Once more InSpirit renewed our spirits with the generosity of all involved in our annual plant sale.
It weathered the pandemic stress in all our lives. It weathered the cold spring nights that kept our seedling small for so long, even in our wonderful new greenhouse. It even weathered a very very windy afternoon that threatened to blow us all away on the day of the sale! What I am blown away with is how every year somehow or other it all works out. The final total from the sale, the aftersale, and the donations the sale inspired is $15,045!
We packed the new greenhouse with hundreds of seedlings, and were glad when our greenhouse team was augmented by 2 middle school students from the Lagunitas School District: Poppy and Leo were cheerful sets of additional hands. We had 20 local gardeners growing for us–some old timers who bring us plants every year, and some new faces. We received a huge donation of planting soil from Calvin Donley of Synergy Wellness. Fairfax Lumber and Hardware once again donated $200 worth of plants. On the eve of the sale, and the day itself Karen Zaccaglini steer headed more than 2 dozen volunteers doing everything from protecting the donations from deer, to setting up the tables, to identifying unusual plants, to cashiering. We are so grateful to the Lagunitas School District for allowing us to use their campus again.
Among this year’s unusual donations were two very large yuccas, and an apricot tree! Charlotte Torgovitsky of Home Grown Habitats supplied habitat and pollinator plants. Succulents were again plentiful and more varied than ever. We had at least 25 varieties of tomatoes– I lost count! James and Aura of Good Fun Stuff found a place in the shade and made origami flowers with children. InSpirit board member Kiersten Kotaka and her girls sold sweet treats.
It was wonderful that two of our clients were able to attend, linking the sale concretely with our work. The greenhouse is empty now, but come January we’ll start filling it up again for may 2023’s sale! Remember us when you divide bulbs and perennials in the fall!