Spring has…sprung? More like trickled in for KY! Regardless of the weather, we are trucking along with garden preparations. Binders for new gardeners are getting assembled, garden committee meetings are occurring every other week and dates are being set.  We expect to have our first Strong Roots workshop of the season at the end of the month.  We are excited to be joined again by master gardener, master naturalist, arborist and urban forester, Michael Barnes, who will be acting as our workshop lead and a consultant.  As well as Ben Prewitt, UK Extension Office Horticulture Agent, who will consult, assist in establishing gardens and provide workshop space. Our planning committee is robust, combining housing, school and church for a well rounded approach to introducing backyard gardening to the community.

 

This year, we will focus on establishing backyard gardens in Whitley county.  Residents are being handpicked and interviewed as we speak (type). But we haven’t lost sight of our community gardening initiative.  We will be supporting the growth of a new community style, multi family garden at a local church, headed by one of our fearless committee members, James Roaden. All together, we are looking at supporting 20 families spread amongst two community gardens and several backyard gardens.

 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how hard our site coordinator is working on all of this, Tammy Meadors.  So far, she has organized our committee meetings, assembled binders, vetted materials, procured large and small donations (including a new tiller from Lowes, and top soil!) and recruited families. And, through her encouragement, we will have a familiar face participating and working alongside us this season. Samantha, a mother from the housing development and the site of our first community garden, will be pitching in any way she can this year and we hope to have her join us for years to come.

 

All in all, we are looking forward to a productive growing season, equipped with lessons learned and a lot of experience between us.