Second Week Underway! - by Brian Wathen

 

Rows of Zucchini plants. We went out to a local farm to inspect some of these plants since a farmer was

worried about the plants having a disease. These plants were actually just burned from the pesticide

used and should recoup in a couple weeks.

Jumping into my second week as being an intern, I have learned a lot. I have worked with my

mentor Ben to go out and help the local farm community with problems that they have and

working on some of the trials that are underway. I have helped out with distributing the last sets

of tomatoes for our hot set field trials, attended meetings with the St. Mary’s county Agriculture

and Seafood Board to discuss different marketing trends and how to increase income and

clientele to buy from local farmers and went out in the fields to take soil samples and to discuss

ways to improve the farmers blueberry plants and so much more. I feel growing up on a farm

myself and knowing how certain crops are raised and maintained, can help me in

comprehending and identifying some of these problems, but I know I have much more to learn

and experience.

Some of the goals I have set for myself during this time are to make sure that everything I need

to do gets accomplished and soak in all the information that I can. With new experiences come

new knowledge, the more I can learn now, the easier it might be for me when I start thinking

about a career in Agriculture.

Some of the core competencies that I have used thus far in my internship include Career and

Self-Development, Communication, Professionalism, Critical Thinking and Equity and Inclusion.

I have learned a lot about different careers in Ag and I am learning about the different

departments and boards that meet to discuss problems and solutions in the community. I have

met and talked to different people within these departments and even had a say in talking about

marketing tactics and Ag infrastructure for the county. Communication and Professionalism

comes in to play here as well. I feel I have maintained professionalism during the times when I

am meeting new people and talking with them. I don’t argue or show any sort of disrespect. I

feel like I always think critically whenever I am assigned something and I am a very detailed

oriented person. Whenever I don’t understand something one hundred percent, I make sure I

get every detail and fully comprehend what I am doing. Everyone I feel needs to be heard and

included when working together. I saw an example of this at a meeting where new farmers or

land owners were briefed on what to do with their land if they want to start farming. Most of

these up and coming farmers were those who had small or underserved land. I feel the long-

term benefit from me using these competencies will make me a better person professionally.

We went out to a farm to inspect some blueberry plants. Some of the plants were not doing as well as others so we took some soil samples to test the pH levels in the soil and we looked at root structures as well.

A picture of the Charles Soil Conservation District building. I attended a meeting in which my mentor

Ben Beale and Alan Leslie shared some useful information to newer farmers regarding cover crops and

how to get started if they want to use their land to start farming.