The Plenty Farms Spring Plant Sale running Friday and Saturday morning will have a variety of rare and heirloom vegetables and herbs for sale, like purple tomatillo and Italian heirloom tomato plants, all priced at $4.
Plenty Farms is a nonprofit community garden run by women and located at 505 W. 8th St. in Loveland, and this weekend’s proceeds will go back to maintaining the farm and generating the next harvest, said co-founder and program manager Lynn Peterson.
“You’re not going to find a lot of what we grow at the grocery store. So, that’s the perk of all coming to the plant sale or being part of the membership,” Peterson said. “Going home with all sorts of varieties of cucumber… different types of tomatoes, lettuce leaf basil. No one’s even seen that before.”
The sale runs 9-11 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and Peterson recommended that those interested make their selections online to reserve the plants they’d like in advance. All starts are grown in a custom blend of organic compost with zero chemical fertilizers, Peterson said.
“Not only are you eating healthier food (with gardening), but we don’t grow anything with pesticides or fertilizer, ” Peterson said. “We’re all organic. We try to work with the land and earth.”
Some of the varieties that will be available include: Italian flat leaf parsley, Japanese trifele black tomato, striped Armenian cucumber, sugar rush peach hot peppers, and more. Visit online for a full list of what will be for sale and to preorder, https://plentyfarms.org/shop/spring-plant-sale.
At the sale, Peterson said Plenty Farms staff would be happy to provide new plant owners with the best practices for helping their plants thrive, which is common for the group that educates members and the community on gardening.
“We pride ourselves in educating members about how to grow food, and inspire them to do it themselves and help them grow in their knowledge of gardening, but also their confidence,” Peterson said. “We also want to encourage people to get back to nature. A lot of people have gotten away from that, and we know how important and valuable that is as well.”
During each spring, summer and fall season, community members apply to work at the garden for two hours per week in exchange for what the garden is currently growing, Peterson said. It’s also a chance for those interested in gardening to learn through hands-on experience and with others, which Peterson said helps build accountability and dedication.
Through the membership, and outreach to local schools and other organizations, Peterson said she hopes to teach the Loveland community about sustainable and healthy eating habits, as well as the fun in gardening as a tool to connect with nature and each other.
“It’s never fun to lose people from the membership,” Peterson said. “But it’s a compliment if they then have gained their confidence to be like, ‘I can do this at my house’ or ‘I want to do this with a neighbor.’”
Plenty Farms started 11 years ago when Peterson approached Founder Sarah Sailer for garden tips, Peterson said. She quickly offered Sailer a small plot of land to garden on and Peterson said she became her gardening sidekick.
“And then the rest is history,” Peterson said. “… We started real small because it was just Sarah and I, and our kids … and then it just kind of kept growing.”
