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Friday, May 1, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Asparagus crop helps cover farming expenses for couple
By JENNIFER FORKER
Staff writer
Tis the season for asparagus. And the Pendleton farm, about three miles east of Lawrence, has plenty of it.
John and Karen Pendleton, who have grown asparagus for six years, have 15 acres of the green vegetable this year. The Pendletons run a pick-your-own asparagus market on their farm.
"We work from sunup to sundown,
seven days a week." Karen Pendle-
lson.
"There's something different about having to smile with people all day long," John Pendleton, 31, said. "Most farmers don't have to deal with the public."
Instead, most farmers perform solitary tasks, such as driving tractors and tending cattle, Karen Pendleton said.
“it's a real change of pace to have people around, but we enjoy it,” she
"It makes me feel good that we are able to educate the public about what a real farm looks like," she said. "We are able to get across to the public what the farm crisis is and explain it on a personal level."
Her husband said, "We could be out of business in a few years if the conditions were ripe for us to go bankrupt."
But the Pendletons, both Kansas State University graduates, are taking precautions to prevent bankruptcy. Besides the asparagus fields, they recently built a greenhouse for growing tomatoes to sell. They have
1,500 tomato plants loaded with big green tomatoes.
"We're trying to change to try and stay in farming." John Pendleton said
On a hot day the smell of manure, the Pendeltonts' choice of fertilizer for asparagus, fills the air. The grain bin store sits next to a gravel road. Behind the store are two tail grain bins, and a few yards behind the bins are train tracks. Beyond the tracks lie the asparagus fields.
Even asparagus plants are susceptible to disaster. The Pendulents lost half of their asparagus crop last spring to two late freezes. But even with the loss, they were able to cover the asparagus business costs.
The Pendletons also farm 900 acres of corn, wheat, soybeans, milo and a cattle feedlot, which don't always do as well as the asparagus business.
"With the rest of the farm, with 100 percent yield, we don't always break even," John Pendleton said.
"A lot of farmers are looking for alternatives," he said. "We were lucky enough to get started before the big push for alternative farming started. We're very fortunate because we have a large urban population."
He said people from Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City visited their sites.
"They wouldn't drive for beans or potatoes, but people who like asparagus are fanatics about it, and that's what helps," he said.
The end of May will bring the end of or saparagus season. The Pendleton
The couple began with half an acre of asparagus their first year and have added a few acres every year. This spring they added four acres.
third week of May. Then they'll concentrate their efforts on the rest of the farm.
"We were told no way could we have pick-your-own aparagus." Karen Pendleton said "They just want you to go idea. It's worked really well for us."
With each new customer, John Pendleton must explain the difference between his asparagus and the lower-priced asparagus sold in groceries.
"It is an educational process with each person who comes out," his wife said.
Her husband broke off the bottom of an asparagus stalk and ate it.
"You could never do that with grocery store asparagus," he said.
Stores cut asparagus below the soil, leaving a 3-inch bud at the bottom, he said. The bud holds water that helps the asparagus remain crisp as it is transported to grocery stores.
The Pendleton cut their asparagus stalks above the soil.
No moisture-carrying buds remain, and the asaparagus stems cannot be out of water for more than half an hour. After that, the stalks lose crispness and become rubbery and elastic.
Her husband said, "Ours would just look hideous compared to grocery asparagus if it had to sit on a shelf."
A section in the new federal immigration law pertaining to practical training has been withdrawn, the director of foreign student services said yesterday.
The law initially stated that foreign students who applied for practical training permits could not be eligible for H-1 visas, or temporary work permits, after completion of one year of training.
Students who receive practical training visas still will be eligible for H-1 visas, he said.
Students who want to apply for practical training visas to use on summer internships may apply directly to the foreign student office.
Clark Coan, associate professor of student life, said that H-1 visas were issued for persons of distinguished merit and ability.
The revised law will go into effect May 22.
However, foreign students who have graduated and are applying for practical training visas will not have the visa required until the new law, comes into effect.
Also, under the new law, students will not have to apply to the foreign student office for a transfer of school. They need only to inform the old school that they are leaving and give the name of that school to the new school, Coan said.
Law eases student visa eligibility
By a Kansan reporter
If you are leaving for the summer, you must return your converter to Sunflower Cablevision at 644 New Hampshire. Billing charges will not be stopped until all equipment is returned.
LEAVING FOR THE SUMMER?
If you don't have equipment, place a disconnect order by calling 841-2100. Charges will stop on the day the call is placed.
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