News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Jackson County High School’s FFA Plant Sale kicks off Monday, with a wide variety of produce and plants.
Agriculture Teacher Brandon Chaffin said there is 25 types of tomatoes and peppers, melons, flowers and more. Chaffin said he looks over the students work, but it really is a student led effort.
“They do all the seeding of the plants, they take care of them,” Chaffin said. “I just basically walk through and look for stuff that needs to be done and I turn it over to them. You know, make sure that everything is watered and fertilized on schedule like it should be.”
Chaffin said they’ve been doing the plant sale for nearly a decade and all proceeds go back into the program. He said that numerous students with varying career paths have let him know how beneficial the program was.
“Kids that are learning how to grow stuff and plant their own gardens right now, I think that’s huge,” Chaffin said. “If they’ve got a little bit of confidence and a little bit of knowledge to grow something from a seed and get it up. Then they should have the confidence to be able to buy a plant or buy seeds on their own and go home and grow their own food.”
Chaffin said the plant sale, funds next years harvest and provides funding for FFA trips. He said anyone can come by the greenhouse during school hours and there will also be a Saturday sale.
“We’ll be set up in town between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM, right above H&H by the red light on 56 so people can stop in town,” Chaffin said. “The rest of the time we’ll be here at school and people can drop by and we will be here until school gets out or until we sell out.”
The FFA plant sale will be open to the public all week, with an extra day of sales on May 8th. Chaffin said they have watermelons, cantaloupe. flower flats and baskets and ferns.
