Hey everybody!\u00a0 It is crazy to think that the summer is almost over.\u00a0 It seems like it has just started.\u00a0 For me, it will be even crazier not going back to school in the fall.\u00a0 I just graduated in May, and with summer winding down I have that “back-to-school” feeling in my gut.\u00a0 I have never had a full time job that lasted this long either, so it feels like I should be starting something new.\u00a0 But no, I’m only half done with my internship!\u00a0 And\u00a0fall is the busiest time for a seed collector.\u00a0 Late\u00a0July was a lull, but things have been gradually picking up speed and September through November will be hectic, but fun!\u00a0<\/p>\n
The summer has been hot and humid with very little rain. The temperatures have been well into the 90s and there was even a week were it was in the 100s for a few days.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure all of you out west have to deal with similar or even hotter temperatures, but I wasn\u2019t expecting this on the east coast!\u00a0 The high humidity has added to the discomfort.\u00a0 The high heat and little rain have been hard on fruit production, mostly on fleshy fruits.\u00a0 Ridge top habitats are the worst- everything is dried up and dead.\u00a0 However, the Prunus serotina<\/em> or black cherry is doing exceptionally well this year.\u00a0 We have also made good collections of Sambucus canadensis, Gaylussacia frondosa, <\/em>andVaccinium corymbosum, <\/em>or dangle-berry and high-bush blueberry respectively.\u00a0 Some other collections includePolygonatum pubescens, Morella pensylvanica, Deschampsia flexuosa, Gaylussacia baccata, <\/em>and Carex comosa<\/em>, to name a few.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Since I am stationed at the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, an actual nursery, I get to experience the process of preparing seeds for storage in the seed bank.\u00a0 The nursery cleans its own collections and has short-term seed storage facilities as well.\u00a0 I have been cleaning a lot of fleshy fruit lately.\u00a0 We collect fleshy fruit into plastic bags and then store the collections in a refrigerator for a couple weeks to \u201cafter-ripen\u201d which softens the fruit and makes the cleaning process easier.\u00a0 The tool of the trade for cleaning fleshy fruit is\u2026a blender!\u00a0 We tape the blades of the blender so the fruit is mashed, which inhibits the possibility of seeds getting cut.\u00a0 We simply blend up the fruit with some water until the seeds are loosened from the flesh.\u00a0 Then we pour the mush into a large bowl, and add more water.\u00a0 After gently stirring the mixture, the good heavy seeds sink to the bottom, while everything else floats or is suspended in the water.\u00a0 The bowl is tipped and the fruit particles are slowly poured off, leaving the good seeds settled at the bottom.\u00a0 These seeds are then spread out in trays to dry in the \u201cSeed Lab\u201d and then stored until winter, when they are put through another cleaning.\u00a0<\/p>\n I am one of the few interns not headquartered at a BLM office.\u00a0 Like I said, I am stationed at the Greenbelt Native Plant Center on Staten Island, but the US Botanic Gardens and Botanic Gardens Conservation International play the crucial role of funding which makes this internship possible.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Martin Schoofs<\/p>\n Greenbelt Native Plant Center<\/p>\n Staten Island, New York<\/p>\n\n\t\t