Darren's Blog

Blog Post #1

To start off my blog I really wanted to say that I am very excited and overjoyed to have one more year of experience as a farm intern. I was fortunate to have worked on the old farm which was approximately half an acre of land. Now, I am working on the new Stanford Educational Farm which has 6 acres of land. The new shift in the farm environment made me realize the limitless opportunities that can occur during our fleeting summer. The change in mindset of what was necessary to plant, to what do you want to plant still amazes me as I work in the blistering heat. The farm has made a tremendous transformation from a barren flat land into a vibrant and luscious plot. Many of my friends asked me what is the thing I love most about the new farm? For me, the greenhouse has been the coolest thing I like about the new farm! Why? The greenhouse is not just your regular garden clear plastic building. In fact, it has many new upgrades such as automated cooling systems: two central fans, two smaller fans inside; a hydro-cardboard membrane cooling system and automated vents. What makes the greenhouse such a great place, is that the greenhouse acts on its own and resembles a small ecosystem where temperature and water are controlled automatically. Finally to end, the farm opens many learning experiences and amazement. Just recently, a professor from the University of Santa Cruz brought his combine, a tractor that harvests and cleans grains, to help the educational farm harvests its dry farmed wheat and barley crops. Not every day can you see a combine and the machinery of it amazed not only me but also the rest of the farm interns. I have created a video of the combine in action which I will upload soon!

Blog Post #2

Hello, there! It’s me again with an update of the farm intern progress and adventures. Within the past few weeks, I have learned a tremendous amount of information. For instance, the general program interns grouped together and headed out to the San Francisco Marin Headlands to learn about plate tectonics and different rock types. During this exciting educational trip, the group learned that these big rock formations actually were underwater rock and sediment layers. The fun does not end here, in fact, it is just the beginning. On another Wednesday, the farm interns along with other interns went on another field trip to Stanford’s John Hopkins Marine Station. Located in Monterey, the interns had the opportunity to tide pool and discover the unique marine environment. In addition, the interns were led into many small discussions with Marine Professors teaching at the marine station. The most memorable thing from the marine station was the little sea star babies which did not look like miniature starfish. Surprising!!! As the internships is coming towards an end, the farm interns are embarked on a small project that will benefit the developing farm for many years to come. This projects requires the farm intern to test out different ratios of compost and potting soil and determine the correct ratio that not only reduces the cost of buying potting soil but also achieve best plant growth. This project is biology intensive and offers interns an economic value as we will calculate the cost and savings of using such soil ratios

Blog Post #3

Wow the program is coming to a close and it felt like it was just yesterday! I want to thank Jenny Saltzman for hosting and creating such an education and fun internship for high school students. A big thank you to the farm interns and supervisor Erin Lence for always being so positive and encouraging. Without this program I would not know that Eath Sciences can be so vast and so captivating. Anyways, the farm interns have done something special: A WEBSITE!!!

www.stanfordfarminterns.wordpress.com

Within this website, viewers can see what the farm interns have been working on during the course of the program. Videos and pictures are also included. Our final project was to find the best ratio of potting soil and compost to help small farms cut their cost in buying expensive soil media. This can also be seen in our website. For our AGU Poster we will be showcasing our project which is still in progress. I wish everyone in this program good luck in their future endeavors.