TANAKA FARMS

By Charles N. Stevens

Photos by Dolores Seidman

One doesn’t think about Orange County being agricultural, although it used to be. Today a vestige of agriculture remains at Tanaka Farms, located on University Drive, not far from the University of California at Irvine. Most farms raise their product, have it picked by machine or agricultural workers, then shipped to market. Tanaka Farms is much different in that the public becomes involved in the activities of the farm. We went at harvest time when acres of pumpkins had matured and covered a vast field with their color. Visitors could pick out any pumpkin that they wanted then take it away for a modest price.

We rolled into the farm on a tour bus. I was surprised to see acres of cars and a number of yellow school busses parked on the firm, hard-packed dirt. The large amount of parked cars was a good indication of how popular the place was.

We were first “herded” into a covered enclosure where we sat on hay bales to wait for the first event. At the proper time, a worker leading us, we walked past their store and a covered picnic area to the waiting corral for a wagon ride. Soon a noisy tractor hauling two large wagons loaded with people stopped by. As soon as the people got off, we climbed on the rubber-tired wagons, taking our places on the rustic wooden seats. In a roar and a jerk we were off for our journey around the farm. The ride was a bit bumpy, but very interesting. We passed vegetables growing in neat rows, pumpkin fields, a plot being plowed by a tractor, then back to our starting point. One embankment we passed was dominated by sunflowers and butternut squashes hanging or laying on their sides like fat bells. We also passed suspended gutters filled with soil which will be used to grow plump strawberries in springtime.

By this time the clouds had parted and the sky was brilliant blue. We walked to the sheltered picnic area. Having paid ahead of time, each of us received a Styrofoam box with a sandwich, a few farm-raised vegetables and a plum.

Next was the petting zoo, an enclosure full of goats of various ages. Small children enjoyed stroking them. One little boy who touched the goats rear end was kicked and knocked down. He sat on the damp hay-strewn ground weeping until his mother picked him up.

Most exciting for city people and elementary school children was the actual picking of the vegetables. After walking to the area where they were growing, each person was given a plastic sack to hold the veggies they picked. They were allowed to pick four carrots, four onions, four radishes and a handful of cilantro. It was fun watching the children in their colorful shirts pulling up carrots and radishes, the clay-like soil still clinging to them. They proudly stuffed them in their plastic sacks. Next it was our turn, the adults. I hadn’t pulled up veggies since I was a kid when we had our own vegetable garden. I placed them in my bag. I took a good whiff of the contents of my bag. What a wonderful, earthy scent. It was nice to have vegetables as fresh as these, but I would have to labor at home cleaning the mud off them.

I walked among the pumpkins in a field to a small planting of tall sunflowers. They were in their final stages, their heads bowed and slumping like those of old men. Many of their seeds lay scattered on the ground.

Tanaka Farms began with great-grandfather Teruo who emigrated from Hiroshima, Japan. It has passed down through the family to the present Tanakas who farm the 30 acres of high quality fruits and vegetables. Tanaka Farms strives to not only raise quality vegetables, but also to educate the public about how food is grown.

We visited the farm in October which is their pumpkin patch time, but other times of the year are also busy. There is the strawberry tour in springtime, the melon tour during July through August and Christmas trees during December. All through the year visitors can pick their very own vegetables. There is also a store selling fresh vegetables as well as breads, jams and jellies and many other items.

We spent a very pleasant day at Tanaka Farms and promised ourselves to return.

A colorful sign welcomes us to Tanaka Farms.

A tractor hauls these wagons on a tour of Tanaka Farms.

This is what is left of a vast pumpkin patch. A child chooses the one he wants.

Adults and children pick fresh vegetables that they can take home.

MONTEREY PARK AUTHOR PUBLISHES 4th BOOK – Seeking More of the Sky: Growing Up in the 1930’s:

Charles “Norm” Stevens, a 43 year resident of Monterey Park has recently published his 4^th book: Seeking More of the Sky: Growing Up in the 1930’s. This is the story of a young boy growing up in Inglewood, California in the l930’s. This was a time during the depression when unemployment was affecting many and the banks were closed, while the clouds of war were gathering in Europe. But he was lucky enough to be raised in a loving family, the power of that love reflected throughout his stories.

Stevens is the author of three previous books about his experiences during WWII:

An Innocent at Polebrook: A Memoir of an 8th Air Force Bombardier (Story of his 34 bombing missions from his base at Polebrook, England over Germany and France)

The Innocent Cadet: Becoming A World War II Bombardier (A prequel to the first, telling of his training in the U.S. before going overseas into combat.)

Back from Combat: A WWII Bombardier Faces His Military Future from Combat: (This book details the time from when he returned from combat in England until the end of the war.)

He is known to the readers of The Citizen’s Voice as the author of Travel Log Articles including “Cruising the Rhine and Mosel”,” Best of the West”, “In Search of Snow” ,  “From Paris to Normandy on the Seine”, and “Exploring New York”.  He is retired, having taught for 32 years, primarily in the Montebello Unified School District.

Those interested in purchasing an autographed copy of any of his books, may contact the author at 323-721-8230 or  Normstevens24@gmail.com.