) non-organic food only c) organic and non-organic food 6. All processed foods should have a label listing the product's a) ingredients b) pesticides

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c) organics 7. Many doctors now believe eating too much _______ food is bad for our health. a) fresh b) sweet c) organic 8. Processed organic foods can also be unhealthy if they contain lots of a) nutritious ingredients b) organic produce c) glucose 9. The aim of most big food companies is to make the healthiest _______ they can. a) profits b) products c) customers 10. Most people agree that naturally grown food tastes a) safer b) better c) worse

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Reading Exercise: Organic Foods Answer Key 1. use of pesticides 2. organic food 3. stay in business 4. reduce 5. organic and non-organic food 6. ingredients 7. sweet 8. glucose 9. profits 10. better

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Lesson 6 – Pest Control Options Grade 4 Student Target Benchmark: SS.A.6.2.3, SS.4.A.6.1 , SS.4.C.2.2

Goals: • • •

Students will evaluate which pest control options are safer for the environment.

Students will understand how entrepreneurs contribute to solving community problems.

Students will gain a rich understanding of choosing options that promote public and environmental health.

Teacher Notes: Insects, rats, and mice are a constant problem for farmers. They use different methods to control these pests. One Glades sugarcane grower decided to try a natural method instead of poisons. About twenty-years ago Wayne Boynton was losing crops to rats and mice. To rid his fields of them, he turned to barn owls who feed on the pesky rats and mice. Boynton set up large birdhouses all over his sugarcane fields for the owls to nest in.

As soon as the owls moved in, they began catching and eating the rats and mice.

A pair of nesting owls can eat at least 1,500 rats and mice a year. This is one method of using Mother Nature to control rats and mice instead of using chemicals and pesticides.

Class Activity One 1. Complete discussion questions on the attached worksheet. (Questions can be projected, passed out as a worksheet (see below) or written on the board.)

2. Watch the video on barn owls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDaZPYnY44M 3. Have the student answer the debate questions. Explain that they will be competing to see which opinion is the best in the class.

• Show students debate this video if they need help understanding how to engage in a debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwXZisYEQZs • Style One - Debate can be done as a discussion with students raising their hand.

• Style Two – Debate can be run by asking three students from each opinion category to debate three other students from the opposite opinion category. The class can watch the six children debate and ask them questions.

Wrap-Up Questions: • If you were a farmer, would you look for other alternatives to pesticides or use whatever is available? Why?

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Pest Control Background information: Insects, rats, and mice are a constant problem for farmers. They use different methods to control these pests. One Glades sugarcane grower decided to try a natural method instead of poisons. About twenty-years ago Wayne Boynton was losing crops to rats and mice. To rid his fields of them, he turned to barn owls who feed on the pesky rats and mice. Boynton set up large birdhouses all over his sugarcane fields for the owls to nest in.

As soon as the owls moved in, they began catching and eating the rats and mice.

A pair of nesting owls can eat at least 1,500 rats and mice a year. This is one method of using Mother Nature to control rats and mice instead of using chemicals and pesticides.

Discussion Questions 1. What are pests?

2. Why do you think Boynton tried a natural method to rid his field of rats and mice?

3. What do you think Mother Nature means?

4. What type of crop was Wayne Boynton growing?

Debate Question 5. You are a farmer with a pest problem. The pests want to eat all of your crops! Which option would you pick to save your farm? Explain your answer with 5 reasons. a. You can buy pesticides which would kill the rodents instantly. However, doctors are constantly reporting that pesticides are causing illness in humans.

b. You can use barn owls to get rid of the pests. However, you will have to spend money to buy owl houses and wait for owls to nest in them.

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Lesson 7 – Sugarcane and Climate Grade 4 Student Target Benchmark: SS.4.G.1.1, SS.4.G.1.3 SS.4.E.1.2 Goals: • • •

Students will have an understanding of the significance of farming in Florida.

Students will evaluate how climate affects Florida and other American states.

Students will examine sugarcane as a major cash crops for Palm Beach County.

Teacher Notes (Use the following background knowledge to lead the classroom discussion. The goal of the classroom discussion is for students to understand that different crops grow in different weather.)

• Cold weather plants: Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Spinach, Kale and Turnips (Tastes best when matured in cool weather.) Hardy vegetables tolerate hard frosts (usually 25 to 28 degrees F).

• Summer plants: Beans, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Melons, Peppers, Tomatoes, Sweet potatoes (The plants cannot survive in cold weather.) These tender vegetables need warm weather (65 to 90 degrees F) to grow and are killed by frost.

• Florida Plants: About 50% of the cane sugar produced in the U.S. comes from Florida, which accounts for about 20% of all sugar consumed (cane and beet) in the country. Most of the production is in Palm Beach County, but sugarcane is also grown in Hendry, Glades and Martin counties. The Florida sugar industry employs over 14,000 people has an annual income over $800 million, and a total economic value (from direct and indirect effects) of over $2 billion.

