Plant lovers paradise
MHS hosts 5th annual Farmers Day and plant sale
After not being able to host their annual plant sale in person last year, instead hosting it online, the Monache High School (MHS) Agriculture department staff and students were excited to be out on the MHS farm hosting their 5th annual Farmers Day and plant sale on Saturday morning. The staff and students weren’t the only ones excited to be there either as a line of eager plant enthusiasts had already formed nearly out to the street upon the events opening at 8 a.m.
From cacti and succulents to flowers and fruit trees, there was a wide variety of plant life to choose from. Some who showed up went solely for the student grown vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, or for the reasonably priced bags and boxes of citrus fruit grown on the farm.
Christie Bennett, an Agriculture teacher at MHS and a huge part of helping to organize
Saturday’s event, was thrilled to see some of her students back out on the farm and said she was excited to have more students return to the MHS farm beginning on Monday.
“The students are helping us, even in a pandemic, which is super great,” said Bennett. “We are so excited to have students back on the farm starting Monday, but we have had interns working every single morning getting this farm ready to go, so it has been a great opportunity to see everything come together to be able to have this event still happen.”
Students of all grade levels manned each section of the sale ready to answer questions that may be asked about the plants that surrounded them. One student offered fresh slices of fruit to anyone who walked into the entrance of the sale.with help from four of MHS’ Agriculture teachers, the students have organized and hosted the event for the past
five years.
“This is our 5th annual Farmers Day,” said Bennett. “It is our Farmers Market and plant sale. It is organized by all of our students and our Monache Ag Department teachers. We are composed of Carmel Spaulding, James Corbett, Frank Roche and myself. We put this together every single year. We have a gigantic plant sale here at our OH Department, and then we have our Farmers Market which consists of our 4-acre farm.”
The market, which ran from 8 a.m. to roughly 3 p.m., was a success, and Bennett explained that all of the proceeds would be going straight back into the farm and the MHS Ag Department.
“All of the proceeds go back into the farm,” siad Bennett. “A lot of it is going to help replenish whatever we sell, but it will go right back to the ag department and help us get our department back up and functioning for the coming year.”
With the anticipation and excitement of more students returning to school today, Bennett said it was nice to see that the students definitely enjoyed being there on Saturday and mingling with the community after not being able to for over a year.
“It has been amazing to not only see them, but to see them in action,” siad Bennett. “They love being here. They love interacting with our community, and they love being able to be on the farm and in their element and interacting with each other. It is a part of what they love and a part of why they are in the ag department to begin with.”