Field Trip

For my farm field trip, I went to Paradise Valley Orchard. This is one of my favorite places in Cache Valley. They work throughout the spring and the summer to bring fresh vegetables to the Cache Valley Farmer's Market, as well as apple cider for the fall months.

Ali and Loren Harrison run the farm together, with the help of different volunteers. As I was doing research for this project I did some volunteer work. It was interesting to work with the two of them because Ali was the one that was giving me instructions and telling me what to do, but Loren was always there to answer the more technical questions. 

Helping them with their farm was the highlight of my semester. I helped them to clean out their fridge to get ready for the apple harvest, because of the regulations that happen in order for them to be able to sell their cider. Another of my favorite things that I got to help with was harvest of flowers for the farmers market. Because, I've always been interested in flowers and putting them in arrangements, so being able to do that while helping Ali and Loren out with the farmers market was great. 

I learned a lot about the process of transplanting and how the plants get from the seed room to the ground. The biggest thing that I've learned is that the plant needs to be pushed down because it gets an air pocket between the ground and the roots and it doesn't do very well. 

Overall, I loved working with them and learning so much about the small farm business and how they get so much support from the community.