COSTA MESA : Fair Farm: It Offers a Lot to Learn

Crops of peanuts, kiwis and rhubarb--rarely seen in Orange County--mingle with the traditional crops of corn and lima beans on a small farm in the middle of urban Costa Mesa.

The unusual crops were planted because the children who visit this one-acre farm on the Orange County Fairgrounds are fascinated by them, supervisor Kevin Arnett said. And this farm exists to fascinate children.

Centennial Farm was an employee parking lot in the corner of the fairgrounds when fair officials decided to turn it into an educational tool. Tours of students and adults come through three times a day now to see something that is rapidly disappearing from urban Orange County.

“We grow everything,” Arnett said. “Anything we can try to grow, we grow because of the interest to our kids.”

On the tours, guides usually ask the children where they think bread or Cheerios come from. The children usually can trace their food only as far as the store, Arnett said.

About 25 to 30 crops are rotated as the seasons change, Arnett said. Eggplants the size of small onions are starting to hang over their wire supports and bright orange pumpkins look ready to take away.

Most of the crops have historical significance, Arnett said. “Lima beans at one time were the number one crop in Orange County and strawberries are now the number two crop.”

The food goes to low-income employees at the fairgrounds, some of whom actually help grow it, and to two local shelters for the poor, Arnett said.

Students who visit the farm are offered chicks for free, while other animals, such as pigs, rabbits, sheep and goats are sold to local youths for their use in 4-H and Future Farmers of America, Arnett said.

Baby chicks are hatched almost daily in the incubators, and all the animals are tame enough for the children to pet and hold.

The Fair Board has budgeted $100,000 each year for planting the crops, maintaining the animals, acquiring antique farm equipment and building permanent structures such as the livestock pens and the barn.

The farm sees a wide variety of students, with those from preschool to second grade the most predominant visitors. Because of its design--wide, level roads that make it easy on wheelchairs--the farm is also popular among special education classes, said Michelle McKnight, a part-time employee who schedules and conducts tours.