Farmshed’s Growing Collective to hold 7th annual plant sale
Photo by Jen Dolan.
Spring has sprung and summer is close behind. It’s time to get out your broadforks and prepare your garden beds so that they’re ready to be filled with amazing plants from the Growing Collective plant sale! This is the seventh year that Growing Collective members have hosted the sale at Central Rivers Farmshed, and 2021 will once again provide a greenhouse full of healthy, organically grown vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and native plants for sale.
The Growing Collective is a group of gardeners that work together to grow seedlings for their own garden, plus extra plants to sell to the public as a fundraiser for Farmshed.
Members hold monthly meetings and host volunteer work days throughout the spring, doing everything from choosing which exciting new varieties and old favorites to grow, washing pots, starting seeds, transplanting, watering, and general greenhouse construction and maintenance. In their collective nature, 13 action teams focus on specific aspects of the growing process such as facilities, budget, and plant care. All members of the Growing Collective are a part of at least one action team so they can have meaningful volunteer experiences by learning how the collective operates.
Last year, in response to the pandemic, the Growing Collective Plant Sale was pre-order, online only. This year, there will be an early online sale followed by an in-person sale in the Farmshed greenhouse. A list of plant varieties will be released a few weeks before the sale on Farmshed’s website.
Many varieties sell out quickly, so plan ahead. The Growing Collective will be saving unique varieties and historical favorites specifically for the in-person sale for those that want to pick out their plants themselves.
The online Farmshed member only sale opens on Sunday, May 16 at 2pm. The sale opens to the public on Tuesday May 18. When ordering, shoppers will schedule a pick-up time for May 22-24 or, for those who reside in Stevens Point, they can arrange to have their plants delivered via bicycle by Curbwise LLC.
The in-person sale will be held on May 27th and 28th from 4-7 p.m., and May 29th from 10-3 p.m. Masks will be required for entry into the greenhouse and capacity limited to 20 customers at a time. The checkout line will be outside, on the east side of the Farmshed greenhouse, to ensure smooth, safe flow in and out of the sale.
In addition to incredible plants, the Growing Collective Plant Sale will also feature compost products from Hsu’s Growing Supply, seed potatoes from Whitefeather Organics, and compost bins and pails from Recycling Connections. There will be lots to check out at both the online and in-person sale, so mark your calendars because spring is definitely here!
Online sale information can be found on the Facebook event page as well as on Farmshed.org.