It took my awhile to figure out what I wanted to spend my 10 hours of community service doing. At first I wanted to do a variety of little things here and there so I could dabble in more than just one service. Then I thought I could do something a little unconventional for my service to the community and find somewhere in town that could make that happen. So I decided to drive through Plainview and take in the reality that is my community. Upon looking around I found a local greenhouse just right down from where I am staying called Texas Gardens. I figured this would be a great place to help out. I have already been doing work in large scale agriculture and the transition to smaller greenhouse retail would be a good balance for me in the learning experience of the plant production industry. The owner was named Marlin and he is a great talking and knowledgeable business man. I really wanted to spend time learning as much as I could about what Marlin does and how he does it. I too would like to own a small business of my own similar to Marlin’s and sell what my greenhouse has to offer the community.
I learned a little about the day to day operations of a greenhouse such as watering and keeping the flowers looking presentable. I got to meet a sweet woman who works for Marlin named Amy. She is a retired schoolteacher in Lockney where she taught music and now helps out Marlin with his operation.
I was glad to experience the watering process firsthand because even in my job as a field scout I see the importance of watering on a very large scale and how precise it has to be. Overwatering is wasteful and will hinder your plant and under watering will mean your yield or desired outcome will be affected. That’s exactly what Ogallala Commons does is spread the awareness about where our water comes from and how we need to preserve and be wary about how much we use.
Overall experiece was great, I’m glad to have met Marlin and Amy and giving me the opportunity to work for as well as learn from them.