• For more information, visit: Which Veggies for Which season? https://bonnieplants.com/library/which-veggies-for-which-season/ and Sugar

Cane, Rice and Sod http://discover.pbcgov.org/coextension/agriculture/Pages/Sugarcane.aspx

Classroom Discussion (Questions can be asked orally or written on the board for written responses): • Can you grow crops in the cold?

• Why is it important to know what climate crops survive in?

• If farmer grows kale in the summer, when it would not taste the best, will he sell a lot?

• End the discussion with the following questions to get kids thinking about the climate and economy of Palm Beach County: o Most U.S. grown sugarcane is produced in Palm Beach County. Why do you think this happens? o The sugarcane industry provides over 14,000 people jobs. Why is this important?

Classroom Activity • Materials: a. One sheet of paper per student b. Crayons, colored pencils, or markers

40

Procedures: Read the story (below) to the class. As you read the story have the students draw a picture of the story they are hearing.

Story: John, a Florida farmer living in 1898 is going to grind sugar cane up in his mill.

One morning in February John got out of bed and decided to make sugar for his family.

He has a wife, Gail, a daughter, Margaret, and one son, Robert. His children love to eat sweets, and Gail makes sweets for the children as often as possible. However, sugar is a limited resource during this time period and very expensive, so John makes the sugar on his own instead of buying it in a store. John begins by cutting the cane and placing it in his sugar cane mill. Although steam powered machines are easier to use, John uses a horse powered mill because steam powered machines are too expensive. He heats up the sugar cane until it is over 90 degrees. Then once he is finished he has sugar. Gail uses this sugar to make cookies, pies, and other sweets that the children enjoy eating. Since John is one of two farmers in his community that has a sugar cane mill, some of John’s neighbors do their sugar cane grinding on John’s mill. Also, to make some extra cash John will send his extra cane syrup to the general store. With this extra money, John’s family uses to buy fabric, tools for the farm, and sometimes canned goods. Overall, John and his family make their own clothes and have their own farms to grow vegetables and have meat. They seldom go to the store to purchase goods.

Assessment: This activity can be graded based on completion of the drawing and creativity.

Open-Ended Questions: a. What kinds of sweets do you eat? b. How do we get sugar today? c. Where did sugar come from in 1898?

Re-ask earlier questions to show progression in learning about the major cash crops of Palm Beach County: • Most U.S. grown sugarcane is produced in Palm Beach County. Why do you think this happens?

• The sugarcane industry gives over 14,000 people jobs. Why is this important?

• •

Additional Activities How Cane Sugar is Made video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5ipI0MBW0Q Grow your own sugarcane: Step 1: Find a fresh-cut section of sugar cane at least a foot long. (You may have to look in a specialty grocery store.)

Step 2: Look near the joints in the stem for a shield-shaped bud from which new stalks will grow. Below the buds are tiny holes where roots will grow. Cut the stalk off two inches below the bud and about an inch above the next joint.

Step 3: Fill a flower pot with potting soil up to about two inches from the rim. Stick the cane into the soil so that the bud is just barely covered.

Step 4: Light the candle and drip melted wax onto the other end of the cane to keep it from drying out.

Step 5: Keep the soil barely moist. In a week or two the bud will sprout. When the new sprout is about six inches high, add another 1-1/2 inches of potting soil.

Step 6: As more sprouts grow you can cut the sprouts, peel them, and cut them into sticks to stir hot drinks with. See how dirt falls into layers of sediment in the next easy science project.

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APPENDIX

42

SOLE Sciences of Life Explorations: Through Agriculture Grades 4 and 5

Teacher Guide Unit: Harvesting the Garden

UNIT PLAN UNIT TITLE Harvesting the Garden MONTH September GOAL Students will compare and contrast the process of harvesting, processing, and preservation of food, and be able to recognize that growing food is a business that involves many risk factors.

OBJECTIVES Students will: 1. Identify vocabulary appropriate to harvesting by using it orally and in written form (NYS Standard 1 Communication Skills #1).

2. Using concrete materials, calculate model numbers and number relationships for whole numbers, common fractions, and decimal fractions (NYS Standard 3 Numeration #2).

3. Perform mathematical operations and their relationships to add, subtract, multiply, and divide (NYS Standard 3 Math Operations #3).

4. Utilize physical materials and diagrams to explain mathematical processes (NYS Standard 3 Math Modeling #4).

5. Make estimates, compare to actual results, and make predictions (NYS Standard 3 Math Uncertainty #6).

6. Explain that scarcity affects cost and investigate how production, distribution, exchange, and conservation of goods are economic decisions by using systems dynamics (NYS Standard 4 Economics #1).

7. Explain that next year’s pumpkin crop is generated with this year’s seeds (Food and Fiber Systems Literacy III, A K-1).

