From Seed to Success: Summer Updates from Our Urban Garden Project

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Summer is in full swing, and the combination of sunshine and rain has helped our urban gardens thrive. As the gardens continue to grow, so does our community of gardeners, who have been sharing their progress, challenges, and successes over the past two months.

This Summer, we hosted two bilingual workshops that were informational and engaging for our gardeners and other members of the community. On June 6^th, Linelle Rivera Rodriguez, Research and Extensions Associate at Kentucky State University, presented a workshop on organic gardening and maintenance. Program participants gathered at Valley Park in Lexington, KY to learn about the principles of organic gardening and the benefits of using organic methods. She also discussed the different types of organic fertilizer and herbicides, their purposes, how to use them effectively, and provided different types for the participants to take home and use on their urban gardens.

As attendees were taking in all the information, questions came about what they have been noticing in their gardens, for example the overgrown weeds and insects present. Linelle shared about the fact that not all weeds are bad weeds, and that some insects are beneficial to your garden because they keep other pests away. This created a conversation about how being intentional with your garden is important and knowledge was shared among the attendees on what experiences they have had so far with organic gardening at home.

At the end of the workshop, participants left with a deeper understanding on how to continue taking care of their home gardens and took home seeds, plants, and organic fertilizers to implement new methods on their own.

June 6, 2026 workshop at Valley Park in Lexington, Ky. Pictures by Alexis Meza de los Santos.

Building on the success of our June workshop, we kicked off July with another hands-on learning opportunity focused on food preservation. On July 1st at the Marksbury Branch Library in Lexington, this time in collaboration with University of Kentucky Fayette County Extension Office, we had the pleasure of having Caroline McMahan, Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences, who led a workshop on research-based food preservation like boiling water bath canning. The objective of the workshop was to learn the correct method of canning for high and low acidic foods, examine the proper use of jars and equipment needed for canning, and correctly process the products in the boiling water canning method. The workshop was interactive, with the participants following step-by-step guidance in person and getting to practice canning on site.

Although the participants attending had no previous experience with canning, Caroline was very encouraging and motivated the participants to try this new canning method and provided different recipes for beginners, including a bread and butter pickles recipe that was made in class, and participants were able to take a sample home.

As summer progresses and our gardens continue to flourish, we are inspired by the dedication and enthusiasm of our gardeners. From learning organic gardening techniques to trying food preservation for the first time, participants are building skills that support healthier households and stronger community connections. We look forward to celebrating even more harvests and successes in the months ahead.