BOB PRATTE
School’s out for summer, but the line at the Hemet High produce stand will continue forming before the 9 a.m. Sunday openings at the school’s farm. The popular student stand will be open Sunday mornings through the summer. “People line up at 8:30 a.m.,” said Jody Baker, an agriculture teacher at the school who justifiably is proud of the student-run business. She said Hemet High long maintained a student garden as part of its agriculture department and FFA chapter.Produce, though, only occasionally was sold from a street corner by the school. Because someone needs to be at the ag farm daily to make sure the plants thrive, she figured they might as well keep eggsand-produce sales going year-round. Sunday sales began three years ago. Working with student stand manager Chris Gutierrez, who graduated Thursday, they initiated a marketing plan that kept the Sunday stand staffed, with produce profits going to the FFA chapter. The stand is on Stanford Street between Stetson and Thornton avenues on the east side of the school. It is open from 9-11 a.m. Sundays. In exchange for operating the produce stand, Gutierrez, who also worked with the farm’s sizable chicken flock, was allowed to keep the money from egg sales. Fresh eggs and seasonal produce grown by students quickly attracted customers. Eggs are especially popular. They sell out quickly. “We used to be so proud when we sold 27 dozen eggs in 20 minutes,” Baker said. “Now we sell three times that. Eggs are the draw. Vegetables are the profit.” At this time of year, besides popular brown eggs, students only harvest Swiss chard, beets and onion . The Sunday hours will expand from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in July to allow time to sell a summer crop of 40 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, several varieties of squash zucchini and peppers and grapes, nectarines and plums. In the winter, they sell a variety of lettuce, beets, kale, turnips, carrots, cabbage and broccoli. Customers return no matter what the season to buy eggs. “After they’ve tasted farm fresh eggs, they don’t want to eat anything else,” Baker said. Baker oversees plant crops in the very active agriculture program. Ralph and Sara Mosqueda are a husband-wife team who teach animal-raising courses. Baker said the daily care plants require is a great lesson in responsibility. Students also learn about agriculture business because they need to know how to make a profit after expenses through their Sunday sales. Gutierrez, the stand operator, finished his produce sales duty this week as the school year ended. He knew little about farming when he arrived on campus. He became so fired up as a freshman about the school farm that he took charge of the produce stand that summer. He’s headed for Fresno State in the fall, where he’ll major in agriculture business and also plans to earn a teaching credential in the field. He plans to work in the agriculture field and eventually become a teacher. He said besides learning about farming, he also developed conversational skills. “I like getting dirty working and meeting people,” he said. “I’ve found doing the stand does that.” Joseph Pauley, who will be a junior next year, said he was excited about taking over the stand. Gutierrez didn’t mind giving up his Sundays for three years. “You get the experience. It was worth it,” said Gutierrez, who was sad about leaving the ag program after graduation. “I really got to know people. Every Sunday, I talk to people.”