Through my internship this summer, I have become immersed in the world of Extension and have learned about all the resources it can offer communities, farmers, and prospective producers. Having grown up in 4-H, I was always familiar with the youth development side of UME. However, it wasn't until I took this internship that I got to see the side of Extension that educates and empowers local growers.
Regardless of the area producers may need help with- whether that be with production, financial matters, or starting an agricultural business- UME has faculty who are prepared to assist. Thus, this internship has opened my eyes to the many ways Extension supports farmers. Moving forward and into my future agricultural career, I will be happy to promote Extension services to farmers who may be struggling with environmental or economic challenges.
During this week of my UME internship, I collected data for the biochar experiment for the first time since transplanting the Swiss chard into the research field. Along with my fellow intern, Veda Sanhai, I measured the heights of each plant. However, before doing so, we had to scoop out the plants that had died and plant a new Swiss chard seed in its place. Since transplanting the Swiss chard, several have died due to heat stress outside. Therefore, we have had to resow numerous for the sake of our experiment.
Regardless of the area producers may need help with- whether that be with production, financial matters, or starting an agricultural business- UME has faculty who are prepared to assist. Thus, this internship has opened my eyes to the many ways Extension supports farmers. Moving forward and into my future agricultural career, I will be happy to promote Extension services to farmers who may be struggling with environmental or economic challenges.
During this week of my UME internship, I collected data for the biochar experiment for the first time since transplanting the Swiss chard into the research field. Along with my fellow intern, Veda Sanhai, I measured the heights of each plant. However, before doing so, we had to scoop out the plants that had died and plant a new Swiss chard seed in its place. Since transplanting the Swiss chard, several have died due to heat stress outside. Therefore, we have had to resow numerous for the sake of our experiment.
I worked with fellow intern Veda Sanhai on July 14 to record the heights of the transplanted Swiss chard.
Image Credit: Veda Sanhai
After we counted the live plants, reseeded, and measured the heights, it was time to turn on the drip irrigation system for three hours that day.
Later this week I also worked with Veda to fertilize each adult plant. We poured 1.5 tablespoons of a 20-10-20 granular fertilizer into an empty gallon container and filled it up with water. Then, we used a liquid measuring cup to apply 100 mL of the fertilizer solution to each adult plant.
Later this week I also worked with Veda to fertilize each adult plant. We poured 1.5 tablespoons of a 20-10-20 granular fertilizer into an empty gallon container and filled it up with water. Then, we used a liquid measuring cup to apply 100 mL of the fertilizer solution to each adult plant.
Along with Veda Sanhai, I applied 100 mL of diluted 20-10-20 granular fertilizer to the adult Swiss chard in the research field.
Image Credit: Elizabeth Karides
Besides fertilizing, we also needed weed along the sides of the plastic mulch. Veda used a battery powered weed wacker to take out some of the larger and more deeply rooted weeds while I hand-weeded the ones that were easy to grab. This week, weeding was a particularly important task to complete because we have observed some damage to the Swiss chard leaves due to grasshoppers. We suspect that the grasshoppers have been able to seek shelter and hide in the nearby weeds. Therefore, it was important to remove them in order to cut down on damage to the plant leaves.
Several leaves on the Swiss chard show damage due to grasshoppers in the area.
Image Credit: Elizabeth Karides
In addition to the hands-on work I completed this week, I also made major progress on a UME instructional brief I have been writing on specialty mushroom cultivation. This summer, I have been assisting UME faculty with their pilot research on speciality mushroom production and part of my work consists of sharing what we have learned in an extension publication. Thus, this week Dr. Lu has been offering her revisions and suggestions to my drafted brief and we have been working to prepare an educational and informative resource for aspiring mushroom producers.
Essentially, this week was productive both inside and outside. While completing tasks like weeding can be daunting, tiring, and monotonous, I always feel better when it's taken care of. Additionally, I am thrilled to have my name on a published UME brief in the future. I look forward to the last weeks of my UME summer. Thanks for reading!
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