Teagan Flaherty

What a week! It has only been 5 days, but I have already seen so much of the work completed at the Anne Arundel Extension Office and how much time and dedication it takes to make the Urban Farm Research Clinic a success. This week, a variety of farm tasks were completed on-site. I was able to complete some other tasks as well, including a farm tour and consultation with my mentor!

Here I am thinning one of the (very large)
peach trees located on the research farm. To thin
a peach tree you must identify a weak branch a
remove the fruit accordingly. It was pretty
fun but imagine doing this on a large scale
farm!

At the beginning of the week, we started off with some milder tasks as Dave showed me the ropes of what he had been working on in the farm so far this season. This included planting numerous pumpkin and gourd seeds by hand. These seeds had to be replanted, as we suspect groundhogs and deer are eating the crops as they sprout. After planting, we attempted to protect these newly planted seeds by rerouting the electric fencing around the field. Today I learned how the seeds are treated with the pesticide imidacloprid and how they are planted within the rye field so the pumpkins have a dry space to grow in the fall. In addition to these tasks, I was able to help with a very fun project of thinning the 16 peach trees on site. While it may seem wrong at first to knock down the fruit, Dave informed me that this must be done to ensure the peaches are large. These peaches can become very large, with each tree producing about 45 lbs of fruit, and without thinning, the branches can bend or snap. I also was able to briefly work on some IPM research on the farm, but more of this is to come later this summer.

Later in the week, I was able to get into some more intensive farming. This included weeding all of the pepper plants in the high tunnel. After this, we covered the pepper plants in straw to ensure multiple things for the rest of the season: to keep out weeds, to reduce water loss, and to better disperse sunlight. We hope this is the last time we will need to weed these plants. In addition to this, I spent some time watering many of the plants on the farm, including tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and blueberries. I also spent multiple hours weeding the sunflower field as they began to sprout. Lastly, one of my most exciting opportunities was to participate in a farm visit and consultation with Dave. During this farm tour, he was able to consult the property owners on nutrient management as they plan to grow hay. I was also able to consult one of the owners about poultry ownership, which was a fun topic to discuss.

As Dave says: "these are some spoiled peppers" 
these peppers required a lot of weeding and straw to
remain healthy this season. 

It was a lot of work to lay this much straw down in
the high tunnel but this will prevent more
weeding later in the season. These peppers are
being grown to make a habanero beer at the local
Pherm Brewery. 

Although many of these tasks required more physical work, I was still able to be reminded of the lessons taught by Arnelle in much of my work. One topic Dave discussed with me often was how these tasks we do on the research farm are often done on large-scale farms as well. And wow - I could not imagine hand weeding a 25-acre plot, it was a lot even in a small field. This really gave me a newfound appreciation for the backgrounds of many agricultural workers. Included in this is mentor Dave, as we have discussed how different our backgrounds are as individuals. Working in a field like this, I think this is something especially important to keep in mind. In a way, I consider it cultural competency as it is important to understand the lifestyle many agriculturalists come from and how they view the work they do in comparison to the general public. This is something I will make sure to keep in mind as we work together or complete more farm tours.