One thing I really enjoy about this job, besides the obvious of being able to work outside, is that in a given day I'm always doing new things. Doing new things means learning new things. One day last week I went to spray Roundup on land a farmer rented to Ken (the owner of Millcreek Nursery) to grow some extra trees. Since we only spray weeds and not the trees, Jay taught me to use my boot to hold down weeds and spray them so the chemical doesn't touch the tree. It felt sort of like a gangland execution.





Another day last week I was repairing the irrigation lines in the South Field. Above is the tool Ken had custom made to puncture holes in a live water line. The way they do it, water enters the lines making them stiff, and so easy to puncture when a new dripper has to be inserted. It also makes finding any missing nozzles easier, just look for the mini-geyser drenching a tree in the next row!

And another day last week I was out looking for blackknot (I think we were in some Schuberts). Other than a chance to see what it looks like in the field, I didn't learn anything that I didn't already get from Sima's class, except that the REAL common name for the fungus Apiosporina morbosa is "shit on a stick".