It was a glorious day for a field trip to the Stockton Farm. The moment I went on the bus with my class, I was filled with elation. I wondered what kind of fruits and vegetables that the farm had cultivated and if the farm had sheltered any livestock. The Stockton Farm was not far from the campus. It was located at the beginning of Vera King Farris Drive, the road that links to the campus. As the shuttle bus entered the narrow pathway that led to the farm, it stopped there to drop us off. We took a pleasant hike to the farm and when we made it to the farm, we were then greeted by Jessica and Mary, two Stockton students who work at the farm.

They gave an amazing tour around the field. First, they showed us the different kinds of fertilizers they use to enrich the soil. The fertilizers are purely organic and help boost up the plant growth. Then, they showed us pesticides they use on the crops to prevent animals from eating them. I was really astounded at how there are not that many vegetables in the field. There are different pepper plants, but there were not any tomato, spinach, cucumber, lettuce, or onion plants growing. Most of the plants were eaten by groundhogs, so the farm has 10-feet fences to keep those kind of pests away. The irrigation canals were plowed really deep and it seemed like water could easily flow through the canals when it rains.

The most amazing part of this field trip was that you get to try out some of the vegetables that are grown there. I was only allowed to take one bell pepper from a plant and then I started to eat the pepper. Oh boy, it tasted really good. A friend of mine was daring herself to eat a habanero pepper and once she bit one part of it, her tongue went numb. “You can’t eat it in a plain fashion. You need to eat it when you are eating a sandwich or bowl of chili”, I said as I chuckled. Jessica and Mary even told us about the volunteering and internship opportunities that they offer at the farm. It sounded interesting and at some point in my college career, I will work at the farm. Since I had a clear understanding about what kind of seasonal vegetables grow here at the Stockton farm or even throughout the whole state of New Jersey, I was anxious to start my Animal Vegetable Miracle paper right away.