Its summertime! And just like a song on the radio it’s played
for a few short minutes and moves on. My
summer has been a whirl wind of experiences so far. A mixtape you could say. This summer for the second year I am working
for Penn State Extension Endless Mountains in Bradford County. I really enjoy the people I work with and
work for. It is what brought me back for
another summer. The variety of daily
tasks, the interaction with the community, and linking it all to agriculture is
fabulous.
Lately I have been working in the
office getting ready for our county fair the last week in July. My passion lies in the dairy industry and
this year I have been given the brunt of the workload to make this year’s show
successful. Last year we had close to
100 animals for the 4-H show and well over 200 in our open show! We are hoping this year is nothing
different. I have been constructing mailings
requesting sponsors for our shows and getting the paperwork finalized for
animal submission forms. I must say I have
become much familiarized with the copier, folding papers, and sealing
envelopes. FYI things go much faster
when you use a glue stick instead of saliva.
As much as I like working in the office with the other interns the time I
spend outside of the office is wonderful. And I soak every second of it up.
I have been to numerous schools
helping to teach an array of topics. I
have worked with autistic children teaching them the importance of earthworms
in the soil. Bring a classroom full of
boys a bucket of dirt filled with earthworms and you have a morning full of
things to talk about. I have also been
to numerous field days. I have taught
what the word horticulture means played a game identifying common vegetable
crops, and why gardening is beneficial.
These field days are so much fun.
Witnessing the students’ eyes light up when you give them things to
touch and smell. It breaks up the
monotony they have had all winter long.
The questions you sometimes get are so off the wall, but make what you
are doing so worth it. At the same time
they sometimes surprise you just how much they do know! Along with the school based lessons I have
gotten to travel the county working with farmers. Since I have been at Penn State agronomy has
really interested me.
One day I traveled with the county
agronomist to recalibrate a sprayer a farmer had recently purchased. He like many in the county was in his early
to mid-sixties milking cows and doing most of the work himself. With his bad knees he wanted to get the most
out of his sprayer without having to get out and refill it. We came in to help with the math and
calibrating the smaller nozzles he had purchased. Its moments like that, that make extension
what it was founded on and feel good inside helping someone out who wasn’t too
proud to ask for help. I am also in
charge of four or five soybean fields around the county that I will be scouting
over the summer and relaying that information back to the agronomist which he
will then construct into a newsletter to the Pennsylvania Soybean
Association. Just yesterday I set corn
earworm traps in sweet corn patches that I will be checking weekly to see if
the owners should spray. These are just
some of the big projects this summer I have while working at the extension
office.
No two days are the same and that
is how I like it. Hope you enjoyed
reading it as much as I do living it.
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