April 14- June 14 I was in Downey, Idaho (south of Pocatello) completing my internship. I worked at Brady's Plant Ranch Monday-Saturday from 9am-6pm. I stayed with my sweet Uncle Klain and Aunt Elaine in Arimo. We couldn't find a job for David down there so we decided that he would stay in Rexburg and keep house, keep his campus job, maintain the yard, work on his online classes. I would come home Saturday night and head back down early Monday morning. I want to say it was a long 9 weeks. But it went by really fast. It definitely wasn't the happiest 9 weeks of my life- working in hot greenhouses, pregnant, away from my husband and my home. But it was a good 9 weeks of learning and gaining the experience I needed and wanted in the field of horticulture.
The horticulture department requires a 400-hour internship. I wanted to complete my internship next spring after I had more of the horticulture classes completed. In December, Brady's came to the school and gave a presentation. I really liked what they do/how they do things so I interviewed with them just to introduce myself and talk about future possibilities of working with them (like a year out).
In January I really felt like I needed to complete my internship this spring. I really didn't want to. But I kept feeling like I really should. I knew the Brady's already had a BYU-I student lined up to intern with them for the spring and so I was scratching my head wondering what I could do and where I could complete my internship that was relatively close to home. I felt like I needed to contact the Brady's again. But they already had an intern lined up. But if I was going to do this I really wanted to get my hours in at Brady's. I was frustrated and confused. And not feeling well, ever. (Pregnant and didn't know!)
One day while working in the drafting design lab, I overhead the girl that was going to intern at Brady's say that it just wasn't going to work out, blah, blah, blah. I found my in. I contacted Brady's that night asking if they would be willing to take me and all my inexperience on. Seeing that they suddenly had an open spot, they said sure! Heavenly choirs singing!
I still didn't know why I was doing this so soon, but I got it all set up. A few weeks later of still never feeling good, I peed on a stick and was shocked to see two pink lines (mid February). Beginning of March we went in for the doctor appointment and sure enough I was pregnant. Click, click, click- that's why I'd been feeling nasty all the time, that's why I felt like I should set up my internship for this spring instead of next, that's why I gathered my courage and asked Brady's to hire someone with no greenhouse experience. Don't you just love it when things work out?
After getting the doctor's confirmation that there was a little person growing in my tummy, I told my mom....and then I called Karen Brady and told her the situation and if they would still be willing to hire me. She said yes and I was so relieved. She told me that when I contacted them about doing my internship this year instead of later she figured that I was pregnant and needed to get my internship done now. It's a lot easier to do that when a little person is inside of you instead of running outside of you- her words, not mine. We had a nice conversation about when we are listening the Lord will lead us down the road we wouldn't have chose for ourselves but the road we need to be on, even when we don't understand why. Could I have found better employers? I think not.
I'm working on my final report right now and should be ready to submit it to my adviser soon. I'm so glad that I have my internship done and I can just focus on school, especially with little boy on the way. I will graduate before I die dangit! And having the internship part completed makes this goal much more attainable. :)
Brady's Plant Ranch is the largest greenhouse grower in southeast Idaho. They have 11 greenhouses. The growing houses open up in March as they get production started. When retail opens in April and the stock in the growing houses empty into retail, the ground in the growing houses is tilled and planted. The retail house shuts down at the end of June and Brady Market Days begin every Friday. They sell all the produce from the garden and growing houses- tomatoes, onions, peppers, corn, raspberries.... In the fall/winter they shut the houses down and let mother nature do her job of eliminating pests and diseases. They bring hogs in to winter in the greenhouses. The hogs snout and root and tear up and eat the plants/stalks. And then they house chickens to fertilize the soil. How cool of a cycle is that? They also have a floral shop as well as raise grass-fed/finished beef. You should stop in if you're passing by this summer! You can see the greenhouses from the interstate, to the east just north of exit 36 on the I-15.
And now a few pictures of my time at Brady's Plant Ranch:
Stocked, watered, dead-headed, maintained retail:
1- Floral arrangement for Ashley's birthday! I was able to do a few other cut flower arrangements as well. I'm so glad I took the floral design class! 2-Kitten in a tomato tree. 3 & 4- Custom plantings (two of many)
Top- planted hanging basket recipes- about 3,000! Bottom left- lots of pruning, pinching, dead-heading. Bottom right- filling lots of trays, pots, buckets, and baskets with soil. I went through the soil bin, which holds about a 1/2 ton of soil, about 4 times in my first two weeks alone. I can shovel some dirt seriously fast now.
Seeded and transplanted lots of things. Here is one set that I kind of kept track of. I seeded these tomatoes. Top- seeded trays in the germination chamber. Bottom left- I didn't kill them! Bottom right- transplanted into 1202 packs.
When I'm done with my report maybe I'll put it up here with better pictures, more details of how I spent my time. But then again, maybe not. We'll see. This at least gives you a taste. :)
