Boyle County FFA Greenhouse opens annual sale Monday
Published 7:00 am Saturday, April 16, 2022
Greenhouse class students proudly hold up the plants they’ve been working to grow all school year. The Boyle County FFA Greenhouse sale opens Friday. Photo by Fiona Morgan
Greenhouse class students work on final assignments before opening the greenhouse to the public. Photo by Fiona Morgan
Boyle County’s greenhouse is selling all types of plants, from flowers and vines in hanging baskets, to succulents and vegetables like peppers and tomatoes. Photo by Fiona Morgan
Students painted some of the plant pots different colors, came up with plant puns and painted them in calligraphy. Photo by Fiona Morgan
The greenhouse will be selling some vegetables, including tomatoes. Photo by Fiona Morgan
Greenhouse class students work on final assignments before opening the greenhouse to the public. Photo by Fiona Morgan
The greenhouse will be selling some vegetables, including mini chili bell peppers. Photo by Fiona Morgan
The Boyle County FFA Greenhouse is holding their annual plant sale opening Monday, April 18. The greenhouse will be open on Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The sale will continue until May 14.
The greenhouse is located behind Boyle County High School. It has a sign that says Boyle County FFA Greenhouse. People can park at one of the side parking lots, and they do not have to walk through the high school building to access it.
Rows of plant pots line the greenhouse, filled with ornamental flowers, succulents, hanging baskets, herbs and vegetables. The greenhouse is all student-led, and proceeds go back to the students.
Students at the high school start the greenhouse class in the fall with classroom work taught by Ashlin Kendrick. They learned about plant processes, germination, fertilizing, nutrition, and other basic skills. In the spring semester, students started the planting and greenhouse work.
They grew vegetables and other plants from seeds in the greenhouse’s germination chamber. FFA president and senior at the high school Jake Lyons said the greenhouse class is so popular that it fills up when class registration opens.
Many students have to wait until they are upperclassmen to take it. Student of the class Kennedy Fowler said she has been waiting to take the class since 6th grade.
“I love coming here and getting to help the community as well as helping FFA,” Fowler said. “I’m not fully involved in FFA, but in middle school I was a lot more, and I remember coming to the high school to see the greenhouse.”
Any student in the Boyle County FFA chapter must also be enrolled in an agriculture class. The proceeds from the greenhouse sale partially go to plant supplies for next year, and the rest goes to support FFA. The money helps fund scholarships for students to attend FFA camps, pay for contest expenses, traveling, and other FFA chapter functions.
New to the greenhouse this year are snapdragons, more vegetables, and less flowers. Kendrick said last year, vegetables sold out quickly. Now, they are selling about 10 varieties of tomatoes, about five varieties of peppers, cucumbers, squash, and 10 types of herbs.
Back by popular demand are the “potted puns” plants. The colorful pots contain puns painted in calligraphy, like “don’t stop be-leafing,” “I wet my plants,” “bibbidi bobbidi bloom,” and more.
“We did a small test run last year to see if potted puns would sell, and they sold out just like that,” Lyons said.
Students spent a whole week painting those pots and putting the puns on. One student painted some of the calligraphy by hand.
Kendrick said they usually sell almost all of the plants. A local landscape company will purchase whatever’s left.
