Oral History Program Paul and Jean Sumida Interviewed by Allison Bean 11 October 2004 i Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Paul and Jean Sumida Interviewed by Allison Bean 11 October 2004 Copyright © 2014 by Weber State University, Stewart Library ii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. 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It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Sumida, Paul and Jean, an oral history by Allison Bean, 11 October 2004, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Paul and Jean Sumida. The interview was conducted on October 11, 2004, by Allison Bean, in Perry, Utah. Paul and Jean discuss their lives, as well as their experiences farming orchards. AB: Thank you for allowing me to interview you. I received your name from Dr. Linda Oda. JS: How do you know Linda Oda? AB: She was referred to me by my Professor, Dr. Kathryn MacKay. Dr. Oda thought this was a worthwhile project, and so she has been helping me. She tells me that you are good friends. JS: We kind of grew up together—went to school. She was younger than I was, approximately. PS: Well, she was an educator too. AB: Dr. Oda was? PS: Yes. JS: She wasn't in my grade, but we went to school together in Ogden. I went to Central Junior High in Ogden. How did your earlier interview go? AB: Very well. The Nagaos are gracious people. Do you know them? PS: Only through bowling. AB: Do you still have a bowling association going? PS: No, it's been gone for about ten years. AB: Oh, really. Well, they were very kind. I enjoyed it. So, do you care if I ask you some questions? PS: If they are not too personal. AB: I will stay away from anything personal. When did your family come here from Japan? PS: Well, my dad, he came here to the United States in 1900 from Japan. AB: So your father is Iseii. PS: Uh huh. AB: How did you two meet? PS: On a blind date by a friend. AB: How long ago was that? JS: 1969 is when we got married. AB: Would it be too personal if I asked you your birthdates? PS: My birth date is July 8, 1934. JS: February 4, 1940. AB: Do you have children? PS: Two. JS: Two girls. AB: And where are they at now? JS: They are both married. AB: Living in the Box Elder County area? PS: No, living in Salt Lake. AB: Now, I would like to get to the history of farming. I have seen the Sumida stand, is that your brother? PS: Yes. AB: Okay, so was this family land that your parents purchased? PS: No, it was individual. 2 AB: So your parents never farmed in this area? PS: Yea. AB: They did, but you did not buy your land from them. PS: No. AB: Is that what your dad's main occupation was—a farmer? PS: Yea. Uh huh. AB: And what did he grow? PS: Orchards. AB: Fruit orchards? PS: Uh huh. And he had some row-crops. AB: He did have some row-crops. Did he ever grow beets for the sugar company? PS: No. That was before they were here. AB: So that was before the sugar company? PS: Yea. AB: So he grew tomatoes. PS: Tomatoes. AB: Onions? PS: No, not that I remember. AB: What did he mostly grow? PS: The orchards. AB: And do you know how they acquired their land? Did they begin by sharecropping? PS: Yes, he sharecropped. 3 AB: And then did they lease after that? Or did they go right from sharecropping to purchasing their land? JS: Can I have your name? AB: Yes. I am Allison Bean. PS: They also leased, you know, like a five year lease. AB: And then did they end up purchasing the same land they leased? PS: They leased—I am going back a long time ago. They bought from the gentleman that they leased from. AB: Did you work on the farm as a youth? PS: Uh huh. AB: What type of work did you do as a child? PS: Mostly I cultivated the ground. And sprayed. AB: Did they get you up early before school and then have you work after school? PS: Before school? No. AB: It was just after school and summers? PS: Yes, and weekends. AB: Now you as a city girl, you didn't do this, did you? JS: Well, my parents they did farm, but I was small. They just rented. They didn't own their own land. AB: What did your dad go on to do? JS: Well, since he didn't have education in America he worked as a janitor, and my mother worked in a laundry. But then they didn't farm after that. AB: Okay. So you have farmed your whole life then. 4 PS: Well, part-time. AB: Part-time. What else did you do? PS: Worked at school. I taught junior high in Ogden. AB: Where did you attend college? PS: Utah State University. AB: What did you graduate in? PS: I graduate in 1957 in education. AB: And then you farmed in the summer? PS: Yea, then farmed in the summer. I had some teachers at Box Elder High School and (tape inaudible). AB: Did your girls go to college? JS: Yes. AB: And they both graduated? PS: Well, one graduated from BYU, and the other one is still going to school. I hope she finishes. AB: When you bought your land, did you ... was it already a farm? PS: No. It was cultivated. It was an old orchard, a run-down orchard. AB: And then what did you do with it? PS: I upgraded it. I replanted all of the trees and put in an irrigation system. AB: What year was that? PS: The year I bought the farm? AB: Yes. PS: About 1967. 