There is an old saying that says, “You are what you eat”, so here at the Owsley County Farm To School Gardening Group, we have been an organic, fresh, grow your own food group all summer long and we are deep into preserving that food for the winter months ahead.

Harvest Yields
Harvest yields have been good in our home gardens although they are starting to slow down now. Our home gardeners who have sold at The Owsley County Farmers Market have had big enough yields to be consistent in their attendance and sales every market day this season! Recent rains were a mixed blessing, helping some crops come on and others to start developing some problems, but our partnership with our local UK Extension ag agent, Paul Sizemore, has paid off for our home gardeners with workshops and garden visits to identify problems and suggest tips for improvements. Garden visits are continuing to assist with tips for harvesting and food preservation..

August’s Focus
This month our focus has been on food preservation, season extension, and seed saving. Our group has been very busy attending season expansion workshops with cold weather crops, frost protection and tips provided by the Owsley County Ag Extension agent and project coordinators. Pressure canning and water bath canning, dehydrating, freezing, and fermenting workshops are well under way for all.

Favorite Quotes From Our Group
The quotes from our group this season range from the satisfaction gained from doing something yourself, developing connections, providing for your family and to learning more about food safety and organic farming

“Canning has been a very satisfying experience, knowing I did that!”

“When your mouth is full, all your worries disappear for the time being.”

“I loved that chicken fertilizer and want to know where and how to get it for my garden next year.”

“I have gardened and put up food all my life and learned new things to do this year that have really worked.”

“My family will sure eat good this winter!”

” I have enjoyed seeing all the pictures from the group in the chat and being able to talk to everyone else in the group about what has been going on in their gardens.”

“This program made it possible for my family to eat fresh food that we grew and not have to buy food from who knows where, what it has in it or what it was grown in or had sprayed on it.”

“I love the fact that our entire family, kids (even teenagers) moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents would wander down to the garden every evening to help work the garden without having to be asked when just one of us goes down to do something”.