Campbell County • 2019

Lakeside Commons Educational Gardens

Celebrating 20 years of beauty and education, Lakeside Commons Educational Gardens has been a county jewel. Lakeside Commons’ mission is to serve as an educational garden for hands-on interactive learning for all citizens in Campbell County and neighboring Greater Cincinnati. Plants and growing techniques shown in the garden are based on research by the horticulture staff and volunteers. Starting in April until mid-November, our passionate and dedicated volunteers and horticulture staff, together as a team, gather every Friday morning to accomplish one goal, to continue to maintain and offer an interactive learning garden to users.

For years, photographers, musicians, and writers have visited our gardens and have found a quiet place and inspiration. We strive to offer a place for all to enjoy and find beauty. The Cincinnati Horticultural Society awarded our garden as being “a local garden whose contribution to horticulture is an inspiration to others.” What a great honor to the hard work, the many helping hands and hours

For More Information, Please Contact us at:

Campbell County Extension Office • (859) 572-2600 • https://campbell.ca.uky.edu

3500 Alexandria Pike, Highland Heights, KY 41076

Campbell County Master Gardener Volunteers

devoted to the design and upkeep of our garden. Once a piece of land farmed by the Steffen family, now horticulturists care for and offer a safe place for all to gather and to be inspired.

While retaining volunteers for some is a challenge, our group of garden volunteers find the Lakeside Commons Educational Gardens a magical place where one seems as if they never want to leave. Repeatedly, we hear from our horticulture volunteers that our gardens and projects “improve my social well-being by building strong bonds with others,” “most of all, it gives me purpose”; “it boosts my mood by learning new skills and makes a difference in someone else’s life”. As the gardens continue to grow and demonstrate sustainable practices, the Extension horticulture staff and volunteers will continue to create a welcoming and healthy garden environment for all to enjoy!

The World Agrees There is a Plastic Waste Crisis and the Extension Service is Addressing Through Education Programs and Recycling Projects

The Campbell County Extension Agent for Natural Resources and Environmental Management provides educational programs to students about how their consumer decisions and actions affect the environment. As a culminating activity, students collect plastic caps and lids and have them recycled into a bench for their school. The Campbell County Extension District Board agreed to sponsor the fee for the conversion of the caps and lids into a recycled content bench through Green Tree Plastic’s ABC (A Bench for Caps) program. In 2018-19, four schools (Reiley Elementary School, Campbell County Middle School, St. Catherine School, and the Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services – Phoenix Program (for students with emotional and behavioral disorders) collected and recycled 1,900 pounds of plastic caps into four benches and two picnic tables. Since this opportunity was provided by the Extension Service in 2016, seven schools have participated and converted 3,900 pounds of plastic waste into useful products.

Teacher testimonials attest to the success of the programs. “This project was a wonderful learning experience for our 8th graders from start to finish. We ended up displaying our bags of caps in the hallway, so that all grades

could get a visual of what 200 pounds would look like. Kids really became aware of and made a connection of what this kind of waste would look like had it gone into a landfill.” – St. Catherine School, 8

th grade teacher, Ft.

Thomas, KY. “The recycling program is

wonderful. After the class, the children became much more conscious of recyclable materials verses trash. The bench program added extra enthusiasm not only to the class but to the school community. This was a great opportunity and now we have something to show for our efforts, too.” – Holy Trinity School, 4

th/5

th grade teacher, Bellevue, KY.

Healthy Living with Diabetes

Healthy Living with Diabetes was a two-day comprehensive program equipping people with diabetes with the necessary skills in order to maneuver such a life changing disease. The program was conducted by the Campbell County Cooperative Extension Service and the Northern Kentucky Health Department with 23 participants completing both days. Ronda Rex, Agent for Family & Consumer Sciences Education, facilitated the program and utilized the University of Kentucky’s Mastering Food Choices, Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices, and Taking Ownership of Your Diabetes curriculum. Ronda also demonstrated and taught participants to create recipes from the Plate It Up, Kentucky Proud Project focusing on choosing fruits and vegetables.

Students from the NKY Cooperative for

Educational Services sitting on a bench made

from plastic caps they recycled.

