(2021) A Day in the Life of Jaraya Smith

By: Jaraya Smith (Walnut Way Conservation Corps)

June 22nd, 2021

Today we picked weeds on the Southside of the street. We also learned how to water the plants and how to tell the difference between the windrows(the beds). You can tell the difference because the beds are higher up then the place we walk on. I think the dirtiest or unlikable part of the whole process would be watering. Because we have to use 4 hoses starting at the fire hydrant where we get the water from. But the thing that makes the whole process so messy and dirty would be dragging the water hoses through the wet mud. We also learned how to read the packaging on the seed package. How you do that would be looking at the back of the package. Where it shows and tells you how much you dig the hole for the seeds and how far apart to plant them. It also tells you the expiration date. Or the date they were packaged so we know how many seeds to plant together to give them a better advantage of one of them coming up and growing. Another thing we learned is how to sow the seeds into the little pots/carts. First you fill it with water and count out how many seeds you need to sow. You then poke a hole so that you can plant the seeds. Next you plant/sow the seeds and top it off with a light coat of soil. We also got to pick cherries at one of the cherry orchards on 16th street. We learned that you need to cut them off from the stem that is closest to the branch so that if there are other cherries on that same brand that aren't ready to be picked, nutrients aren't cut off. But if you know how to pick the cherries by hand without cutting off the nutrients (like me) then do that it will go a whole lot faster. But when I picked cherries I got to use the ladder. Which for me was fun because it made me feel tall. But before I could get on the ladder we had to go through ladder safety. Just the usual like make sure to take it one step at a time and make sure the ladder is stable and secure so that I won't fall. Since the orchard is only around the corner literally we had to work as a team to carry everything. We never traveled alone. But always in pairs because Safety is the number one thing. On Thursday's it's different form thebreat though. We have a learning lab at 1pm instead of going back out to the cherry field or even the regular fields. In learning labs we learn about being financially secure and saving and budgeting our money. We learn to pay ourselves first to make sure that we have something left over for ourselves. 

Key Words:

Windrows-beds

Sow-to plant

Tools used:

Rake, shovel, hoe, hose, trowel.

I really like the program. We have fun and I like that it's different from a regular 9 to 5. I have learned a lot. Everyone is friendly and helpful.

Jaraya