Shoes that fit the occasion...

In the next few weeks members of the Delta Science Center committee, Freedom High School students and volunteers from the community will be coming to the Jersey Island Learning Lab to transplant the rice from the nursery to two main fields. When transplanting it is important to make sure to have the proper shoes because all the work will be taking place in muddy, wet soil.

So far we've tried three different types of shoes. Some that work and some that just get suck in the mud.

So far I've tried three different styles and while some have worked great for others, so far only one has worked for me. 

For Dr. Mike, whose spent just about as much time in the mud as I have, the rubber work boots are the best. It keeps the mud out and keeps pants dry up to the knees. I had trouble wearing these because my feet are smaller and kept falling out of them. 

Rubber clogs seemed like a good idea at the time, however the shoes get so stuck in the mud that you can barely more in them.

The best shoes, so far, for me has been the above style water shoes. Walking in the mud with these is like walking barefoot. You still have to be careful because as I said before this soil is very slippery when wet. 

Why not bare feet. For the most part for the past few decades Jersey Island has houses a cattle ranch. There are all kinds of objects that could have gotten lost in the soil over the years. No one wants to step on an old piece of barbed wire or even the old jaw bone of a wild animal that might be sticking up in the mud.

Anyone who wants to volunteer during transplanting we'll be announcing a date of transplanting in the next few weeks. We'd love all the help we can get. Email us at info@deltasciencecenter.org.