The Health Department’s Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator, Julie Shapero, and Paula Bergen, Registered Nurse and Certified Diabetes Educator taught about A1C, diabetes management, glucose monitoring, carbohydrate counting, overall healthy eating, the diabetes disease process, problem solving, diabetes complications, being active (physically and mentally), and reducing risks. The program focused on pre and post A1C values.

Winter of Mud

The winter of 2018/2019, was a winter of “TOO MUCH RAIN” for beef cattle farmers. The impact of continuous wet weather led to mud issues and an increase need for energy and protein in the animal’s diet. As a result, cows began to lose weight, spring calves were born weak and the increase in death loss for Kentucky cattle farmers was more than they had ever experienced.

To address these issues, an aggressive set of educational programs and field days were developed and hosted. These included a winter feeding facilities tour (two farm locations), a forage testing and ration balancing program, and an emergency program called “Winter of Mud: Consequences and Solutions." A second winter facilities tour was held as well as programs on developing concrete and filter fabric feeding areas, and feeding the cowherd during the winter. News articles on mud control and livestock nutrition were a part of several agriculture newsletters.

Sixty-three individual farmers attended these educational programs and farm tours, 12 new hay feeding facilities have been built and 19 farmers have tested their hay and balanced winter feeding rations for their cows. This will result in fewer problems with mud and poor nutrition in case the winter of 2019-2020 is wet.

4-H Country Ham

The Kentucky 4-H Country Ham Project gives young people the opportunity to learn about food preservation and the time honored tradition and history of country hams. This project continues to grow in popularity in Campbell County and across Kentucky.

The project begins in the cold weather month of January when each participant receives two

raw hams. Project members must trim the hams, apply cure mix, wrap them and put them in socks to hang until spring. Next, the hams are cleaned and hung in a clean sock until August when its time to get ready for the Kentucky State Fair. In preparing for the fair, the hams are cleaned and the best one is elected to go to Louisville, to be judged and put on display in Cloverville.

On opening day of the fair, nearly 800 4-H’ers from across the state go to the fair and give a 3-5 minute speech on a pre-selected topic such as “How to Cure a Country Ham” or “How to Design a Country Ham House.” For

the majority of the youth, this is their first trip to the state fair and their first experience in public speaking. Consequently, communication skills are also grained by participating in this hands-on project.

This year, Campbell County 4-H had 15 youth participate in this project and one 4-H’er won champion for his age group at the Kentucky State Fair.

Country Ham Class Champion at the

Kentucky State Fair

Flowerbuds

In Northern Kentucky, only 53% of students were kindergarten ready (Kentucky Center for Statistics, 2019). Kindergarten Readiness means the child is academically, socially, and emotionally ready to start school.

In order to address this need, Campbell County Extension taught the monthly Flowerbuds series, which provided educational family time for 12 preschoolers and 12 caregivers. End of the series written evaluations showed that 100% of the caregivers said the program helped them bond with their child. Sixty-six percent said they learned new ideas on ways to interact with their child, and 78% said their child became more open to trying new foods. One hundred percent said their child’s knowledge about gardening increased. Finally, 100% of the caregivers stated that Flowerbuds helped their child with kindergarten readiness.

One parent stated, “My kids both gained friends as well as had an introduction to a classroom in which they have grown more accustomed to.” Another stated, “My child’s gardening and nutritional education has been enhanced, and an interest in science has been opened, and minds are more curious.”

627 Number of youth who apply the skills learned in 4-H and in other activities at home, school or in the community

484 Number of youth who have engaged in a community project related to natural resource improvement or conservation

74 Number of producers adopting improved grazing system practices

700 Number of youth who reported that they followed instructions step-by-step to do or make things themselves

161,599 Number of participants engaged in home and consumer horticulture programming

$1,260 Dollar value of vendor-reported increased sales associated with Plate-It-Up Kentucky Proud recipes tasted or cards distributed

2,489 Total miles walked by program participants

188 Number of people that reported eating healthier foods

792 Number of hours KEHA members volunteered for Extension activities/events

557 Number of adults reached by volunteer-led Extension programs/activities

223 Number of those who gained knowledge related financial management

690 Number of youth who participated in summer residential camps

Extension At a Glance

Flowerbud participants learn about plants