Fair Garden Survey Results
The survey that gardeners completed at the Piscataquis Valley Fair showed that 80% of gardeners had more or the same success with their gardens this year compared to last year. The fertilizers of choice were compost and composted manure. The first thing 43% of folks do when they see a bug on their vegetables is to check to see if it is causing damage, 28% hand pick the bugs off their plants. And when asked to rank garden issues that caused the most damage in their gardens animals ranked number one, followed by lack of rain, weeds and insects. When combined with what caused a lot of damage animals, lack of rain and insects all tied for first place with weeds following close behind.
When asked about their use of Cooperative Extension outreach programs 31% currently receive this newsletter, 22% have visited the Extension Office and 17% had visited the Cooperative Extension web site to get answers to gardening questions.
Also, this past year 48% of folks have increased their consumption of locally grown foods. Almost all folks could name at least one farm stand in our area and almost 60% could name a pick your own farm in the area.
When asked to suggest topics for future Extension garden programs responses included: natural insect control; lawns vs. flower gardens regarding amount of maintenance, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.; weed control, watering techniques; planting in limited space and watering; first time gardeners; pruning berry brambles; deer control methods; home small fruits.
I want to thank all the folks who took the time to complete the survey. Stay tuned for future programs, fact sheets, etc. that address suggested topics.