UACES Facebook Cooperative Extension Service’s ‘Grow Your Own Groceries’ series continues in 2022
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Jan. 6, 2022

Cooperative Extension Service’s ‘Grow Your Own Groceries’ series continues in 2022

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

Fast Facts:

  • First Grow Your Own Groceries webinar of 2022: Microgreens
  • Series has received large response and interest from Arkansans
  • Monthly webinars provide gardening know-how for all skill levels

(458 words)

LITTLE ROCK — The Cooperative Extension Service’s series of “Grow Your Own Groceries” online presentations will continue in 2022. The virtual classes connect Arkansans with agents’ expertise in growing, preparing, and preserving fruits and vegetables at home.

“We’ve had such a good response,” said Krista Quinn, agriculture agent with the Faulkner County Extension office, part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “We get a lot of emails and sometimes even handwritten notes from people saying thank you. All the webinars are free, and I think it’s been filling a need. With the pandemic, we’ve got so many more people who are becoming interested in vegetable gardening or growing some kind of edibles in their home garden, so these programs really provide a lot of information about how to get started.”

During the last program year from October 2020 through September 2021, “Grow Your Own Groceries” hosted 21 live Zoom sessions, with over 8,500 registrants for the classes. Each registrant received an email following the program with a link to watch the recorded program and access to fact sheets and recipes. Many people opted to watch the recorded program rather than the live program.

Quinn added that the program provides information for gardeners of all types, skill levels, and with varying access to resources.

“Everybody has different resources,” Quinn said. “Whether people are growing in-ground, or in containers, or in raised beds, we try to give information on all of those.”

In each one-hour presentation, an agriculture agent or specialist will discuss the crop: how to select the right variety, how to grow it, and how to deal with common pests and problems. Then, a family and consumer science agent will discuss nutrition and food preservation and provide a cooking demonstration.

The first “Grow Your Own Groceries” class of 2022 will take place at noon on Thursday, Jan. 13, and the topic will be microgreens.

“The microgreens topic is fun because it’s an edible crop that people can grow indoors in the winter, or really any time of year,” Quinn said. “There’s not a lot of things that you can harvest in January.”

Last year, classes were offered on the first and third Thursday of each month, but as more in-person programming returns, Quinn said the webinars will now occur monthly.

While all dates and topics for this year’s series have not been finalized, Quinn said the classes will continue to focus primarily on single crops, with occasional presentations on more general topics. Quinn added that this year she hopes to offer a “Getting Started with Vegetable Gardening” session for beginners.

To register for the Grow Your Own Groceries: Microgreens presentation and get information about upcoming classes, visit https://www.uaex.uada.edu/grow-groceries. You can also view all upcoming gardening events at https://www.uaex.uada.edu/yard-garden/gardening-events-programs/

 

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uark.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system. 

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.  

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

 

Media contact: Rebekah Hall
rkhall@uada.edu
501-671-2120 

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