Join us in saying goodbye to our wonderful Intern, Blayne!

We are expressing deep appreciation and gratitude as we bid farewell to our wonderful summer intern: Blayne Schwarz. To recap on Blayne, she is pursuing a Chemical Engineering degree with Notre Dame. She originally joined ASPI back in October 2024 with Notre Dame’s Appalachian Service Learning Cohort. She dedicated her 2025 summer to helping ASPI and the surrounding community. Her hard work, enthusiasm, and positive spirit have made a lasting impact. Blayne, you will be greatly missed. We thank you much for everything you’ve contributed!

Here’s a glimpse into Blayne’s summer with us:

Engineering
Blayne participated in outings with Mountain Association, where she helped with energy audits, Kentucky Utilities Direct Install Grants, and site visits. She also had the chance to shadow Will Reedy at the Keenland Biowaste Project and toured his automated raspberry farm.

Farm Days
Blayne worked closely with local farmers in Rockcastle Co. and Madison Co. Her projects ranged from implementing a gutter system, installing high tunnel trellising, repairing an irrigation system, and even searching for a queen bee! Outside of the Farm Days, you could find Blayne socializing with the local farmers at the farmers market while piling jam jars in her arms.

Wilderness Site
At the wilderness site especially, Blayne earned her “Pro Weedeater” title. She worked hard to remove invasive species and repair the garden site. Additionally, she planted a variety of fruit trees and shrubs in the garden space and at the orchard. To protect this important ecosystem, she also designed “No Spray” signage, promoting environmentally conscious practices.

Grant Work
Blayne contributed to several successful resiliency grants this summer. In one project, she collaborated with ASPI, Mountain Association, and Salamander Springs. Another effort involved a partnership between the Mountain Association and Hemphill Community Center.

Tech Support and Social Platform Integration
Blayne played an important role in reconnecting ASPI to all of our accounts and ensuring that our digital presence is maintained. Through her digital work with ASPI, Blayne created a document that will not only guide us through these sometimes complicated digital processes but also guide many others: The Social Platform Integration Document. This is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow document covering website basics and resources for outreach, and how to easily combine the two. Judy Sizemore has passed this document onto SPARK, a program for Small nonprofit Peers Accelerating Rural eastern Kentucky. which recently held a meeting at Bobtown Arts. Several SPARK partners have responded very positively to this resource – thank you Blayne!

The Homesteading Series with End of the Road Farm

Events held on the fourth Saturday of each month.

Seed Saving – Saturday, July 26th

In July, we had our 7th Homesteading Workshop of the year! Lee and Jennifer Ruff led an insightful session about seed saving. Some main points were how local seeds hold local resiliency, how to properly wash and store seeds, and how to make saving seeds a regular part of your garden planning.

Danielle Capillo also joined us at the event representing the Creekside Learning Center, an educational co-op in Berea that’s rooted in curiosity and community.

Food Preservation – Saturday, August 23rd

Lee and Jennifer Ruff will be back to lead a session on food preservation. They will cover what has and has not worked for them over the years, along with any helpful tips.

Their engaging teaching style makes learning fun and approachable. Newcomers are encouraged to join!

Food preservation methods covered include:

pressure canning
oven canning
dehydration
fermentation

Our upcoming workshop, you wont want to miss it!

All of our workshops are free. Donations are encouraged when possible, to help support ASPI’s mission.

Kentucky Utilities Grant

ASPI was able to obtain a Kentucky Utilities Direct Installs Grant thanks to Josh Bills of Mountain Association. Below is a table representing ASPI’s estimated energy savings following our new installations.

Visitors from Our 2022 Notre Dame Cohort

8.15.2025 | Lucy, riv, Grace , John Luc, Timi, Marc

ASPI was delighted to catch up with John Luc and Grace over lunch. These two first joined ASPI in 2022 with Notre Dame’s service learning program. They are both focused in conservation efforts, with Grace beginning a job next week involving water conservation, and John Luc currently doing environmental inspection assessments while also pursuing a Masters.