The problem: The Whitley County Cooperative Extension Service has been working with an influx of individuals and families that have decided to move into our community from numerous places around the United States. Many of these individuals and families are moving from a way of life centered around inner- city or suburban type of lifestyles and have never had the opportunity to try and grow their own food. On top of that, many of these individuals have never had the opportunity to participate in any kind of Cooperative Extension Programming. 

The educational program response: The Beginning Gardening 101 class has been a well-attended program in our county for the last two years. This class's primary goal is to get folks feeling more comfortable about trying to garden for the first time. Topics of discussion include establishing a garden plan, site selection, site preparation, plant selection and a brief look at soils and soil fertility. The class this year was offered on two different occasions and two different locations to try to encourage more participation from other parts of the county. This year, when planning the program I wanted to make sure to include a question in the Post-Survey to find out how many of the individuals that attended were first time attendees to an extension program.  

The participants/target audience: This years Beginning Gardening 101 program had 19 individuals in attendance at our class offered at the Whitley County Extension Office (Goldbug). These individuals varied in age and experience. 84% (16/19) of these individuals indicated that this was in fact going to be their first time trying to garden and 89% (17/19) individuals indicated that this was their very first time attending any kind of extension programming. A second class was offered on a Saturday morning at WD Bryant and Son in Corbin where 11 different individuals came to participate in the Beginning Gardening 101 class. Althought the number of attendees were smaller than at our office, I consider this a huge success because 100% (11/11) of the attendees indicated that this was going to be their first time in a garden and 91% (10/11) indicated that this was their first time attending an extension program. 

Other partners (if applicable): WD Bryant and Son- Corbin has been an outstanding community partner that has certainly helped to make the Beginning Gardening 101 program a success. WD Bryant has offered participants free incentives such as Gift Cards and has been extremely gracious in offering up their facilities for the programs to be offered. WD Bryant has enabled us to reach the Northern part of Whitley County and provide programming to folks who may not have the ability to get to our office in Williamsburg. 

Program impact or participant response: This Beginning Gardening 101 Program continues to have an impact in our local community. Because of this program we have more individuals in the county who are growing their own fresh fruits and vegetables. Some of the attendees in years past are now members of the Whitley County Farmers Market and have booths enabling them to supplement their families incomes and maybe the most important thing is we have less individuals who are having to depend on buying produce from grocery stores. We will continue to provide this class and expect to continue to have more and more interest in folks beginning to garden.