Some Iowa State students will be showcasing their organic farming at the Heenah Mahyah ISU Student Farm Sunday during a Practical Farmers of Iowa tour.

Marilyn Anderson, producer for the Ames area Magic Beanstalk Community Supports Agriculture (CSA) project, said the tour will begin at the farm of Dick and Sharon Thompson in Boone Sunday at 1 p.m.

“The Thompsons raise hogs and cattle on pasture with no hormones or antibiotics,” Anderson said.

She said the next stop on the tour is her own studio in Story City, where she will demonstrate weaving and spinning. Anderson produces hand-spun fibers from angora goats.

The third stop is the ISU Student Farm, located on the south side of Mortensen Parkway in Ames. Gary Huber, extension program specialist, will be hosting the final part of the tour at Onion Creek Farm north of Ames.

Huber said the ISU farm is a six-acre site that provides students experience with organic practices.

“Heenah Mahyah is a Native American name for Mother Earth,” Huber explained.

Huber said the ISU students plan during the winter and carry those plans out during the spring and summer months. He said the students grow green beans, peas and pumpkins for Magic Beanstalk.

“There are also quite a few other vegetables that they are interested in growing,” Huber said.

Pernell Plath, a May graduate of ISU in anthropology and environmental studies, said she spends about 10 hours per week at the ISU Student Farm. Plath said she became involved with the farm in January 1997.

“One of the reasons I got involved was because I was very burnt out on bookwork and academics, and I wanted to get some hands-on experience,” Plath said. “Someday I want to be a small farmer myself, and I just thought it would be a really good opportunity to get some experience.”

Plath said recently she has been planting strawberries, but she does a variety of things on the farm.

“I also work with the outreach committee,” Plath said. She said one of the things the committee does is bring teen-agers out to the farm.

“I also put the brochure together, and do basically anything that needs to be done,” Plath said.

Plath said there are six students working on the farm this summer, but a lot more are involved during the fall and spring semesters.

Plath said the students will be talking about their plans for developing the site during their demonstration on Sunday.

“This is our first year at the site, and we have a lot of ideas,” she said.

Anderson said Magic Beanstalk is in its fourth year.

“The first year, we had 27 families participating,” Anderson said. “We had 50 families in the second year, 93 last year and 160 families this year. We’re about at our peak size.”

She said Magic Beanstalk got its start as part of the Shared Visions program. The project is currently supported by the Field to Family Community Food Project, Vision 2020, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and various local groups and businesses.

“We try to help connect people to where their food comes from,” Anderson said.

Practical Farmers of Iowa was founded in 1985 to assist farmers in profitable, environmentally sound practices, according to a press release.

The public is invited to attend the tour.