"I Love Everything That is Old - Old Friends, Old Times, Old Manners, Old Books, Old Wine." - Oliver Goldsmith

Like many a college student, I started off strong with my "homework" and then began to lag a bit.  Please bear with me as I catch back up on my blogging and bring you a quality view of my internship experience.

"I Love Everything That is Old - Old Friends, Old Times, Old Manners, Old Books, Old Wine." 

- Oliver Goldsmith

I chose to use this quote as my title because I do love all these things, but more so because of wine.  Here in the past two weeks especially, I have seen firsthand the growing Virginia wine industry and how Giles will play a part in it.

A beautiful view at Glen Manor

For two days Jeannie and I participated in an in-service training in the Shenandoah Valley on viticulture.  The first day was part of the Virginia Vineyards Association Summer Technical meeting on "Steep Terrain Grape Growing."  After touring Glen Manor Vineyards where we also learned about soil mapping and equipment safety.  We wrapped up the night with a super-fun dinner social at Rappahannock Cellars complete with bluegrass, flat-footin', and of course wine!  The next day we learned about more technical aspects to growing grapes in the Commonwealth.  One of the neatest things we gained for producer members included learning how to evaluate canopy of the vines.  Evaluating the vines can let producers know more accurately how well their crop is doing.

Tony Wolf teaches ANR agents how to do canopy assessment

A few days later back in Giles, I had the opportunity to participate in a joint meeting between the New River Valley Grape Growers and stakeholders of the RFID Grant for tri-counties (which is mentioned in previous blogs).  Not only did I get some great food from The Bank restaurant of Pearisburg, but I became more aware of the current involvement and interest of viticulture in Giles county.  Giles has steep and rocky soils, which at first glance seem to be only good for lumber and some grazing.  Now that the demand for Virginia wines is increasing, yet the current land area dedicated to grape production is stagnant, Giles land can have an alternative use.  Grapes do not need what would be considered fertile soil and must be well drained.  They can also grow at higher elevations.  All of these characteristics describe Giles land.  Giles not only has the land resources for grape production, but the interest to fill the need and also build the community through a value-added agriculture.  During the meeting, it was so exciting to see the future of Virginia agriculture unfold in front of me as producers and state government discussed the opportunities for Giles viticulture.

Off to a Great Start!

The first few days of my internship have been jam-packed with information, and plenty more to come!  Out of the five days I have worked, four have included in-service programs for Agriculture and Natural Resource Agents and the additional day, I conducted an after school program, along with an evening meeting with the community.  It didn't take me long to realize first-hand how diversified and busy extension agents are, and I've just seen the tip of the iceberg!

Joni Young-Torres of NC Extension shares with the group

The first two days of my internship were spent at The Inn at Virginia Tech for an in-service (extension agent training on a specific subject matter) about Community Gardening.  Although I have worked some with the Blacksburg Farmers Market with my Appalachian Studies minor, community gardening is a different approach to local food production.  During this in-service we did not focus as much on the actual production of food/flowers, but on the community aspect.  Although I would like to brush up on my gardening skills, learning about how to structure a community garden is very valuable.  Without the proper structure, the garden will fail even if the conditions are perfect for growth.  I found the different resources, such as asset mapping, can be applied to many agricultural projects in communities.  I really enjoyed these programs because they combined my passions for agriculture production, education, community, and culture.

Jeannie, Kate, and I show off our creative sides during the Community Gardening in-service training

Following the second day of in-service, Cora and Jeannie conducted a vision meeting for the community about potential development of agritourism/agribusiness.  Giles, along with Pulaski and Montgomery, extension are working together to help provide future and build current opportunities in agriculture.  There was a variety of citizens that participated in the meeting.  Vegetable, cattle, sheep, and produce farmers along with government officials and interested consumers shared their hopes and concerns for this type of community development.  It was really great to participate in this meeting, because Giles (very similar to my hometown of Floyd) has become a part of my own sense of community.  I look forward to seeing what comes out of this brainstorm and how it impacts the community.

I wrapped up my first week of work by planning and conducting a 4-H after school program, with the guidance of Cora.  Cora had been conducting an after school pilot program with a small group of 4th and 5th graders on Fridays.  For the last program, I did activities to get the students thinking about finances.  We began by identifying parts of the 1 dollar bill .  Our second activity was about their personal value of objects, and we wrapped up with how price effects their value of those objects.  Cora introduced me to the 4-H model of learning, which I tried to incorporate into my lesson.  It was very similar to how I like to conduct workshops, but more structured.  Although I had a great time with the students and I felt that it went pretty well, I would like to work harder to incorporate this model.  It really stresses taking smaller steps in order to help students eventually apply the information from the workshop.  As a future teacher or extension agent, making information applicable is what I live for.

Starting off the after school program with some money jokes

I began my first full week of work with some office time and another in-service.  After organizing and typing the notes from the vision meetings for Giles and Pulaski (I will be attending the Montgomery meeting later this week), I went with Jeannie to the Animal Science in-service at the Alphin-Stuart Arena.  For the past two days I have learned about forage pasture management, horse and livestock youth programming, and additional cattle care.  I am most excited about becoming Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) "Train the Trainer" certified.  BQA is a standard of cattle handling and management practices that ensures safe and wholesome products for consumers.  Having this certification will be a great teaching tool in future and will help me to be a better cattle producer on my family's farm.

I have to get up a bit earlier tomorrow to do the required chute-side training that is a part of BQA certification, but I would like to reflect on my recent experiences.  I am the kind of person that I love structure in a work environment, but I also like working with, and helping people.  With extension, there is structure, but in order to fit the needs of those you serve you have to be very flexible.  During this internship I hope to gain more confidence in my ability to be more flexible in order to better serve others.  In the short period of time I have been with extension agents from all over, I continue to value the power of friendships and networking.  The folks that I have met so far are wonderful people and great resources.  The public expects a lot out of agents, and they can only do so much.  But with the help of their fellow agents, they can meet the needs of their communities and more!  I hope that I can one day be as great of a resource as them.

Thanks again for checking out my blog!  Keep your eyes peeled for some upcoming adventures...including "sheep pruning."