Towards the end of National 4-H Week this year, from October 11 to 14, our California 4-H Horticulture team competed at the 2019 National Junior Horticulture Association Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska. The event took place at the Lincoln Marriott-Cornhusker Hotel, and consisted of 9 Teams and 143 individual registered attendees.
Their coach, Dr. Terry Berke, shared photos and their team results with us. The team members qualified at the Horticulture Contest at State Field Day in June. What a short time to practice together! Big thanks and kudos to Dr. Berke for bringing together a cohesive—and winning —team! We also want to thank two of our sponsors, Dean Memorial Legacy Fund and the Farm Credit Bureau, for their support to help our team participate in this national competition.
The team participated in a variety of workshops and tours to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Lauritzen Gardens. This biological park leads the nation's conservation efforts. It houses the world's largest indoor desert and the largest indoor rainforest in North America. Convention events included contests in horticultural demonstratinos, public and extemporaneous speaking, and horticulture judging and identification. They also had a photography exhibition and evaluation of projects in environmental awareness, experimental horticulture, and marketing.
The California 4-H team finished third overall in the competition. Nathan Chi (Santa Clara County) was the first place 4-H individual! All of the other team members also placed in this national competition: Hollie Schneider (San Joaquin County)-11th, Emily Wouts (Contra Costa County) -14th, and Collin Robinson-Burmester (Yolo County) -20th.
From Nathan:
I was honored to represent the State of California as part of the 4-H State Horticulture Team at the 2019 National Junior Horticultural Association Convention in Lincoln. It was exciting for me to not only test my horticulture knowledge, but to also meet new people with similar interests and learn from experienced horticulturists on tours and workshops.
The convention is an opportunity for youth passionate about horticulture. Each year's highlight is the Horticulture Identification Contest, where we identify 100 different plant samples. We also answer 80 multiple choice questions (which can about many horticultural topics, ranging from turf to propagation) and complete a judging section, where we grade plants by quality and uniformity.
Every year, each team has a display highlighting the agricultural products of their home state. Our theme this year was citrus fruits since California is a major producer.
Dr. Berke coached our team and provided several 3-hour-long practice sessions for us throughout the summer. We also spent many hours studying on our own. I'm excited to say that our team finished 3rd in the Horticulture Identification contest and 3rd in the state display contest. I'm even more excited to say that I individually placed 1st in the Horticulture Identification contest!
