By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent LEXINGTON, Ky. — Scott County FFAers are getting a chance to garden this summer – but it is not just any garden.
The students will be working on one of the Governor’s Gardens at the Kentucky Horse Park, and produce is expected to be ready just in time for the tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world who will converge for the Alltech World Equestrian Games (WEG).
The project had its start in Frankfort, the capital city, last year through the efforts of First Lady Jane Beshear and the state’s Finance and Administration Cabinet (FAC), among others. Beshear was on hand recently to help FFA members plant the garden and explain a little bit about the importance of the project.
“Gardening is a fun, healthy activity that allows families to work together to put food on the table while improving their diets and saving money,” she said. “Through the Governor’s Garden initiative, I hope to demonstrate how anyone can grow fresh vegetables and fruit, even with limited space and resources.”
The food grown in this garden will be used by national and local chefs participating in the “Cookin’ in the Blue Grass” Celebrity Chef Dinner Series, hosted by the James Beard Foundation, according to information from the FAC. The events will take place at the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation’s Farmhouse each night of the WEG, Sept. 25-Oct. 10.
“To have the opportunity to promote gardening on a world stage like the World Equestrian Games is an ideal way to show that Kentucky is committed to good health and reducing our carbon footprint,” Beshear added.
“Premier chefs from all over the United States will be impressed, while cooking with vegetables grown right here in the bluegrass – a secret our local chefs already know.”
As with all seven of the Governor’s Gardens, Project Coordinator Steve Meredith has sought the help of local FFA members to help maintain and harvest them. He has worked with the students in plots across the state, including the Kentucky Fairgrounds, where state FFA officers helped.
“Anytime I get a chance, I’m recruiting the FFA members. I can count on their instructors and I can count on the members,” he said. “They are the logical choice. A lot of them have practical experience from home. They are getting educational things in regards to this, as a lot of these programs have horticulture education and it’s basic principles.”
Meredith added the educational component can be spread over a number of agriculture studies.
“The truth is, a lot of these kids are getting schooled in plant sciences and animal husbandry and what you learn in one topic transfers so easily to another,” he said. “If you are schooled in animal husbandry in regards to beef cattle, you have some basic knowledge of all other species.
“Same thing happens here with gardening. It’s taking crop science down to a small area in an intense management, and that’s something we’re going to have to focus on for food security anyway.”
Meredith added the gardens are indicative of just what can be produced at home, something that is not a new trend but reflective of a time gone by. “We act like we are reinventing that now; we are actually just rediscovering what we did a few centuries ago,” he said.
Ashley Fritsch, president of the Scott County FFA chapter as well as current Bluegrass Region vice president, helped Beshear plant a few tomatoes in the garden and said the experience was a big opportunity for their chapter.
“This gets us out and involved, and the FFA has done a lot of things around the community, but I can honestly say this is one of the biggest opportunities we’ve ever had,” she said. “It’s going to be an honor to come out here every week to maintain this garden for an event that’s not only big for Kentucky but for the whole country.”
Fritsch’s mom, Regina, serves as one of the chapter’s advisors and she reiterated what her daughter said about the opportunity. “This gives our kids such exposure that they would not normally have. I hope this will involve not only the students that are here today, but other students that will be coming to our (program),” she said.
“This relates directly to what we do in our horticulture classes. This is really an extension of what we teach in the classroom.”
Fritsch said with so many FFA members coming from a nontraditional background, a project like this can show them just what can be done as far as gardening goes, at their own homes.
Lindsay Wayne, an agriculture teacher at Scott County High School, said the planting of this garden would serve as a learning experience for the students involved.
“This has been a wonderful learning experience. We have some students with us that maybe this is only their second or third experience being in the garden. This is a valuable tool in the students getting to know where their food comes from and that it can be easily grown by families at their own homes,” she said.
“Then we start to create sustainable agriculture and start to create the opportunity for students to see the value in what agriculture is.”
For more information about the Governor’s Gardens, visit http://greenteam.ky.gov/garden |