8. Explain that output determines agricultural input (Food and Fiber Systems Literacy IV, A 4-5).

9. Explain how traders, explorers, and colonists brought plants and animals to this country by locating the origins of regional agricultural products (Food and Fiber Systems Literacy I, D 4-5).

10. Explain how a shortage or surplus of a product provides an opportunity for trade, and predict what happens when shortages or surpluses occur (Food and Fiber Systems Literacy IV, A 2-3).

11. Explain how factors such as culture and convenience affect food choices, and analyze how food preferences have changed over time (Food and Fiber Systems Literacy V, C 4-5).

TERMS Expenses - money spent on items needed to make and sell products Income - money earned from selling products Loss - money spent on making products that was not earned back after selling them; when expenses cost more money than the income earned (Expenses are GREATER than Income) Preserve - to can, pickle, or similarly prepare for future use; keeps harvested fruits and vegetables from rotting.

Net Profit - money left over from selling products after you’ve subtracted the costs of labor and care; when expenses cost less money than the income earned. (Expenses are LESS than Income) Gross Profit - Money taken in before expenses are subtracted.

Combine - A machine that harvests and cleans grain plants. he result is the seed (such as canola or flax) or grain (such as oats, wheat, or rye); a by-product is loose straw, which is the remaining husk of the plant with all of the nutrients removed.

Harvesting - The operation of cutting, picking, plucking, digging, or a combination of these operations for removing the crop from under the ground or above the ground and removing the useful part of fruits from plants.

Integrated Pest Management is a specialized form of environmental management wherein scientific research and real world application work together to reduce pests such as insects, diseases or weeds.

1. Proper identification of pests 2. Learn the pest/host biology 3. Sample the environment for pests 4. Determine an action threshold 5. Choose the best tactic 6. Evaluate results

SAFETY Follow standard classroom safety practices.

Standards Matrix for this Lesson:

1.1 3.2 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.6 4.1

4.1

III A K-1 IV A 4-5 I A 4-5 I D 4-5 III C 4-5 IV A 2-3 III A 4-5 V C 2-3

Interconnectedness

Other Languages

CDOS

Food & Fiber Literacy

ARTS

HEALTH

Social Studies

Harvesting the Garden

English Language Arts

Unit

9

Math/Science/and Technology

Month

Standards:

6.6

V C 4-5

Matrix Key: NYS Learning Standards arranged by Standard: Category, Level e = elementary i = intermediate Categories: 1 Career Development 10 Science 2 Universal Foundation Skills 11 Technology 3 Language for Information and Understanding 12 Interconnectedness: Common Themes 4 Language for Literary Response and Expression 13 Interdisciplinary Problem Solving 5 Language for Social Interaction 14 History of the United States and NY 6 Communication Skills 15 World History 7 Analysis, Inquiry, and Design 16 Geography 8 Information Systems 17 Economics 9 Mathematics

ADDITONAL RESOURCES Keller, Thoennes. From Wheat to Bread. ISBN 0-7368-2638-6 90000

SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT Dice and/or coins - enough for each student to use one One sheet of paper per student

QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS

What is harvesting?

What does harvesting have to do with me?

What can I do with the food I grew?

Can I make money selling my harvest?

What is a combine?

What are some harvesting problems?

What does profit mean?

BACKGROUND FOR TEACHERS Harvesting is an important part of the growing cycle. Students who have experience with gardening or farming will understand that harvesting can happen all at once or over the period of many months, depending the on the crop they are harvesting. This lesson can be used in classrooms regardless of whether or not students will be gardening.

Harvesting must be done regardless of the size of your crop. Depending on the growing season, a crop may be big or small because of forces out of the control of the farmer or gardener. Unless you can control all aspects of growing (plants are susceptible to heat, cold, too much or too little water, and insects and diseases) the harvest will vary.

Some crops can be harvested over and over again, while others may produce one crop which is ready all at once. Students will learn that harvesting can be done by hand or with machinery. A short story about wheat and bread will remind students of the growing cycle.

Students will also be given the chance to examine what it is like to grow and harvest pumpkins.

They will understand that things occur which affect crops and therefore the harvest. They will be introduced to the concepts of income and expenses.

Anyone who has experienced a successful harvest of any crop needs to decide what to do with it.

Students will be reminded that crops need to be stored, preserved, sold, or eaten fresh. Harvest time is the culmination of a lot of hard work. People all around the world generally find time to celebrate in this busy season, as a successful harvest is very important to their survival.

INTEREST APPROACH ACTIVITIES

Beauty and the Beets Est. Time: 20-25 minutes Materials: 4 samples of garden produce (e.g.: eggplants, tomatoes, beans, squash, beets, etc.)

1. Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4.

2. Explain that their task is to look at the vegetables and rank them from 1 to 4, 1 being the vegetable they think is the most attractive.

