Farm Internship Reflections

It definitely crept up on me, but Monday was my last day out on the Cornercopia Student Organic Farm as an intern. It was definitely a bittersweet day because I'm really going to miss working there. I have learned so much and I'm so thankful I was given the opportunity to work their this growing season.

Panoramic view of a storm rolling away from the farm.

There have been so many parts about this internship that I have loved, it's hard to list all of them. I really enjoyed working with the other interns, many of which come from different majors and backgrounds. It made the job interesting when I got to hear about the different perspectives on food and farming that everyone had. My boss has been incredible in teaching me a lot about what it takes to run a farm. She also was super understanding when I and the other interns would goof up on something (like putting tomatoes in the cold cooler or picking the wrong leafy green vegetable) which made our mistakes much more of a learning opportunity than something to be ashamed of. I have learned so much from her and I really hope that, eventually, I will know as much about plants, organic farming and organic food as she does.

All of us goofy interns and our boss, Courtney.

But more than anything I have learned the importance of food and the importance of appreciating where our food comes from. I can eat a tomato any day I want and not even think about it, but after seeding, planting, weeding, and harvesting the tomatoes I ate this summer, something about the fruit just tastes different and better. Maybe it's the emotional connection to the food, maybe it's simply because it's organic, but knowing more about your food definitely makes it more special.

Tomato picking party!

I now also hugely appreciate those that work with food as their profession who make it a point to use local and organic food. University Dining Service chefs and the chef at our on-campus restaurant Campus Club, have been huge supporters of the student organic farm and buy large amounts of our produce to feed to their customers. I specifically remember hearing from the head chef at Campus Club who talked about how a carrot soup she makes just doesn't taste the same unless the carrots she uses are organic. The flavor just isn't there with conventional carrots. I'm also very glad that we are a produce source for the food eaten by students on our campus. As the University of Minnesota works toward a more sustainable future, I think that food has a huge role to play in that shift. I'm hoping that buying produce from us is just the beginning of the U starting to source it's food more locally.

Coupon for lunch provided by University Dining Services.

And, of course, I have learned that food certainly creates community, whether that be here at the University or with other groups in Twin Cities area. Seeing how good food makes people happy was another thing I loved about this job. I hope that I can contribute to these food communities and continue connecting people to good food even more in the future with the knowledge that I gained at Cornercopia. 

 

Today's Harvest

I got a little camera-happy while we were weighing and counting tomorrow's market stand produce at the farm today. I can't help it, it's all just so pretty.

The beets were just so beautiful!!

"Patty pan sqaushes just look like cute UFOs!" -Erin the Food Safety Intern

Danger: Incredibly spicy cayenne peppers. Try at your own risk!

On a different note, I had an AWESOME chat about pollinators with some folks over on Twitter tonight. If you've got some time to spare, next Tuesday night there will be another #pollin8rchat over on the Twitterverse at 8PM Central. Just follow the hashtag and join in!

Harvest Excitement

Harvest day at the farm is my absolute favorite. It's the real reason I do the work I do because it's so incredibly satisfying to pick those ripe raspberries or that perfect head of lettuce and know that it's going to end up on someone's plate. Today, I had the pleasure of adventuring through the jungle that is the perennial herb/fruit tree/berry plot to find the seasons first berries, some mint and even a few cherries! The lettuces my coworkers harvested looked scrumptious as well. One of the other highlights of the day, besides the berry picking, was harvest basil. My mouth waters just thinking about how good that basil smelled.

                              

Speaking of basil, I planted that in my personal garden plot at the farm today. I can't wait to add it to my pasta dishes soon! I also planted my tomato plants (finally!) over the weekend and I'm excited for the next good soaking of rain to send them shooting out new growth. Minnesota has been ending June slightly damp from all the rain that's been coming through. But the upside to that is that after most of the major storms we've had, hot sunny weather has followed, meaning that the plants grow like crazy!

Our squashes shot out a couple of inches after the last storm and, over the weekend an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) practicum took place on the farm and gave us a heads up on some squash bugs that decided they wanted to lay their eggs on our beauties. We spent most of Monday on our hands and knees, examining each individual squash plant for these nasty buggers. Squash bugs lay copper colored eggs in clusters on the underside of leaves and just picking them off won't stop them from hatching. You'll need to drop the eggs in soapy water in order to kill them.

                             

We also found a few live bugs and some tasty grubs for our boys out in the chicken pasture. We've got a little under 200 Red Ranger broiler chickens in "chicken tractors" that we move along the field. The chickens get to be outside and have new ground to peck at every day and we get our field fertilized. 

                                   

We'll be sad to see them go, but in a few weeks we'll have another batch of broilers to raise from chicks. And who doesn't love little fluffy chicks?

Random Farm Knowledge: Part 1

Working on the organic farm at my university this summer has quickly taught me a lot of things. Lesson Number One is to ask A LOT of questions. I feel like asking questions is part of my job. I've also started to accumulate a lot of random bits of knowledge. Most of this comes from my amazing supervisor who's been with the farm since it started and did her Horticulture undergrad and Ag Education masters at my university. Other stuff comes from trial and error (aka: Abby makes a mistake and then doesn't make that mistake again). This is the first part of the Random Farm Knowledge series that I'll try to do every so often.

1. White Dutch Clover makes an awesome row cover and cover crop. Why spend time weeding pathways when you can just seed it with clover and let that grow up instead? It also makes awesome pollinator habitat and just looks so darn pretty.

2. Cucumbers, watermelons, squashes, zucchini, etc don't like their roots touched. These plants can often be finicky transplants, and a big reason why is that if you touch their roots too much when transplanting, they get kinda upset.

3. You can eat lambsquarters. I've been pulling this weed out of gardens my whole life, not knowing that the small plants can be eaten in salads. Crazy.

4. Speaking of lambsquarters, quinoa is in the same family as the common weed, so herbicides that kill lambsquarters can also harm quinoa.

5. YOU CAN MAKE JELLY OUT OF DANDELIONS!!  You only use the yellow petals and it makes an amazing jelly. Our supervisor made it and we tried it on gingersnaps, which was awesome.

6. You can grow cold-hardy kiwis. So that's pretty awesome.

That's it for now! But hopefully I'll accumulate some more Random Farm Knowledge soon!