<Begin Segment 4>

RP: Let's talk a little bit about life on the farm. What do, what do you remember... how early or young were you when you first started working on the farm?

ST: Oh, we were youngsters. You know, picked grasses, cleaned the yards and cleaned the grape vineyards, crawl on the knees and pick all those morning glories that just climbed on the vine.

RP: Getting the weeds.

ST: That was quite a work. But, it was fun.

RP: Did every, did every child have a specific responsibility or chore?

ST: Uh-huh, yes. That was our everyday. And then of course we had strawberries, too, so we had to weed the strawberry farm, too.

RP: Now did you also, were you also part of the harvest?

ST: Oh yes, uh-huh.

RP: Grapes and...

ST: Made sure that we don't pull off the roots. [Laughs]

RP: Some, some farm families or kids left school during the, during the fall --

ST: Yeah, uh-huh, yeah.

RP: -- so they could be part of the harvest.

ST: None of my brothers had really had a further education. They just helped on the farm.

RP: So after they graduated, they stayed on the farm?

ST: Yeah. But I was the only one that was fortunate to go to San Francisco first and then to Los Angeles when my sister and her family moved to Los Angeles and, and I worked in a home for about couple of years. And I went to sewing school.

RP: Tell us -- a few more questions about the farm -- tell us a little bit about the house you lived in on the farm.

ST: You mean like workin' on the grapes and strawberries?

RP: Oh, the house, the farm house?

ST: You mean the house?

RP: Yeah.

ST: We had a fairly nice home. But because there were so many, my father had to build another house for the boys. So the parents and the younger ones and the women lived in one house. And the boys and the cousins lived on the, in the other house. But we all ate together. It was like a party every meal.

RP: [Laughs] Now, did you have, did you have animals on the farm, too? Cows, chickens...

ST: Yes, we had horses and not much, too many others. Horses and I think he had some pigs. I think, I think that was all.

RP: Did your father have tractors, too?

ST: Oh, yes. Tractors, he always drove the tractor. Nobody else did. [Laughs]

RP: He was the boss.

ST: Uh-huh, yes. I don't think they really wanted to anyway, you know, the brothers. Yeah, they just did what my father told them to do.

RP: So what was your, what was your favorite thing to do on the farm?

ST: It was fun workin' with my brothers. Like weeding and picking the crops and crating them. And then like grapes, we would pick them and then in the evening we would all sit around and clean the grapes and pack them.

RP: You had to make your own boxes?

ST: Huh?

RP: Did you have to make your own boxes for your...

ST: Yes, uh-huh. Make sure that we did it right. And you have to have certain weight. So, they were pretty strict about that.

RP: Did your, did somebody come and pick up grapes and produce, or...

ST: No, we would crate them and then the brothers would take it to the place where they would ship out. I used to go with them sometimes, just for the ride.

RP: Would that be, would they ship out the produce from Florin?

ST: Yeah, right out of railroad station in the Florin, you know, little town of Florin.

RP: Okay.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.