Planting the Seeds of Knowledge

Mahala Detweiler (left) and Isaiah Detweiler (right) of rural Tiskilwa help their mom at the Princeton Farmers’ Market.

Opportunities to learn about agriculture are all around for Bureau County children

Story and photos by Shannon Serpette

With school out for the summer and parents looking for ways to educate and entertain them, it’s a great time to teach about agriculture. Finding methods to teach kids about agriculture isn’t difficult – Bureau County is full of opportunities.

For Mahala Detweiler and her brother Isaiah, learning about agriculture is a way of life. Five-year-old Mahala and Isaiah, who is 8, live in rural Tiskilwa at Hungry World Farm, where they are immersed in all aspects of living a farm life.

“They’ve grown up in the garden,” their mother, Karla Detweiler, said.

When it comes time to sell some of the crops they’ve grown, they play a hand in that as well by helping their parents in their booth at the Princeton Farmers’ Market. They help sell their produce, talk to customers, and practice their math skills by assisting with the cash box and transactions.

“I like to stay in here and hang out,” Isaiah said about the booth, although he admits to wandering off sometimes to read the monument in the park.

Karla said she coached her children at home before they began helping out at the farmers’ market. They set up pretend farmers’ markets in their home to help the kids understand what would take place and the things they might do to help out. Those practice runs helped give them the skills they needed for helping at the market. Karla said having her children help out at the farmers’ market is beneficial to

them in a variety of ways.

“I think that they learn interpersonal skills, customer service, and math,” she said.

At home, Isaiah said he helps grow flowers, lettuce, and carrots.

“Carrots are one of my favorite veggies to grow,” he said.

Bureau County farmers Curt and Janet Dugosh said family farms are one of the best ways for kids to learn about agriculture in Bureau County. That method of learning also is attainable for children who don’t have a family background in agriculture.

“I have hired a lot of high school kids over the years,” Curt said, adding that many of them had backgrounds in agriculture. “But a couple of them didn’t know about ag.”

Curt has been giving this on-the-job training to students for 20-some years and has formed close connections with some of the students that still last even years later. With the help of a local high school ag teacher, he finds students who are willing to work on his farm. It gives them the chance to earn money while learning about agriculture as they work.

Even for students who don’t envision a life or career in agriculture, ag education can be essential, according to Janet, because you never know where life will take you.

“I never thought I would live on a farm,” she said.

Isaiah Detweiler, 8, names all the vegetables for sale at the Hungry World Farm stand at the Princeton Farmers’ Market as his sister Mahala listens.

See Market page 8

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Ag education can be an eye-opener for children who don’t realize everything agriculture encompasses. They may be well-suited for career paths that they didn’t know existed in ag, she said. It’s not just about growing crops or raising livestock. Students can become ag-related scientists, technicians, agriculture or mechanical engineers, food engineers, and software engineers. Or, they could decide to enter the booming field of agribusiness as an agriculture financial service representative, ag lawyer, crop adjuster, farm business manager, grain buyer, agricultural lobbyist, or one of the many other careers in this field.

Janet’s daughter, Becca Turpen of Peoria, has inherited her mother’s passion for agriculture. As the coordinator for the Princeton Farmers’ Market and the owner of Broken Roots Farm, she hopes that children can take away some valuable lessons while visiting or working in a booth at the farmers’ market.

Turpen said she didn’t learn much about agriculture at the school she attended while she was growing up in Bureau County.

“There wasn’t a ton of focus on that when I was growing up,” she said. “There’s a lot more now than when I was going through school.”

She’s glad to see that ag education is becoming more of a priority for schools and that kids have opportunities to learn about it locally.

“I think it’s important for kids to see where their food comes from,” she said.

For parents looking for ag education opportunities for their kids this summer, a stop at the 166th Bureau County Fair, which will be from Aug. 25 to 29 in Princeton, is a wonderful way to teach children about this field. Learning that this fair has been celebrated for well over a century and a half might be enough to spark a child’s interest. While the rides are generally the star of the show for children, they also naturally tend to gravitate toward animals, so you can sneak in plenty of ag lessons while they’re having fun.

For young children, activities like the Bureau County Farm Bureau’s Farmer for a Day event, which will take place at the fair, offer a great chance for them to learn what farming life is like. Visits to other events like the dairy show, a walk through the exhibit halls, and a stop to see the rabbit, sheep, poultry, and goat shows could all stimulate a child to want to learn more about agriculture. And that can lead to a lifelong interest or even a career someday. If it doesn’t, they’ll still reap other benefits.

Learning about agriculture can teach children a lot of valuable lessons, including patience and hard work.

“It’s good to learn those life lessons,” Turpen said.

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