C. Raker & Sons, Inc.
Litchfield, Michigan
Fall 2006

During the summer and fall of 2006 I participated in an internship was with C. Raker and Sons, in Litchfield, MI, as their Liner Profit Center intern and grower. Going into this internship, I knew I wanted to work in the vegetative annual sector of the industry, and I was confident that my career path was taking me in the direction of being a vegetative young plant specialist. This was the perfect internship for me to test my career direction because the jobs they had me performing were the same as those assigned to a vegetative young plant grower. Raker was going through a hiring change, and as a result, they gave me the interim grower position until they found a permanent, full-time grower. I was put in charge of the propagation area, and I made the necessary changes to ensure high-quality rooted liners were produced. I learned how to make a production schedule and the importance of writing cultural notes to develop production plans for future use. I was in charge of various perennial and annual crops, and that helped me develop and categorize a time management schedule that ensured proper culture for all crops. This interim grower position helped me learn how a commercial greenhouse operates on a daily basis, and it also showed me that if I make a mistake, I am interfering with the quality or whether the crop gets to the consumer on time.