Avid gardeners, landscapers and community members interested in supporting Yelm High School’s (YHS) FFA club should mark their calendars for Thursday, April 25, and Friday, April 26, as the program’s annual plant sale will return.
Those seeking to purchase plants can drive down YHS’s Tornado Alley before turning left to gain greenhouse access. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Thursday, and from 8 a.m. until items are sold out on Friday.
Matt Mounts, FFA adviser and agriculture teacher at Yelm High School, said students and staff volunteers have been working hard since January in preparation of the annual plant sale.
“The community should definitely be excited about this event. The saying ‘it’s bigger and better than ever’ gets overused, but it really is going to be bigger than ever. I’ve increased selection on a lot of things, and we’re pretty packed in here. We try to listen to what people want so we can give them the best opportunity and selection possible,” Mounts said. “Last year, we tried Friday and Saturday, but we sold out in one day. We’re just gonna go back and do a Thursday/Friday plant sale.”
Funds raised at the plant sale will directly benefit Yelm FFA students, Mounts said.
“A majority of the funds that are raised go towards paying FFA membership for all students in all of the agriculture and science classes that we have. We have one of the largest chapters. I know some years we have the largest in the nation, and the fact that none of the students have to pay their dues is pretty awesome,” he said. “The remainder of the funds offsets transportation costs to different events. I know the state convention alone, driving 50 students over to Pullman and back, is not cheap. This helps with the costs of going to different events.”
Mounts said buyers should expect all of the items included in the past, plus some new additions to the sale list — several of which Mounts and the FFA students are excited to introduce.
“This year, we’ve expanded our hanging basket selection. We’ve also started some new varieties of different items, and one thing I’m really excited about is our fuchsia bowls,” Mounts said. “One thing I am super excited about this year is a new basket I created with our grower. They’re going to be petunia baskets, but I’m calling them Tornado baskets. They’re red, white and black, and I’ve heard some people mention how excited they are about seeing them and using them for graduation parties to keep that color theme going.”
Mounts added that the fuchsia bowls include an upright fuchsia plant in the middle, with trailing fuchsias on the sides. According to the longtime YHS FFA adviser, students have been pinching baskets “like crazy” to promote horizontal growth and to make the plants bigger and fuller.
“We get everything in tiny plug form, or we seed them ourselves. We started in the middle of January putting things together. This week, we’re starting all of our vegetable starts. Before spring break, everything that we sell will be planted, and it’ll be all about maintenance from there on out,” Mounts said. “After spring break, they’ll be so happy to be done pinching and just be in that caretaking mode. Once we’re done pinching and planting, it’s all about fertilizing, monitoring for pests, watering and just kind of shaping and making sure everything is growing the way it should be, and as healthy as can be.”
Mounts said that throughout the year, when there’s sunshine during his FFA classes, it can take an entire class period just to ensure every plant is watered. With that in mind, Mounts raved about the student participation in this year’s FFA group. He described his students as being very invested in the project.
“I have a newer group with less veterans, and so it’s been fun to watch them mold, grow, learn and create ownership. These kids have ownership in their section, and if something different happens over the weekend that they weren’t a part of, they notice it,” he said.
Year in and year out, Mounts said it always amazes him to see the interest in the plant sale from members of the Yelm community and surrounding areas.
“I know last year, we had people lined up outside the gate before six in the morning so they could be first in line,” Mounts said. “Just to see the volume that goes out of here in the first four hours is mind boggling. Their support is unreal.”
Mounts thanked the agriculture advisers at Yelm High School for their help. He said they come in on the weekends, with many FFA members, to help with watering. It would take one person four or five hours to water everything alone, and Mounts said the extra effort is appreciated.
“We truly do appreciate the staff members and students that volunteer their time and take ownership of that process,” Mounts said.
