LOCAL ADVENTURE
45-minute tour traveled a fixed route around the farm’s 182 acres, past orchards growing both trees that were recently planted and others that are 100 years old. Recorded messages at each stop told about how the trees are cared for and how the oranges are harvested. Farmer Bob started the tour by identifying the types of oranges farmed at McKellar: Navel oranges were picked at the event; Valencia (juice) oranges and Shasta Gold and W. Murcott mandarins – better known as “Cuties” – are also grown in abundance there. Several machines are used to warm air during cold weather, trim the trees, push the branches into rows and chop them into mulch that is tilled back into the ground to nourish the trees, which each yield an average of 240 pounds of oranges. The micro-irrigation sprinkler
system efficiently delivers water directly to every tree’s root system and can be adjusted for each tree depending on how much water is needed. Although maintenance of the trees is done primarily with machines, the oranges are harvested by hand, as they have always been, using clippers, which is exactly how the guest farmers harvested their oranges at the event. Orange trees are ready for their first harvest at 5 years old and generally are harvested until they are 70. When the trees are no longer productive, they are turned into mulch for the orchards. Kelly Lapadula, McKellar Family Farms tour and marketing manager, spoke about the fun and importance of the U-pick event, saying that it will become an annual occurrence and that there may even be a second one later this spring.
“Our favorite aspect of these events is seeing the look on the kids' faces when they're out in the groves picking oranges; there is true joy there, and we are so thrilled that we get to share our farm with the community and with people from around the world,” she said. “Many of the visitors who come here have never been on a farm before, so it's a privilege to expose them to agriculture and show them where their food comes from.” There’s no doubt that all who ventured out had a wonderful experience. First-time harvesters’ heads were filled with new knowledge, their hearts with appreciation for the dedication of our farmers, and they are most certainly still enjoying the fruits of their labor in the 500 pounds of oranges that traveled home with them. It was indeed a most “appeeling” day! L
Top left: Bob McKellar, Kelly and Ryan Lapadula, V-Tech student volunteers Beau Avila, Roel Trevino and Logan Kingsbury greet and check in guests. Top right: V-Tech student volunteers Emma Fleetwood and Emi Flaming hand out gloves and clippers. Below: Naz, Jessica and 2-year-old Zade Hussain ride the tractor as it passes an orchard of young orange trees. Micah Corum, 5, shows one of his hand-picked oranges.
LIFEST YLE | APRIL 2018
49