SPRING/2014

USF SUPERVISOR: Dr. Connie Mizak

INTERNERSHIP JOURNAL
-1
My Duties at Urban Oasis Farm

MY INTERNSHIP JOURNAL
Tuesday 1/7/14
Project: Farm Cleaning
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 5
Methods: Tuesday is my first day to my internship at Urban Oasis Farm. I will be volunteering
5hrs every day that I come out to the farm unless something unintended happens. I drive to the
farm premises and wait for my supervisor to assign me a project for the day.
Observations: I helped to stack up bags of fertilizers, mixed fertilizers with water, learned the
zoning system, and water management as used to water plants. Additionally, I assisted in
removing weeds from the gardens and in the general cleaning of some sections of the farm.

Thursday 1/9/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 10
Methods: It was a harvest day and we use traditional methods such as our own hands, shears, or
scissors. I did a number of duties with help from the farm manager John, and other workers such
as Yogan, Nathan, and the owners Cathy and Dave.
Observations: I assisted Yogan to harvest sorrel, spinach, and scallops while others were also
harvesting other vegetables such as lettuce, Kale, Dino Kale, Arugula, Turnips, Broccoli, Egg
Plants, among others.
Nathan, Yogan, and John taught me how to set up and balance a weighing machine, also showed
me how to weigh, bag, and arrange vegetables in boxes before they get put away in the
refrigerator for next day sale.
Under Cathy and Daves orders supervision, Nathan tags, counts and calculates prices for all
prepared products and have the stats done before the sale day which is usually Friday and
Saturday. Nathan trained me on how he does all these duties to satisfaction.

Tuesday 1/14/14

Project: Farm work

Hours: 5
Total Hours: 15
Methods: We used farm tools such as shovels, wheel barrows, and big buckets to do farm work
Observations: Tuesday was a rainy day so farm work was not done to full capacity, but we had
other projects around the farm to accomplish. For example, we worked in the storage house
cleaning up and organizing to maximize space
On Thursday 1/16/14 I was available at the farm for only 3hours (8:30-11:30am) because we had
a meeting with our supervisor at USF in building NES room 302.

Friday 1/17/14
Project: Farm Market
Hours: 2
Total Hours: 17
Methods: Manually move packed products to the Market stands. We stack up products on carts
and drag them to the stands, then off load and arrange them on the stands in the order of
members on one side and retail on the other.
Observations: I volunteered for 2hrs (8:30-10:30am) because I had a Microeconomics class at
11:00am. I helped to bring out the produce to the market, cleaned on the field and work stations.

Tuesday 1/21/14
Project: Farm cleaning
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 22
Methods: I volunteered 5hrs at the farm doing manual duties such as cleaning work stations,
cleaned the harvest, weighed, and packed the products.
Observations: I helped Yogan to clean plant pots, refill plant pots with fertile soil mixed with
fertilizers, and helped to clean and pick up dirt and weeds from the farm.
I helped John to build a green house. He trained me on how to use an electric drill and saw as we
had to cut metallic poles and attach them to each other using screws and drill nuts.

Thursday 1/23/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 27
Methods: This was once again a harvest day. We harvested plants such as Tatsoi, Lettuce,
Spinach, and others by picking them using our hands.
Observations: I helped to weigh and packaged plants in boxes. I assisted Nathan to harvest
Spinach, weighed, and bagged it. I assisted John and Nathan to clean the work station at the end
of the shift.

Tuesday 1/28/14
Project: Planting
Hours: 5hrs
Total hours: 32
Methods: This was a planting day. My first duties were to clean up the field then my supervisor
prompted me to prepare seedlings for planting.
Observations: This involves removing seedlings from the nursery bed and plant them in the pots
in the field. The farm uses a tower system, so water is delivered to the plants through PVC pipes
of which micro tubes are connected to those pipes delivering water to each plant individually and
timed throughout the entire day.

Thursday 1/30/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5hrs
Total hours: 37
Methods: As usual Thursday is harvest day because we have to prepare for farm market days
Friday and Saturday.
Observations: The main goal on this day is to fill up the member orders received throughout the
season, so twenty nine members get a little bit of everything on this day and the left overs go to
the public for retail sale. I am mostly occupied by harvesting, bagging, and cleaning up at the end
of the day.

Tuesday 2/4/14
Project: Cleaning up
Hours: 5hrs
Total hours: 42
Methods: Tuesdays are clean up days. I am usually appointed to cleanup duties by my supervisor
John.
Observations: On this cold morning I had to clean up weeds from in between rows, pick up all
the trash and dump it in the dumpster, clear old rows and recreate new ones, and collect all used
planting medium from old pots and putting it in wooden boxes to de-neutralize it so it can be
used in the future.

Thursday 2/6/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5hrs
Total Hours: 47
Methods: Once again, Thursdays are harvest days. Help from all other farmers such as Yogan,
John, Nathan, Dave and Cathy make it easy to go through this day because they have tremendous
experience in doing this.
Observations: For me it is just a learning opportunity working with them. We harvested plants
like Tatsoi, Bok choi, Spinach, Lettuce, Kale, Cabbages, and much more by way of using shears
and picking them with our hands.

