Gardening and farmers markets are a staple in small rural counties in Kentucky and it’s no different in Allen County. One thing that we can all agree on is that knowing how to grow your own food can be very important, especially in times when and inflation and the price of goods at the grocery store are going are going up. That’s why it is important to start young and learn how to be an entrepreneur! 

The Seed to Sell program is designed to teach youth gardening and entrepreneurship skills. This is a joint program between Allen County ANR, FCS and 4-H agents along with the SNAP-Ed assistant. In this program the students attend four in person sessions and two farmer’s market days where they attend the farmers market to sell their products that they worked hard all summer to grow! Session 1, the students receive vegetable seeds and transplants that they selected from a pre-session survey and they learn how to properly plant seeds, look at cost comparison between transplants and seeds, plant spacing and which family each vegetable species is in. Session 2, covers the growing and maintenance aspect of gardening. They learn about plant diseases, insect issues and proper fertilization and care of the plants throughout the growing season. Session 3, covers vegetable harvesting. The students learn how to properly harvest vegetables and how to know if the vegetables are ripe, which ones to select for farmers market and which ones can’t be sold. Session 4 covers marketing and communication. In this session students learn how to communicate with customers at the farmers market. Members from the local market and garden club come in for a hands on exercise and work with the students on how to better communicate and talk with customers. Also in this session the students create a farm name and learn how to market their products. Finally, in sessions 5 and 6, kids attend the farmers market along with the agents and sell their products.  

This is the second year this program has been available to the youth in Allen County. In 2021 there were 12 students enrolled into the program. They really enjoyed the hands on aspect of the program and at least 4 of the 12 students grew their own gardens again this year due to their experience with Seed to Sell. Currently for the 2022 group there are 14 youth enrolled into the program. Each session the kids come in with a smile on their face and eager to learn. This program is enjoyable for not only the students, but the instructors as well.