5 AB: And is it this piece of ground right here that we are on right now that your purchased? PS: This piece here. This is part of it. AB: How many acres did you buy? PS: Twenty-five. AB: And do you still own all twenty-five acres? PS: No, I sold it. I only have one-half acre left here. AB: So you were mostly orchard farmers, too, then? PS: Uh huh. Peaches and pears. Apricots, cherries, and sour cherries. JS: Apples. AB: Where did you market your fruit? PS: Well, in about 1969, somewhere in that area, I built a fruit stand. JS: It's this orange building right here. AB: Oh, this orange building right here? I saw that one. PS: I built that. And then—we didn't have any crop, and so I planted trees. In the summer, I didn't have anything else to do so I planted trees. AB: Were there other fruit stands close by? PS: I was the only one in this area—well, there was the Nielson's. AB: And then did you market it at any local markets or sell to any corporations? PS: Oh, once in a while. AB: Once in a while? For instance, who would you sell to? PS: Well, at the very beginning, I didn't have anything to market because all of the trees were, like I said, out of production. AB: How long did it take you to get into production? 6 PS: It took about five years. And some trees ten. If I had any money, then I planted some trees. First, you have to have enough money to plant trees. AB: That's a long time to wait. PS: Yea, it takes a long time. You have to be patient. Like if you raise tomatoes, you get a crop that year, but with trees, it takes five to ten years. AB: How did you learn how to prune the trees and take care of them? From your father? PS: Yea, from my dad. AB: How about getting help from Utah State University? Did you receive help from them, or did you mostly just have the experience that you needed already? PS: Well, mostly I had experience from my dad. AB: Did your girls work in the orchards? PS: No. AB: How about you, Mrs. Sumida, did you work in the orchards? JS: I worked in the fruit stand. AB: In the fruit stand? What are the seasons that the fruit stands are open? I don't drive up the "fruit way" very often. PS: June through October. AB: And you are now retired from both of your careers? PS: Yes. AB: When did you retire from teaching and farming? PS: I retired from farming about five or six years ago. JS: About 1996. Do you remember when you retired from teaching? PS: No. Oh, I guess about 1993. 7 AB: Is that when you sold your land? PS: Yes. AB: What has happened to the land now? PS: It's run by Mr. Taggie. AB: Oh, I've seen their fruit stand. Now, did I read on the Internet that they purchased your brother's fruit stand? PS: No. AB: Your brother has a website, and I was reading it. I thought I read that the Taggies bought his, and he moved up the road a little bit. PS: No, but he hasn't retired. He said to me, "I'm not going to retire, you know, until I pass away." AB: Is he your younger brother? PS: Yes. JS: He says that when you stop working, you die I guess. So he likes to stay busy I guess. PS: Most of the farmers here, they don't want to sell their land. You know, father, sons. In many instances, the father gave the land to the son. And now, I don't know. Some are selling the land. AB: It is really getting to be urban sprawl out here. There are a lot of new homes. How do you feel about that? PS: Well, I'm okay so far. I don't have too many neighbors here. And then _____________ , he says he's not going to sell. AB: Can I ask you, did you get involved in any of the farming associations? PS: No, no. 8 AB: Can you think of anything that may be interesting to know? JS: Are we kind of boring? AB: No, this if fascinating. PS: I don't know. Like I say, I was lucky to have bought this piece of land. Instead of going in debt, I looked at the future and thought there would be homes here one of these days. I was lucky to find this piece of ground here. I sold it for ten times more than I paid for it. JS: It is really rocky. AB: The soil here is really rocky? PS: Sandy and rocky. AB: Does the slope make it hard to irrigate? PS: Oh yea. It makes it hard to irrigate. We put a pipeline in there. We keep pumping the water in and the water (inaudible) unless you do that. AB: How many years ago did you build this home? PS: We built this in about 1977. AB: Did you live in Ogden before that? PS: No, I lived in Brigham. AB: And then you just drove to Ogden to teach school? PS: Uh huh. AB: Have you been employed, besides the fruit stand, outside of the home? JS: No, we worked the fruit stand. AB: How many years do you think you kept the fruit stand open? PS: About twenty years. 