Week Six with Extension by Daniel Gustitis

 

Visiting UMD this week, I helped Jonah with his research for NASA. We started germinating new seeds for the next round of research. Using the rockwool as a medium was a new experience for me. I am excited to see how these seedlings turn out.

This week in our weekly connection, our theme was looking at the complications and complexities of sharing resources and feeding the world. It seems easy to apply that to the work I am doing in my internship. Working in Baltimore, it is easy to see the inequalities and the lack of equitably shared resources. Food deserts are rampant, and creating spaces for locally grown and raised food have their own hurdles. But there is hope, there are plenty of people and entities motivated to solve these problems, and I am glad to be working with and around them.

One of the most recent projects I have been involved in has been helping Ms. Franchini with researching policy in urban areas to understand how and where urban farming is a more accessible endeavor. There are so many barriers to urban farming: capital, arable land, zoning restrictions, and many more. Urban areas were not created with agriculture in mind, so we have to recreate policy and regulations to suit farmers and their needs. Without taking a look at regulation, we will leave urban areas struggling to create spaces for these communities to develop their own agriculture. They will be left to rely on outside resources that have a history (and present) of failing these communities.

Another aspect of research I am involved in that is looking at solving these problems is aquaponics. I have talked about this in several of my blog posts, and it certainly has its place in urban agriculture. With less accessible land we need to look to alternatives to conventional agriculture to solve our problems. We should look for the areas where conventional agriculture is applicable, but that is only part of the solution. Combining the two food sources, fish and vegetables, we create a circular system that, with the right equipment, can be done in most conditions, indoors and outdoors.

Rainwater harvesting is another avenue I have been involved in. This is as much an ecological protection as it is an aid to farmers. We recently saw a drought, and without a municipal water source, urban farmers will face trouble keeping crops irrigated. Rainwater harvesting can not only help in times of drought but it serves to combat runoff in urban areas where stormwater runoff can contribute to all sorts of problems especially in our watersheds like the Chesapeake Bay. Collecting rainwater leaves less to gather sediment and nutrients and carry them to places they become yet another problem for our city to deal with.

The drone, owned and operated by The Mill, that was used to spray fungicide on corn at Clear Meadow Farm. This was a very cool experience. Very happy to have the opportunity to see new technologies being introduced to agriculture, and the potential they have to add to it.

This week I also had the opportunity to see a test of drone application of fungicide. I was able to go with Andy Kness, an agent in Harford county, to a research plot at Clear Meadow Farms for treating tar spot in corn. This also goes along with water usage as the drone application uses much less water than conventional hand application and can quickly get through fields of crops, like corn, that are much harder to navigate by foot.

I’ve used many new resources and skills to complete the tasks I’ve been assigned and have been able to contribute where asked. This has so far been an educational and eye opening experience.