Scott County Grow Appalachia

 Gardening in January 

What can we do in the garden in January?  Even though it might seem like there is nothing to do since it's so cold outside, there are many things we can be doing to prepare for our garden.   

.  Start planning your garden by drawing a map of your garden.  Rework where things were planted last year that might need to be moved to a better location.  Also use crop rotation.  Don't plant things in the same place year after year.  


. Start looking through all those seed catalogs that are flooding your mail box.

 



.  Choose to grow something new that you have never grown  before. 

.  Take a Garden Class 

.  Clean all your garden tools using a five gallon bucket filled half full with sand, then mix in some motor oil. Keep this on hand all year. After using your tools make a habit of running them up and down in the sand mix to clean the soil off the tool. It also keeps them from rusting.  Use linseed oil on your wooden handles. Dip a cloth in the linseed oil and rub the wooden handles well. If the handles have been neglected for awhile, it may need several coats of linseed oil. 

. Build a cold frame. so that you can get your seeds started early. 

.  Now is a good time to get your tiller, lawn mower, weed eater tuned up and ready for the upcoming year. 

. Turn compost. If you don’t have a compost area, now would be a great time to create one.


. Take inventory of your canning jars; inspect them carefully to make sure there are no chips on the rims. Throw out any damaged ones. Your rings can be used year after year. Toss any that may be rusted.



Scott County Grow Appalachia

 Cover Crops    Cover crops benefit the soil by improving soil tilth, improving water filtration, reducing erosion, improving fertility,  increasing organic matter, and suppressing weeds.   Also beneficial organisms and insects may be encouraged by planting cover crops.  

A class on soil quality with an emphasis on cover crops was offered to our participants.   A mixture of buckwheat, crimson clover, and a fall crop was distributed to our participants to be used as a cover crop. 

 Participant Fair Ribbons 

 Boys and Girls Club Garden 

Scott County Grow Appalachia

   Black Gold     -    C O M P O S T    -

Composting is taking organic waste, yard trimmings and kitchen scraps and converting it through decomposition into a free source of soil amendments and a natural fertilizer.  Using compost we build up our soil by adding important nutrients back to the soil that get depleted during our gardens growing season. We just can’t get the same results from chemical fertilizers.

It is estimated by the EPA that 20% of all landfill use is organic materials that we should be composting.  By composting, we can significantly reduce landfill space..

To make compost it requires green matter such as food scraps grass clippings which will add nitrogen, and brown matter such as leaves or saw dust that add carbon. With water, oxygen and time we will have our compost.  It is important that we layer the greens and the browns then occasionally stir it with a pitched fork to get oxygen into the pile the more you work your pile the faster it will decompose for you.

Creating a compost bin or area is simple.  It doesn’t require much time, space or money.  Compost areas ideally should be close to the garden.  There are a variety of materials that can by used to make a compost bin, such as cinder blocks, woven wire fence, lattice, etc..  There are also many compost bins that you can purchase commercially.

What should be added to your compost bin?

·         Vegetable peels and scraps
·         Fruit scraps
·         Coffee grounds with filter
·         Tea bags
·         Egg shells
·         Watermelon  rinds cut into pieces
·         Grass clippings
·         Leaves
·         Spent flowers and plants
·         Weeds if it has not seeded

Things that should never be composted:

·         Meat or meat scraps
·         Bones
·         Fats or oils
·         Salad dressings
.         Dairy Products

Composting Class

We offered a composting class following our participants meeting this week.  We only have a few participants that have composted before.  After the class, most of them said that they were going to begin composting.

One of our participants, Ms. Lackey, helped to teach the class.  She is very knowledgeable about composting and has many years of experience.  She did a great job!  She also recorded a video on composting from her garden. 

                   Participant of the Week   

                                        Ms. Crabtree

We are very proud to name Ms. Crabtree our garden participant of the week.  She is very enthusiastic, hard working, and her positive energy is inspiring.  Even though she works full time and has two teenage daughters, she is quick to volunteer to help the Grow Appalachia team.

Her feelings about Grow Appalachia in her own words 

"Five years ago, my husband and I decided to plant a garden for various reasons such as finances, nutrients, the love of fresh vegetables, to relieve stress etc. My husband was a truck driver so he was only home on the weekends to help with the garden.  He would normally plow and till the garden and sometimes help plant, while I would take care of the garden and harvest what it would produce. 

May of last year I lost my husband to a massive heart attack. Without his help to plow and till the garden for me, I was unable to have a garden. This year thanks to you and the Grow Appalachian Project that you have provided to Scott County, not only did I get my garden plowed and tilled for me, but I also had seeds, plants and fertilizer provided to me as well.

This has been a very stressful year for my two teenage daughters and me. However, thanks to this program I have been able to work in my very own garden and really enjoy the peace and relaxation that working in the garden gives me, which helps to relieve a lot of the stress. Your program has also blessed us by providing us with the help to produce a garden that not only has produced vegetables for ourselves but also have been able to provide vegetables for several other needy families in our community." 