Saturday 2/8/14
Project: Farm Market and Farm clean up.
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 52
Methods: I decided to pick up the next four Saturdays starting today, because I can make up
much needed hours since I only get 5hr on the days I volunteer. Saturdays are usually farmer
market days, meaning that the farm has its products ready for sell to its members and the public.
Observations: My responsibility is to clean and help set up the products on the stands, also I have
to do some cleaning in the field. It could be pulling weeds, sweeping the work station, or filling
up pots with planting medium.

Tuesday 2/11/14
Project: Farm preparation for planting
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 57
Method: This is usually a day of hard manual labor.
Observations: We cleaned up the field to prepare for future planting and harvesting. I was
volunteering in removing stumps from pot, refilling pots with planting medium, resetting
waterlines, and taking trash off the field and dump it in the dumpster.

Thursday 2/13/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5
Total hours: 62
Method: Harvesting is the goal today and the main thing is to fill the members orders and have
some available for retail during farmers market held on Fridays and Saturdays.
Observation: Everybody is involved in cleaning the harvest, weighing, bagging, and storing it in
the refrigerator for next day sale.

Saturday 2/15/14
Project: Farmers Market
Hours: 5
Total hours: 67
Methods: This is a farmers market day where we sell products to members and the general
public.
Observations: My role is to help clean up, set up the stands, and arrange the products on the
stand with help of Nathan, John, and Cathy. Later on, I have to go to the field and do some
cleaning such as weed pulling, empting pot and get them ready for the next activity among
others.

Tuesday 2/18/14

Projects: Farm revitalization

Hours: 5
Total Hours: 72
Methods: This was a very productive day because the farm has an order to meet, so they are
striving to meet that goal by doing farm revitalization.
Observations: Therefore, today was mainly about cleaning out old stuff, refilling pots with
planting medium, pulling stumps, and replanting using the tower system and hydroponically.

Thursday 2/20/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5
Total hours: 77
Methods: We use our hands and shears to harvest plants mostly vegetables.
Observations: We cleaned, weighed, and bagged vegetables for sale on Friday and Saturday
during the farmers Market.

Saturday 2/22/14
Project; Weeding
Hours: 5
Total hours: 82
Methods: I used farm tools such as a shovel, a hoe, rake, a plastic brute Bucket, and a cart to
uproot weeds and put them in the bucket to be shifted to the dumping area as soon as possible.
Observations: Farm sections cleaned up to be planted into the following day in order to
maximize the farms output.

Tuesday 2/25/14
Project: Planting and cleaning.
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 87

Methods: Tuesday was both a planting and farm cleaning day. We remove seedlings from beds to
be planted in the field after we clean the field.
Observations: Everybody is working towards accomplishing the goal of cleaning and planting;
therefore, work was divided up to do just that. I was responsible for taking seedlings from the
nursery beds to the field while everybody else cleaned and planted crops such as Tatsoi, Carrots,
and Cabbage among others.

JOURNAL -2
Thursday 2/27/14
Project: Harvest Day
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 92
Methods: Usually, Thursdays are busy days because of the need to harvest enough products to
meet members orders and to sustain the retail market conducted on Fridays and Saturdays.
Therefore, we all start the day with harvesting vegetables, then weighing and packaging, and
storing of products.
Observations: I noticed that we always fill all orders and get them read to go on market day.
However, when customers buy more than what was harvested we find ourselves back in the field
to meet the market demand. If there are few customers, then left over products are for take home
or donated to charity organizations.

Saturday 3/1/14
Project: Market Day
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 97
Methods: The farm owns a market stand, so on Saturday morning we dus and clean all shelves in
the stand. We then start to manually move our products from the freezer section to the shelves.
All products are separated between members and for retail and they are all well weighed,
bagged, and price tagged.
Observation: We do set up the whole farm market place with the main objective of maximizing
space with easy entrance and exit.

Tuesday 3/4/14

Project: Field cleaning

Hours: 5
Total hours: 102
Methods: Tools used in this effort include shovels, rakes, gloves, and wheel barrows. Here we go
row by row ridding the field of weeds, cut unused plants, and replacing medium in the pots as we
plan to plant more crops in the future.
Observations: Field clean up are very strenuous, so we tend to use everybody on the farm to
accomplish this goal.

Thursday 3/6/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5
Total hours: 107

Methods: Required tools include shears, bins, gloves, knives etc. plants harvested include
carrots, Bok choi, Swiss chard, kale among others.
Observations: Harvesting requires a lot of patience because these vegetables are delicate.
Therefore, proper plant handling is much emphasized during harvest day.

Saturday 3/8/14
Project: Clean-up
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 112
Methods: Farm cleanup is a general chore aimed at minimizing weeds and harvest trash left in
the field during harvest day. Here we usually use big bucket, hoes, shovels, gloves, and wheel
barrows to carry tras to the dumpsters.
Observation: At the end of the day all rows are cleaned-up and there is much space for flexibility
on the farm, so it is easy to get around when doing other activities.

