~~Straw Bale Garden Success Story from July 2017.  On July 25, 2017, the children's class of Oscar Cross Boys' and Girls' Club met at McCracken County Extension Office to enjoy a meal featuring vegetables they grew in straw bales at the Club.  This meal finished their special summer event.  This program began when Agent for 4H, Agent for Horticulture and Club Director of Oscar Cross Boys and Girls Club brainstormed about how to use a grant to the Club in the amount of $500.00 designed to fund a garden activity for the children’s program during the summer.  A group of 17 students (14 African American and 3 Caucasians) who had completed third grade and a small garden space were factors to consider, along with the budget.

 Straw bale gardening was a good fit for this program due to its unique appearance and low impact on the lawn. Horticulture Agent contacted UKREC Vegetable Specialist Daniel Becker to learn good practices.   A set of guidelines were created by Becker.  Agents and Club Director used these to make decisions.   Straw bales, tarp, water cans, promix potting media, fertilizer, aqua-gel particles to retain water, 3-gallon buckets,  mosquito dunk pellet, particle dust masks, plastic gloves, goggles and plants were purchased. 

 Children gathered for class and listened to instructions by Horticulture Agent.  Activities were supervised by 4 H and Horticulture Agents.  The first step was to thoroughly saturate the straw bales with water hose and watering cans.  Next the children used trowels and other implements to dig a hole in each end of the 7 straw bales.  In these holes, the children placed nitrogen fertilizer to help with decomposing of straw.  Students wore protective gear to do this.  In a bucket they mixed the aqua gel particles with the promix.    The youth then placed amended promix in the holes dug in the bales.  A pair of plants: tomatoes, zucchini, basil, rosemary, eggplant and bell peppers per bale were planted in the holes by the class.  Plants were watered in after the planting.  Twice-a-day watering was recommended by Becker. 

Watering schedule was carried out by Agents, Staff of Oscar Cross, students and McCracken County Extension Master Gardeners. Class met repeatedly through the month of July.  Basil and rosemary were ready the next week.  Tomatoes and peppers bloomed, produced quickly and ripened by end of July. Due to time restrictions of a summer-only class, the vegetables grown at the straw bale garden were purchased at the local farm stand to allow students to touch, smell and taste these.  A catered meal of lasagna, chicken Alfredo and rigatoni plus a green salad were served.  Students learned that the vegetables they grew could be used to prepare this meal.  In attendance were 14 students and 3 adults. 

After the meal, students were given pencil and paper plus cross-sections of the vegetables from the market.  Students wrote a sentence about their experience and also created original art by drawing the pieces of vegetables.  Quotes from the class include:“I thought the vegetables would not grow, but they did.” --- Jaleeyah; “I learned you can grow stuff in straw bales.” --- Autumn;  “I learned that lasagna has vegetables inside and is delicious.” ---Isaiah.   Due to the audience qualifying for SNAP program, Agents working with the program  included nutritional education throughout the entire process.