My Time Spent Working at the Delano No-Till farm and How it has Changed my View of Biology and Life Itself

Abstract

I’ve always enjoyed gardening, so when I found an internship on a No-till farm and read the description, it sounded like it would be a fun, educational experience. While I was there, I was able to enjoy nature, get in a satisfying day’s work, and sometimes bring home farm fresh produce. I learned a lot about No-till farming practices and the reasons behind them and have fallen so in love I spent the winter thinking about how to apply what I learned to my parents’ garden this summer. This experience, along with a great book on getting a farm started, was not purely academic in its teachings, however. While at Delano farm, I realized that I was not viewing nature as if I was a part of it, but instead as though I was somehow separate, observing from above. This realization led to me changing how I view nature and the study of biology. That simple change in perspective has made my studies more interesting, and the outdoors far more beautiful, if not also a little scarier.