The berries are bountiful this year!
We got to start off the week doing some more 20 year cruises, thankfully in some cooler weather.
Berry season is right now, and all of us interns took advantage during our lunch break on Monday to do some blackberry foraging. They were delicious!
On Tuesday, we came in bright and early at 6 a.m. to help Tyler load up some pipes and head all the way over to Florence for a long day of pre-harvest cruising. I think it was some of the biggest trees I have seen, with one having a diameter (at breast height) of 74 inches. 74 inches!
The crew worked hard and got the whole cruise done that day, getting us all home around 6 p.m. Though I think the 12 hour day paid off and no one minds getting overtime.
Wednesday Travis took us out to teach us how to spray herbicide in our younger stands. We learned all of the safety procedures necessary, and were given all of the equipment needed to work safely and efficiently.
We also learned about the chemicals we were using and how they actually affect the plants we spray, and why it was important to protect the young trees while working.
We continued spraying on Thursday and though it was hard work and my shoulders ache, I’m glad I got to learn another hands-on aspect of working in forest management.