Success StoryGardening, its not just putting food on the table



Gardening, its not just putting food on the table

Author: Carol Hinton

Planning Unit: Breckinridge County CES

Major Program: Home & Consumer Horticulture

Plan of Work: Promoting commodities and agriculture awareness

Outcome: Intermediate Outcome

Breckinridge County is 44% cropland, producing forage, soybeans, corn, and wheat. However, Breckinridge farmers are following the national trend by adding vegetable production for personal and commercial use. The variety of quality fresh produce is limited in the county.  Racial and ethnic residents have relied on family and friends to grow vegetables that are not available in local stores. We are continuing our work with the Breckinridge County Detention Center. We ended 2017 very good. We teach them how to raise a garden, teach them how to pick it and they sell it back to use their kitchen. The program participants learn so much from the mere act of raising their own vegetables but at the same we learn so much from them. Twenty-five years ago, I never thought I would be teaching how to grow a garden and why it is so important to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the detention center and their families once they return home. The numbers are listed below for the produce that was harvested and processed on the detention site.   Above all, to work with individuals that have never touched an ear of corn with the shucks on it, to hear them call the ‘silks’ hairs and to teach them how important the silks are to the production of each kernel of corn is worth every long hot summer day that it takes to harvest the sweet corn test plot. The participants range from expert gardeners to novice gardeners. It is truly rewarding and eye opening to be able to bring the knowledge of how food comes to their table. Fifty percent of the participants said they would use the knowledge that we taught them about square foot gardening and create a small garden for their families in the future. We are working on a new plan for 2019 with the addition of plastic culture, introduced by our KSU Small Farm Agent which has increased production and increased the utilization of irrigation. The entire program is a teaching tool for the detention center, an experimental tool as we teach New Crop Opportunities for future producers and an avenue for the detention center in obtaining fresh fruits and vegetables. I have a list of names of farmers that want to try ‘plastic culture’ in the fall and spring to raise their own produce and raise produce for the Farmers' Market.  

Produce

2017

2018

Sweet Corn

4500 ears

17,000 ears

Melons

300 lbs

476

Potatoes


5 gallons

Sweet potatoes

76 lbs

80 lbs

Zucchini


36.25 lbs

Squash

300

272 lbs

Tomatoes

150 lbs

227 lbs

Cucumbers


496.75







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