Winter may be settling in, but here at the Hindman Settlement School, we have our eyes set on the marvelous growing season to come! As we prepare this year’s agricultural programming, we are asking for any donations of seeds that we can give away to our community members at next month’s Seed Swap.
We would be grateful for donations of our steadfast favorite vegetables and herbs (as well as their annual and perennial companions) typically grown here in our zone 6b Eastern Kentucky gardens, but as we continue to fight food insecurity in our area and aim to increase crop diversity, don’t hesitate to send something you normally wouldn’t see on your supper plate!
Some items we’d love to offer to our growers, and don’t normally receive seeds for are: edamame, bok choy, leek, kohlrabi, fava beans, eggplant, purple kale, peppers other than bell (hot and sweet), red/purple cabbage, purple cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts, scarlet runner beans, luffa, and other gourds, radicchio, watercress, arugula, darker colored and red lettuces, swiss chard, multi-colored corn, and chickpeas/garbanzos, rhubarb, and asparagus.
Annual companions are also wonderful additions to our growers’ gardens and are wildly beneficial to garden health and production (and a few are even edible themselves). Some that we love are borage, calendula, nasturtiums, sweet pea, butterfly pea, zinnia, bee balm, sweet alyssum, gomphrena, Agastache, French marigolds, cosmos, balsam, honeywort, violas, and sunflowers.
A huge thank you to everyone out there who has supported our efforts over the years to increase home food production here in Knott County and surrounding areas! Keep an eye out for this year’s agricultural programming that will offer the skills you need to grow, harvest, and preserve your own food.