3. Teacher should guide the students about characteristics of color, size, etc. as they circulate the room 4. Each team should write its answers down, including a few reasons for placing one over another.

5. Each group will select a spokesperson to share its reasons with the entire class.

6. Now, ask the entire group to make a consensus based on what was said by each group.

7. Class discussion: What role does appearance play in selling produce?

Tasty Treats Est. Time: 20-25 minutes Materials: Paper plates Knives Small plastic containers

Cutting board Plastic gloves Various vegetables (could use vegetables from first activity)

1. Wash hands and make sure you have a clean cutting surface. Wash vegetables prior to cutting.

Ask the class about the do’s and don’ts of using a knife, and why you would want to wash the vegetables and have clean hands.

2. Cut vegetables into bite-size pieces.

3. Guide the students (have them wear gloves!) to make an attractive presentation of produce on paper plates, one variety per plate.

4. Set the seeds aside, each vegetable seed in its own container, and label them. Later, seeds can be dried and stored.

5. Have the students write down sensory qualities of each vegetable they taste. Include color, texture, taste, and smell.

6. Have the class rank each vegetable 1 through 4, 4 being the most liked.

7. Class discussion: What role does taste and texture play in selling produce?

(Adapted from: After School Agriculture www.n4hccs.org/afterschoolag.com)

SUMMARY OF CONTENT I.

What is harvesting?

A. This is an introductory page B. Discusses how and when we harvest what we grow and what some problems are with harvesting.

TEACHING-LEARNING ACTIVITIES I.

What is harvesting?

A. Students mnay read to themselves or you may initiate a group discussion around the essential questions (Student Worksheet 1)

II. How do we harvest what we grow?

A. Includes an illustration of a combine B. Imaginative mechanic harvesting machine art project along with questions to ask students about their machine.

II. How do we harvest what we grow?

A. Students can take turns reading this page aloud.

B. Student should complete the activity at the bottom of the page. Make sure that student use their writing skils to describe the machine and what it does.

C. Display the classes machines on the classroom walls. (Student Worksheet 2)

III. What does harvesting have to do with me?

(2 pages) A. Bread: A journey from the field to your table B. Discuss how the journey to your table meets up with several agriculture related careers.

III. What does harvesting have to do with me?

(2 pages) A. Students may read this story aloud or to themselves.

B. Discuss how the journey to your table involves several agriculture-related careers. (use the transparency found in the lesson supplements) C. Students can answer the questions on the following worksheet to test their comprehension of the story. (Student Worksheets 3-4)

IV. What are some harvesting problems?

A. This page is a review from earlier lessons pertaining to IPM.

IV. What are some harvesting problems?

A. Students may read this page on their own or as a class.

B. Questions can be used to begin a class discussion. (Student Worksheet 5) C. Extension activity 3 (Lesson supplements) relates to this page.

V. What can I do with the food I grew?

A. Discusses the 5 main things that can be done with harvested food i. Store ii. Sell iii. Preserve iv. Eat v. Donate

V. What can I do with the food I grew?

A. There are many that things to do with freshly picked food besides eat it. Discuss some of these alternatives as a class. (Student Worksheet 6) B. Extension Activity (Lesson supplements) relates to this activity.

SUMMARY OF CONTENT

TEACHING-LEARNING ACTIVITIES

VI. Growing Pumpkins: A Business Lesson (2 pages) A. Having students set up a small school business using their harvest is an experiental real-life method for understanding complex concepts including marketing, customer relations, location, gross profit, input vs. output, leftover produce, and supply and demand.

VI. Growing Pumpkins: A Business Lesson (2 pages) A. Setting up a small business 1. Track all garden expenses 2. At harvest time, know when and how to pick crop B. Business Lesson Activity A. Need coins and sheets of paper B. Marketing 1. Attractive posters stating 5 “W’s” of your harvest. (Who, What, When, Where, Why) 2. School paper ad 3. Decide on pricing C. Interacting with customers 1. Being a salesperson 2. Negotiating as needed 3. Making change D. Decide on plant stand location with the most staff and student traffic.

E. After closing stand, students figure out gross profits.

F. Input vs. output: what changes need to be made to increase profits?

G. Decisions are also made on what to do with leftover produce: 1. Reduce prices and resell 2. Give to the school cafeteria 3. Donate to needy families 4. Next year’s strategy: pick fewer products at the same time so that supply is equal or even less than demand.

5. Scarcity increases how much money people are willing to pay for your product. (Sudent Worksheets 7A-C)

VII. From seed to pumpkin A. Using their answers from the previous activity, students will complete math problems to address the concept of profit, loss and expense.

VII. From seed to pumpkin A. Students should complete this activity on their own.

B. Ask the class what students with a loss should do next time. Ask students with a profit what they will do with the money (Student Worksheet 8)

VIII. Review

VIII. Review

IX. Test your knowledge

IX. Test your knowledge

X. Vocabulary

X. Vocabulary

XI. Lesson Supplements

XI. Lesson Supplements

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden What is Harvesting?

