Extension
It Starts With Us
Home & Commercial Horticulture
Home & Commercial Horticulture
Michele Stanton
Home & Consumer Horticulture
Master Gardener
Commercial Horticulture
Homeowners, small-scale community gardens, school garden groups, farmers' market growers and small-scale commercial growers are looking to produce more of their own foods, flowers, or other plants; or expand existing operations by growing additional (and maybe new) crops. They are looking for information on what to grow, and how to do it.
Some members of the community face significant mental, emotional, and physical challenges. Horticultural activities are therapeutic for these persons in many areas.
•Increase the number of homeowners and landowners who are growing food and other horticultural crops on an ongoing basis.
•Increase income derived from horticultural crops.
•Expand offerings at local farmers’ markets.
•Expand the number of crops grown in the county on an ongoing basis.
•Increase the quality of life for members of our community with physical, mental and emotional challenges.
•Homeowners, growers, farmers, and landowners produce new horticultural crops for the first time.
•Residents take GAP training for the first time.
•New growers are selling at one or more Farmer’s Market locations.
•Members of the community with significant physical, emotional or mental challenges can look forward to “days in the garden”.
•Homeowners, landowners, farmers, and others understand the value of local production of diverse horticultural products.
•Homeowners, landowners, farmers, and others learn how to grow many new kinds of horticultural crops: vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, landscape plants, forest products, etc.
•Members of the community with physical, mental and emotional challenges will enjoy new experiences and learn new skills through horticulture.
Outcome: Increased vendors at county Farmers’ Markets
Indicator: Greater numbers of Farmers’ Market vendors as measured against 2015.
Method: Vendor lists.
Timeline: Yearly.
Outcome: Greater numbers of products offered at local Farmer’s Markets.
Indicator: Compare available lists of available products at local farmer’s markets from year to year. Base year: 2015
Method: Survey, farmers’ market records.
Timeline: Yearly.
Outcome: Homeowners, landowners, farmers and others understand the value of local production of diverse horticultural products.
Indicator: Class attendance
Method: Surveys
Timeline: Ongoing
Outcome: Homeowners, landowners, farmers, and others grow new horticultural crops.
Indicator: Class attendance
Method: Surveys
Timeline: Ongoing
Outcome: Members of the community with mental, physical, and emotional challenges participate in therapy through horticulture.
Indicator: Continued class attendance.
Method: Smiles, cheers, and signs of appreciation
Timeline: Monthly or seasonally, as needed
Audience: Homeowners, farmers, landowners and others
Project or Activity: Classes and demonstrations on all kinds of horticultural crops: vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, landscape plant production, forest products, etc.
Content or Curriculum: Extension and other materials.
Inputs: UK Extension specialists and county agents
Date: Ongoing
Audience: Farmers and others
Project or Activity: GAP training
Content or Curriculum: Kentucky GAP training manual and videos
Inputs: Kentucky GAP training materials and videos; county agents; state specialists
Date: Yearly, winter/spring; rotated through the three northern counties
Audience: Residents of Rosedale Manor, and other Long-term-care facility residents as needed
Project or activity: demonstrations, garden crafts, hands-on garden and memory activities
Content or curriculum: Variable. 4H, American Horticultural Therapy Association publications
Inputs: County agents and MG volunteers
Author: Michele Stanton
Major Program: Home & Consumer Horticulture
Kenton County Extension Horticulture planted a Monarch Waystation in its Outdoor Education Center this spring. A waystation is a purposeful, planned garden habitat designed to provide larval host plants for Monarch egg-laying and larval development, and nectar and pollen-producing plants adult butterflies need. There is considerable science behind the pretty plantings—research into larval host nutrition, best plant species, insect mortality, adult feeding preferences, planting de
Author: Michele Stanton
Major Program: Bees/Beekeeping
There has been much publicity the past few years about the importance of pollinators. There are many insects and other animals who pollinate the flowers needed to produce our crops and sustain our natural environment, but the stars of the show are bees. When members of the public think of bees, they think honeybees, and many have heard that bees are in trouble. The honeybee, however, is an exotic invasive insect! “Keeping honeybees for pollinator conservation is like keeping ch
Author: Michele Stanton
Major Program: Commercial Horticulture - Landscape Ecosystems
Educating our LandscapersIn conjunction with the Northern Kentucky Urban Forestry Council, Kenton County Cooperative Extension hosted the annual Public Workers’ Tree Seminar this past March. This is a traditional event here in Northern Kentucky, and was attended by persons from Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and from as far away as Lexington, KY and Middletown, OH. In addition to utilizing local UK Extension expertise, instructors also represented Purdue, The Ohio State University, and
Author: Michele Stanton
Major Program: Home & Consumer Horticulture
One of the challenges in teaching horticulture is that there are so many bad examples of plant care practices in the landscape. People want to take good care of their yards and gardens, but as they copy what they see around them they may end of doing more harm than good—and not realize it. This is not restricted to my county, or Kentucky, or the Midwest. Everywhere I go, I can take pictures of glaring plant mistreatment. A common example is the mounding of mulch around
