Hi! My name is Trishtin and I was one of DFI’s AmeriCorps service members during 2023. As a brief introduction, I was born and raised in Las Vegas and moved to Reno in 2020 to finish my undergraduate studies. I zig-zagged from passion to passion throughout the years but I was never worried about finding the right career path for myself.
This was the one life experience for which I really allowed myself to trust the process. When I first got to Reno, I went to the Tuesday farmer’s market and my eyes lit up when I saw UNR students running a produce booth (it was DFI!). Eventually I found a lasting interest in agricultural research and organic farming. By the end of 2022, I had graduated from UNR with a Bachelors in Agricultural Science with Emphasis in Plant Science, obtaining research and organic farming experience along the way at DFI through student positions.
My main AmeriCorps service role this year was as greenhouse lead for DFI’s propagation program. My daily work included seeding for DFI and other farms and non-profits around the Reno-Tahoe area, handling irrigation and monitoring for pests and disease. Overall I was tasked with keeping the greenhouse healthy, lively, and organized from February to June. I loved playing all kinds of music for the plants and also for the visitors and volunteers we had. If I wasn’t in the greenhouse (which at peak spring greenhouse season was rare), I was updating our detailed records or working on adding important notes and procedures to the DFI greenhouse manual.
I also worked on reorganizing some of the greenhouse layout to create a “flow” that would increase seeding and soil mixing efficiency. The idea was to be able to move from workspace to workspace in a somewhat continuous manner that didn’t feel like we were taking unnecessary steps in the process. I learned this from DFI's Farm Production Manager, Garrett Menghini, who I am eternally grateful to have met and worked with! The space started to feel more spacious and welcoming for tours coming through.
A highlight was putting together written procedures for tomato grafting that should take the guesswork out of next year’s grafting. It took 3 grafting attempts this year to get the process down and have more than 50% graft survivals. I also identified a pest, fungus gnats, that (unfortunately) thrived in the greenhouse this year for a number of reasons. Dealing with this challenge helped DFI identify what procedures and environmental components need to change for the years coming.
My favorite part this term was being able to provide momentary distractions from other life stress to those who worked with me in the greenhouse. To see people’s faces when they walked in and took a stroll through the greenery in awe just meant a lot to me. I loved being able to give and do tasks that may have seemed a bit monotonous, but kept us in tune with our hands and the present moment. These moments feel so valuable in such a fast-paced and short-lived gratuitous culture. But even when discussions of stressors were had, they felt safe to talk about in this greenhouse. I valued all of the one-on-one conversations I had while seeding with others, learning more about each person and their current lives. Introducing people to such a unique program felt like opening the door for the future of agriculture.
I had the opportunity to plan out a small competition for the regional Future Farmers of America in the greenhouse where high school students displayed their best skills at potting up an eggplant plant. It was quite simple: They had to up-pot one seedling, write up the proper seedling tag, receive critiques and out the greenhouse they went. There was more to this experience than just plopping a seedling into a pot of soil. Students were nervous and it was an intimidating competition even though it only lasted 4 minutes for each group. The most impactful parts of this all to me were 1. Introducing members of the great DFI team that served as judges and 2. Meeting students who were excited to be there and expressed interest in working at DFI if they decide to go to UNR. One student even brought his own ergonomic garden clippers to the competition and proudly spoke about his father’s agricultural work.
I’ve always said that my coworkers at DFI were such phenomenal, selfless people. They were unlike any other group of people I’ve ever worked with and the work they do there and in their personal lives were just astounding to witness.
Through working in this role and reading a bit of “Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion” by Shane Smith, I saw the greenhouse as a living creature. You learn to take a step out of your daily work to notice the environment first - how the sun dances across the greenhouse throughout the day and influences temperature changes or how little critters move within the soil and across the seedling tables. All in all, you learn that there is more at work than just your doing and you learn to respect that and let go of any rigid expectations. A lot of the lessons I learned in this role will no doubt translate well into my next career moves and my life in general.
While I had many moments of what felt like failures, those moments only provided me strength and wisdom for my future endeavors as I was constantly humbled by such a small yet complex environment. In hindsight, my most difficult moments came from things I considered successes in the end. As I trudge on this career path, I know I’ll be faced with more complex issues and I’m grateful to have gained the knowledge that I did while at DFI.