After you have planted seeds, watered them, and watched plants grow, the time will come when the crops are ready to use.

Harvesting is the picking or gathering of ripened crops. Fruits, vegetables, and grains are picked when they have finished growing and are ready to eat or process.

How do we harvest what we grow?

What does harvesting have to do with me?

What are some problems with harvesting?

What can I do with the food I grew?

Can I make money selling my harvest?

Harvesting can be done by hand in your own garden , or by big machines on large farms!

Student Worksheet 1

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden How do we harvest what we grow?

If you planted a garden, you would pick your vegetables and fruits with your hands. Some things you might have to dig out of the ground, like carrots and potatoes.

Some fruits and vegetables, like berries and squash, must be removed from their stems. Be careful not to crush or bruise the foods you harvest.

Some people grow herbs in their gardens. To harvest plants like mint, basil, and parsley, pick the leaves when you’re ready to use them throughout the season, or cut an entire stem. Most herbs can be used fresh, or dried and stored.

When you are harvesting your garden, you could use a bucket or a basket to hold the foods you picked.

Farmers grow their crops in fields, which are much bigger than gardens. It would take workers a very long time to harvest a whole field with their hands.

That is why workers use big harvesting machines, like the combine pictured here. Combines also separate usable parts of the plants from the parts that are not needed.

Combines can separate ears of corn from their stalks and grains of wheat from their stems (straw). The leftover corn stalks and wheat straw can be used for animals to sleep on or go back in the ground as part of composting.

On a separate sheet of paper: Machines like the combine are designed to do the work of many people. Imagine a machine that can do the work of picking a fruit or vegetable in your garden.Draw or describe what your own harvesting machine would do and what it would look like. Be creative!

What crop can it pick? How does it work? What does it use for fuel? How big is it? Where do you keep it?

Student Worksheet 2

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden What does harvesting have to do with me?

Bread: The journey from the field to your table.

It was September and the field was ready for the next crop. Adam, who is a farmer, decided to plant wheat in the field. Wheat is a tall grass used all over the world. Its seeds are used for food.

Adam watched the wheat grow in the fall, winter, and spring. He kept a close watch on his crop. It would be bad for the farm if the wheat was eaten by insects and other animals.

Adam was glad he spent the extra money for seeds. These seeds were from a strong and healthy kind of wheat that would resist many plant diseases.

Finally, it was June. Adam called up his workers. The wheat had turned yellow and was ready to be harvested.

The workers climbed into the big combines and started their engines. As they rolled along the field, the combines cut the wheat and separated the kernels from the stems.

Adam saved some of the kernels, the seed of the plant, to use again in September. The other kernels were sold to a grain elevator company, a tall building with small storage silos around it.

They stored the wheat until is was ready to be sold again. The grain elevator company sold the wheat kernels to some food companies, and even to some other countries.

One food company, a mill, ground the wheat kernels into flour. The mill sold the flour to a bakery.

The bakery made loaves of bread and baskets of muffins. Adam’s wife stopped by the bakery to buy the bread for their dinner.

Adam had a nice sandwich with two slices of bread. The bread came from the bakery. The flour that made the bread came from a mill.

The mill made the flour from the grains they bought from the grain elevator company. The grain elevator company bought the wheat kernels from Adam!

The End.

Student Worksheet 3-A

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden What does harvesting have to do with me?

Bread: The journey from the field to your table.

Questions: What part of the wheat plant is used to make flour? _____________________________ In what month is wheat planted? ____________________________ In what month is wheat harvested? ____________________________ Why did Adam pay extra money for seeds? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Why would the workers use big combines and not pick the wheat by hand? ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

Student Worksheet 3-B

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden What are some harvesting problems?

When it is time to harvest, will a farmer always have a successful crop? Not always. Weather, insects, diseases and other events can affect a crop throughout the season. When it comes time to harvest, the crop might be small.

Poor Soil: If the soil is packed down (compacted), it will be hard for the roots to grow and spread out.

Plowing a field or garden before planting loosens up the soil and adds fresh air to it.

Weeds:Sometimes the seeds from weeds find their way into fields and gardens. A weed can be any plant that grows where we don’t want it to. When weeds grow, they take the nutrients and water in the soil away from the crop plants.

Some weeds grow to be very big and prevent the plants from getting enough sunlight. If you see weeds growing around your crop plants, put on gardening gloves and pull out the weeds.

Or, before you plant the seeds, cut holes in a black plastic sheet and lay it down on your gardening space. Cut the holes big enough for your plants to grow through. The black plastic sheet prevents weeds from getting enough sunlight to grow around your crop plants.

Animals: Bugs and other animals will find your garden to be a yummy buffet. They will eat away at your growing plants. There are many ways to keep bugs away.

