Alec Murray's Cornell Farms

Recently I've been enjoying the work and routine of Cornell more. Mostly I think I've gotten used to the daily procedure I've developed. It now feels comparable to attending school every day! Additionally, the weather has been much kinder recently, making work much more bearable.  A highlight from this week was getting cart trained. Ever since I started work at Cornell I've been lifting and moving heavy pots, soil bags, trees, plants, etc. without the assistance of the electronic carts the majority of the staff has access to. On Monday there was finally time for my boss to train me. Having access to the carts removes some of the manual labor from the job which I was very excited about. It was also an interesting opportunity to see how the owners deal with safety and training. We dedicated about 3 hours to learn about how each individual cart works and ended with a written test covering what we'd talked about. It was a relatively simple and streamlined process but ve...

My work at Cornell has become increasingly impactful with more hours and more responsibility. I've certainly gained a greater appreciation for 9-5 work, particularly recently while working in the rainstorms. The rain gear Cornell provides is amusingly bad. The jackets soak through after 2 hours in the rain, leaving the remaining 6.5 with little to no protection. Thankfully, the weather has improved and the gear has become less of an issue.  After so much exposure to the trees and plants of Cornell, I had an urge to buy a tree. My idea was to plant it somewhere significant and see it grow during my visits from college. This week I'd been learning about trees and shrubs located in the lower portion of the farm so that I could help guests more easily. During this time, the baby giant sequoia tree (Sequoiadendron Giganteum) drew my attention. These are the redwoods that can grow up to 30 feet in diameter. Ideally; in 150 years, the Sequoia I plant will become that big. In addition,...

For my senior project I've chosen to work at Cornell Farms. Working at Cornell was appealing for the plant learning accompanying the job, and as my first full time work experience. I've been working at Cornell since before senior project began and learned basic information needed in order to be an asset: farm layout, particular plant names and growing conditions, how to use the walkitalkies, etc. In addition, my boss Tom (a Catlin alumni) prompted an effort to learn one plant name per day; this includes the genus name and specific epithet. Though I've been unable to keep up with one a day, I've accumulated several over the past few weeks. Finaly, working at Cornell thus far has allowed me to meet many great people. Working with people whome I enjoy makes the experience better, and encourages me to learn more about the craft.  Goals for the remainder of the project:  Continue learning 2 plant (its Latin name, genus, its properties and its care) a week.   How to be at the...