9 AB: That's a lot of years. I noticed that some of the stands say self-serve. How does that work? PS: Well, people usually drive in there and pick up whatever they want. And they put the money in a box. JS: See, there's not too much fruit now, so you know, I mean that it wouldn't be profitable to have a person there. AB: But there is not too much theft? PS: Well, its squash and pumpkins. JS: Mostly they trust people. PS: They trust the people. Of course, there are some who take it. AB: Well, it says a lot about your community, though, that that is a system that works. JS: Besides that, teenagers, they don't want squash anyway. And then, I think they put the apples and stuff in a cooler. All that is left outside right now is pumpkins and squash. AB: Have you ever been involved in the Buddhist Church in Honeyville or the one in North Ogden? PS: I went to church one time to the Buddhist Church in Corrine. As soon as I put my foot in there, they elected me as a secretary and president. And then I got out. .. AB: What type of social organizations do you belong to? You mentioned bowling. PS: Oh yea, that was a long time ago. AB: Do you do anything else? JS: You went fishing. And he fell. PS: I twisted my hip because I hurried. I had a ... call for 911. I tried to get up and my wife said, "Get up. Get up." And I said, "I can't." 10 AB: How long ago was this? PS: About two years ago. AB: And it still gives you problems? PS: They had to carry me on a stretcher. My wife thought I was faking it. PS: And they took me all the way to the Logan hospital. And then ... .that's where they operated on me. AB: Did they give you a replacement? PS: Yea, I have had a hip replacement. They put in a steel (inaudible). But I have arthritis. In the morning when I get up I am in pain. The doctor said that if you have arthritis, you need to exercise. But I said that when I have pain, I don't want to exercise. AB: Your health looks good. JS: Well, thank you. PS: It's a good thing I sold the farm. AB: It is. And you said you sold your farm in 1996? PS: 1996, yes. AB: And you kept a quarter of an acre? PS: No, a half of an acre. AB: That is still a lot of land. PS: Yes. It is a lot of work. AB: Can I ask you about the Japanese language? Do you both speak? JS: He speaks more than I do. But we both went to school. PS: No, it's kind of a lost language now. 11 AB: What about other portions of the Japanese culture like cooking? Do you still eat a lot of authentic Japanese foods? JS: Well, we eat a lot of rice. PS: Yea, just recently. I used to eat a lot of bread, and then I found out that eating too much bread is bad for the heart. And so I cut down on the carbs and eat more rice. I used to eat bread but it is high carbs. And this one man said that he was hungry all of the time, so I told him that all I ate was rice. And I went to Dr. and the secretary there said, "My husband eats rice too." So, is that Japanese food?" And I said, "I don't know." AB: I went to the bazaar at the Buddhist Temple in Ogden and had the pickled cabbage. It was wonderful. PS: It sure smells though. AB: It was really good. Is there anything else that you think would be interesting? PS: Well I had my kids go to college because I didn't want them to be involved in farming. AB: Why was that? JS: Because it is hard work. Not very much money. PS: Oh yea. In all farming, there's not a lot of money. So I had them go to college and get an education. JS: And for girls it is hard—they have to run a tractor. We took them out sometimes. One time we were picking ... PS: We were planting trees. And they were out there with us. JS: And they started to cry because they fell in the irrigation ... the water or something. PS: No, no. We had the hole to plant the trees and then, the water in the hole there—they fell in. And also the bees were after them. 12 JS: And it was really hot, and so they didn't go out there very much. But they worked in our fruit stand. AB: Is orchard farming similar to row-farming? Is it a seven day a week job? PS: Orchards, yea, it's continuous. JS: But your brother did row-crops too. But we didn't do row-crops. AB: But the orchard requires the same time—early in the morning until late at night, seven days a week? PS: Well, you can do it that way if you want to. But sometimes, I would get up early in the morning. I had to go up there and change the water because I didn't want the water running in the same places. It would waste all of the water. And then you had to change the water. I would come in about seven o'clock and get my breakfast. The I would take a shower and wait for my ride. I would go to school and then teach in Ogden. I would then come home from Ogden in a carpool. And then I would eat and change my clothes and then I'm out there working again. And then when it got dark, I would come home. I didn't do that every day. And also in the early morning I found, I ordered produce from Associated Produce Store. Usually bananas, grapes and stuff like that because people coming to the fruit stand—instead of just having peaches ... AB: Is that the one out of Ogden there? PS: No, it was in Salt Lake. AB: And they would bring it up? PS: It's in North Ogden now. AB: So, how did you know how much to order so you didn't have a lot of waste? How did you know how much to pick? Was it just a science that you learned? 