Griffin's Senior Project

 5/24/22 Blog 12  Today we had an early wake to get on the road and drive back to Proctor Academy. We left at 8 AM after having a quick breakfast and making sure we had all our belongings. Connor had the first shift of the drivers driving for around four and a half hours before it switched to hank and then finally me. the drive-in total was around 13 hours but with additional stops, it took us about an extra 30 minutes. while in the car we had time to talk about our past experiences and the time we had just spent together and realized how appreciative of the entire experience we were. 

 5/21/22 Blog 11 On Monday we had our work hours complete so we decided to visit some of the museums and other tourist sites around Detroit. first, we went to the DIA or the Detroit Institute of Art, this art institution was really cool to go walk around in visited many wings showing different time periods of different countries, religions, and cultures. My favorite part of the DIA was a car exhibit showing Detroit-made cars from the 1950's all the way to 2017 with many rare and expensive cars. then we went to the Henry Ford Museum where we visited the Greenfield village and the actual museum. this experience was really cool looking at houses owned by Ford, Eddison, and the Wright brothers. there were also many cool exhibits like the Lincoln chair and multiple presidential cars including Kennedys.

  Week 2 blog  5/24/22 This week we worked mostly landscaping around the 2 houses on the property that we were able to stay at. Working with this group of landscapers was really cool as some of them had very interesting stories and backgrounds. We got to hear stories and talk to one guy working with us Clint Carpender, who used to be the drummer for Uncle cracker and a couple other artists who we listen to and know the songs. Another task we did one day created a garden around the property owner's shed as a little gift from us to be able to stay on their property. I especially had fun with this project because we were left alone to complete it with no outside help. This made it challenging as none of us have done the full process of digging out the ground around the shed, getting rocks, creating a perimeter to keep weeds out, and playing sand and stone in front of both doors to make a nice walkway for the entry and exit. This took us most of all day from start to finish but by...

  Blog 10  5/19/22 Today we worked for Farmer Jim again on the co-op farm. First, we collected eggs from the chickens and then had to store them in the refrigerator. Then we got an earlier bath of eggs and had to wash them off in a sink making sure their clean and ready to be put into cartons. Then we had to feed some of the animals on the farm such as feed and wash the pigs. We then fed the horses and restocked the cow's food with feed. We then had to clean all of these animals' stalls making sure they were clean and well-fed. while doing this we also found a baby turtle and put it in a nearby lake. Today:10 Hours  Total: 100 Hours 

  Blog 9  5/18/22 Today we Split up on the sister farm of the main property. We helped the land manager over there with the work he needed to get done. We split up to get more work done. George and Hank went and split logs and then proceeded to stack the wood. Connor and I had to shovel dirt into the back of a John deer Alligator and drove it over to an area that was recently paved and had to fill in the sides so they would be able to plant grass all the way up to the road. After lunch, we went over to the Co-op farm to work with farmer Jim again and helped him out with a couple little projects he needed to be done around the farm.  Today:10 Hours  Total: 90 Hours

  Blog 8  5/18/22 Today we worked with the land manager John Solo and helped him with some of his daily tasks. We helped him with multiplep tasks. We srarted by loading wood into a trailer so he could bring it down to one of the resturants the farm supplies. This task took us a little while as it was a large trailor. Then we helped him spread minerals around multiple areas of the property to help the deer grow bigger and also help their antler size increase. We went to multiple different sites around the property and sister porperties to drop and spread these minerals. During this we got to ride on ATV’s to be able to reach areas more in the woods and not acsessable by road.  Today:10 Hours  Total: 80 Hours 

  Blog 7  5/17/22 Today we continued to do more landscaping with morgan around the property. We weeded and then mulched the remaining flower beds around the barn. We continued to do this until lunch. After lunch, we went to one of the neighboring properties who is a part of the land we are working on to do some more landscaping near one of their houses. We had to dig out around the house and then stack rocks around the outside. With is most of it with mulch and then put sand in front of the walkways. We then put stones on the sand to complete the walkway. Finally, we cleaned up the area to make it look presentable. Today:10 Hours  Total: 70 Hours

