These past two weeks have been a great for me to explore what the other agents do in the office. I went with the Horticulture agent to an organic farm and looked at fly traps and then went with the Ag and Natural Resource agent to look at different corn plots in Casey County. But I also got to start my look into what the summer will hold as a 4-H intern.
On the visit with the Horticulture agent, Alexis, we went to Rolling Fork Farm which is a very long drive along the backroads and through lots of hills and hollars. This farm is an organic farm which grows all kinds of fruits and vegetables. They sell at the local farmers market and also do CSA shares. The one new item to the farm that intrigued me was that they were going to get some pigs in June to start their pastured raised pork project. I am very much an animal science guy and just finished a course in swine production class in the spring, so the idea of actually seeing what I learned in class in the real world excites me. I told Alexis that I am not much of a horticulture guy but would love to come back with her when they get the pigs.
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| Agents discussing about what they see in this crop |
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| Corn Plot in Casey County |
My day with our Ag and Natural Resource agent, Jerry, was very interesting. We headed down the road to Casey County to look at different corn plots that UK had put out for a test on silage corn. We had agents from Pulaski, LaRue, Lincoln, Wolfe, Casey, Boyle, and a couple of other counties represented. We also were glad to have Dr. Chad Lee, grain crop specialist, there to explain what all we were seeing in the field. We talked about seed depth, planter pressure, compaction, different deficiencies, and application of fertilizers, fungicides, and insecticides. It was a lot of learning and I realized that these days our important to our agents because they get to go out and learn with the other agents from the specialist. It is a great time to share stories of what is going on in each county and overall a great time for some fellowship. A good way to end a morning of learning is.... eating! We ate at Bread Of Life Cafe in Casey County. (Talk about Good!) If you are around the area you need to plan on stopping and eating at this little restaurant. It is good home cooking that puts momma to shame.
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| Best burgers in town |
4-H the past 2 weeks has been busy! We did all kinds of community service during Memorial Day week which was writing letters to soldiers. I learned that kids are very impatient and wild during the last week of school. But for the most part the kids did a great job with our community service project. On Thursday May 29th, Billie Jo (4-H assistant) and I went to Sunrise Children's Home and made grout suncatchers with some of the kids there. That was a very interesting project for sure. This past week Boyle County held the Central Kentucky Goat Show. This was a new experience to me because I was never a goat guy. It was a great event where exhibitors brought us 150 head to judge and see how their projects are doing so far this year. I manned the grill during feeding time and then helped at the announcers table the rest of the time.
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| Championship Drive at the Central Kentucky Goat Show |
The rest of the week was time spent in the office. I have been putting together the booklet I am going to be using for the babysitting academy coming up at the extension office. All the ladies in the office are really excited to see me teach this class (I wonder why?). It will be a fun filled week though when we have the academy. We have 2 days when the fire fighters will come out and teach CPR and also Fire Safety. The other 2 days we will go over child care, toy selection, nutrition, crafts, and games. I think this is a perfect example of how versatile a 4-H agent has to be. It may not be your area of interest but you have to educate yourself and then educate others. We also prepared for our fundraiser at the Brass Band Festival this weekend in Danville. We made Mardi Gras mask to sell at the festival and raise money for 4-H. After we got done making the masks it looked like we had killed a parrot in the office. And I left the office that day with feathers all over my clothes...
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| Feel free to visit us and buy our masks! |
Ben Conner
Boyle County 4-H
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