Mike Ribblett

Evironmnetal Struggles and Pherm Brewing

Monday July 14th was another busy day. When I got to the office I found out our hot water heater had broken and flooded the back of our office! There was nothing I could do about it but Anne Arudnel County maintenance came out and were taking care of it and are planning to work on it the next couple of days. Once that situation was handled Dave and I went outside to pick more zucchinis and cucumbers. In the afternoon I had our weekly connection meeting and guest lecture series with Holly Porter from the Delmarva Chicken Association.

This week's, weekly connection we focused on how we can adapt to environmental challenges. This is extremely evident in my Day to Day internship work battling with Maryland weather and disease pressure because of our terrible weather conditions. What I can do moving forward is to be extra relevant and more on top of the ever changing weather. As someone who is learning to farm this is a very real task that can’t or isn’t always done. We need to help those around us and the farmers around us be aware of the ever changing weather.

From Left to Right. Here I am picking Zucchinis from our 2 rows of Zucchini. After we brought them from the field we washed all of our produce. Here is Dave washing our freshly picked cucumbers.

Tuesday July 15th had some decent nice weather. It's always nice after a storm rolls through. I took advantage of this and I went out to the high tunnel to pick cherry tomatoes and to weed around the plants. In the afternoon I helped get ready for our open house by making and creating flyers for our Ice Cream Social Open House.

From Left to Right. Our Supersweet 100, Cherry Tomatoes have taken over this corner of the high tunnel, it's like a blanket has laid over the ground! Cherry Tomatoes (At least this variety) grow side by side to each other along a branch. After I had taken the tomatoes inside this is what we have that is ready for eating!

On Wednesday July 16th I worked both in the office and out on the Urban Farm. Brian came over at around 9am and we spent the entire morning trimming, pruning, and cleaning the grapevines. The biggest problem we are facing with them right now is Downy Mildew. Downy is caused by wet, humid weather. The grapes are heavily affected right now but we are not in danger of losing our fruit. Brian and I worked on cutting out the vines and leaves that were affected. By trimming we introduce air flow which allows the grapevines to dry out. In the afternoon I worked on creating flyers for our Ice Cream Social Open House. Feel free to come on over for Ice Cream and a Tour of the Urban Farm by signing up with this link. The Open house is next wednesday (July 23rd) from 5-7:30pm.

From Left to Right. Here I am pruning and cutting out disease out of our Grapevines. Next is Brian Hufker also doing the same thing as I am! Last is this is what if affecting our grapevines. This is Downy Mildew. It presents as a brwoning and necrosis on the top of the leaf and a powedery white substance on the under side of the leaf. It is a result of lack of airflow and heat.

Thursday was another very busy day for us on the farm! Brain came out in the morning and we picked cucumbers and zucchinis. We ended up picking 117lbs that morning! We were able to wash them off and when Dave came into the office in the afternoon, he and I went to the Anne Arundel Food Bank to donate our fresh produce. So far we have donated 244 pounds total of both cucumbers and zucchinis.

From Left to Right. Here I am washing off the cucumbers Brian and I picked with our garden hose. We have found this is the best method for washing. Next its Brian and I posing with out picked produce from the Day!

Friday July 18th was a BIG day for me. I was able to go over to Pherm Brewing to help make our beer using the products we grew here on the farm. Pherm Brewing is a local craft brewery which makes and sells their own craft products. They collaborate with local farmers to get fresh and reliably sourced grain, hops, and whatever lelse they may need. I learned so much about the process of how a beer (more specifically an IPA) is made. It was very rewarding to see all of the hard work I put into growing the hops and peppers being used to create something new and unique. In addition to that I was also featured on the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources instagram page as a student instagram "takeover" as I go about my day.

From Left to Right. Here I am outside of Pherm Brewing located in Crofton Maryland! This is Brian and I getting ready to put in our hops that were dryed out into a mesh bag so that way the hops could be properly incorperated into the IPA.