You may have to build a fence around your garden to keep bigger animals out.

One way farmers use Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is a stategy that prevents pest damage through environmentally friendly methods, is to place scent traps around their property.

Because insects often find things by scent, the traps confuse them. This can mean that they will stay away from plants they might damage!

Think about a plant’s basic needs in order to grow strong and produce food for humans. What are other reasons for a crop not doing well? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Student Worksheet 4

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden What can I do with the food I grew?

You can do four things with your harvest: store it, sell it, preserve it, or eat it!

Store it Crops like pumpkins and winter squash (hard outer shells) can be kept in a cool, dry place. They will last for a couple months.

Soft-skinned squash like zucchini and yellow squash should be kept cold. These only last for a few weeks.

Sell it You must sell your produce at a price that will give you a profit. That means you must make more money than you spent to grow them.

Preserve it Both fruits and vegetables can be prepared and stored in air-tight jars or frozen for future use.

Fruits are often made into jams or jellies. They are cooked on the stove and mixed with ingredients like sugar and pectin. Then they are sealed in jars. These last a long time.

Did you know that cucumbers are turned into pickles when they are preserved in jars of vinegar and salt? You can create flavored pickles by adding things like dillweed (an herb) or peppers.

If you preserve chopped up cucumber, peppers, onions, and sugar in vinegar, you can have sweet relish for hot dogs and hamburgers.

Eat it Pick it, wash it, eat it. Fresh vegetables and fruits taste great!

Think of fruits or vegetables you have eaten in each of these ways: 1. Stored: _______________________________________________ 2. Sold: _________________________________________________ 3. Preserved________ _____________________________________ 4. Eaten fresh from the garden or tree: ________________________ ______________________________________________________

Student Worksheet 5

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden Growing Pumpkins: A Business Lesson Introduction: When growing pumpkins, you need to take good care of them so that they will grow big and healthy. You have to be on the lookout for insects, plant disease, and the amount of water the plants get.

When the pumpkin’s outer shell is hard, it is ready to be harvested. You can store it in a cool, dry place; make a pie out of it; or, like some farmers do, sell it to other people.

The Pumpkin Business Game!

In this game of chance, you will follow the journey from seed to pumpkin! As you flip a coin or roll a die, you will see how your pumpkin business might operate in real life.

1. Flip a coin (heads or tails) or roll a die (odds or evens) 2. For each step, circle your result.

3. Write the answer for that step in the right-hand column. Example: If you get heads/odds for step A, circle “Store 1 for $0.75” and write “$0.75” in the right-hand column.

4. Solve the questions based on your results.

A. You buy your seeds from: Heads/Odds: Store 1 for $0.75

A. ________ Seed Cost Tails/Evens: Store 2 for $1

B. You are too busy at school to plant the seeds:

B. ________ Labor Cost

H/O: Neighbor does it for $10

C. The soil is poor quality: H/O: It’s pretty poor $24 for fertilizer

T/E: Best friend does it for $8

C. ________ Fertilizer Cost T/E: It needs just a little help $20 for fertilizer Student Worksheet 6-A

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden Growing Pumpkins: A Business Lesson D. Pests get into your garden and reduce your crop: D.________ (multiply # of plants by # of pumpkins each) Number of Pumpkins Grown H/O: Ten plants live T/E: Six plants live each had two pumpkins each had three pumpkins E. It hasn’t rained in a while but you have saved E. ________ aside a barrel of rain water: Labor Cost H/O: You water the plants yourself $0

T/E: You’re sick; a friend does it for you $5

F. It’s harvest time! But you broke your arm:

F. ________ Labor Cost

H/O: You hire a neighbor to harvest $8 G. You are ready to sell your pumpkins:

T/E: A friend helps you $4 G. ________ Number of Pumpkins Sold

H/O: You sell half of your crop (Divide step D by 2)

T/E: You sell all of your crop (Divide step D by 1)

H. You sold your pumpkins for: H/O: $4.50 each (Multiply by step G)

H. ________ Sale Price T/E: $5.00 each (Multiply by step G)

Game over! Turn to the next page to find out how you did!

Student Worksheet 6-B

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden From Seed to Pumpkin!

Solve the following exercises to see if your income (money you made) was more (profit) or less (loss) than your expenses (money you paid out for labor, fertilizer, and seeds).

Look back at your answers to steps A through H.

G. Number of pumpkins H. Price of each This is your sold pumpkin you sold Income!

1. ______________ X _______________ =

______________

2. Costs: Use this space to add up your labor costs: B. Labor cost of planting ___________

E. Labor cost of watering ___________

F. Labor cost of harvesting __________ (B, E, & F) (C) the three Labor Costs _____________

(A) Fertilizer Cost

These are Seed Cost Expenses

+ ______________+__________=___________

3. Which is the larger amount?

Income

Expenses or $________ $________

If you made more (income) than you spent (expenses), you have a profit! Congratulations!

