Hello, my name is Alex Sanders and I am the Site Supervisor for the Grow Appalachia Garden Program at Project Worth Outreach located in Menifee County, Kentucky.

 
Today I want to tell you about a site visit I did on the far end of Menifee County. I had been approached about getting a kindergarten class involved in Grow Appalachia gardening and after thinking it over I approached our Director, Gail Mills, about the possibility of involving them children in our program. I informed her that they did not have much space to put in a garden at their school. Her response was that it would be a wonderful opportunity to get our foot in the door of the school and maybe next year we could get the entire school involved. There at K-5 classes at Bott’s Elementary so it would include a large number of students not to mention several new potential families that could join Grow Appalachia next year. After all, young children and new families are a target of Grow Appalachia. So it was set. Mrs. Baker’s kindergarten class will raise a small amount of vegetables in their raised beds. All we had to do was supply some seeds and dirt. We understood there would not be a lot of harvest from this project but we would have the opportunity to introduce organic garden to approximately 28 children.

 

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 1

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 1

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 2

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 2

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 3

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 3

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 4

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 4

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 5

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 5

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 6

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 6

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 7

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 7

 

During this site visit, I talked to Mrs. Baker and she informed me that the children had planted corn, cherry tomatoes, beets and carrots. According to Mrs. Baker, the children worked hard to keep the weeds out with limited success. I met with the class 3 times and Gail Mills met with them once. I knew going into this project that the harvest numbers for this project would be low but I really enjoyed my interaction with the children. They were very attentive and curious as they asked many questions. I am looking forward to a new class as they work on a garden project after school starts in August. I hope to include more classes in the fall.

 

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 8

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 8

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 9

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 9

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 10

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 10

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 11

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 11

Bott's Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 12

Bott’s Elementary Kindergarten Garden photo 12

 

Please find this week’s recipe below.  Have a great week and Happy gardening.

 

Green Tomato Relish
8 cups chopped green tomatoes
1 1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon white mustard seed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
In a large sauce pot stir together the tomatoes, onions, red and green peppers, sugar, syrup, vinegar, salt,
mustard seed and white pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and boil gently until vegetables are tender crisp.
(about 45 minutes). Ladle into clean 1/2 or 1 pint jars. Cover with 2 piece lids, seal and process in boiling
water bath for 10 minutes. Cool and store in a cool dry place.

 

Submitted by Mary Wallace from the Cooks.com collection