Ms. Crabtree's donation to a local food bank

Scott County Grow Appalachia

 Potato Seed Pods 

At one of my site visits, a participant handed me a cluster of small tomato fruit that she found growing out of her potato plants.  "What is it?", she asked.  Even after growing potatoes for many years, she had never seen anything like it before.    Maggie from Pine Mountain told me that they are seed pods.  

When potato plants have flowered, some varieties will produce small green fruits that resemble green cherry tomatoes.  These pods contain up to 300 true potato seeds.  When the pods become soft, the seeds can be harvested by finely chopping the pods and soaking  them in water.  The pulp and seeds will ferment, the pulp rise to the top and seeds will fall to the bottom. After rinsing and drying the seeds, they can be stored in a cool place until they are ready for planting in the spring.

Although potatoes can be grown from seed, most people grow potatoes from tubers, because potato seeds may not produce the same type of potato that the seed came from.  They may produce a wide array of potatoes which may or may not have a good flavor or texture.  Also, potato seed pods contain large amounts of alkaloid solanine and are poisonous to eat.

    Garden Participant of the Week  - Mrs. Lackey

"I am a wife, mother to six children, grandmother to three grandchildren,  I attend St. Jude Catholic church. I enjoy gardening, quilting, sewing, making rosaries that I send several Priest in Uganda  for orphans, sick and elderly folks. I love being outdoors in my garden.  When I work in my garden although it is work I find it helps me relax and I find myself thinking of everyone I promised to pray for, I grow my garden because I want healthy foods for my family and friends.  I know exactly where my food is coming from and what goes into that process."                                                                              

Mrs. Lackey volunteered at the health fair.

Mrs. Lackey met John Paul Dejoria at London, Ky gathering

Video Challenge

Hi all,

It's Constance again. I wanted to invite you all to post 1 minute video clips of each of your gardens. I filmed Miss Opal's beautiful garden today as a way to get us started. Feel free to get creative! Show us your garden, show us a quick recipe, give us a gardening tip. As many as possible would be great. We have a Grow Appalachia YouTube channel here that you can login to with the same login as the blog. Once you've uploaded to the channel, make sure you post your video on this blog and on your site's Facebook page. Happy gardening!

Constance

Scott County Grow Appalachia

             Scott Christian Care Center 

 

The Grow Appalachia grant in Scott County is managed by the Scott Christian Care Center, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide for those in need in Scott County.  Service provided include a free medical clinic, food pantry, household/hygiene item pantry,  assistance with medicine, and life skill classes.

Free Medical Clinic

The free clinic serves people who can't afford  medical insurance by providing totally free medical services.   Since the recent closing of the Scott County Hospital, the demand for these services has increased significantly.

 Food Pantry  

Since Scott County is a distressed county with the highest unemployment in the state, many families in our community are in need of assistance with food.  It is the goal of the Scott Christian Care Center to  provide nutritious food for those families.

 Household/Hygiene item pantry  

Many people in our community can't afford basic necessities such as laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, shampoo, and diapers.  These items cannot be purchased with food stamps.  The Center provides these basic items to families in need.  

  Assistance with Medicine  

The Scott Christian care Center provides advocacy for patient assistance programs to help patients access free or reduced cost medicine.

 Life Skill Classes   

 In addition to providing for immediate needs, the Scott Christian Care Center offers a variety of classes to provide the skills necessary to help individuals help themselves.  

  Garden Participant of the Week - Mrs. Walker

We are proud to name Mrs. Walker our Garden Participant of the week.   Mrs Walker is a very generous lady who loves to give her vegetables away to her friends and neighbors.   She actually has two 50 ft x 100 ft. gardens.  Her gardens are doing very well in spite of the lack of rainfall.  In addition to taking care of her excellently manicured garden herself,  she is a full time care taker of her handicap husband.  

   

Scott County Grow Appalachia

    Rain Crow  - One of our participants heard the song of a rain crow yesterday.  According to folklore legend, if you hear the song of a rain crow,  then it is going to rain within the next few days.  Sing, little bird, sing!  

   Justice Center Garden      

 One of our community gardens is at the justice center and is   maintained by prisoners.  The garden is a full one acre, and it is so beautiful and perfectly maintained that people often drive by just to see it or take pictures.    The land belongs to a family that lives beside the justice center.  They generously allow the use of their land, even though the location of the garden allows prisoners to work within 100 feet from their front door.   It is considered a privilege for the prisoners to work in the garden and only the best behaved (trustees) are allowed to work in the garden.    In addition to feeding the 150 - 175 prisoners that are housed at the justice center, much of the produce from the garden is given to the local senior citizens center. 

                            

                 

              Garden Participant of the Week  

                         - Mr. Gayther

Our Garden participant of the week is Mr. Gayther.  He is a volunteer who manages the Justice Center garden.  He is hard at work in the garden at the crack of dawn every morning.  He is  incredibly generous with his time, and he is so kind that the prisoners love working in the garden with him.  He had heart bypass surgery less that a year ago.  It hasn't slowed him down.  We are proud of him and the work he has done for the Justice Center garden.