Getting Dirty On The Job

It is hard to believe that four weeks has gone by! These last two weeks have been jammed pack with excitement and working not only with Meade County Ag and Natural Resources but also helping out with 4-H. On Tuesday the 28^th of May I had the opportunity to participate in Artificial Insemination. Only this time, I was not just the gate holder, I actually got to try it out myself. Believe it or now, I was super excited and I cant wait to get the opportunity to do it again. I did get very dirty but the learning experience was for sure hands on. I now understand how hard it is to artificially inseminate, and why having extra clothes is a necessity.

This is me holding the Artificial Insemination gun when the semen is stored.  

I also had the opportunity to work on the Meade County Country Ham project where I helped the 4-H students and the adults clean their country ham. I have officially ruined my second pair of pants while working this summer, tMeade County is getting a new ham house so the hams will be hung once the building is wired. I also had the honor of being “eyes” for placing the ham house on its new foundation…it was kind of scary considering it got windy and started to rain while the building was up in the air!

In the past two weeks I have helped with three 4-H workshops, Foods, Paper arts and crafts, and Wood Working. The kids were able to make pizza bites and banana splits. It was so great to see the students understanding why following a recipe is important and why using the right ingredients can make a recipe. At the wood working workshop, students could pick what they wanted to build and they had an absolute blast. There were 18 kids with hammers and hand held drills, which at times was scary. But they all handled themselves very well. With arts and crafts, the students learned how to Modge Podge and they also learned how to emboss pictures!

 

Monday the 3rd of June, I worked with Andy to determine the soybean plant population of our plots. This was a very long process but we did this to see what our plant population was compared to what was planted. It was an awesome day to be outside, even if math was involved!  I also worked with out FCS agent at the local farmers market with Plate It Up. Jennifer Bridge, the FCS agent from Meade County and Loretta Scaggs who works with EFNEP are working to promote healthy and delicious recipes using things that are grown at the farmers market. This week a broccoli, grit, cheese and country ham casserole was made in order to promote the broccoli that would be sold this week at the farmers market. These two weeks has taught me the importance of networking and working with the public.  I have had the opportunity to sit in on a district board meeting and a community property meeting. It was very interesting because at the district board meeting, the committee members voted on getting the extension agents vehicles. Today the agents are sporting new traverses and a new pick up truck. I have noticed just how important volunteers are to extension. Without them, the success would not be possible. These past two weeks I have been covered in cow manure, mud, ham rub, bleach water, dust, embossing glitter, glue, splinters, and flour. But with each thing that I have been covered in, I have seen another part of extension that I love!

Oh and by the way, Happy National Donut Day! Our office is celebrating in style!