I am Kylie Hint, a junior in the Environmental Resource Management major with a Soil Science concentration. I am currently a production intern for the Student Farm where I help with on farm work and the Campus Supported Agriculture (CSA) packing and distribution.
My family has a maple and hobby farm where I’m involved with everything from tapping the trees to making value added products. I am primarily the one who sells our products at local markets and educates the public about how our products are made. I have been involved with 4-H and FFA throughout the years and my family raises our own meat animals. I have also worked for large crop farms doing pest and disease scouting. So I have a lot of background knowledge on many aspects of agriculture, but I have never been involved with the continual vegetable farm labor, harvesting, and marketing that I have seen this semester at the Student Farm.
My first experience at the Student Farm was on the Fresh Start Day of service. I was excited to see how a farm run by students operates. During my day of service, we had a tour, and were informed about the Student Farm Club and intern opportunities. As a transfer student, this is my first semester at Penn State and I thought that being an intern at the Student Farm would help me transition from my small town and previous rural college to much larger Penn State University. I hoped that during the semester, I would learn more about small scale and organic farming practices and the CSA system of marketing.
Some of our fun fall CSA offerings.
On the Student Farm, we interns not only learn from each other but share what we know with volunteers and members. I have been exposed to unfamiliar kinds of produce and herbs (like ground cherries, kohlrabi, and nasturtiums) and enthusiastically shared them with our CSA members. I was very excited to learn about the pollinator garden and how it encourages pollinators and beneficial organisms to add to the farm’s biodiversity. Harvesting and packing produce in large quantities was also new to me. Seeing the bulk orders of produce sent to campus dining services or the Village is neat because we can see the Village from the farm and could later go eat some of the produce we grew at the HUB.
A view of the Village at Penn State, just up the hill from the Student Farm.
It still blows my mind that this is the first full year of production on the Student Farm and those involved have designed and created an environment where sustainable practices are carried out and produce is sold locally. You feel like you make a difference when produce you helped grow and harvest is sent to campus Food Services to be distributed to dining halls or a variety of produce is sent home with a family at the CSA. I have found that this organic small scale approach requires a lot of man power hours, and the marketing system requires a continual line of communication. But we are rewarded with the feeling of accomplishment for what the Student Farm has produced and become.
After I graduate, I want to work with landowners and farmers on improving best management practices for their land to decrease soil erosion. I would like to find a career that has an educational aspect where I can educate the public on environmental and agricultural issues. My experience as an intern at the Student Farm has broadened my horizons of vegetable farming, local markets, and sustainable practices that I hope to utilize in the future.