By Stephen Smoot
This summer, West Virginia University Extension Service, the West Virginia Black Bears baseball team, and area online gardening expert Sherry Weaver got together for a record breaking performance.
The garden path that led to Weaver standing on a dugout roof giving instructions on how to sustainably grow cucumbers in recycled materials was long on fun, but not necessarily time. “I won a contest that WVU extension put on,” she said, then added, “I had a couple of weeks to prepare.”
The contest asked participants to share an example of a 60 to 90 second microlesson in gardening. Weaver had already put together a video demonstrating how to harvest “sucker” stems from tomato plants to grow new ones. “You can grow entire plants from suckers and there’s no need to buy seeds or new plants.”
She explained that tomato plants have three types of stems. Some support leaves, others the fruit grown by the plant (yes, tomatoes are fruits!) Leaving sucker stems, which Weaver says grow from the “armpit” of the two other stems, on shall channel growth toward more numerous, but smaller tomatoes. Removing them allows for larger tomatoes, but in fewer numbers.
Sucker stems, when placed in water or soil, will start growing new root systems almost immediately.
Weaver was named one of three finalists, which then went to an online vote “I won by a landslide,” she exclaimed.
Next, she had to put together her live cucumber lesson. Approximately 1,300 fans attended the game to see her teach between innings. The previous record came from Turkmenistan with an attendance of 569.
“I had plenty of time to get nervous,” she shared. Once it was time to go, the attendant told Weaver “it’s time,” then, “shoved me up there.”
The extension service posted tables by the gates to provide information and materials for the lesson. As Black Bear fans streamed into the stadium, they picked up all they needed to learn how to plant cucumbers in recycled containers.
Weaver shared that her family, knowing she would be teaching from a dugout roof, purchased tickets near the home dugout. Weaver, unfortunately, had to instruct from the away side. “I was facing a small section of crowd,” she remembered, “but it was very exciting. They were definitely going through the lesson with me.”
She felt gratified to see that most fans took the materials with them as they left, saying “It was a nice surprise to see them involved.”
After she completed the lesson, “there was a little bit of ‘it’s over and I didn’t mess up!’” Weaver also expressed her “overwhelming gratitude” for the opportunity to share, but also shared “this was a dream for me. I have always loved public speaking.”
This isn’t the end of Weaver’s contribution to fresh produce and fresh ideas on how to grow and use it. “I’m selling some produce at the Farmers’ Market in Shinnston this year and doing some baking to go along with that.” Also, she shared “I’ve been volunteering with the community garden and that has been an incredible opportunity there.”
Overall, she explained that “I want the people of our neighborhood to have a resource as they are trying to be more practical” about food production and consumption, emphasizing sustainability.
Through her You Tube videos, volunteering, and meeting people through her work, Weaver is sure to harvest a bumper crop of followers who admire her pluck in teaching 1,300 students, as well as those looking for more efficient and effective ways to save while growing their own food.