Our mission, to make a difference in the lives of Kentucky citizens through research-based education, is fulfilled daily at the Bourbon County Cooperative Extension office by each of our programmatic areas comprised of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Horticulture, Family and Consumer Science, 4-H Youth Development and SNAP Ed. These programs by themselves provide impactful education to their corresponding clientele and reach further horizons when combined. A group effort was achieved as we welcomed the community into our office for a Spring Open House where over 100 residents of Bourbon County participated. Activities included: 

1. Local home gardeners receiving over 70 copies of the latest Kentucky home garden manual which contains the latest research based vegetable production information.  In addition, residents received growing information on over 40 different garden crops and took home over 700 packs of improved varieties of home garden seeds. Over 75 direct garden related questions were answered by Extension Agents at the event
2. A delicious strawberry banana smoothie was created by youth riding our blender bike promoting healthy eating as well as physical activity 
3. Pressure canner valves were checked to ensure safe food preservation practices 
4. Clientele constructed take home microgreen kits that will sprout and be harvested in the coming weeks for them to enjoy 
5. Summer sausage sampling was provided to showcase the finished product from the recent charcuterie and summer sausage workshop that focused on safe handling and consuming of charcuterie boards in addition to researched based recipes for making summer sausage
6. Scrumptious carrot and zucchini bars and spring harvest salad were sampled alongside displayed FNEP and Plate it Up KY Proud recipe cards.  44 2022 Food + Nutrition Recipe Calendars were taken to repeat the recipe and positive tasting comments from all ages – 6 to 76!