Report One

Question: What are your expectations for this internship?

Expectations

Going into college as a freshman, all I knew about plant and soil sciences was that it had something to do with growing food to feed the world.  My background was in horticulture and I wanted to broaden my knowledge about field crops.  I soon realized that the majority of the students in plant and soil already had a plethora of knowledge, practical knowledge, about farming and farm management.  Even if they didn’t know a thing, they pretended they did and I bought it. 

Over the past three years I have accumulated book knowledge, but have had very few opportunities to put what I know to work.  I’m always looking for the practical reason behind the knowledge.  That seems to be the best way I learn. 

One expectation for this internship is that I will gain some of that practical knowledge I’ve been looking for in a laid back environment.  My supervisor and I have come to the understanding that he doesn’t know everything and neither do I.  We’re partners getting through this together.  I like this kind of low intensity learning situation.  I don’t feel pressured to know everything, and I’m free to make mistakes.

My second expectation is that I will make a lasting difference in the ministry I’m a part of and in the lives of the Lenca people.  I like to see results of my labors whether it’s having corn to give away at the end of the season or making deeper relationships with the farmers in the area.

Lastly, I would like to see firsthand the different stages of combining mission work with agriculture.  61 Isaiah Ministries is in the very beginning stages of putting the two together.  I’m looking forward to seeing progress in this area.

Experience

I came to Honduras on Wednesday, a week and a half ago.  Thus far, I have rode in a clunker of a vehicle for 3.5 hours, made friends with an American teacher that literally lives right next door to me, went grocery shopping, picked up a short term mission team from the airport, and had a week of vacation Bible school.  Those are only some main highlights.

Project Progress

My project is coming along.  The first few days I was here I went out to the radio station where the corn and beans are planted.  With the two crops combined, there is about 1.7 acres cultivated.  That might not seem like much, but I have to do everything by hand.  Water by hand, weed by hand, fertilize by hand. 

I did a general soil test with the soil testing kit I bought from Ace Hardware.  In the table below you can see the results.

pH	Neutral
Nitrogen	Depleted
Phosphorus	Deficient
Potassium	Deficient

I thought the pH would be more acidic, and by the look of the plants I could tell they needed nitrogen and phosphorus.  I sent off a soil sample to a lab that looks pretty reputable.  They had several USAID trucks in their parking lot and the attendant was well trained.  The results from soil analysis along with their recommendation should be back in another week.  Until then, we applied DAP.  I would have liked to spread something that had a little more nitrogen.

Agronomic Problem

The agronomic problem this week dealt with the spacing of the corn and beans.  Shannon, my supervisor, was unsure about the viability of the seed he bought.  If I were here when he was making that decision I would have preformed a seed germination test.  Needless to say he planted them way too close together.  By hand I should add.  There wasn’t much we could do except hand pull some corn out of the rows.  We did all the corn in one morning, went back the next day to do the beans.  As of right now, most of the beans are still too close together.  We were both dragging on day two.  It took me a solid week for my muscles to recuperate after weeding an acre of corn.

Picture

I took a picture of a farmer’s corn which is already in the fruiting stage with the intention to take a picture of our corn which is less than knee high and compare the two.  They were planted at the same time.  I’ll have to send the pictures at a different date because my sd card is stuck in my CD drive. I think there is so much difference in the growth stages of the corn because of the fertility of the soil.  Also, the farmer’s corn received more rain.