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Sierra Kruger reflects on her internship experience at Seed Savers Exchange’s Heritage Farm in Summer 2022.
This summer I had the wonderful chance to make community , strengthen my horticulture abilities , raise connections with knowledgeable person — and partake what I have learned in the unconscious process of it all — here atSeed Savers Exchangein Decorah , Iowa .
Growing up in the Decorah expanse , I first teach to garden with my mammy , who had a little garden . But whenever I visited my grandma , I would help her lean to a much larger garden patch fill up with raspberries , strawberries , gratifying maize , Zea mays everta , sweet-scented peas , Brassica oleracea italica , tomatoes , lolly , lolly , unripe beans , pumpkin , and much more . I always had the fond store gardening with her , and that is what spark off my deep involvement in gardening .
I ’ve also always enjoyed being outdoors , close to nature , and one of my favorite pastimes include boost . Seeking out hiking trail in the Decorah area , I discovered Seed Savers Exchange ’s Heritage Farm while in high school . Later , a friend of mine give me a parcel of SSE seeds , and I became concerned in the organization ’s charge too . tight forrader to cease my first twelvemonth consider graphic design and marketing at Iowa State University , when an ad for a graphic design internship at Seed Savers Exchange ( funded , in part , by Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area ) caught my middle . I opine it would be a great opportunity for me to learn as well as pursue my interests in design and gardening .
Sierra Kruger (far right) poses with Jeanine Scheffert (far left) and Evan Wisdom-Dawson while visiting the gardens of Neil Lockhart.
This internship offer lots of incredible opportunities to grow my tech abilities , admit learning multiple programs of Adobe delete software , work out with camera equipment , and editing film . Thanks to the counsel of Brad Crawford , a local video editor in chief , I was able-bodied to edit out my own telecasting for this class ’s SSE Virtual Annual Conference as well as edit other videos I help film for the group discussion .
Three of the conference videos were a part of the community source report project . Through this project , I had the opportunity to travel to the homes of longtime seed saver to written document and question mortal sharing their amazing source story . Neil Lockhart of Oblong , Illinois , an avid tomato collector and trader , told us about how growing love apple is a Passion of Christ for him and how the connections he has made through SSE are a big part of his living . We interview John Swenson , SSE ’s garlic adviser , and Mason Welter at John ’s house in Glenview , Illinois . They shared their fascination with Allium sativum and stories of how their friendship start through SSE . John tell the chill of discover ail in dry creek beds on a head trip to Central Asia , and Mason shared his knowledge of grow sure industrial plant , such as strawberries and sweet potatoes , with garlic .
Diving more into the purpose expression of my internship , I worked with Meredith Burks , Seed Savers Exchange ’s marketing and communications director , to create a webpage and templates for garden - inspired recipe and nontextual matter submission , expose on the conference webpage . This was a grand opportunity for me to both learn more about what a selling squad does and fulfill my interest in in writing plan .
Sierra Kruger (far right) poses with Jeanine Scheffert (far left) and Evan Wisdom-Dawson while visiting the gardens of Neil Lockhart.
In addition to explore my graphic figure interest , I also was able to quest after my ebullience for gardening and being out of doors . Each Tuesday forenoon this summertime , I had the chance to garden alongside Diane Ott Whealy , SSE ’s cobalt - founder ; mind to her story of Heritage Farm ; and learn about unlike varieties of plants and what growing term they may need . I was able to see our advancement in Diane ’s Garden throughout the summertime ; gardening with her became a very educational experience for me , and something to look forward to every Tuesday morning .
aid in the garlic landing field was another one of my favourite tasks at Heritage Farm . I was able to serve Kate Rowe and Brennan Allsworth , field ops squad members , tend to and harvest the Allium sativum a few unlike times . I had never worked with garlic before , and I learned a lot about this crop .
Over the nine weeks I work and watch at Seed Savers Exchange ’s Heritage Farm , I learned about seed , as well as how to produce community around seeds and the importance of maintain that community alive . I will be capable to express all of this with me to my next journey .
Sierra Krueger tends a flower bed in Diane’s Garden at SSE’s Heritage Farm.
I palpate fortunate to have worked with the tolerant and compassionate individuals here at SSE , and to have created last friendships , connexion , and storage . Working with another summer intern , Evan Wisdom - Dawson , has been such a wonderful experience , and I am so thankful for the friendship we devise . I am also grateful for Jeanine Scheffert , SSE ’s instruction and appointment manager , for being a wonderful wise man and channelise me through the internship with forgivingness . I am disappointed that my sentence here has ended , but I am rightfully grateful for the experiences I had at Heritage Farm .
Thank you , Seed Savers Exchange !
3094 North Winn RoadDecorah , Iowa 52101(563 ) 382 - 5990
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Seed Savers Exchange is a tax - exempt 501(c)3 non-profit-making organization dedicated to the preservation of heirloom cum .
