Our feeling is that most people take it for granted that when they go to the grocery store they will find meat, vegetables and other items they all need to make dinner.
We doubt that anybody pauses to think about how that pork chop, steak, potato, broccoli, beans or peas made it to the store. We also take it for granted there will be a blackberry pie and ice cream in the freezer section.
It's kind of like putting your garbage can at the street the night before pickup; out of site, out of mind.
Anthony Wiggins, Escambia County's extension coordinator, appeared before the commission Monday in Brewton to just give the board members an update on what's going on.
We learned there is a lot going on. We learned 4-H and FFA students will be selling cows at the annual show and sale March 7; we learned that students will soon be selling pigs and probably chickens later on.
What the extension office does with our students is remarkable. They teach students how to grow food that you and we take for granted will be on the shelf at the grocery store when we show up.
The extension office does a lot of work for farmers in the area and hosts multiple seminars throughout the year. That's their job.
But what they are doing for students to get them used to becoming the next generation of people who put food on our tables is fantastic.
It's just about time for most people to begin thinking about planting tomatoes this year. If you are like most of us, we have good years and bad years in our back yards as far as tomatoes are concerned.
If you want to learn how to grow good tomatoes at home, circle March 29 on your calendar. About 10 a.m. you will get to learn all there is about growing a tomato and what breed is best for you. We plan on being there, you should too.
We salute the extension office for all the do for not only our farmers, but we want-to-be farmers who plow up our back yards every spring and fall.
