During our weekly meeting, I found Precision Agriculture to be surprising because in some areas, like the ones in red, represent poor fertility areas and the computer knows exactly where not to put excess nitrogen. This prevents workers from putting down and paying for excess material.
Healthy soil serves as a massive natural filtration system that directly protects water quality and drives environmental sustainability. Rich, organic soil acts like a sponge, absorbing rainfall and preventing toxic agricultural or urban runoff from entering local streams and the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Additionally, healthy soil prevents erosion and stores carbon, which helps mitigate climate impacts and makes local ecosystems much more resilient against extreme weather.
The district provides vital technical assistance, education, and financial incentives to help farmers implement Best Management Practices (BMPs), such as cover cropping and heavy-use area protection. By teaching the community how to protect the structural integrity of the land, these programs significantly reduce soil erosion, minimize the need for heavy chemical inputs, and keep both rural farmland and urban green spaces economically and environmentally viable.
The concept of helping farmers free of charge, to evaluate, assist, and attain the goals the farmers or other individuals ties to my internship because I don’t think that individuals who want to improve their environment should be denied or charged.
This past week was a mixture of great food, big milestones, and community fun! On Monday, I headed out with Xuan and Dave to visit FRM.co, a local mushroom farm. Hearing their story and seeing where they are at was wonderful, but the absolute highlight was getting some mushrooms to take home. As a proud Pole, I have an undying love for mushrooms, so I was more than happy to pack some up for future dishes! The rest of Monday and most of Tuesday were dedicated to computer work, during which I focused on updating identification slides and drafting my blog. I also took a quick break to stop by Home Depot to scout out a pop-up tent for our upcoming farmers' market project.
Wednesday was incredibly busy, but easily one of my favorite days. I spent the day vlogging to create a "day in my life" video, which included a trip to the UMD campus. There, I got to watch Xuan’s master's student, Brilliant, present his thesis project, and he passed, so huge congratulations to him! Afterward, I met with Dr. Daniel Rodriguez, an Assistant Professor in Plant Science & Landscape Architecture. After catching up, we discussed a collaboration to create a mock-up auction project using his tomatoes, with the long-term goal of building a real auction. He was totally on board, and I’m really looking forward to ironing out the details soon. Once I got back to the center, the best surprise was waiting for me: OUR TOTE BAGS CAME! I immediately ran to grab them from the drop-off location and unboxing them made me so happy. The quality is amazing, especially with those green handles. There was a tiny production mistake, but our vendor was more than happy to help us fix it, making the whole experience wonderful.
After a quiet Thursday working from home on the computer, Friday brought another huge highlight. Camren and I (along with Jonathan, before he got pulled away to follow his mentor around) headed over to the Baltimore County 4-H Fair. It was so cool to see all the animals and the projects people put together. At our station, we helped kids make Q-tip paintings of animals and farms, a little activity I highly recommend to any parent wanting to keep their kids busy and creative! I also challenged the kids with some trivia questions to win prizes. To be honest, I didn't give them the easiest questions, which made it even better to see their eyes literally glisten and sparkle when they won. Plus, despite the heat, I managed to score the ultimate sweet treat: getting to be an ice cream judge for a competition! It was a fantastic, fun-filled day, and I was more than ready to head home and get some well-deserved rest over the weekend.
Hard day at work at Baltimore’s County 4H fair! It was a load of fun!
Photo of our meeting to speak on Future Tomato Auction Project with Xuan, Dr. Rodriguez, and me.
Surrounded in heaven during our visit to the mushroom farm.
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