|
THANK YOU!! The 2003 Sale is over, and was a humbling, overwhelming success. In the span of less than 8 hours, over 17,000 plants were sold. All 2000 flowers were sold by 10 AM. The 13 flats of Wisconsin Lakes peppers were sold by about 2 PM Saturday. Only 550 plants were available when we opened Sunday morning. The Friends of the Library Raffle sold their last ticket by 11 AM, and the campus potters had their best sale day ever. And, even though over 2000 of you attended, everyone seemed to be happy, and I saw no arguements, pushing, or shoving. Only lots of good will. It's events like these that can restore one's faith in humanity. Because of your generosity, almost $15,500 was generated for student research opportunities on campus. Students will now have the opportunity this summer to work with top ecological scholars in North Carolina and Oklahoma, plus we'll be able to allow students to work on research projects throughout the year. Heartfelt thanks are given to the many volunteers who made the sale a reality, ncluding students Angela Barnes, Katie Hemauer, Todd Leavitt, Valerie Mann, Amanda Mauleg, Fred & Edith Nekola, Angie Opiola, Bruce Snyder, and Erin Van Caster. The sale could not have happened without all these people's help. If you'd like to re-live the experience, take a look at these images: People waiting at 8:30 for the sale opening. Another view of people patienetly waiting for the opening. The view out the front door at 8:59. View within the Tomato House, about 9:15. View witin the Pepper/Herb House, about 9:15. The Lettuce Tables, about 9:15. People looking over the Friends of the Cofrin raffle table. Pottery table -- 1 and Pottery table -- 2 Please feel free to send me images and information (recipies, growing techniques) on the plants you purchased. If I have time, I'll try and post these so that other gardeners in the area can know what is growing well, how these varieties are being used PRINTER-FRIENDLY
VERSION WANTED: If anyone has some extra garden space, and would like to help out for next year's sale........ I lost my old garden to developers last fall. I'm in desperate need of a new place to grow out plants (4 dozen pepper varieties; about 18 tomatoes, a bunch of eggplants, herbs, etc). If you have an 100x50 foot garden bed that you're not using (or are willing to plow up), are within 15 miles of Green Bay, and would not mind letting someone else grow plants on your land, I'd really appreciate an email. You'll get alot of extra produce, will get a sneak peek for upcoming years varieties, and will be helping out a good cause. May 6 Update. Four more days! Things are looking very good as we enter the home stretch. We'll begin re-arranging the greenhouses tomorrow for 'sale mode': We need to make walking space by getting rid of the extra benches, and will start getting the flats placed in their correct areas. It will be nuts until we get it all finished sometime Friday evening. But, before the big move, here's some last greenhouse images: marigolds; petunias; lettuce; eggplant; basil; tomatoes; herbs; peppers and herbs; and more peppers. Its amazing how much they have grown in the last week! Don't forget that we may be short on boxes, so please bring your own. Also don't forget to stop and look at the student/faculty-made pottery that will be for sale outside of the greenhouses Saturday morning. Here's some nifty pieces that Tim Gerondale will be selling. April 30 Update. Our friends at Konop Vending are saving boxes for us again this year, but I fear that we may not be able to get enough to satisfy demand. So, I have a favor to ask. If you can, please bring your own boxes to the sale -- I think if most of the people reading the website bring their own, I can make the 1200 or so boxes we get from Konop to last through both days of the sale. Thanks! April 28 Update. The last major step for this year's sale is now finished: all the plants have labels, and are ready to be sold. All that remains is a final two weeks of growth, plus a few fertilizer applications. If you'd like to see how the greenhouses look, here's some photos taken on the afternoon of the 28th: a view of the lettuce & flower house, of herbs, of peppers and herbs, and of tomatoes. The plants continue to amaze me in their health and growth; there are already a number of flowers in bloom, including Golden Gem and Mr. Majestic marigolds, Bowles Black pansies, Psyche Cosmos, and the Old Fashioned Vining Petunia. I'm guessing that by sale day over 50% of the flowers will be in bloom or bud. Oh, and the basil varieties are looking great, too. I know in past years one of the worst parts of the sale is the long wait Saturday morning to get into the greenhouse, and the fact that people coming Saturday afternoon or Sunday were faced with a poor selection. This is where we have tried to make the biggest improvement for the 2003 sale. We have increased the total number of plants by almost 50% over last year, and have tried to make sure that the most popular varieties (like the Wisconsin Lakes pepper, or Slankard's tomato) have hundreds of extra plants. While those who come early Saturday will still have the best selection, I am certain that people coming after noon on Saturday (when you will be able to just walk in with no wait) will be able to select from 90% or more of the complete selection. So, if you don't like waiting, and are willing to miss out on just a few varieties, this is a good year to come Saturday afternoon or Sunday. I'll also have more time to answer your questions after the crush of people has left. One reason to come Saturday morning, however, is that we'll again have students and faculty from the campus pottery studio selling their garden-inspired wares from 8 AM-noon. The Friends of the Cofrin Library will also be selling raffle tickets for their yearly fundraiser, and more activities may also happen. You'll also miss the Saturday morning plant sale tailgater, which has been a growing event over the last two years.
|
