Hello, my name is Alex Sanders and I am the site supervisor for the Grow Appalachia Gardening Program at Project Worth Outreach in Menifee County, Kentucky.

Today I want to introduce you to one of our gardening families. His name is Mike Cox.   Mike, his mother, Susie, live in downtown Frenchburg in Menifee County.   Frenchburg is the county seat of Menifee County which has a population of just under 7,000 people.    The people of Frenchburg and Menifee County are a throw back to the days of everyone having the values of small town America.   The people Frenchburg and Menifee County are extremely friendly and hospitable.   Mike is disabled but you would never know it by the way he gets around.   When walking with Mike its best to follow, not lead, because if you move to slowly he will run over you.   This I know from personal experience.   Mike takes his gardening very seriously.   Mike and Susie have a 30′ x 30′ garden located in their back yard.   He works in his garden daily whenever the weather allows.   Mike and Susie are a team.   Susie helps Mike often in the garden.  In turn, Mike helps Susie in all of their food preservation including canning and freezing vegetables harvested in their garden.   Mike and Susie have gardened most of their lives but this is their first year participating in the Project Worth Outreach/Grow Appalachia Gardening Program.   Mike has stated to me several times that without the Project Worth Outreach/Grow Appalachia Gardening Program he would not have been able to have an organic garden.   In the beginning, Mike was very skeptical of organic gardening.   He thought that organic gardening was to expensive, so much more labor intensive and the harvest yield was much less than in the old fashioned style of gardening.   At least, that is what several people had told him.   Now, he sings the praises of organic gardening to anyone who will listen.   He has stated that the difference in the old fashioned style of gardening and the organic garden is truly amazing.    The color and taste of the organic garden is very distinguishable.   He plans to participate in this program for as long as he can.   In Mike and Susie’s garden this year they harvested green beans, potatoes, corn, cucumbers (Mike’s speciality.   He gave me a gallon jar of dill pickles and I consumed that jar in three days), cauliflower, cabbage, green onions and lettuce.   We are looking forward to working with Mike and Susie next year as they enter their second year in the Project Worth Outreach/Grow Appalachia Gardening Program.

I hope everyon’s garden has a bountiful harvest this year.   Until next week, have a wonderful gardening experience.