I met Mrs. JoJuana Leavell-Greene and her family last fall as she was inquring about ways to use her family properties in Anderson County and Fayette County for an Agricultural operation just as a retirement project. After an initial meeting with her, Mr Edwin Chavous, and myself, I did a few site visit's with her at her Fayette County property prior to the corona virus, as well as a few weekend visits during April and May to show her how to till, set her rows, and spacing for seeding.  I was also able to direct her to an outdoor learning grant from the Fayette County Soil Conservation District. Mrs. Greene is a very ambitious and followed up on all of the information offered and was able to develop a plan of action for her "seed of an idea."  Mrs. Greene embodies the perfect application of extension information given to community stakeholders who are then able to take that knowledge and serve not only their personnel goals such as starting a garden or learning a new skill, but also able to share with other members of the community in a positive productive manner. 

From March 2020 to the present she has now masterfully taken basic extension information that I provided for her from Dr. Whittinghill's gardening tips and created a  garden and youth program in a matter of months called GreeneLanding Horticulture Enrichment Program. As there has been much excitement around youth ag programming and a much needed breath of positivity during this unprecedented Spring and Summer, Mrs. Greene's camp was highlighted in the Lexington Herald Leader 7/13/2020 with a story about one of her youth participants Jacory Curtis from Lexington who now has a much more favorable view of agriculture and this was a positive article highlighting the excitement around engaging Black youth in agriculture and articulating the role extension plays. Facilitating and supporting efforts such as this.

"One evening in June, Leavell-Greene said, they figured out how many squash plants a 72-foot-row can handle when the plants need to be spaced four feet apart, and exchanged information about what they’d found on the Kentucky State University Extension Service site about some of the other vegetables they’re growing like beans and collards, corn and cucumbers".   Quote from the Lexington Herald Leader 7/13/2020

You can see the full article at the link below

https://www.kentucky.com/lexgoeat/food/article243744082.html?fbclid=IwAR2EJhwIRCfLBrgWWF9qxCkufgzEpe7tRgtBCoBoek0p-xieO-9oUj5JwPs