The Plan
This is one of the rare days that I know every aspect of what will happen….Heres the layout... after breakfast I research until lunch...then....after lunch, I will research until dinner …and then….that’s it….that’s my whole day. I’m excited about it though because I get to research my favorite gals! Jill Clapperton and Christine Jones! For Jill, I just want to understand the soil food web so I am going to finish up the article that I talked about in the previous blog post which I know uses the word web at least three times. After I finish that I plan to read another Christine Jones article because Pascal thought it was really informative...from what he told me its all about nitrogen. If I finish those I’ll just see what’s next on my list but I plan, after going through these two pieces, to end my work on these lady’s because there’s so much more to learn.
What I Learned
So, I learned more than I anticipated seeing as that I didn’t research all day but instead also went out in the orchards with Pascal and Stephanie to collect various apple samples. We collected the samples both from the trees as well as from the bins which have today’s harvest in them. While out collecting samples, Pascal and Stephanie also checked on the condition
of the apples that were being harvested. They informed me they were mainly looking at the size, color, and percent damaged or disfigured. During their time examining they noticed that due to the drought this past season a majority of their Gala apples in one field had little slits or cuts at the top by the stem. These slits couldn't have been much wider than 2 mm or
any longer than a centimeter, but apparently, this mark which covered an estimated 20% of their apples meant that they wouldn’t be able to sell them in Paris where prices are higher, instead, they’d be forced to sell at the markets where they don’t make as much money. Besides damaging revenues, this slit also causes problems in regards to storage, for, by having it, it increases the rate at which the
apples go rotten (because it’s exposed to open-air) and thereby has to be sold quicker. This problem was prevalent in other Gala fields yet not as severe as the first one we saw. The Gala’s weren’t the only issue they had though, for the Reine Des Reinettes apples were mal-colored with an orangish hue rather than a light pink one. This poor coloration once again means a markdown in sales. After the Reine Des Reinettes though, the apples we saw were in great condition. Stephanie even told me, as we were standing over a bin of beautiful Galas, that sometimes stores would return the Galas they asked for because they were too red and perfect and didn’t believe that they were really Gala. (When this happens Stephanie and Pascal have to pay for the return shipping fee). Other than just examining and
sampling I also got to see a plot of land where Pascal was attempting to grow a different kind of tree than he had previously. To do this he does something called grafting where he attaches two twigs of the desired tree into the preexisting one and once those grow and prove to be a success he chops the preexisting tree down where it lays on the ground and acts as ground cover and ultimately turns into organic matter, helping the soil. Besides all of that which took around 2 hours total, I spent the rest of the day researching Jill and Christine which I won’t go into because most of it was repeating things I have already learned, plus, the apple orchard experience was more interesting.
Reflection
Overall, today was a blast! I felt like it was effectively broken up into intense research periods and fun, hands-on, learning experiences. I feel that this scheduling works well for me because after I reach a certain period of nonstop studying, I, like most, start to shut down and become unproductive; there were times when I found myself having to read over paragraphs or sentences multiple times because I simply was not taking in what I was reading. I realize when I find myself rereading I should stop and take a break, but at the same time, I find it really hard mentally to pause in the middle watching a video or reading an article. I don’t like taking a break knowing that after the break I’m just going to return to the task that I am getting tired of, to me, knowing you’re procrastinating is an awful feeling. However, that being said, I think it’s best for the sake of time and getting it done quickly to take these breaks; I will attempt to do this tomorrow, but I’m not promising anything.