The Warren County Extension Master Gardener Educational Committee identified a spring vegetable gardening program was needed in the community to assist home gardeners be more proactive about getting the garden ready for the spring season. Therefore, the Warren County Extension Agent for Horticulture offered an educational program entitled “Can you dig it? Getting the Garden Ready for Spring!” at the Warren County Extension Office facility in February 2020.

During this evening program, the horticulture extension agent instructed 40 eager participants using a PowerPoint presentation on how to get the garden ready for the spring gardening season. She covered pre-season activities that were needed such as how to clean and sharpen garden tools and how to take a soil test. Later, she discussed information needed for the season such as how to successfully start seeds, correct planting dates for specific spring vegetable crops, and other information needed for the gardening season. Participants also went home with several helpful resources from the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service including the Home Vegetable Gardening for Kentucky ID-128 guide and the new Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Growing Your Own Gardening Calendar.

At the end of the class, participants took a post-evaluation survey to gather what information they learned. 100 percent of participants gained knowledge about how to get the garden ready for the spring season. One person noted in their evaluation that they enjoyed “the information and meeting other gardeners”. Another person wrote that they enjoyed “the social aspect and loved being around other gardeners”. 

A 5 month follow-up evaluation was emailed out to participants to see how the program benefited them. A participant mentioned that the class “benefited me tremendously-have biggest garden I’ve ever had this year and am looking forward to attending more classes”. Another couple reported in their evaluation that the program gave them “the push to say we could do better. We always have a garden but we buy plants and they are just mediocre, at best. After the class, we are burning it up. She grew from seeds in a make-shift nursery and we are planting fools!”