One of Lexington’s most diverse and economically disadvantaged populations lives in the Woodhill neighborhood. Most of Woodhill’s elementary-age students attend Breckinridge Elementary where nearly 80% of its students receive free or reduced lunches. This is significantly higher than the state average. Housing conditions and employment opportunities are ailing, and this area is home to an increasing refugee and immigrant population. Woodhill Community Center is a newer neighborhood destination, as well as the site of the Woodhill International Farmer’s Market.

The Fayette County extension horticulture program worked with the international market coordinator to plan and host our annual Growing Community event at the community center to teach residents how to raise vegetables to supplement budgets with healthy produce. We utilized our Extension Master Gardener volunteers to package seeds and transplants, teach lessons, and hand out supplies. We arranged for hundreds of transplants to be grown for the event and ordered bulk vegetable seed, which our volunteers made into small packets. Residents visited numerous stations to learn tips on how to grow vegetables effectively in small spaces. At each station along the way participants received seeds and vegetable transplants to grow at home. We also included our Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky booklet. The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. - Beta Gamma Omega chapter partnered with us to offer kids activities and snacks for the event. 

As part of our demonstration, we created large container gardens and a small strawbale garden to feature growing methods for small, limited spaces. These will be donated to the community center for their after-school garden club with Breckinridge Elementary students.

Our event hosted a wildly diverse mix of nationalities and a total of 155 families participated. We signed up people to our newsletter list and made them aware of other extension offerings. In a follow up questionnaire, 38 of the families indicated they were not familiar with the cooperative extension service prior to our event and 88% of those attending reported the event was helpful and they would use the information to grow a garden at home.