Following the direction of our leadership, the Floyd County Extension Office added a series of demonstration raised beds and containers at our site. The ANR agent, program assistant and staff with the assistance of Master Gardeners, leaders and others from the community constructed eight raised beds and numerous containers. Program participants helped put in and maintained the demonstration gardens. The beds and containers were planted as follows: one as an herb garden, one as a strawberry bed, one for cut flower trials, and the rest for various vegetables trials. We offered hands-on programs on how to construct raised beds, providing basic plans, preparing soil mixtures, soil testing, choosing suitable varieties, weed control options, and identification of common garden weeds, diseases, and pests. Participants learned about the use of stock panels attached to the beds for vining crops (peas, beans, and cucumbers) to grow up. Several had never seen cucumbers grown upright but appreciated the ease of picking. Harvest records were used to evaluate the crops. The vegetables and herbs were either used fresh or processed and preserved. Some of the vegetables and herbs from the gardens were used for sampling at the farmers market or incorporated into recipes and demonstrations by our SNAP and FCS coworkers.

Buy in has been fantastic from the participants and public. We have received a lot of positive comments from participants, leaders, and community members. It is truly amazing how surprised people were regarding the amount of produce that was harvested from the raised beds and containers. In addition, the cut flower trials received a lot of attention from farmer market vendors, gardeners, homemakers, and the public. Several individuals would stop by often and check out the progress of the flowers. Over two hundred fifty individuals have participated in programs or received information about the demonstration garden this year. Many plan to add some of the varieties to their own operations and gardens this coming year.

Over sixty percent of the participants are constructing raised beds this fall, planning to put our recommendations into practice, using some new varieties and excited for next season to begin. Others are requesting that we add some fall vegetable crops to extend production during the cooler months.  This addition to the office brought us several new visitors and gardeners to our programs this year.