What’s “growing” on in Plant Systems this week?
Mrs. Sammons here as the contributing columnist this week. If you’ve been a longtime supporter of The Fallon Post, you might remember me from the “Raven’s Rant” gardening column that I was fortunate enough to write for a year. I am grateful my students are gaining the chance to share their love of plants as well — thank you, Rachel. They are proud of their columns, and I sure am, too. I only wish I had an old‑school typewriter so they could get the full experience.
I still grow peppers on our small farm south of town, but my focus has shifted to helping grow plants and people. Watching a student run into class to check whether their seeds have germinated is bliss. They cherish time in the greenhouses and look forward to it daily. What a resource the greenhouses have been for our school and our town.
Speaking of greenhouses, they are full of plants. Our third annual Plant Sale is right around the corner. This sale is our main fundraiser, and all funds we raise go directly back to supporting our growth. On Saturday, May 9, from 9 a.m. to noon, we’re selling a school year’s worth of hard work. I try very hard to let students grow what interests them most, so our inventory is wide-ranging.
You will find Joshua trees grown from seed that the Walker Basin Conservancy shared with us after visiting our class to talk about native Nevada plants. Annual flowers like California poppies, petunias, and geraniums were grown from cuttings that friends of the class shared with us — thank you, Yellow Petal Flower Farm and the Oakden family. We have lemon cucumbers, squash, and wild asparagus grown from seed collected locally on pasture edges and ditch banks. And yes, we have lots of tomatoes for sale. The great news is that some already have fruit. The bad news is we need to do a better job of tagging and documenting which types we are growing and selling. Personally, I haven’t met a homegrown tomato I didn’t like, and we think you’ll love these “surprise” tomatoes, too.
Many more plants will be available that support a great cause at a great price. Most 4‑inch containers will be $3, and most gallon pots will be $5. May 9 is also the pickup day for preorders from the Lahontan Conservation District sale. If you preordered bareroot trees and shrubs, they will be available for pickup in our greenhouses. Plant Systems students help tag and bag orders and will carry them to your car that day. If you missed the chance to order, there will be a limited amount of extras, including black currants, lilacs, buffaloberries, chokecherries, American plums, poplars, and green ash bareroots. It would be difficult to describe in a single column the impact that Christy Sullivan, Marlee Jenkins, and the Conservation District have had on our class. We are so grateful they adopted us.
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