This week was definitely a busy one. I think I can finally say I'm officially an intern—which is code for saying I did lots of copies and folding this week. I measure it in the hundreds.
In other news, this week was full of some really interesting projects. I started off by helping transfer Harford County's Private Applicator Pesticide Safety Education Recertification Workbook from Microsoft Publisher into Word, which was a pain, but hey, now people can keep getting trained. I also spent part of the week modernizing the Private Applicator Pesticide Training PowerPoint, which is something like 160 slides long. For reference, there were about five different fonts on every slide, and every word had a shadow effect straight out of the early 2000s. It definitely needed some updating.
Later in the week, I helped edit a section on ozone damage for my mentor Andrew Kness's monthly newsletter, based on a crop damage issue we were called about at One Straw Farm. After that, I folded, stuffed, and mailed about 150 newsletters, which may or may not have shredded my hands in the process.
But enough about office work—Thursday was the cool day.
I had the opportunity to join members of the Maryland Farm Bureau on tours of Foxborough Nursery and Harford Vineyard & Winery to observe frost damage from the major frost event on April 21. Foxborough estimates that they lost between $10 and $15 million, largely due to the loss of trees and shrubs that had only recently been planted out of the greenhouse. We were given a personal tour of a large portion of the operation, and it was incredible to see such a massive nursery right here in Harford County.
This is me in the fields of Foxborough Nursery! They own 720 acres of some of the premier nursery stock in the nation, serving wholesale landscaping operations from New Jersey to Maine. In the background you might notice many of the plants have bare branches or stems, a result from the major freeze.
Harford Vineyard & Winery was also a really cool experience. I had never seen grapevines up close before, and learning about grapevine pruning, bud development, and frost management was fascinating. It's amazing how much work and planning goes into producing a crop that most people probably don't think twice about.
Reflecting on this week's guest lecture about career readiness and community work, I started connecting the dots between what we discussed and what I've been experiencing during my internship. One thing that stood out to me was just how different everyone's background is. The people at Foxborough manage a 700-acre operation. The owners of Harford Vineyard & Winery got their start after the loss of a job. Members of the Farm Bureau came from places like Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
I heard the phrases "In Pennsylvania..." and "In Kansas..." more than a few times throughout the day, and it really highlighted the value of outside perspectives. People bring ideas and experiences from different places, allowing them to solve problems and improve what they're doing here in Harford County.
That realization ties directly into Extension work. One of Extension's main goals is to teach, assist, and connect with people. To do that effectively, it's important to understand the person you're working with and the experiences they bring to the table. No two people have the same background, knowledge level, or perspective. Taking the time to make a genuine connection and learn from others is one of the best ways to make Extension successful.
As I continue this internship, I hope to support and assist as many people as I can while learning more about the people, industries, and communities that make Harford County such a unique place.
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