It has been a whirlwind making my way from back home in Illinois all the way out to California. The drive took 5 days but it was worth it! The sun keeps on shining out here except for the day we arrived which brought some unseasonal rain, but otherwise it has been clear and HOT! 105 +/- has been the norm for the last week and won’t end until next week it seems. But the heat is easy to beat when you are having fun at work! The team here at the Plant Materials Center in Lockeford is really fantastic! My first day they all were extremely friendly but put me to work on all kinds of projects! I never realized the kinds of farming activites that need to go on to produce seeds for all sorts of projects for the other government agencies like the BLM and the National Park Service. So far I’ve helped move irrigation pipe, set up a flood system to water native grasses, cleaned seeds and collected and stacked hay and straw bales and its only day two! Once I finish safety training I will learn how to use more of the machinery like driving the tractor and operating the seed cleaning machines. I’m really excited to be here and so far its great! Hard work but really good experience and good people to work with. Until next time!

Jesse