By Shannon B.
VISTA at GreenHouse17

To market, to market, to buy a bouquet,

Home again, home again, it’s Mother’s Day!

Last weekend we set up at Mayfest in Lexington, KY. It is an annual event that takes place on mother’s day weekend. It was our first market of the season. It was a great chance for us to get out into the community and let them know what we are doing out at the GreenHouse17 farm. We had transplants, flower bouquets, and body products grown and made by survivors for sale.

This was our first year offering transplants. Our basil, pepper, and tomato transplants made an appearance. This year we are growing 10 different varieties of tomato and over 20 types of peppers. It is so much fun to try new varieties and see which performs the best. We have so much planned for these items. I can see in my mind the beautiful salsa we’ll make using our red and gold tomatoes and purple and green peppers. It was lovely to share that vision with people and send them home with plants of their own.

We had several perennials along with peppers, tomatoes and basil. One of the all stars of this year is comfrey. We were able to offer these plants and highlight that they are an ingredient in our Salve-ation Herbal Body Balm. Comfrey is such a useful plant. However, before using any plant for the first time, we recommend doing your homework. Even the most useful items can be dangerous if mishandled. Another all star was Obedient Plant. Obedient Plant is wonderful in floral arrangements and landscaping.  Obedient Plant got its common name because it can be shaped to bend in different directions and fill out an arrangement.

We had a good location and traffic  was brisk. We shared about our mission and were able to get the word out about our Flower CSA. Our bouquets were a big hit! We still have spots available so this was a great opportunity for us connect with new people.