Oh the Humidity!

This weather has been insane, my hair can’t take it.

With big hair and a happy smile, Lori here from McDowell County, West Virginia. I know most of you have been having the same horrible weather patterns that we have had, but our little area at the bottom of West Virginia has been lucky. Some areas were flooded, but thankfully we were not. Some of the storms broke tomato plants, and the saturated ground rotted potatoes and corn, but all in all it wasn’t bad.

David Cooke was scheduled to meet with us last month, but the flooding turned him back. We are hoping he can reschedule before winter hits.

I am proud to announce we have harvested over 800 pounds more produce compared to the same time as last year! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season brings.

We were approached by a volunteer for the DIG program. She brought the manuals that they use for a garden program that was set up in Africa. The program was set up to address self sufficiency and food insecurity for the poor areas. She wants us to be a part of a pilot program in the United States. The first step is to rework the manuals for the US. DJ and myself are in charge of adding to and taking away from the existing manuals to make them work in Appalachia. We have been going over them and taking a ton of notes. This is very exciting for us as, and can lead to other grant opportunities in the future.

Elly Engle, a Graduate Assistant from Penn State came to visit us as part of a study she is doing for college. She got to see what we are doing, and how the program works at our site. She stayed at our center amidst our menagerie of livestock, we even too her to dinner in Bluefield. It was free hot dogs at a community day a church in our Diocese held, but it was dinner nonetheless. She will be coming back to talk with some of our participants, and hopefully observe a class.

We have people that come to the center regularly for various reasons. When they see what we are doing they express an interest in being a part of it. This program has inspired DJ to start taking Agricultural classes on line next year. How great is that?

Here are some pictures submitted by a few participants:

What a difference a month makes!

Until next time, stay cool and dry!