Clay County is a very rural area, with many residents living a substantial distance from grocery stores. Additionally, many people in the county have relatively low incomes, with a substantial portion of county residents living below the poverty line. The combination of these two factors increases the risk of food insecurity.

To help address this need, the Clay County Cooperative Extension Service (Clay CES) partnered with Grow Appalachia to initiate a Grow Appalachia Garden Grant site in the Bullskin Creek community of Clay County. This area is relatively remote even by Clay County standards, as it is more than 20 miles from a town with amenities beyond a gas station. The Garden Grant provides direct funding for home food production essentials (plants, seeds, hand tools, canning jars, etc.), while Clay CES staff provide educational sessions focused on growing and utilizing home-grown produce

Eighteen families are participating in the 2022 Bullskin Creek Grow Appalachia program. Clay CES staff have provided five educational programs so far in 2022, and will provide a total of 7 programs throughout the season. Given the range of topics, both the Family & Consumer Sciences agent and the Ag & Natural Resources agent have had opportunity to present information to the program participants. All programming takes place in the community to minimize travel costs for the participating families.   

Approximately 20% of the families participating in the program are first-time gardeners. However, 100% of program participants have reported increasing the amount of food they produce as a result of Grow Appalachia programming and support. Additionally, over 70% of program participants had no prior relationship with Cooperative Extension prior to this program. While the participants have definitely benefited from these meetings, we anticipate the client relationships developed through the Grow Appalachia site will continue to bear fruit long after the current program has been completed.