Mikaela Seltzer

I know soil health is important because it is what is needed to grow the food we eat. It was a reminder and opened my eyes to how important it is that we take care of our soil health. Something that has inspired me to help inform other farmers about the benefits of no-tilling. It was interesting hearing how some states that have really fertile soils continue to till their land when no-till would be better for their soil health. It adds decaying plant matter to the soil which promotes more beneficial organisms to live in it, creating healthier soil and decreasing the amount of erosion. Something that has inspired me is Regenerative Farming. It was really interesting to see how cow farmers are using the way that bison graze to build up their soils and create healthier pastures. 

This is the soybean field that I checked with my mentor

I was mainly in Talbot and Dorchester this week. When I was in Dorchester I mainly harvested the summer squash and a few collards to take to the food bank with my mentor, about 267 pounds went to the food bank, and we composted at least 200 pounds that day as well. I got quite the workout that day! We also went and checked on a farmer's soybean field because he had reported some yellowing in his plants and stunted growth. We walked through the field and noticed some of the yellowing and quite a few of them were looking scorched as well. My mentor Emily was not quite sure what could be causing it as it could be a number of things, such as drought, heat stress, or potentially a disease.

This is of two Squash bugs mating on a squash 

During the days when I was in Talbot, I finished up one of the projects my mentor Shannon gave which was finding all the broken links on the website. I finally finished it and worked on some of my other tasks and projects. There was not much correlation to what I did this week and the Weekly Connection, but it was something in the back of my mind throughout the week.