Tuesday 3/11/14
Project: Re-structuring the farm

Hours: 5
Total Hours: 117
Methods: The re-structuring of the farm involves taking down rows and plant towers and replace
them with newer and more long lasting materials; for example, we remove wooden pallets and
replace them with plastic ones.
Observations: At the end of the day, the ground cloth is straighten out, rows and plant towers are
set up with long lasting materials, and water lines are set to perfection.

Thursday: 3/13/14
Project: Harvesting and Clean up
Hours; 5
Total Hours: 122
Methods; This is a day of harvesting the produce to be sold on Friday and Saturday, so we
usually pick crops, clean, weigh and bag for sale.
Observation: We fill the estimated market demand, then clean up the work shade and our tools
before we call it a day.

Saturday; 3/15/14
Project: Seminar
Hours; 5
Total Hours: 127
Methods: Seminars are held to educate both members and the community about the farms
activities with the aim of encouraging the community to support local growers. We do
presentations talking about planting, weeds, the farm system applied, and our products and
prices.
Observations: The community responds very well, so usually we are packed on such days. There
is more sales accounted for on this day than any other day.

Tuesday: 3/18/14
Project: Finishing Re-structuring
Hours: 5

Total Hours: 132

Methods: I had to help my manager Jon to straight out more ground cloths, change out pot
medium, and setting up water lines to the new rows.
Observation: The farm is usually clean and more row set up with planted.

Thursday: 3/20/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 137
Methods: Use shears, bins, gloves, and carts to harvest our produce. Then the produce is cleaned,
weighed, and bagged for sale.
Observation: A huge refrigerator is used to store all the harvested produce until they are sold to
the customers on either Friday or Saturday.

Saturday 3/22/14
Project: Farm market
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 142
Methods: We do start the day with cleaning up the farmers market area where all the produce
gets to be set up for sale. Then we transfer the produce from the refrigerator to the shelves in the
stand where we sale all the produce.
Observation: Customers come to the farmers market and buy our produce, as we welcome and
serve them accordingly. Sometimes its a slow day depending on how many customers show up
or the weather.

Tuesday: 3/25/14
Project: Planting
Hours; 5
Total Hours; 147

Methods; We were empting old plant pots and replacing them with brand new medium and then
plant new vegetables. Rotation is important along the lines of controlling pests, to ensure high
produce.
Observation: Usually, we plant crops depending how the grow; for example, plants that grow
wild and take up a lot of space are normally grown in a large area so to give them a chance to
grow to their maximum capacity and vice versa.

Thursday: 3/27/14
Project: making fiber medium/ planting
Hours; 5
Total Hours; 152
Methods: We usually use one block of coconut fiber put in a bin and let water fill up as the fiber
dissolves to make medium. Then perlite is added to the fiber to increase its fertility.
Observation: The fiber is ready for use in about 15 to 20 minutes, then we start fill up the
planting pots to get them ready for planting later on in the day.

Tuesday: 4/1/14
Project: Planting
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 157
Methods: Basically w taking seedlings from seed beds straight to the field and planting them in
our already set up tower plant pots. We plant three seedlings in each pot and set up a water line to
deliver water in order to support plant growth.
Observation: Depending on the growth rate plant, we also harvest them in seasonally.

Thursday: 4/3/14
Project: Harvest and Structural set up
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 162
Method: We did not have members this day, so only harvested for retail. Later on, we had to do
some farm work such as structural set up. I helped hammer poles down into the ground as we set
up support for plants that climb up in search for sunlight.

Observation: Wire mash in attached to the poles to provide support to the plants and zone are
created to ease farm management activities.

Tuesday: 4/8/14
Project: Brainstorming marketing methods
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 167
Methods: We had to hold a walk through for the local people looking at the farm and asking
questions about what we do and how we do it. We conducted a survey to find out what produce
they would be willing to pay for and what price is affordable to them.
Observation; At he end of the day we discuss how best can we make our communitys dreams
come true. This involves coming up with new ideas to meet that goal among others.

Thursday: 4/10/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 172
Method: We follow the regular routine of picking up vegetables early in the morning, then clean,
weigh, and bag them up later on and store them in the refrigerator until the next day to be sold.
Observation: All plants are harvested and prepared for sale. There is a daily log to follow
depending on how many customers are expected to show up.

Tuesday: 4/15/14
Project: Pot cleaning
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 177
Method: We are going around pick up weeds inside the plant pot because we want to minimize
competition and maximize plant growth.
Observation: A simple thing such as removing weeds can be very helpful to plants, and it also
makes the farm more efficient.

Thursday: 4/17/14
Project: Harvest
Hours: 5
Total Hours: 182
Method: Preparing produce for sale. This includes picking up the plants, cleaning, weighing, and
bagging.
Observation: Division of labor makes work easy and the day goes by really quick.