In 2021, 17,466 Kentuckians age 12 and older were admitted to drug and alcohol substance use centers, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). According to the 2023 Extension Community Assessment, Pulaski County residents identified support of substance use addiction prevention/recovery as a priority.

Pulaski County Nutrition Education Program Assistant, Margie Hernandez and Extension Horticulture Agent, Beth Wilson, collaborated with Sky Hope Recovery during 2024-25 to teach both gardening skills and nutrition education. The gardening, meal planning, and cooking skills learned will be useful to participants, both in the short term and after they leave the recovery center. 

Therapeutic horticulture is defined as a practice that uses living plants and gardening to improve people’s spiritual, mental, and physical health, according to the American Horticulture Therapy Association. One hundred fifty recovery center residents participated in the garden. The garden consisted of seven types of vegetables grown in raised beds.  The produce from the garden was utilized primarily for their enjoyment. However, herbs, garlic, and certain greens were used in the kitchen. Some participants expressed a sense of pride seeing their work culminate in a meal. 

Participants tended the garden by watering, weeding, and harvesting vegetables. Working in the garden aided in the participants’ substance-use recovery because gardening promotes connection with other participants, fostering social inclusion and community belonging—which are essential to substance-use recovery. 

In addition to growing produce, the agent provided additional opportunities for people in substance use recovery to explore ways to build self-efficacy through nurturing their own houseplants and making seasoned pumpkin seeds that they cleaned out of pumpkins. Furthermore, several participants commented that they enjoyed gardening because they ‘like to get outside and breathe the fresh air’. 

At the end of the 2024 season, 38.75 pounds of produce were harvested, yielding 12.64 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, according to USDA calculations. This is $145.80 value in fresh produce made available to Sky Hope participants. Medical research indicates that proper nutrition, such as increasing intake of garden fruits and vegetables, can support physical healing of damage caused by substance use and stabilize emotional states, thereby decreasing the risk of recurrence. 

After harvest, participants had the opportunity to consume the produce and learned about the important role of food in recovery through classes lead by the NEP Assistant. Over the 2024-25 year, 40 completed the Healthy Choices for your Recovering Body Curriculum. One participant said ‘I learned a lot about our diets coming off drugs and that we need well-balanced meals’.