Friday, 05 June 2009

• Currently Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm By Kate Douglas Wiggin see related

  The Experimental Farm at Virginia State University

  Today our homeschool group went on a really interesting field trip to the Experimental Farm at VSU.  The farm's primary research focus is threefold--aquaculture, greenhouse production and ruminants. 

  

  Our first stop was to the aquaculture center and this was the segment I personally found most interesting.  The farm has 50+ fish ponds where they primarily raise channel catfish and an experimental hybrid fish that is a cross between a fresh and saltwater bass.

  

  After a short lesson, our guide let the kids fish for catfish

  

  

  and then the whole group worked together to use a siene net to capture the fish in one of the ponds.  We caught a number of catfish as well as a fish called a needle nose gar, which was downright prehistoric looking.

  

  

  The farm also raises tilapia, but by law, tilapia needs to be raised indoors.  They are a non-native fish species and the game and fisheries department doesn't want to take any chances that they could accidentally be released into the wild.  One rather disheartening thing I learned today is that just about all the tilapia that Americans eat, comes from China.  Now why that should surprise me given the fact that EVERYTHING comes from China is beyond me.  However, given what we know about what China puts in their infant formula and given what we know about their pollution control standards, I do not want me nor my family eating any fish that was farmed there.  Unfortunately, at this point in time, tilapia production in the U.S. is fairly limited because it costs about 40% more per pound to produce than the imported tilapia.  

  On a brighter note, the guide showed us a barrel about 3 1/2 feet in diameter that was made out of a thick mesh and is used to raise fish.  Reportedly, you can raise about 200 pounds of fish in each barrel by placing it in a pond or a lake that is at least 8 feet deep.  Needless to say, I'm very excited to try raising fish like that in our lake and want to learn much more about it.  It appears to be something we could do to become more self sufficient.  (Besides, it would be nice to have at least one enterprise on our little hobby farm that produced more than it cost! :)) 

  Next, we visited the greenhouses.  Our first stop was to a hydroponic greenhouse and again, it was very interesting.  I had always heard about hydroponics, but had never seen it up close.  The farm was raising lettuce, tomatoes and some ethnic fruits and vegetables, such as Asian bitter melons, via this method. 

  

  

  We also looked at hoop houses that were being used for fruit production.  It turns out, they're great for raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.  Incredibly, there were even raising papaya and guava trees in these hoop houses and remarkably they've so far survived two Virginia winters.

  Our next stop was to the ruminants, where we learned all about alpacas, fiber production, parasites and one of the world's diritiest jobs--which involves rubber gloves, reaching into ruminant nether regions and searching for worms .

  Just as an aside, I wanted to take this guy home with me.

  

  From there, we headed over to a pen which was temporarily being used to house ewes and their  9 week old lambs who were in the process of being weaned.

  

  The farm raises three types of hair sheep, all of which are raised for meat (vice wool).  The farm's primary research focus is on heat cycles and maximizing production.  One interesting experiment they are currently conducting is that they've put an unneutered ram (who is sterile) in this pen.  The ram has a paint pack affixed to his underside and when he mounts the ewes, he leaves a splotch of red paint on their backs.  Each day, the researchers track which ewes got a little bit of "action" so to speak.  The bottom line is that they are trying to perfect a way to get three successful lambing seasons in two years instead of just two.   It turns out, a sheep breed from St. Croix is doing extremely well in Virginia and shows much promise.

  A large part of the research the farm is doing is for the expressed purpose of finding ways Virginia farmers--primarily tobacco and peanut farmers--can keep farming their land. 

  All in all, this was a great field trip.  The kids learned quite a bit and once again, they got to see food being produced.  The kids in our homeschool group definitely know that food doesn't just come from supermarkets .  In fact, several of the kids left the field trip wanting to become either animal scientists or agricultural experts when they grow up. 

  

  Even us moms got into it.  By the time we left, we were batting around the idea of starting up a homeschool-run CSA.  And if nothing else, I'm inspired to learn much more about becoming a "fish" farmer for my family.

   

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