UK extension office hosts gardening on the go event

Jamie Dockery and Fayette County's University of Kentucky extension office have been "growing community" for twelve years now.

"We wanted a way we could go into communities and reach out to people in under-served neighborhoods and help them learn how to grow vegetables and produce their own food," Jamie Dockery, Horticulture Agent for the Fayette County UK Extension Office, said. "So this all started in collaboration with Seed Leaf and a lot of community partners several years ago and it has grown from there."

The COVID-19 pandemic was not going to stop the annual Growing Community event from happening. Dockery turned it into a curbside, drive through pick up.

"This would typically take the form of people come and they get a passport and they attend 20 minute gardening lessons about soil prep, and how to water, and all that sort of stuff and when they get all of those sessions in we give them the kit," Dockery said.

To make do with the current circumstances, 300 lucky people today got to pick up their garden kits with with tomato plants, basil plants, seeds and more and all of the informational supplies provided for them in their own green bag. It was a huge hit.

"We will be looking at, in the next month or so, other ways we can distribute gardening materials in our community," Dockery said. "Today's incredible crowd just tells me people are hungry for this, and we do all of this normally, but I think the interest is much increased right now and high."

Come Monday, Dockery and his team will be brain storming those ideas and working on informational videos for folks at home seeing how green their thumb.

For the time being, the Extension Office is taking phone calls and emails, but no in person visits. They are still there to answer any of your gardening or agricultural questions.