At the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, there were many concerns around how community agriculture spaces, particularly community gardens, could or would operate. The Jefferson Co Horticulture Agent convened several phone calls with three other community garden agencies and facilitated a conversation about best practices and plans of action for community agriculture spaces.

Prior to the group’s virtual meeting, resources on COVID-19 were gathered. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture issued a statement identifying agriculture and agricultural enterprises as essential services that should remain open. The Centers for Disease Control and Kentucky Governor Beshear also issued clear guidelines for Kentuckians regarding how to interact in public spaces. North Carolina State University Extension to create guidelines and a plan for how community agricultural spaces in Louisville could safely operate in the pandemic The group convened by the Hort agent then used these resources to help craft shared messaging and procedures to be used at all community agricultural spaces in Louisville.

The group identified the following actions that needed to take place: hand washing signs (in multiple languages) needed to be placed on every community garden water spigot; Soap also needed to be provided at every spigot at every community garden; all gardeners needed to be notified of safe behaviors for being in the garden; safe behavior signs needed to be created and posted in multiple locations throughout the garden; social media posts about safe garden use needed to be created and shared; local councilpersons needed to be informed; community partners needed to be informed.

All of these tasks were then divided up among the parties involved and an online database of signage and public messaging was created to help share resources and assign tasks to group participants so that everyone could perform these shared duties while maintain a safe social distance. Within 1 week the community garden COVID-19 task force and implemented the installation of signage and soap at every community garden spigot; texted, and emailed every registered community gardener in Louisville. By two weeks out, all community gardeners had received notification of actions in the mail; metrocouncil and community partners had been informed of the safe garden use procedures.

Since this initial action, the Hort agent has been in contact with more community agriculture sites in Louisville and has built a larger network of community agriculture sites who are all using the same procedures and actions around keeping their sites safe. The Hort agent has also shared resources and actions with other community agriculture sites across Kentucky to help keep community agriculture sites safe places to be during COVID-19.