13 PS: I used to work for Smith's Food King. I worked there after school. AB: In addition to farming? PS: In addition to farming and teaching. PS: In addition to the Reserves too. AB: Really. So you were in the Reserves? PS: Yea. JS: He was already in the Reserves before we got married. AB: Were you already a school teacher when you got married? PS: Uh huh. JS: Yes. AB: Okay, so when you were in the Reserves, you worked at Smith's Food King, you had a fruit stand, and you taught. JS: He was very busy. PS: After I worked the fruit stand, I would come home, and I had my dinner, and I would do my school work. I had to correct papers, and sometimes I would be up until two o'clock in the morning. JS: There is a lot of work involved in farming because ... PS: There is a lot of paper work. JS: No, I'm talking about the labor work. Like we had to cultivate, pulls weeds. And then you had to dig ditches. PS: I had to watch the workers. JS: And then after you trimmed the trees, you had to gather the limbs and burn them. People don't realize all of that work that you have to do. 14 AB: You mentioned workers. So you had hired help? PS: Uh huh. AB: Just in the summer? PS: Uh huh. AB: Was it high school boys or who did you hire? PS: No, I had some Spanish people. High school kids. All kinds of people. JS: But the fruit stand was mostly high school workers. AB: I guess one of my questions is, to me it would be a science to know what to pick—that you would have to know what to sell so it wouldn't go bad. And what to order from Associated Foods so you didn't have too much. Was that just experience? PS: Yea, experience. And I learned that from Smith's Food King. And sometimes he would go on vacation, and I would become the manager. I worked in the produce department there, and so he showed me all of the ropes there at Smith's Food King. And I applied that to the fruit stand. Otherwise, the bananas would turn all black, and I would have to throw them away. When I bought strawberries, if I bought too much they would go rotten. JS: And if peaches got too ripe, we would have to lower the prices. PS: And you had to know what type of peaches to plant. You don't want to plant all one variety. AB: Because you want them to be ripe at different stages? PS: Right. And you don't want all peaches in your orchard because they will freeze on you, so you have to factor in some apples and cherries. You know, different crops, because things will freeze. AB: And did that happen a lot? 15 PS: Oh yea. JS: We had to worry about if it hails too. PS: That's another problem if it hails. I should tell you that in the winter—right now it is kind of slow. And then in about December, January, February, when I was teaching school, I would come home and prune trees. But you can't prune all of the trees, there is too many trees, and so we have to hire somebody. AB: And again, was that Mexican migrant workers? PS: Yea, uh huh. AB: And did you teach them how to do it, or did they ... PS: Oh yea. We had to teach them. And then we had to pick all of the limbs off the ground and burn it. JS: He's got to do that because you do it with a tractor. PS: I do a lot of tractor work. And so I drive a tractor around and then burn them in the winter and early spring. JS: You should see the piles. PS: Big piles. Also, in the fall, I would pull out the trees that weren't producing. There was plenty of work though. AB: Year round. PS: Yea, year round. JS: And then in the spring, you would plant trees. PS: Yea, but before I would do that, about every Easter I would go out and fertilize the orchard with some fertilizer. At first, I didn't have any money so I would get a tractor with a little trailer. I got a big old wash basin, you know a container, and I put fertilizer in that and had 16 two guys fertilize it on both sides. And then when I got a little bit more money I got a bin that you put on a tractor and (tape inaudible). JS: And then you had to spray. PS: Yea we had to spray. And my brother, we bought a sprayer. They cost a lot of money, about seven to fifteen thousand dollars a sprayer. AB: And do you ride the tractor when you spray? PS: You ride a tractor. It's on a trailer. JS: But you don't just spray once. They had to spray different times. PS: Yea, you spray in the early spring with oil and vinegar. That is before the blossoms. And then after they blossom, then you spray again about four times. It depends on what kind of tree you have. AB: Now we have a peach tree, and my husband has me spray the trunk. Do you spray the trunk too? PS: Oh yea, you spray the trunk too. In July and August. There is a lot of work here. If you let it go, then you have trees that don't