Master Gardener Judy Buckler is volunteering with The Cabbage Patch Settlement House,  a nonprofit community center that provides educational and recreational programs to at-risk youth, both after-school programs and summer programs as well as family services for
their parents. The program sees about 1500 children a year. For twenty years she has been involved with the Seed to Table Program, which teaches children to cook healthy meals in the fall and winter, and gardening in the spring and summer.  The cooking classes are in high demand, and there are 2-3 sessions each year for 12 children each session. They prepare, cook, share and clean up after each session.  All recipes use fresh ingredients, some of which are from the garden.

The garden classes are held in the outdoor garden of four raised beds. The children learn to plant transplants and seeds for blueberries, strawberries, cabbage, kale, green beans, radishes, broccoli, collards, onions, pepper, cucumbers, squash, corn, herbs and watermelon.  They maintain, fertilize, weed and water every weekly meeting.  The harvest, which they have picked, is shared among all the children participating that week. After the work is done they count and record the harvest, and have a healthy snack to share while having an educational gardening program.  The healthy snack will often include something harvested from the garden, from strawberries to pizza from the garden, to fresh cooked green beans and watermelon.

The garden program has been a huge help since the only grocery store in the area closed last spring. 90 percent of the children involved receive free or reduced lunch. Over the past year the program has connected with 150 children. The garden educational classes have had such a positive impact that the Courier Journal wrote an article about it. 

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/food/2017/05/16/youth-gardening-program-increasingly-needed-grocery-stores-close/322698001/