CCE Agriculture in the City

With the 9th and final week of the Agriculture in The City CCE internship coming to a close, I find myself reflecting on the many outstanding humans, the dynamic communities, and the variety of agricultural spaces that this opportunity has opened my eyes to. It is truly difficult to put … More Week 9: Bittersweet Goodbyes

As the summer draws to a close, the finality of both the season and the agriculture in the city CCE internship as a whole becomes more apparent. Certain crops are cut back or left to grow the remainder of fruit that will likely not be harvestable, and the late summer … More Week 8: Pace and Change

The vastness in the sites’ abilities to foster diverse spaces of learning, growth, and community strength was extremely clear this week. Sammi and I were privileged enough this week to experience a breadth of what farming across the urban landscape looks like. On Monday we got to try our hand … More Week 7: Work and Reward

This week has left me feeling extremely grateful. Sammi and I had the opportunity to visit a farm that was completely new for us, shared an amazing meal with coworkers and friends, and learned a heck of a lot about tomatoes! A project as malleable as the virtual reality program … More Week 6: Diversity of Agriculture, Diversity of Experiences

Though my fellow intern Sammi and I were met with challenges this week, I ultimately left with a greater sense of appreciation for the whimsy and the possibility for excitement across the farms. We began on Monday by undertaking the behemoth that was compost chopping and mixing at Kelly Street … More Week 5: Remembering To Have Fun!

This being the fourth week marks the midway point of Agriculture in The City CCE internship. It seems as though processes across the sites such as harvesting frequency, continuous weeding, and the close attention to fertilization practices have assumed a new pace. Though the summer draws to a mirrored midway … More Week 4: Short but Sweet

Although some of this week’s days were cut short due to either the high temperatures or thunderstorms, we still managed to make it to all four of our sites. With this hot and congested week came a newfound appreciation for the duality of work and reward across the sites. There … More Week 3: Appreciating Growth

This week was filled with many beautiful moments of learning. On Monday we began the week at Kelly Street Garden in the Bronx where Renee (the garden head) gave me and Sammi an astounding and comprehensive walk-through of the garden’s myriad of herbs, crops, fruiting plants, weeds, trees, and the … More Week 2

I spent my first week as an Agriculture in the City intern getting to know the locations of the community farms we will be working with this summer. Becoming familiar with not only the farms, crop layouts, seasonal harvests, and community culture is proving to be equally as important as … More Week 1

My name is Kendra Cooper-Smith and I am so excited to begin my journey with Cornell’s Cooperative Extention this summer with my co-intern Sammi!