||| FROM CAITIE BLETHEN for SJC MASTER GARDENER PROGRAM |||
Healthy herbs, tomato and pepper starts, and locally grown perennial landscaping plants need new homes!
One of the most anticipated signs of spring, the San Juan County Master Gardener Foundation Spring Plant Sales will take place on San Juan and Orcas Islands on Saturday, May 17th and Sunday May 18th, respectively. Please come early for the best selections. Popular varieties go quickly.
San Juan Island
When: Saturday, May 17th, 9 a.m. to noon
Where: Mullis Center, 589 Nash St.
Orcas Island
When: Sunday, May 18th, 10 a.m. to noon
Where: Orcas Grange, 3398 Orcas Rd.
Nearly all vegetable plant varieties for sale will be heirlooms or open-pollinated varieties much loved for their wonderful flavors and dependability in our short San Juan County season and marine environment. Most are not available elsewhere.
There will be 17 tomato varieties including the heirlooms Stupice, Cherokee Purple, Little Napoli and Principe Borghese as well as many favorite cherry tomatoes. Among the short season plants available are Marketmore Slicer and Suyo Long Slicer cucumbers and Costata Romanesco zucchini. Multiple varieties of other Master Gardener taste-test winners will include 8 kinds of peppers and herbs including basil and parsley that work well in small gardens or containers.
Perennials include both natives and non-natives adapted to many different garden environments. Because they’ve done well in our gardens they’ll likely do well in yours.
Proceeds from the sale are used to support the Master Gardener program and its priorities, such as teaching local communities about pollinators, water-wise gardening and landscaping techniques, and sustainable methods for growing local food. With your support, we pursue our educational priorities through such initiatives as the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden, which provides over 1,500 pounds of produce every year for the Friday Harbor Food Bank; community outreach and education programs for both adults and children, including Ask a Master Gardener events, Grow Your Own Food classes, and gardening at Camp Eagle Rock; Plant Diagnostic Clinics on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan Islands; the Orcas School Native Plant Garden and OCS Edible Garden and the Lopez Heirloom Apple Orchard.
For more information about upcoming Master Gardener events, check out :https://extension.wsu.edu/
Happy Gardening!
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