2024

Wow, what another great week jam packed with opportunities and learning experiences! On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to spend the day working at WMREC. For the first half of my day I assisted Jeff Semler and Amanda Grev on taking fecal samples from their cattle and sheep herds. The samples were to test the feces for egg count to see how many parasites the animal had obtained on either annual or perennial pasture grasses. The aim of this research was to see which group of livestock were more resistant to parasites due to their diet. I was also able to work with some great additional UMD extension agents while working these animals. The second half of the day was by far the best! I was honored to work with Joe Fiola on his research. I was privileged to work with Joe on harvesting, weighing and evaluating peento peaches or more commonly known to consumers as donut peaches. This was my first experience with working with this variety and I was impressed. The peaches were very fleshy, ...

Selfie of me during a break from mulching blackberries for 5 hours taken on 7/17 Learning about cross-cultural competencies has been useful even before I learned about it during this week's connection. I can use the knowledge I gained about cross-cultural competencies to reflect on the time I planned the Junior Ag Day event for the kids in the community in June, as well as the Somerset County Fair that occurred this past weekend. For both events, I served "dirt cups," which consisted of pudding, Oreos, gummy worms, M&Ms, and sprinkles representing the layers of the soil. The gummy worms contained gelatin, which is a pork product that certain religions restrict the consumption of. To make the dirt cups accessible for everyone, my mentor and I decided that I would ask the students if they wanted gummy worms, allowing them to follow their dietary restrictions. We can grow cross-cultural competencies to work effectively across cultures by holding workshops and seminars th...

I have used what I learned about cross-cultural competencies throughout my internship to learn more about other cultures and work on my communication skills. I have not worked with any communities during my internship however, it has helped me think of ways to help broaden my understanding of other cultures and learn more about other cultures. A way to grow cross-cultural competencies is by hosting cultural events, encouraging respectful open conversation, and active listening. Ciera saw a brown colored praying mantis as we were cleaning the collards This week I harvested squash with my mentor Emily, we also did insect counts and sprayed. I also cleaned up the collards with a fellow intern. I worked on inputting the insect count data into the data sheet. I worked on some administrative things, such as my activity sheet and timecard. I worked on my final presentation throughout the week and a few other projects. I have truly enjoyed my internship. I have learned a lot about the things t...

The future of agriculture correlates very closely to the future of the world. Agriculture is what feeds the world, and the world needs to be fed to continue to run. I believe in the future, Agriculture will continue to grow, evolve, and expand. We started to notice our farmlands were degrading, and quickly came up with solutions like crop rotation, no till methods, and growing green to solve these issues. With the new sustainability and ecofriendly agriculture practices that are gaining popularity, I feel farming will become much more efficient and everlasting. I definitely know locally, these practices are very popular, and it is crucial the rest of the world has this same mindset. My major in college is Environmental Science, and Agriculture is very close to my heart. I see myself working very closely in both of these fields in the future, as I am trying to do right now. I want to help contribute to the ecofriendly practices farmers can implement while also being sufficient. Working ...

  These are four out of 12 high tunnels that the Strength 2 Love 2 Farm have. You can see the row homes around the area, so it is a nice community resource to have.            This past week I got to visit a community garden and a home garden. Also, I got my first exposure to our Baltimore City 4H program. The community garden that we visited was the Strength 2 Love 2 Farm which is a really big and well-structured farm. Recently, they have had troubles with pests and a lack of help. The home garden that we went to was only the second one that I have seen. The guy that we interviewed is growing flowers for bouquets but has plans to get chickens and high tunnels with vegetables in it. He used to have high tunnels and chickens, but a dispute with the neighbors was something that got in the way of that. I never really thought about that as an obstacle for some people. We also had a 4H expo at our office where kids were invited for a presentation on th...

🖤Andrea’s Adventures🖤 Start Date: July 20th-26th Watching the film “Delmarva and the Ground for Change” was such an eye opening experience. I definitely am going to do a rewatch with my family in the future because they also like watching interesting documentaries. I am also gonna recommend it to my two college friends from NJ. One is an agriculture teacher in northern New Jersey (Blairstown) and the other is an agricultural and food systems major who TA an agricultural practicum at my old college dormitory. My old dormitory had its own agricultural program called, “ Helyar Agriculture” and we had 7 chickens that we cared for and collected the eggs from. We also have a hydroponics system inside our dorm where we grew lettuce, bok choy and herbs. And when I was a freshman- we used to have access to a greenhouse near our dorm.  The portion that stood out to me during the film was the portion when the farmers were showcasing some crop scouting and how much farmland has been lost o...

  🖤Andrea’s Adventures🖤 Start Date: July 9-19th  This week I reflected on the last few weeks of the internship! One of my favorite things that we have been able to do is go to mini conferences with our mentors. I was able to go to several across the state and I have another coming up before the end of the internship. I love learning and listening to the lectures that these conferences have. The first conference that I attended was a Biocontrol Pest conference in Carroll County and I attended it with my mentor Nathan Glenn and we got to observe several different lectures on beneficial insects as well as industry standards in the state. I really enjoyed one of the lectures done by one of the plant pathologists from Rutgers University. As I look at all that’s been accomplished throughout the summer - I reflect on the skills that I’ve been able to nourish thanks to this lovely internship. I’ve learned from extension- that absorbing knowledge is and going to be a continuous thing...

  Hello from Washington County! As the summer comes to a close, it is wonderful to look back on all the experiences and opportunities I have had to learn and grow. Primarily, I have loved learning about agriculture in Western Maryland and its differences from just a couple of counties away.  Talking about cultural competencies this week typically comes in handy when thrown into a new and unfamiliar environment. Nevertheless, utilizing cultural competencies can be beneficial for daily life as well. Throughout this internship, I have been exposed to the Mormon and Amish communities more than I had before. It has been a pleasure to learn a little bit about their way of life and talk with a few of them. Moreso, I am blown away at the generational knowledge and progressional development that is infused in these families’ lives. Everything from businesses in the dairy barn-rotary industry, pumping fertilized water over a mien to irrigate crops, and sharing their general wealth o...