If you made less (income) than you spent (expenses), you have a loss.

Better luck next time!

Student Worksheet 7

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden Review

• Anyone can learn how to harvest their gardens.

• Many farms use large machines, like combines, to harvest their crops.

• The bread we buy in grocery stores and bakeries comes all the way from the wheat fields.

• Most of the food we eat is grown on farms.

• Pests, such as weeds, insects, and other animals can damage our gardens and field crops. There are steps you can take to protect your garden from pests.

• You can eat, store, sell, or preserve the foods you harvest from your garden.

• When a farmer decides to grow and sell a crop, he must consider the cost of the seeds, fertilizers and labor (paying people to plant, care, and harvest the crop).

• The farmer needs to charge more money than he spent on growing in order to earn a profit.

Student Worksheet 8

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden Test Your Knowledge!

1. Carla paid $0.75 for tomato seeds. It cost her $10 to care for and harvest them. She produced 30 good tomatoes. Carla decided to sell her tomatoes for $0.25 each.

A. Total all the money Carla paid out $________.

B. Multiply ____ good tomatoes by $0.25 each. _____________

C. Subtract the money Carla paid out from the money she made selling tomatos. ______________ --______________ = _____________ (Answer)

D. Is Carla making money (profit) or losing money (loss)? ___________.

2. The softer the fruit or vegetable, the longer it will keep in a cool, dry place. ______ True ______ False

3. Your garden has a pest problem. Rabbits keep eating your lettuce crop. How could you keep the rabbits from eating your lettuce? ____________________________________________________________________________.

4. Number the steps in the journey from wheat to bread. ___ Grain Elevator Company ___ Bakery ___ Wheat Field ___ Your Kitchen ___ Flour Mill

Student Worksheet 9

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden Vocabulary Expenses - money spent on items needed to make and sell products Income - money earned from selling products Loss - money spent on making products that was not earned back after selling them; when expenses cost more money than the income earned (Expenses are GREATER than Income) Preserve - to can, pickle, or similarly prepare for future use; keep harvested fruits and vegetables from rotting.

Net Profit - money left over from selling products after you’ve subtracted the costs of labor and care; when expenses cost less money than the income earned. (Expenses are LESS than Income) Gross Profit - Money taken in before expenses are subtracted.

Combine - A machine that harvests and cleans grain plants. The result is the seed (such as canola or flax) or grain (such as oats, wheat, or rye); a by-product is loose straw, which is the remaining husk of the plant with all of the nutrients removed.

Harvesting - The operation of cutting, picking, plucking, digging, or a combination of these operations for removing the crop from under the ground or above the ground and removing the useful part of fruits from plants.

Student Worksheet 10

Teacher Information for Student Worksheets Student Worksheet 1 What is Harvesting?: This is the introductory page. Students may read to themselves or you may initiate a group discussion around the essential questions.

Student Worksheet 2 How Do We Harvest What We Grow?

We recommend students take turns reading this page aloud. Place some emphasis on the first question as later there is a review question based on it about harvesting potatoes. The activity at the bottom is designed to be an art project. We also provided the option for students to use their writing skills to describe what their invention looks like and what it does. Suggest your designers create a harvesting machine that can do amazing things! Remind students that their harvester must be able to do the work of many people working by hand.

Student Worksheet 3-A What Does Harvesting Have to Do with Me? Students may read this story aloud or to themselves. Their reading comprehension skills are tested with the questions on the next worksheet.

Student Worksheet 3-B.

Bread: The Journey from the Field to Your Table Questions The questions ask students to repeat what they have read in the story. Students should answer these questions on their own. The Wheat to Bread Cycle illustration is available at the back of this teacher guide, in a full page size.

Answers: 1. Kernels 2. September 3. June 4. The seeds were from a stronger and healthier kind of wheat that was resistant to plant 5. It would take them a long time to do it by hand 6. D. Answers A and B

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Student Worksheet 4 What Are Some Harvesting Problems?: This is a review of earlier lessons pertaining to IPM. Students may read this page alone or aloud. The question would be good for a class discussion. Extension activity 3 relates to this page.

Possible answers: Not enough water, poor soil, too little sunlight, too much water, and frost, etc.

Student Worksheet 5 What Can I Do with the Food I Grew?: Some students may not be immediately aware of what they can do with harvested food besides eating it as is. Remind them how rare it is for them to eat fruit or vegetables right after they are picked. Most foods are stored or processed. Extension activity 4 relates to this page. We have also included a page with three recipes that give three ways to preserve fruits and vegetables. Remind students that it has only been in recent history that foods have been processed and available in cans and packages, from a grocery store.

Possible answers: The choices are too large to list on this page. Almost all fruits and vegetables that a student may have eaten have been stored and or sold, if they have not been eaten fresh. Any fruit or vegetable that is in a can, jar or frozen has been preserved.

