Planning While I Work

For those of you who don't know, I work in conservation of our natural resources with private landowners. That includes everything from tillage operations between crops, to designing grazing systems, to drawing and coloring pictures with a really fancy computer system, to writing federal contracts, to refilling the toilet paper roll. Okay, okay, I don't really do that last one but that's because it takes a scientist to figure that thing out. Anyway, when I was hired, I was expected to spend half of my time in the field planning, laying out practices and checking them out after installation. Because we have an awesome technical staff, and because we have lots of programs to implement, I spend the majority of my time in the office. When I do go to the field, it's usually crummy weather. Like yesterday.

Strong winds with spitting rain was the weather I got to work outside in. I wasn't dressed for field work but have a change of clothes at the office just in case. I was ready all except that extra pair of gloves I took home last Friday. While out in the field, my boss and I were laying out contour buffer strips. As we worked through the field, I had plenty of time to try to keep my hands warm and let my mind wander. Using a simple hand level, we were able to lay out a contour line. It's likely confusing but trust me that it's important and very valuable. Farming on the contour can make a huge difference. As we worked through a fairly sandy soil (which I imagine I'll see in Ethiopia), on a steep slope, you can imagine that with 30" of rain each year, that sand is going to move down the hill.

That got me thinking, how is the topography in Shanto and surrounding areas? Is it fairly flat? Is it 20% plus slopes? I wonder how helpful it would be to bring my hand level along. What are the soils really like? And then, because I had plenty of time to wonder, I tried to think of other tools that I don't use often enough that would be helpful to take with me. A measuring tape? Some canisters to bring soils home for my soil scientist friends to tell me about??? Is it legal to bring soils home and have them sent to a testing lab for evaluation?

Oh, the things I have yet to learn about Ethiopia!