Success StoryCOVID-19 and a change in Direction for the Horticulture Program



COVID-19 and a change in Direction for the Horticulture Program

Author: Amy Aldenderfer

Planning Unit: Hardin County CES

Major Program: Home & Consumer Horticulture

Plan of Work: Unrelated to a specified County Plan of Work

Outcome: Initial Outcome

When the "stay at home" order came, the Hardin County Horticulture Agent had many classes planned for a face-to-face format.  Since that was no longer an option, webinars, podcasts and Facebook posts became the norm for disseminating horticulture information to clients.  

For classes that had materials already purchased like "Making a Bee Hotel", the participants were given the materials to make the item and directed to a Youtube channel to receive directions on assembly.  

Some classes, like How to Grow Tomatoes and The Perfect Perennial, Daylily, went to a strictly online format.   Although, interaction between the participants and the instructor is limited.  https://youtu.be/EAzrTgmPzO0

A new venture: Horticulture Webinar Wednesdays was started by three Hort agents to consolidate and boost local efforts to reach a bigger audience.  (See Horticulture Webinar Wednesdays for an overview of the larger program.)  I taught the Attracting Pollinator lesson on June 24 to celebrate Pollinator week.  There was a total of 82 participants, and they stayed on the video call for an average of 53 minutes.  Of the initial polling, 100% said that this topic was relevant to them and 75% said they will use this information within the next month. https://kentuckyhortnews.com/horticulture-webinar-wednesdays/ 

Another new venture is “Amy’s Gardening Thoughts” podcast. This is a bi-weekly video podcast delivered through a Youtube channel.  The topics range from questions answered from the public, timely actions to take in the garden, what’s blooming, and places to visit.   https://youtu.be/t0jIETA9xbA






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