The Jefferson Co. Agent for Horticulture Education collaborated with the Urban Conservationist with Jefferson County Soil & Water Conservation District and local non-profit, Louisville Grows to host the first Urban Homesteading Workshop Series. The goal of the program was to introduce the art of self-sufficiency via homegrown food production for people living in an urban environment. Classes met twice a month, March.-Oct. of 2018 with a celebration at the end of October. Meeting 1 was an interactive lecture that introduced the month’s theme and, Meeting 2 consisted of mini-workshops to provide participants with one-on-one and/or small group consulting on their particular projects. Participants who attended 9 of the 17 classes offered had the opportunity to become “certified urban homesteaders” because they participated in the following classes: Goal setting & site design; Soil & Compost; Vegetable Gardens OR Perennial Crops; Chickens OR Bees; Water Conservation; Food Preservation; Potluck & site sharing; Complete site plan and personal goals; Complete both program evaluations.

In 2018, we had 26 participants enroll for the full six-month program. 14 of the 26 met the requirements to become “Certified Urban Homesteaders”. Each Participant had to complete a pre and post-test as a part of the program. Some notable results from the participants were that 88% were first time Extension Participants; 92% were first time participants with the Soil & Water Conservation District and 77% were first time participants with Louisville Grows.

At the beginning of the program, we asked for participants’ familiarity with many topics to help gauge participants’ existing knowledge and build the classes from there. 50% of participants had “some gardening experience but wanted to know more”; 50% of participants were interested in learning about backyard chickens (7% already had chickens); 92% were interested in learning about backyard beekeeping (7% already had bees). 77% were interested in learning how to compost (26% already had a compost system); 35% of participants could not describe 2 ways to conserve water in their gardens; and 61% could not read or interpret a soil sample.

When we did the post-test at the end of the program, we asked participants first about their knowledge gain, 90% could now describe two ways to conserve water in the garden and 90% could not read and interpret a soil sample. We also asked participants when they planned to implement the skills taught in the workshop series into their lives (if at all) and here are the results: 70% of participants started a vegetable garden during the workshop; 70% started a compost system during the workshop and 50% began preserving their own food during the length of the workshop. 30% of participants plan to install a rain barrel within the next 60 months. Within the next year, participants plan to implement the following: preserve their own food (40%); plant perennial vegetables and fruits (30%); install a rain barrel (40%). In January, three months after the class ended, we received the following email from a participant: “I’m constantly sharing information that I learned in the class. The various tools & resources [seeds, canning supplies, handouts, info on local homesteading-related businesses, etc.] have come in very handy as well. I’m excited to pull out my binder & get started on my garden plan for the upcoming season.”

On March 4, 2019, the second session of the Urban Homesteading Workshop Series will begin with a full class of 27 participants.