ELSAH - If you’re in the market for organically grown plants, vegetable starts, and much more for your gardening needs, look no further than the ninth annual Plant Sale set for the last two weekends in April at Three Rivers Community Farm.
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This year’s Plant Sale will take place on April 20 and 21, and again on April 27 and 28, 2024, each of those days from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Three Rivers Community Farm is located at 22935 Chautauqua Road, just north of Elsah.
The Plant Sale will feature organically grown annuals, perennials, herb and vegetable starts, as well as potting soil mix, compost and fertilizers from Morgan Composting Co. Amy Cloud with Three Rivers Community Farm said some popular community favorites include their native perennials, basil, peppers, and cherry tomatoes - though she added “folks also love all the different coleuses and zinnia varieties.”
In addition to new varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and new native perennial offerings, this year’s Plant Sale will also feature new strawberry hanging baskets which Cloud said will keep producing throughout the summer. No matter which plant you choose, Cloud said the plants from Three Rivers offer greater flexibility.
“The beautiful thing about our plants is that they are flexible - they can be planted in your garden or are fine in the pots for another week or two,” Cloud said. “Since the organic potting soil mix that we use is compost-based, there is plenty in the mix to sustain the plant until you are ready to plant in your garden.”
Annual herbs, vegetable starts, and flower starts are priced at $3.55 per 3 inch pot or $4 per pack of four, while native perennials are priced at $5.75 per 4 inch pot. Compost, potting soil mix, and fertilizer will also be available - attendees can get five gallons of compost for $5 if they bring their own five-gallon buckets, and bagged options are available for one cubic foot of compost ($11 each), one cubic foot of potting soil mixes ($13 each), and 4 pound bags of Healthy Garden organic fertilizer (7-6-5) for $9.50 each.
Now in its ninth year, Cloud said the Plant Sale first began to address a need in the community that wasn’t being fulfilled by the options from big box stores.
“We saw the need in our community for organically raised plant starts and we knew we could grow a better plant start and provide more varieties that are well suited for our area than the big box stores,” Cloud said.
“Our plant sale started small, but has grown substantially over the years as customers share what they would like us to grow and we add new items. It is exciting to see many of the same customers come back year after year and share all the success they had in their gardens with our plant starts.”
Three Rivers Community Farm is an eight-acre vegetable farm run by Cloud, Jose Lara, and their two kids, Diego and Lydia. They sell large varieties of organic vegetables from their Elsah farm stand and at the Tower Grove Farmers Market in St. Louis. 2024 marks the farm’s 18th season in business.
“Our farm prides itself on growing organic, nutritious produce that we sell at a reasonable price which supports our family, and allows us to be caretakers of the soil and the three full-time employees of the farm.”
To learn more about Three Rivers Community Farm, visit their website or Facebook page. For more details on this year’s Plant Sale, see the event page on Riverbender.com.
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