The Recovery Gardens Project is a collaboration between UK Nutrition Education Program and KY recovery centers. The project aims to enhance residents’ recovery capital through gardening and tailored nutrition education. Extension agents provide gardening instructions while NEP program assistants teach nutrition content to support the recovery of participants.

The gardening component teaches gardening skills (e.g., planting, tilling, weeding) that participants can use upon their return to the community, offers therapeutic stress relief and feelings of accomplishment during recovery, and supplies fresh vegetables for consumption.

The nutrition education component provides instruction on diet, cooking skills, food resource management, kitchen safety skills, and physical activity to support a recovery lifestyle. Extension also provides materials, soil, fertilizer, tools, seeds, plants, and scales to weigh the produce harvested.

Contacts: Paula Plonski, Bethany Pratt, and Jann Knappage