2024

  This is me washing some PVC pipe that will be used to direct water flow in a rain catchment system. The project is taking place at Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm.     As a student learning is your life. You go to class, listen to a lecture, take notes, and then reflect on what you learned from that lecture. It is a structured way to gain knowledge. Extension has opened up a new way of learning both about myself, and other people. Being in a professional setting has changed my routine and forced me to learn more about myself and how I work outside of the classroom. I have always known that I like to work with my hands, but being in an office has made me want to pursue a career that forces me to be outside as much as possible. Getting outside helps me reset and be productive when I have busy work to do.       I also have enjoyed being able to meet so many new people through Extension. I have always been able to work in a team, and I typically ...

  Nourishing Neighbors produce delivery. Pictured is Mountain Laurel Medical Center staff who are ready to serve the community. Wow! What a busy week! We had another great afternoon in Barton. Our kids’ gardening classes have ended but don’t worry, we picked up on doing reading in the garden. Each week the kids gather around the raised beds and are read a children's book related to gardening. After the story had been read we gathered the kids and inspected the growth of their garden. Lots of veggies were booming. The kids were able to harvest some tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, beets and onions. It was so encouraging to see the kids walking through the garden and getting so excited about the produce being grown and able to harvest. Another week means packing up more veggie boxes! I assisted in packing up and delivering 100 veggie boxes for nourishing neighbors. It’s a good feeling to be able to have a hand in helping serve and nourish our community. Later in the week, I assiste...

  Hello from the Washington County Fair!  If there is one thing that the agricultural industry teaches you, it’s that you never know everything. In order to truly survive in an industry as diverse as the management and use of natural resources, you must be a lifelong learner. The individuals who I have seen struggle the most are the ones who believe that everything they know is the correct way of doing things. One of the biggest problems with that mindset in the agricultural industry is that the technological advancement in the last 50 years is astronomical. Learning the changes in preferences, the more efficient way to do things, the research that brings us better drugs or tells us not to use others, the introduction of advanced animal and plant genetics, and so many more things truly drive the world we live in today.  Working through this internship has enhanced my experiences of varying cultures, niches, people, and “typical” (if there is such a thing) farming practice...

“once you stop learning you start dying” ― Albert Einstein Seems like an extreme statement right? You may be thinking, I am always learning something, a new skill, a new tool. Knowledge of external information is necessary for finding a job or venturing into a career field. However, we often don't pause and contemplate what we have learned about ourselves. This week think about something (or multiple things) you have leaned about yourself while working at Extension. Pull from our Weekly Connection sessions. Maybe you have a greater understanding of how you work best, and what conditions you need to thrive.

Photo of me at Emily's Produce during the horticulture tour taken by Mikaela Seltzer This past week I did some telework which involved researching farm grants and data entry. On Wednesday, I attended a farm tour and learned a few things about starting and expanding a small farm. I learned about the challenges that these farmers faced and how they found solutions and ways to innovate their practice. The farm that I particularly remember is Emily’s Produce which provided U-pick, We-pick, farm fun and many other services and goods. The owners of Emily’s Produce faced challenges with employee trust, obtaining certifications to sell certain products, navigating a pandemic, and others. During the farm tour I learned that having a farm is something that I would be interested in having in the future. I would want to have a smaller scale farm and I would use the fruit and vegetables yields to feed communities with food insecurities.  Photo of a piglet, taken at Emily's Produce during a ...

This internship has been extremely helpful in making me figure out my best work strategies and best work practices to be successful. I have had other jobs in the past, but not really any that have been this formal or as much of a resemblance to full time career path jobs. The difference in the job I am working has made me learn new strategies and habits to allow me to be successful. Throughout the past month I have had to be more formal, more committed, and be smarter with my actions than most other jobs I have had. Since this job is very close to the career I want to go into, I care about how it goes, what I learn, and what connections I make for the future. Because of this, being presentable, formal, kind, and helpful are necessary. I have enjoyed this new work environment and actually prefer it to the other jobs I have had; the workforce development aspect makes it easier and clearer when completing tasks and especially when learning about the different jobs. I have learned that no ...

Learning is a continuous process. And through different experiences, I have learned about different people and concepts as well as myself. I am very thankful for this opportunity with UMD Extension because it has allowed me to reflect upon the type of professional, advocate, and person I want to be. Something I have learned about myself since working for Extension is I enjoy having a flexible schedule, but I also like to have an established routine. I like going into the week with an idea of all the tasks I will complete and experiences I will have. This allows me to have more structure in my life. I understand that, as a professional, my schedule can be spontaneous or prone to change. However, I still want to have more control over my schedule when I can. I also learned that I enjoy doing a wide range of activities as a worker. I enjoy being in the aquaponics lab and the greenhouse. I enjoy farm visits and working remotely. Variation in my routine keeps me engaged and makes me excited...

This is from our second stop at Seaberry Farms. We saw all the different flowers and different kinds of bouquet materials    I have learned quite a few things about myself during this internship. I am not the biggest fan of working with graphs and organizing statistics is not something I enjoy. However, I have learned more about working in an office setting and using different systems. I have a chance to see and learn about different career paths in agriculture and this internship has provided me with the chance to narrow down what path I want to pursue. I went on a Horticulture Tour with my mentor Emily. This picture is from our first stop. I have learned I work best when given directions with a clear objective and good communication. I work well in a team or on my own providing there is clear communication and directive. Some things that I have started using to help reduce stress are when I leave the office I do not think about any of the projects I am working on. This is so...

Blog post 7                               Checking insect traps                                                 7/15/2024 Kelly, Andrea and I worked in the field checking for insect traps on 7/10. These traps are used for monitoring the appearance of pests and their stages. monitoring traps do not provide control but instead are used to predict optimal timing of treatment. There are a few cases such as with bagworms and pine shoots that the traps can be used to reduce the populations of the insects. #1 Here is the insect trap The field we were checking for insects was corn crop field and what insects target the crop around this time. The primary insects that are targeting corn crops are the European corn borer, corn earworm, and fall armyworm both insects known for attacking the ears of corn. An...

Blog post 6     By. Solomon Hutchins                                                      July 8 2024 At the Howard county with Mr. Nathen and I went to a farm to check on the crops, fruit and vegetables, checking for possible fungi, insects or diseases. The first crop we took a look at was the corn crop the farmer used irrigation to help keep everything hydrated especially during hot weather days. He also did his best to spray only when needed keeping the insect and disease level low the only insect seen was a stink bug unfortunately stink bugs tend to cause “feed by injecting salivary enzymes into plants and sucking up plant juices. In young corn, this creates a characteristic pattern of circular holes with yellow margins that are very apparent as the whorl unrolls.” This tends to be bad for a farmer's crop but he seemed to keep the number lo...