This spring the Taylor Co. Extension Office partnered with The Healing Place Recovery Center to provide a raised bed for the individuals served by the center. It was brought to the horticulture agent’s attention that due to preplanned meals the individuals served by the facility lacked fresh vegetables in their diet. The horticulture agent worked with the EPNEP assistant to create a one day educational training on the construction of a raised bed, the planting of suitable plants within the bed, and care requirements of each. After the vegetables have reached maturity the EPNEP assistant will incorporate the vegetables into her nutrition program, by teaching her class participants how to use the vegetables in various healthy dishes. 

The initial outcome of the program is to provide healthy, nutritious food for the recovery center, while the participants gain knowledge of how to build and utilize a raised garden bed. The intermediate outcome will result next year when the recovery garden will be utilized for the entire duration of the EPNEP assistant's nutrition course. Another raised bed will be installed next year, increasing the amount of produce which can be grown for the center.

Knowledge gained by the participants will be measured by pre and post evaluations. The long-term outcome will be whether the individuals create their own raised garden bed, and incorporate the produce grown within it into their own meals. The horticulture agent will work with the EPNEP assistant, and the director of The Healing Place in an effort to gain this information.