Student Worksheet 6-A & 6-B. Growing Pumpkins: A Business Lesson: It is recommended that students do this activity on their own. The dice or coins are used with this page and the next. The purpose of circling the result is to help students keep track of what event happened to their business. They should record the monetary or numerical amount in the accompanying blank to make referencing easier when it comes to the worksheet. Answers will vary based on a roll of a die or flip of a coin. Extension question 1 supplements this activity.

For a discussion question, ask student for reasons why some of them may not have sold all of their pumpkins in step G. Price was too high? Someone stole them? They donated them? They kept them for their own use? Animals ruined them? Some pumpkins rotted before they could be sold?

Student Worksheet 7 From Seed to Pumpkin: This activity is mainly a math exercise. As long as students are able to work through the mathematics, it isn’t critical they remember the business terms (defined in the glossary). Ask the class what students with a loss should do next time. Ask students with a profit what they will do with the money.

Optional: Practice fractions or percentages with a count of how many had a profit or a loss.

Student Worksheet 8.

Review This page highlights the key concepts found in the lesson. The class should review this page prior to completing “test your knowledge” Student Worksheet 9 Test Your Knowledge: This page is recommended for students to complete independently. It may be treated as a quiz or test grade.

Answers 1A. 10.75 (0.75 + 10) 1B. 7.50 (30 X 0.25) 1C. - 3.25 (7.50 - 10.75) 1D. Losing (loss) 2. False 3. Build a fence around the garden. Check for rabbit holes nearby 4. Grain Elevator Company – 2, Bakery – 4, Wheat Field – 1, Your Kitchen – 6, Flour Mill – 3 Student Worksheet 10 Vocabulary Provided for student reference

Lesson Supplements

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES: 1. Give each student a vegetable, or allow him to pick a vegetable from a basket.

Have students make animal characters or faces by gluing various horticulture materials (leaves, flowers, sticks, seeds, etc.)onto their vegetables Students will use their imaginations to create interesting characters. Optional: take pictures of the students’ creations - they’ll last longer than the vegetables!

2. Go back through the Pumpkin Game, steps A through H. Looking at the possibilities for each step, pick the least favorable event. Refigure the “From Seed to Pumpkin” worksheet to find out the profit or loss for the worst case of events. Do the same for all the more favorable events.

3. Students pick their favorite cereal, snack, or other food product. Have them research what crops their favorite food came from.

4. Students pick a fruit or a vegetable and then research what kinds of animals (including bugs) that like to eat it. Have them either: a) create a plan for preventing/ controlling pest damage, OR b) present their findings to the class.

5. Research a commonly grown garden vegetable that may grow an overabundance (like zucchini and tomatoes). Then, have them find a recipe using it as a major ingredient).

6. Three relish recipes are listed on the next page. You may show them to students to give an idea of what goes into making a relish. Relishes are ways to preserve and use the harvest. Note that making relish is for adults, because it involves using the stove. The harvest season may start at a very warm time of the year. Many older homes used a separate summer or harvest kitchen so that the heat of the stove wouldn’t make the rest of the house too hot..

VIDALIA ONION RELISH 1 1/2 gal. ground Vidalia sweet onions (14 to 18 med. onions) 1/2 c. salt 1 qt. apple cider vinegar 1 tsp. Turmeric 1 tsp. pickling spice 1 tsp. pimento, chopped 4 1/2 c. sugar

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Grind onions to yield 2 1/2 gallons and 1/2 cup salt, let stand 30 minutes.

Squeeze juice from onion-salt mixture and discharge juice.

Add vinegar, spices, pimento and sugar.

Bring to boil and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often.

Pack both onions and cooking liquid to cover in hot pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space.

Remove air bubbles, wipe jar rims. Adjust lids.

Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Makes 8 pints.

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES 6 c. sliced cucumbers 1 c. slice onion 1 c. green pepper (optional) 1 c. vinegar 2 c sugar 1 tbsp. salt 1 tsp. celery seed

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Combine all ingredients; mix well.

Place in jar, refrigerate.

The pickles will be ready in 24 hours and will keep up to 1 year.

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In a microwave-safe bowl, combine cranberries, apples, water, sugar, raisins, ginger, nutmeg, mustard and cayenne pepper.

Microwave on HIGH for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Refrigerate before serving.

HARVEST FRUIT RELISH This cranberry-apple relish can be served during the holiday season right alongside any poultry or turkey dish.

2 c. cranberries 2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped 1 c. water 1 c. granulated sugar 1/2 c. raisins 1/4 c. chopped candied ginger 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp. dry mustard 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

• •

name ________________________

Student Lesson: Harvesting the Garden What can you do with your harvest?

Plant Stand On School Grounds Sale of Produce

Class Consumption

School Cafeteria

Local Farmers Market Sale of Produce

Donations: To the Needy To a Nursing Home Etc.

Student Worksheet 8