Toward the end of the summer of 2020 the local Walmart donated several boxes of seed packets to the Harrison County Extension Office.  With COVID restrictions all programming was cancelled or converted to a virtual format.  In an effort to stay relevant to the community and to stay interactive with clientele during times that in-person classes couldn’t be held, it was decided to use the seed packets as an opportunity to connect with the public while still abiding by COVID guidelines.

The seed giveaways were promoted as a free seed giveaway – mystery grab bag.  Seeds were divided into four different categories and four Friday’s were chosen to distribute the seeds.  In addition to the seeds educational material was also provided.

The giveaways were advertised on the Harrison County Horticulture Facebook page as well as in the Harrison County Horticulture newsletter.  It was open to anyone in the county regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status, etc.  On the given day, mystery grab bags were placed on a table on the porch of the extension office.  Participants were told they must wear a mask and must abide by social distancing when waiting in line to pick up.

For the flower seed giveaway there were two Fridays these were distributed.  One day was annual flowers.  Each brown paper bag included a variety of seed packets, information on seed storage, instructions on how to plant seeds, a “Growing Annuals” extension publication, a pair of gardening gloves, and a link to a survey on Qualtrics.  Twenty-five bags were made, and all were picked up within two hours.

The second flower seed giveaway was perennial flowers.  Each grab bag included information about seed storage, how and when to plant perennial seeds, several perennial seed packets, a “Growing Perennials” extension publication, a pair of flower stem snippers, and a link to a Qualtrics survey.  Twenty-four bags were made and were picked up within one hour.

The goal of this program was to utilize a free resource we had been given, provide knowledge on growing flowers, and act as a way to engage with the community during the trying times of a global pandemic.