  Blog 6  5/16/22 Today we started landscaping with a new guy named Morgan the head landscaper for the property. First, we picked up dead flowers from flower beds and also weeded the flower beds all around one of the barns on the property. Then we went back and mulched each individual flower bed with a couple inches of mulch. While doing this we found a nest of goose eggs on the ground. Next, we had to rake the entire yard to get rid of all of the leaves and other debris. we then drove each load into the woods to dispose of it. Today:10 Hours  Total: 60 Hours 

  SP week 1 blog  So far in this past week, we have learned many new skills in relation to farming, the behind-the-scenes work that goes into it, and the actual physical labor necessary to do it. in this past week Connor, Hank, George, and I have been working on a farm that supplies 2 restaurants with vegetables and other produce. This was the first time I have ever farmed or been a part of the process. I learned a lot from the Manager of the farm a 77-year-old retired engineer named Jim, who now runs the farm and does it because he loves it. The physical labor needed for us to complete the tasks assigned was a little challenging for us four complete and it astonished us how Jim was able to do it every day and sometimes out-work us. I really liked the work we did for the past week, we were able to meet many new people that I would never have met in a region of the country that I have never been in. Also, this work is something that I have never taken part in or even really t...

  Blog 5  5/13/22 Today we started with digging a trench for excess water to run off into and out of the farm area. This trench was 2 feet deep and around 120 feet long. After we finished digging the trench we needed to flatten out the sides so the extra dirt didn't fall back the trench, so we had to rake out the dirt and compress it all down to make sure the dirt was stable and the trench was sturdy. After we finished digging the trench we planted a 100-foot row of potatoes. This took us a while to dig the hols for the potatoes and individually plant each one. Finally, we had to weed some of the empty garden beds to prepare to plant more vegetables next week.  Today:10 Hours  Total: 50 Hours 

  Blog 4  5/12/22 Today we started early in the morning by going to the land manager's personal farm to help pick up rocks in a field he was going to plant wheat. We were followed by a tractor where we put all of the rocks and boulders that we pulled from the ground. This took up multiple hours as it was a pretty big field. After we finished we went to the normal farm to plant another 100-foot row of onions and some leeks. This took us a while and when we were done we had to dig 18 holes 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep so the winery could be moved to these from the cow's pasture into the garden area. After we went to Hunters Creek Hunting club to visit the sister property and see if there was any work for us to do for next week. Today: 12 Hours  Total: 40 Hours 

  Blog 3  5/11/22 Today we had an early start and once we arrived at the farm we headed to work. We started by trimming dried-out plants and composting the dead sticks. Then we mulched a couple 100-foot rows to put on fresh dirt so we can plant vegetables in the coming days. Then around noon, we took a lunch break, and when we finished we started by mulching a couple more rows. we then planted a few hundred more onions. A different type of onion than the previous day but still the same process. Finally, we headed over to the land manager's house to help him with his personal garden and upkeep.  Today:10 Hours  Total: 28 Hours 

  Blog 2  5/10/22 Today we woke up early and drove to the farm, once we arrived we got our tasks for the day. We started by picking up sun roots from an old plant bed so they didn't grow back again this season. Once we finished this task we had to shovel and wheel barrel hay left out in the cow pen covered in fecal matter, over to a composting site. This task took us the longest of the day with some interference from 2 curious cows who kept knocking over the wheel barrel. Finally, we had to plant the 3 rows of onions but only completed one row today planting a few hundred onions. In the process, we found a baby-painted turtle took it, and relocated it into a nearby pond.  Today: 10 Hours  Total: 18 Hours 

  Blog 1  5/9/22 On day one we arrived at the farm and were greeted by the friendly workers. After we were introduced and got a quick tour of the property we started to work. We started spreading mulch in three lines. 30 inches wide and 100 feet long, after we completed this task we got showed the multiple animals on the property such as pigs, cows, chickens, and other birds. Soon we had to weed the three, 100ft long rows of garlic plants before they grew too large to be able to weed them easily. The final task for the day was removing horseradish roots so they didn't grow back this upcoming season. To complete this task we had to dig multiple holes and follow the roots to pull them up from the ground and make sure there was nothing left.  Today: 8 Hours  Total: 8 Hours