Plant Sales and Gardening at Manchester Community Schools

Seedlings. Photo credit: Schekinov Alexey Victorovich.

submitted by Ruth VanBogelen

Two student-run plant sales are happening in Manchester this year. 

Most in Manchester know about the very popular Manchester High School Plant Sale that started last Saturday, May 11, and continues this week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 3–6 pm, at the high school. But did you know that the Klager students have started vegetable plants this spring, and their plant sale will be Monday, May 20, from 9 to 10:30am? This first time slot is for senior citizens who are welcome to park in the circle drive. The general public is welcome to come Monday, May 20, from 3 to 4pm, and/or Tuesday, May 21, from 3 to 4pm. For the afternoon plant sale, please park in the parking lot as the circle drive will be closed. The Klager STEM students will be selling peppers, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, onions, melons, broccoli, potatoes, and more.   

The Community Garden is ready for the summer and all but two plots in the south garden have been rented by community members. The two available gardens are 4×8-foot raised-bed gardens. If you are interested in doing a small garden, the 4×8-foot or 32-square-foot are good starter sizes. Email dutchgardenpartner@gmail.com for more information and an application.

A BIG thank you to McLennan Landscape for donating soil to fill up a new raised bed and top off the other ones. The Community Garden is a project of the Manchester Men’s Club who do the spring setup, summer maintenance, and fall shutdown of the garden. Thank you, Men’s Club!!!

The north garden at the Community Garden area will be used this summer to continue teaching Klager students where food comes from by offering them opportunities to harvest and eat the plants they started.

 The summer daycare and summer camps will use the garden during the summer and then students will continue harvesting when school starts in September.

This year there are two greenhouse sales at Manchester Community Schools!

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.