Week One is complete! This past week I began my summer
internship with the Carroll County Virginia Cooperative Extension office. I
will spend my summer working with Steve Pottorff, the ANR agent for Crop and
Soil Sciences, and Suzanne Slack, the commercial horticulture agent for
Carroll, Grayson, and Wythe counties. This experience is already off to a great
start, and I have already learned so much.
First thing I met with Steve and Suzanne to discuss the upcoming events we would be participating in so I could mark them on my calendar. I was so excited to see all that I will be doing! In addition to farm visits, I will get to go to 4-H camp, trainings at Virginia Tech, VSU, various conferences, and more. I am also getting to help organize the Ag education days at the county fair that will be held in August. My project will be designing and conducting my own program. It looks like I am going to be very busy, and I will be sure to blog about all of my experiences!
Monday morning we hosted a meeting at the office, and I got to meet many interesting people. That night Steve held a water test results meeting and let me sit in on it. People throughout the county had gotten water samples from their wells tested to check for contaminants, and we gave them back their results and Steve answered any questions the people had. Several people had e-Coli and Coliform bacteria in their water. I learned quite a bit from this meeting, particularly about wells.
Tuesday was a fun adventurous day. I spent most of the day riding along with Suzanne in Cana, VA. We went to look at a farmer’s pea field to check out some bees, visited several cherry orchards to look for disease and insect damage, and visited with the people that we saw. I learned about Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae. It was a fun educational day, and I was excited to get some experience with orchards, especially since my background is in vegetable crops.
First thing I met with Steve and Suzanne to discuss the upcoming events we would be participating in so I could mark them on my calendar. I was so excited to see all that I will be doing! In addition to farm visits, I will get to go to 4-H camp, trainings at Virginia Tech, VSU, various conferences, and more. I am also getting to help organize the Ag education days at the county fair that will be held in August. My project will be designing and conducting my own program. It looks like I am going to be very busy, and I will be sure to blog about all of my experiences!
Monday morning we hosted a meeting at the office, and I got to meet many interesting people. That night Steve held a water test results meeting and let me sit in on it. People throughout the county had gotten water samples from their wells tested to check for contaminants, and we gave them back their results and Steve answered any questions the people had. Several people had e-Coli and Coliform bacteria in their water. I learned quite a bit from this meeting, particularly about wells.
Tuesday was a fun adventurous day. I spent most of the day riding along with Suzanne in Cana, VA. We went to look at a farmer’s pea field to check out some bees, visited several cherry orchards to look for disease and insect damage, and visited with the people that we saw. I learned about Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae. It was a fun educational day, and I was excited to get some experience with orchards, especially since my background is in vegetable crops.
The rest of the week consisted of more farm and home visits, and lots of plant identification. I identified several trees for a homeowner and found that I find keying out plants I don’t know to be a fun challenge. Plus, I learn so much during the process! I also did some typical office work, which is to be expected in any job. However, I am thankful for the opportunity to get to intern with a program that allows me to be so active and engaged in the community.
During this time I am getting to improve and gain many skills. I am learning how agents identify plants and diseases, and where to look to access lots of helpful information. By working with producers I will be improving my social skills. Researching ways to help these farmers, as well as by simply observing what Steve and Suzanne do, will allow me to gain crucial conceptual or problem solving skills. I started the week off immediately working on my skills I had set for the internship.
It seems there is always something to get into as an extension agent! I am looking forward to what next week has in store!
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| Quackgrass we found growing in a cabbage field. |
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