Growing the Community with Boyd County Conservation District’s Annual Agriculture Resource Day

Growing the Community

with Boyd County Conservation District’s Annual Agriculture Resource Day

Gideon Thompson

The Ashland Beacon

The sweet scent of agriculture rich land is something that permeates the air each year in our area as farmers, gardeners, and horticultural hobbyists begin tilling and turning their soil in preparation for the year.  Farms and gardens in Boyd County have grown into a strong and helpful community of likeminded people reaching out to one another in support and care for their neighbors. Support for one another doesn’t stop at the farm gates either as community gardens, home agriculture, and commercial gardening are on the rise.

                  Store bought produce is a necessity in our day and time, supporting households with basic dietary need and sustenance. In any grocery store one will find the usual heads of lettuce, steak tomatoes, and cucumbers we have grown to love. Through the summer we often find local produce ranging from heirloom varieties to greenhouse grown giants that leave us in awe. The excitement doesn’t stop at the stores; there are farmers’ markets and stands placed through the tri-state and across the region where we can enjoy a moment outdoors under the sun while shopping around for the perfect garden selection.  The fun doesn’t stop at the stands though as there is an enrichment from working out in the gardens and farms that someone can’t find anywhere else. The sun overhead fills us with vitamin rich air while the fresh breeze fills our lungs with a refreshing cleanse of natural breathing. Exercise comes with the therapeutic sessions as we bend, push, and pull our way to a sweaty success, leaving us to revel at all our hard work.

                  With time and tending to our garden work, come the fruits of our labor and the bountiful harvests we placed into motion. Gardens can have numerous outcomes each year where we focus on what it is we desire to do with them. One year our desired outcome could be fruits while the next is solely to raise livestock and feed them from our own land. Chicken, cattle, and other farm animals love an open field full of fresh grass and flowers. Bees thrive from our fields as well resulting in pollination for our beloved trees and rows of select crops. Bees not only thrive from naturally occurring wild plant species, but from those planted by farmers and gardeners as well. While we plant our gardens it is crucial to remember that those hard-working bees may need a treat also. Shrubs, flowers, trees, and herbs are all part of a healthy horticultural ecosystem that invite in an abundance and variety of pollinators.

                  Why, go it alone? This year Boyd County Conservation District is hosting their Annual Agriculture Resource Day at the Boyd County Fairgrounds located at 1760 Addington Road in Ashland, Kentucky. The expo is intended to unite fellow farmers and gardeners on their journey to horticultural perfection while also supplying those who may be interested in learning and retaining resources for their endeavors. From 9am-12pm attendees will have access to an abundance of resources ranging from gardening seeds to live trees ready for planting. The event is for everyone who is interested in attending and could shed light on a new hobby or career path for those interested. Information will be available to the public pertaining to planting methods and techniques providing adequate knowledge of what is needed for healthy plants to survive. No matter what your interest is in the way of horticultural practices, the Agriculture Resource Day is here to support the community and supply us with the ability to thrive. Any questions of the event can be answered by contacting Miss Stephanie Young at bcconservation@gmail.com or by calling the Boyd County Conservation District at 606.928.8027.

If spending the summer in the garden and fields is what you have planned, then the Annual Agriculture Resource Day will get you rolling in the right direction. With plenty of helping hands and like-minded smiling faces this year’s growing season will turn out. I can taste a fresh garden salad already.