Strawberries!!
If you have been in a grocery store lately, you will certainly notice it is “strawberry season”! On Friday 10th August, Mr Culwick, Mr Fowles and Mr Dickfos took the Year 12 Science 21 students out to Stothart Family Farms (Bellmere) to see the full process involved in getting that delicious, red fruit onto our dining tables.
The Science 21 class are currently undergoing an Extended Experimental Investigation on how different factors affect the rate of plant growth. Some of the factors they are testing are different types of plant nutrients, water/sunlight amounts and soil temperatures. They are doing their tests on “sweet peas”. So what better way to see how all this plays out in the “real” world, than to visit the best strawberry farm in Australia?!
The students were quite amazed by the complexities involved in growing the humble strawberry – from the precision of technology that injects the different element/nutrient levels into the watering system; the continual measurements required to make sure each strawberry plant is receiving what it requires to flourish and fruit; the particular method used by the pickers in picking the strawberries without damaging the plant and fruit, all the way to the quality-assured, final packaged product stored in 2°C awaiting the daily shipment to Coles distribution centres around Australia.
Our hosts were farmer/manager David Fairweather and nutrition technician Arman – who took the students through the packing sheds and then to a tour around the farm including the chemical mixing shed and water pump station.
It was noticeable the further we travelled around the farm, observing more and more delicious looking strawberries, the hungrier the students were becoming!
They were rewarded for their excellent manners with a HUGE tray of the best strawberries in Australia!
If you would like to taste the best strawberries in Australia, then please go to COLES, look for the “Taste ‘n’ see” brand.
Psalm 34:8 says “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!”
Support a great Christian farming family today!
