We are still experiencing hot weather and rain, but it’s not raining as much. June, July, and August weather really put a strain on everyone and their gardens. We are still collecting a good amount of produce in September: tomatoes, peppers, corn, and potatoes. Some gardeners have not been digging a lot of potatoes. They wait until the vines die and will dig in September or October. The ones who have harvested their potatoes are getting good crops. Second crops of beans are just about ready to pick.

A large amount of canning has been done this summer: jelly, jams, beans and so many other things will come in handy for people over the winter. I believe the reason they do so good is because they are so free to help other people.  I really don’t have to worry about the ones who gardened with us, I know they worked hard in the garden and canning and freezing their food. Our gardeners do a lot of hard work all summer that pays off and helps with grocery costs, especially for those on fixed incomes, since the price of food and gas has taken a large jump in prices.

The gardeners call in their produce report or send on messenger. It is obvious they want to have plenty of food. They ask, “Do you have any more bean seeds?”  They are always ready to plant more.

One of our gardeners who has since passed about a year ago- he was the first gardener I signed up to be in the program- said “if you want a lot of food, work that garden daily”, and he did work his garden every day, and had a very good garden.

Younger people are very interested in learning to garden, we have several younger adults in their thirties and forties that had big gardens this year, and they took my advice. I told them if they had a question about gardening go to YouTube or Google it; believe it or not they did, and they did very well.

With numerous people getting sick from COVID (including myself), we did not get to have our last canning workshop. Maybe in 2023 we can have more workshops, which will please the gardeners. My gardeners appreciate everything Grow Appalachia does to help them provide for their families, especially the workshops.