We Sold Plants and Had Fun

Our Plant Sale volunteers met at my greenhouse on Friday afternoon at 3 pm to move plants up to the community center.

We got everything into five vehicles and headed up the road a few miles. After unloading there, we went to the elementary school to pick up their unsold plants. They have a sale on the Thursday and Friday before our sale and donate what’s left to us.

Our community center looked like a jungle:

I had been watching the weather forecast nervously all week. Saturday’s forecast was for cloudy skies and a high of 56 degrees. We got the cloudy skies. I don’t think the high made it to 56, but intrepid shoppers, clad in parkas, showed up right at 9 am:

I confess that I did not dress properly for the weather—having been far too optimistic—and had to run home mid-morning for warmer clothes. We might have hit 50 by the afternoon, but there was a chill wind. At least it didn’t snow.

Sunnie’s table was at the entrance to the community center, where we had the raffle quilt on display. She greeted shoppers, answered questions, and encouraged people to buy raffle tickets and join the Mountain Brook Homestead Foundation.

This was the second year of the plant sale. Elysian came up with the idea and headed it up last year, although I missed that sale because I was in Alaska. I went into this one flying blind. I now have a much better idea of how it runs. I think we had a very successful sale yesterday. We surpassed last year’s total raised, although I won’t know by how much until our Financial Planning Committee meeting tomorrow night. We had very few hiccups. We now know that we need to grow more zucchini and cucumbers, because they sold out right away. We had many varieties of tomatoes, which was fabulous, but we need to organize them better. I think our group will meet in January and decide who is going to grow what and how much, and that will help us manage our inventory better. And we had a dedicated group of volunteers who pitched in and made it all happen.

Our leftover plants will be in the community center for a few days for additional sales, and then the Food Bank will come and get what’s left.

My greenhouse looks empty now. The weather forecast for this week, while not tropical, at least looks warm enough that I can get the corn put out and the grass cut. I am glad to have the sale behind me. And I am getting better about recognizing how much energy I can devote to some of these things, worthwhile as they are. Our fire department has a fundraiser happening this week. I didn’t sign up to help because I was focused on the plant sale, and I am glad I didn’t commit. There is only so much of me to go around. We have a potluck after church today, too, and I said to the husband that other people are going to have to feed me today. I didn’t have time to make anything yesterday, obviously. This morning, I have an 8 am breakfast meeting regarding our pastor search process and then I have to play piano for the service. I have a lot of energy, yes, but it’s not limitless.