I chose to watch an entire season of the reality show “Farm Kings” for my field trip. The King family own a farm in Pennsylvania, actually it’s the 3 oldest brothers who own the farm but the entire family helps to run it. They are a family of 10 kids, 9 strapping, hard-working boys and 1 girl, along with their divorced mom, Lisa. Each member of the family has a specific strength that they bring to the farming work. The eldest, Joe King, is referred to as the boss man and is basically in charge of running the farm and all of the branches that extend outside the farm, including a donut shop and a produce market. The 2nd in line is Tim King or the farmer. He’s in charge of starting the plants so that they have something to put in the ground. Third is Pete King or the human harvester. He can pick produce like a machine, and is good with people, so is often the face at the farmer’s markets they sell at. Fourth is Elizabeth “Bitty” King who they call the girl. She took a break from the family farm but is now back and helping to run the bakery. Dan King is the utility man and desperately wants to become part owner with his 3 elder brothers. Luke King is the brain, John King is the jokester, Sam King is the ox, Ben King is the favorite, and finally Paul King is the fighter.
Source: http://www.freedomfarmspa.com/
Without each one of the members of the family, the farm wouldn’t run properly. With 200 acres to plant, water, and harvest, it is a monumental 7-day-a-week job. Long hours for little pay. They mentioned that they aren’t farming to be rich, but because they love it and they love to provide fresh produce and fresh meat (they have pigs, chickens, etc.) to people. Farm fresh food is a big deal to them. Knowing where your food comes from and what is in it is essential for living a fully healthy lifestyle.
They talked a lot about the hardships of farming. If the weather doesn’t behave when they’re trying to plant and the ground is too wet, they have to postpone planting time until the ground has dried out enough to be able to take hold of the newly planted roots. They talked about the fact that it’s hard to get in lives outside of their work. One can’t just drop everything during harvest season on a Saturday to jaunt off somewhere. You are needed on the farm and without a fully staffed farm cew, there is no way all of the work will get done in a timely manner. They talked about how family farms are a dying breed and they want to bring it back to the forefront and make it “cool” again.
I was most surprised that the family was so close and enjoyed working next to each other. I cannot see me being able to work 24/7 with every member of my family for weeks on end. “Farm Kings” was a very eye-opening and sometimes fun look at one of the hardest jobs in the world. It really made me respect what local farmers do and will get me buying local produced more often this summer. Works Cited
Farm Kings. Great American Country. GAC, Butler, PA. 2012. Television.
"Freedom Farms - Home of The Farm Kings." Freedom Farms. 2015. Web. 27 June 2015.