I'm finding it difficult to believe, but this week marks the halfway point of my internship with UME!
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| Teaching about exotic fruit. |
This internship has been such an incredible learning experience for me, and this past week was no exception. Firstly, at the tail end of last week (following the MACAA tour on the eastern shore) Jeff Semler and I gave a presentation to a group of middle schoolers from North Carolina at Shepherd's Spring Retreat Center in Sharpsburg, Maryland. The kids were learning about international cultures, and Jeff and I took the opportunity to talk about international agriculture, including different kinds of soils present in different regions, and the crops grown in those regions as a result, such as coffee, tea, and a plethora of different fruits. We brought some exotic fruits for them to try, including papaya, mangoes, and dragon fruit, and I was able to gain practice leading a hands-on, experiential learning event.
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| Amanda teaching at WMREC pasture walk. |
On Tuesday, Amanda Grev and I participated in not one, but two pasture walk events on different ends of the state. The first was at a dairy farm in southern Maryland in the morning, and the second we hosted at WMREC that evening--with a lot of driving in between! Both pasture walks were successful, and I was once again able to see the impact these free educational events have in aiding both new and seasoned farmers in the care of their animals and their land.
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| Forage sampling at Clear Spring Creamery. |
On Thursday, Jeff, Amanda, and I went to a nearby dairy farm, Clear Spring Creamery, to sample forages as part of an ongoing research project. In this project, we are taking periodic samples of specific forb species (dandelion, chicory, and plantain, to name a few) in various pastures on that farm and measuring the nutrient content of these forbs to determine how they fit into the larger pasture system and diet of the animals grazing there. It was a bit of a hike to reach the upper pasture on the farm for sampling, but turning around and seeing such a beautiful view of the valley below made the trek more than worth it. Unfortunately, pictures don't capture views as well as one would like, but I did my best to capture a sliver of the view from the upper pasture there.
This was such a tiring but wonderful week, and as ever, I'm excited to see where this internship takes me next, and what things I will learn.
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| An evening at WMREC. |
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