Container and raised bed gardening are becoming more popular in many rural and urban areas in Kentucky. The University of Kentucky has many wonderful resources that home gardeners have access to and as extension agents, it is our duty to provide learning opportunities for those individuals. Container gardening can be a great way for individuals that do not have a lot of space or property to grow a garden. Container gardening is a great way for elderly people that may not be as capable as they once were or those that may be beginners to enjoy the gardening process on a smaller scale. This method provides individuals with a way that they can grow their own fresh food and take pride in producing their own foods.  

With the growing interest in container gardening, the Monroe County support staff, FCS and ANR agents responded by doing a container garden giveaway program. The staff members put together 50 container garden kits that included one five-gallon container, one tomato plant, one bag of potting soil, numerous gardening publications, a booklet of Plate it Up recipe cards, various SNAP- Ed items and a recipe sample was made and given out as well. This was a drive-through event, we had the parking lot roped off with signage stating where the participants needed to go. Once it started the individuals were lined up, they would pull forward to the designated loading area and the extension staff would load their vehicles with the items and the participants never had to get out of the vehicle. We gave out all 50 of the kits in just 25 minutes. It took two weeks to prepare and promote this program, and it was a huge success. 

The target audience was anyone in the community that was interested in container gardening. We had participants of all ages, genders and backgrounds. We had a total of 50 individuals that participated in the drive-through program. We promoted it via social media and radio, and the response was outstanding. 

100% of the participants said that they enjoyed this program and they would like for us to do it again next year. They really enjoyed the free samples and the opportunity to grow a garden and produce their own food. Some of the participants weren’t familiar with this type of gardening so we increased awareness of container gardening for some individuals.