It is hard to believe that this fifth week of my UME internship marks the halfway point of this program. The time really has flown by and looking back on it, I realize just how much practical knowledge I have gained. This week was no different as I garnered hands-on experience helping with a mushroom farming project and a drip irrigation system.
Early this week I got to travel to CMREC Upper Marlboro for a rainwater harvesting and drip irrigation training. Donny Murphy, the manager at the Upper Marlboro facility, and Guy Kilpatric, the manager of Terp Farm, gave an informational tour of the facility’s existing rainwater and drip irrigation systems as well as gave an irrigation installation demonstration. We also heard from Kevin Tarwa, a Ph.D Student in UMD’s Department of Nutrition and Food Science, on how peracetic acid can treat harvested rainwater. During the training, I had a fun time getting some practice in with the drip irrigation hole punch tool and the drip tape during the demonstration. Having this hands-on experience not only made the training much more educational but it also gave me the confidence to carry out these particular tasks in the future. As far as the biochar experiment I am working on with Dr. Lu goes, we still need to install the irrigation system for the Swiss chard. Thus, now having had experience with drip irrigation and the parts we will be working with when we install the system, I feel much more prepared heading into the future.
On June 24, Donny Murphy and Guy Kilpatric gave a tour of the CMREC Upper Marlboro Facility drip irrigation systems during the rainwater and irrigation training. This particular set up is for rows of basil. Image Credit: Elizabeth Karides
Here I am getting some practice in with a drip irrigation hole punch tool during the irrigation demonstration at the CMREC Upper Marlboro training. This tool pierces the water hose which ends up being where water flows out of and into a drip tape. Image Credit: Veda Sanhai
Besides the training at CMREC Upper Marlboro, my week also consisted of working with my fellow intern, Veda Sanhai, and UME Agent Dave Clement on a mushroom farming project. At CMREC Clarksville, UME professionals are looking to gain more experience growing and producing specialty mushrooms so we have more practical knowledge when it comes to helping local farmers. After driving with Veda and Dave to Phoenix, Maryland to visit the Mushroom Farm at Davis Highlands, we talked to mycologist Walker Santos and got his recommendation for an optimum mushroom growth substrate recipe. Back at CMREC, Veda, Dave, and I prepared around 20 bags of growth substrate.
On June 26, I weighed out each ingredient for every bag of the mushroom growth substrate. Soy hulls, water, and wood chips were the needed components for this specific recipe we were following. Image Credit: Veda Sanhai
To finish off the week, I worked alongside Veda to assist Lisa Kuder, a Native Plants and Landscapes Specialist, with the setup of a drip irrigation system for a seed increase field located at CMREC Clarksville. Before this day, I had never heard of a seed increase field before and was interested to learn more about them. I was happy to help Lisa and Veda with this project to support native plant life! Also, having just participated in a drip irrigation training a few days prior, I was happy to be working on a real irrigation system and put some of my new skills to the test. My job was to install each emitter after Lisa used the hole punch tool to pierce the hose. Thankfully, this day was the least hot day of the week which made working outside much more enjoyable.
On June 27, I helped install irrigation emitters into each punched hole of the water hose. This drip irrigation system was set up to help create a native plant seed increase field at CMREC Clarksville. Image Credit: Veda Sanhai
During this week, I definitely had to step outside my comfort zone by traveling to new places, meeting and working with new people, and taking on tasks I have never tried before. While I am always a little nervous to take on new experiences, I am always so glad I do because at the end of the day I walk away having learned something new. Sometimes I struggle with accepting the fact that mistakes are part of the process and that I am not going to know everything right off the bat. My time at UME has taught me that having setbacks and learning from them is okay!
This was a very productive week and I look forward to the last half of this internship program.
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