It is no secret that COVID-19 has played a huge role in how the Grayson County Extension service has been able to do programming during the spring of 2020. This time of year usually is busy with programming efforts for horticulture and agriculture, none of which were able to be completed in person. However, with this challenge has come great opportunities to reach out and be creative in how programming and information is expelled. For example, the Grayson County ANR agent worked with the Master Gardener’s Association on a seed library project for square foot gardening that was originally supposed to be highlighted the month of April. Because the library was closed, this left many vegetable seeds and materials not used.  With worry that they would go bad, the ANR agent worked with the project manager to develop a way for the seed packets and materials to be dispersed at the Grayson County Extension Office Drop off site. The Master Gardener Volunteer packaged seeds from various garden vegetables in packets for one square foot, so that people can use them in small spaces. She made over 200 packets for the first week. Using Facebook Live, the ANR agent discussed the new project items and encouraged people who were new to gardening and wanted more information to come pick the items up at the office. She also gave information about the publications so that people could utilize them as resources when planting their garden. The first week of the promotion, the post with the live video reached an audience of 1,500 and had 223 engagements. 25 packets with just information were also mailed to recipients who requested them via Facebook. The second week, we shared a graphic about the seeds, and there were 1,700 people reached and 94 engagements. The seeds were distributed within two days, and there were many people asking when there would be more seed packets available.

Because people are not having direct involvement with the extension office, we decided the best way to capture information on their knowledge and skills learned, we developed a Qualtrics survey with a QR code for people to fill out when they picked up the packets.

 From the 16 survey results we received, 4 said this was their first time gardening, and that 8 were doing a garden plot, 6 were doing container gardening, and 2 were doing square foot gardening. Interesting enough, 7 individuals indicated the impact of COVID-19 led to their decision to plant a garden. 14 individuals indicate the seeds helped them get started in their garden for the year. From the survey, the respondents requested more information on preserving their produce, small space gardening and plant disease diagnostics.

Overall, the project has a successful start. The goal will be to survey via Qualtircs, and social media throughout the summer to continue educating these participants and to also see progress of their gardens.