Chuck's Chat - Welcome to May 2025
Towards the middle of April I told my wife we had only received about 4 inches of rain, and that we really needed about 10 during the month. Well, lo and behold, we ended up with a little over ten inches of precipitation in April here along the Northern Sycamore Urban Boundary. Granted, a lot of it fell during the last week or so, but if we’ve learned anything from the last few years, take the moisture and move on. It’ll be dry and we’ll be complaining soon enough.
The Montgomery County Farm Bureau and the Local Health Equity Action Team are helping low-income families learn to grow their own vegetables. Montgomery County ranks among the worst in Kansas relative to household income, children living below poverty level, and available supplemental nutrition. Some of the communities in Montgomery County have contaminated soils not conducive to ideal garden type food production, so the introduction of container gardening is being implemented. The intent of the project is to provide recipients with a plastic tub, all the necessary soil and amendments, as well as either plants or seeds to grow healthy backyard food in hopes of influencing good eating habits and better nutrition awareness.
There will be at least four separate locations within the county where this event will take place: Coffeyville, Cherryvale, Caney and Independence. If time and supplies allow, other rural communities may be included. The first location will be Coffeyville on Saturday, May 3. Volunteers are needed at 9am, meeting in the parking lot east of Coffeyville Feed and Farm. We need to drill drainage holes in tubs, and then add filler materials. Volunteers with pickups will then transport the tubs, soil and amendments, and plants or seeds to recipients who’ve already signed up. Wildcat Extension District personnel will be present to help instruct participants on how to prepare their gardening tubs.
If you’re available and would like to help, just show up and we’ll put you to work. There are approximately 30 tubs being awarded, and it won’t take very long with enough bodies to assist. Contact Chuck Voelker (620) 330-1687 or Julie Voelker (785) 313-0140 for more information if needed. Please follow the Montgomery County Farm Bureau Facebook page for details relative to the date and location of the next event. Thank you in advance for helping!
A Kansas Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher tour will be held in District 3 on May 24. For details or to RSVP please contact John Kennedy by May 21 at (785) 364-6017. Space is limited, so hurry if interested.
Until next month,
Chuck Voelker