80% of Pike County residents own their own home and have enough property to do anything from a small patio garden up to a large family garden.  Our residents have one of the highest medical problem rates in the state and nation.  With the current conditions due to the Covid epidemic, many of our groceries have limited fruits and vegetables.  This year many of our residents indicted an interest in growing their own vegetables that are not touched by multiple people.  A large number have never raised anything before and are interested in starting and learning to garden.  The demo garden was designed to show/teach individuals that it doesn't take acres & major equipment to do fruits and vegetables.  Demo Garden demonstrates some of the newer methods of raised beds and small plots.

Goals are to:

1. Show it doesn't take a lot of area to raise vegetables.

2. It is fairly simple to raise healthier foods.

3. Demonstrate appropriate crops for spring, summer, fall, winter.

4. Show a variety of methods of growing.

5. Demonstrate methods that take a minium of tools and costs.

6. Show methods of doing both annual and perennial crops.

Demo includes a variety of methods.  Including--2 Commercial raised beds (4x4), 5 stock water troughs used for vegetables (various sizes), 5 traditional wooden raised beds (4x16), 2 cold frames (4x4), and a 20 x 20 traditional garden plot.  Commercial beds are used to demonstrate everbearer strawberry production and sweet potatoes.  Traditional raised beds are used to demo perennials and annual plants.  One has asparagus plants.  One has strawberries & sweet potatoes.  One has tomatoes and marigolds (for organic demo).  One has peppers and marigolds (again organic).  One has both annual and perennial herbs for healthier eating / making teas/ making tinctures.  The stock watering troughs are used to demo a Fall/Winter crops, such as various brassica's & lettuce's.  Multiple types of lettuce, kale, mustard, spinach, broccoli, cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts and cabbages are in the demo.  The 20 x 20 traditional plot is used to demonstrate more traditional crops with some new methods & varieties.  Spring crops were lettuce, onions, & peas.  Summer crops are bush beans, onions, sweet potatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, eggplant.  Fall/winter crops are lettuces, radishes, carrots, kales, and the brassica's.  Pots in the garden demonstrate blueberries and various herbs.  There are multiple methods and sizes demonstrated for the community to see and pick out what would be appropriate to their garden.  

Some of the people come to see the garden and because we are located next to the city pond and a childresn playground, we often get comments such as "Never realized how little space it takes to grown vegetables", "I can do that at my house",  & one I particularly liked "What a wonderful idea.  I plan on giving a trough to my mother for a Christmas present--she can get arund enough to work in it & doesn't have to bend or climb over anything to grow some vegetables and flowers.  It will give her something to do & she will be safe on the patio".