produce. JS: And then the peaches start coming out, you start thinning them. PS: You spray and thin when the peaches are small, about like that. AB: So a little bit bigger than a quarter? PS: And then you have to hope it doesn't hail because if it hails you have to do it again. And then you have to keep thinning. AB: And did you hire migrant workers for that? PS: Oh yea. There was no way I could have thinned all them peaches. But when you have the workers thin them, you have to go out and take a look. You are paying them by the hour 17 there and you have to make sure they do a good job. If they leave a lot of peaches hanging there in the fall, your peaches are going to be small. You have to prune the trees to the right shape—you want the sun to shine inside the tree there. If they are bushy, then the branches inside the tree, they die. JS: In other words, there is just a lot of work. AB: It is surprising. I thought in the winter it would be quiet. JS: That is what I thought too. And then I thought "Oh." PS: I hurried home from school to do some more work. At school, you take care of kids, and then you come home and do this. AB: What is it you taught in the junior high? PS: I taught in industrial arts and mathematics. Algebra. The last few years that I taught at the Technology Center. I taught algebra there, and then later, I taught the night courses there. AB: This is very exciting. PS: Teaching was a lot of hard work. AB: It is—not everybody can do it. I have four teenagers, and I just appreciate what their teachers do. It is a lot of work. PS: Oh, there is a part we kind of skipped a little bit. Again, with the tractor, I have an auger, you have probably seen them. You dig a hole like that with the auger, and that is where you plant the trees. But before you do that, you have to know exactly where you are planting the trees. On the ground, you make an "X" there, so you know where you are drilling the hole. AB: So you have it mapped out. 18 PS: You have to have it mapped out. Before you plant, in the wintertime you have to decide what you are going to plant there, and what variety you are going to plant. AB: Do you plant every year? PS: Oh, I plant... remember I told you that down here the trees were all dying, and so I plant them there. AB: When you drill down with the augers do the roots automatically spread out from there, or do you have to make the hole a little bit bigger. PS: No, you just plant the tree there. They are bare-root trees and you leave about that much space. I dump two buckets of water in the hole. We bring the water in by pickup with five gallon barrels. That is a lot of water. Then after you water it, you bury in the rest of the whole and the water runs down. And then you just cover up that hole with the tractor there. And as you plant the tree there, you cut the tree top so that the roots and tops are balanced. AB: And then after you plant them, do you have a lot that die? PS: About 10 percent die. Branches need to be open in the center so the sunlight can get in, and the branches won't die off. I do that in January and February. We plant in March and April. If you plant trees in May, it is kind of late. JS: And then after that, they pick it, and the fruit stand becomes my responsibility. If things don't get sold that day, I have to sort it. PS: City Hall took a picture of our fruit stand when we were operating it. They have a picture on the wall there. AB: Did the Box Elder News-Journal ever do an article on your stand there? PS: Yea, they did. 19 AB: Do you remember which decade that was in? I would like to go and research that? PS: I don't remember. JS: The customers like it when we... You know, you think that's not very important but it is. It is important to keep that stands clean. AB: Well, there is a lot of competition. PS: Yea, there is a lot of competition. JS: People want to make sure that all of the fruit is good in the basket too. PS: Some people put small ones in the bottom and the bigger ones on top. JS: And then they ask you a lot of questions. On how to can and when everything comes on. They are always asking when the early Albertas come on—it is like a broken record. "When do the early Albertas come on"? PS: And they ask, "Is that peach sweet"? JS: And then they ask you how to cook the squash. AB: So you really have to have a lot of expertise. And they appreciate it, though. PS: And then they ask you how many quarts of peaches you can get from a bushel and things like that. JS: And then there are so many varieties of peaches. PS: If you have a fruit stand, then you need a cooler to keep them cool so they will look better. AB: And then you pull them out in the morning and put them back at night. Is that what you do? PS: You can't put all of them in there. And then I work with my brother as a partner. And so I would ask him, "How many peaches are going to be picking?" If I don't ask him, then we would have a lot of peaches at the fruit stand. 20