Several dozen Cornell agricultural students -- from a variety of disciplines -- have banded together to start the Cornell Student Farm on two acres of Cornell's Ithaca orchards. These students will obtain hands-on experience, working alongside and passing their knowledge on to children from the Southside Community Center of Ithaca.

"More and more agricultural students here are coming from urban backgrounds, instead of family farms, and the students here need more hands-on experience," said Kalay D. Mordock, Cornell graduate student in education. "We're hoping that the Cornell students integrate their research topics with their experience at the Student Farm."

The farm is growing such favorites as corn, radishes, squash, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs. The Southside Community Center children will be selling the weekly harvests each Friday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. at the community center through October. Beezoo Wells is the Cornell Student Farm manager.

Meanwhile, the Cornell students represent majors that range from animal science to anthropology to plant breeding, and their goal is to learn as much as possible about organic farming and other projects. Funding for the student farm was provided by grants from the Robert Smith Memorial Fund, of Tompkins County Trust Co.; the Cornell Dean of Students; the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Dean of Academic Programs; and the Dean of Research. The staff at Cornell Orchards and Farm Services have also contributed their time, equipment and advice.

Ian Merwin, Cornell assistant professor of fruit and vegetable science, and the group's adviser, understands the importance of this formative year. "This is a student-initiated, student-managed, and student-led project," Merwin said. "For some, this farm will be a life-changing experience. Many are already talking about buying some land and working it."

Getting hands dirty in an agricultural experience for the first time seems to prove invaluable. "This is something you can't do just by taking a book to class," Mordock said. "For the children of the Southside Community Center, they are learning at a young age why farming is important. But we're learning something, too."