Blueberries can be a hard fruit to grow since it has very exact soil requirements that must be met. Many Pulaski County gardeners have tried and failed to grow blueberries successfully, evident from the many phone calls and plant samples received over the years at the Pulaski County Extension Service office. More often than not, no soil test was completed before planting, setting many people up for failure. Small fruits in general (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc) are popular crops to grow at home, mainly due to their perishability and their sweet taste. 

 The Small Fruit Saturday program was designed to engage younger and/or working-age residents of the county who may have a difficult time attending programs through the week. At the same time, the program was to be concise, covering 3 different fruits in less than 2.5 hours.

Plate It Up recipes were included, featuring the fruits covered in the program.

 At the end of the program, participants could buy plants to take home for their own gardens. No one was obligated to buy, however Extension offered them for a much-reduced rate. 

 Twenty-two people attended and 2 Extension Master Gardeners assisted with the purchasing of plants after the program finished (and the bundling and labeling that occurred prior to the program).

 Seventy percent of participants were 44 and younger which indicates having this program on a Saturday morning helped achieve the goal of engaging younger, working-age clients. 

 Eighty-seven percent of participants had fair or below knowledge of growing these small fruits prior to the program. After the program, 73% of participants ranked their knowledge as fair and above (67% ranked themselves with ‘pretty good’ knowledge afterwards).

 All participants indicated they would plant their fruit plants according to UK recommendations and 70% reported that they planned to have a soil test in the next 2 to 3 months. A little more than half of those indicated it would be their first soil test ever.