Week Three with Alison Layton

   

                                                                             

Chickens at BLISS Meadows Backyard Basecamp.

This week, I learned how to edit a podcast. I edited the July episode of the garden thyme podcast. This involved me listening through all the raw sound and taking out anytime they said umm or any mistakes.

On Tuesday, Emily and I attended the AgFS Program Summer In-Service meeting held at the Maryland Department of Agriculture. The Maryland Secretary of Agriculture spoke on the State of Maryland's Agriculture. The Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland spoke about the state of the college. It was interesting to hear about what is happening in the state. After that, we listened to others talk about other things happening in the state, such as current research and how new technology can be used to teach people. This meeting was also the first time I met a few other interns in person.

On Wednesday, we went on the MACAA professional development tour. On this tour, we saw five urban farming operations and one suburban farm. This tour was interesting to me because I mostly know of large-scale rural farms, and it was cool to see how people were able to find ways to use the areas they had available. It was also fascinating to hear the people's stories on how they started these operations. No one we talked to was a generational farmer like most farmers I know. They saw an issue in their community and found a way to help. These operations were a mix of non-profit and for-profit operations. Many of these farms also had a central goal of education. One of the places I found interesting was the Allen AME Church. They started a community garden in the vacant lot next to the church. They put a lot of thought into the garden's design so that people of all ages and abilities could help. Along with the garden, they take care of some of the other lots in the area and have held community events to clean them up and are now maintaining them. At the end of the tour, we saw a small-scale urban farming techniques demonstration at the Anne Arundel County Extension office.

On Friday, Emily and I went to the Lower Eastern Shore Research and Education Center (LESREC) to check on the squash we transplanted last week. The squash were growing well, and the ones that we transplanted survived. We then spent time in the field pulling weeds.

Raised beds at the Allen AME Church community garden