Moses Lake FFA plant sale will go on
Moses Lake High School ag teacher Tony Kern moves a hanging basket from one perch to another in the MLHS greenhouse. The greenhouse will be the site of annual FFA plant sale.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Hanging baskets hung close to each other will start tangling together. Moses Lake High School ag teacher Tony Kern moves a basket to a different location to space them out.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Moses Lake High School agriculture teacher Tony Kern moves around the hanging baskets in the MLHS greenhouse. The flowers and vegetables in the greenhouse will be for sale during the FFA plant sale.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Moses Lake High School ag teacher Tony Kern (right) gives a few tips to MLHS Spanish teacher Kris Sands. Sands was doing some advance shopping in the MLHS greenhouse.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Moses Lake High School ag teacher Tony Kern gives plants some growing room in the MLHS greenhouse.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Moses Lake High School Spanish teacher Kris Sands ponders the garden selections in the MLHS greenhouse.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Geraniums are among the flower options at the Moses Lake High School FFA plant sale.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Flowers like these petunias will be among the options at the annual Moses Lake High School FFA plant sale.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE — Normally, the two greenhouses at Moses Lake High School are bustling this time of year. They’re full of plants and MLHS students watering, weeding, checking for bugs — getting ready for the annual FFA plant sale.
Of course, these aren’t normal times. The greenhouses look great, with flowers in bloom and vegetable starts, well, started. But because school has been closed since mid-March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there are no students.
The plant sale will go on, however, with a few changes.
Tony Kern, MLHS agriculture teacher and FFA (Future Farmers of America) co-adviser, said gardeners can buy plants at the greenhouse from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., April 24, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., April 25.
“People will be able to come in and buy like usual, except we will limit the number of customers at once inside to 10 and we will take extra precautions to maintain social distancing,” Kern wrote.
The greenhouse is located behind MLHS, 803 E. Sharon Ave.
The greenhouses were up and running when the governor’s closure order was issued.
“We’ve already invested all the money into the product,” Kern said.
Money raised through the plant sale goes to buy plants for the next year and to pay for FFA activities.
“This fundraiser is largely what funds our FFA program,” Kern said.
Normally most of the planting and maintenance is done by horticulture students and FFA members. Even with school closed for the year, there are students willing to water and weed.
“They want to, trust me,” Kern said.
But right now students are not allowed on campus at all. That has left Kern responsible for the maintenance of a lot of plants.
“Probably 7,000 or 8,000, but I’m not sure, really,” Kern said.
In fact, plants were still on their way when the shutdown order was issued.
“The last day of school was March 18, and plants arrived March 19,” Kern said. He got the help of teachers and support staff from MLHS and other schools, including Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, to help with the transplanting.
Volunteers have helped with other chores as well. “They basically helped prune the whole greenhouse,” he said.
But he has done a lot of the work himself. He estimated it takes anywhere from 90 minutes to five or six hours per day.
While it’s a lot of work, it’s not all bad.
“This does give me my sanity, to be here every day,” Kern said.
The downside is that the students are missing out on the experience, Kern said. And the plant sale normally gives district residents a chance to meet some of the MLHS students and FFA members and learn a little about what goes on at the high school.
Other projects are on hold. The greenhouses supply flowers for the planter boxes in downtown Moses Lake each summer, and ag students and FFA members do the planting. Kern said he’s not sure whether students will be allowed to do the planting this year. If they’re not, he’s looking for volunteers to help. Kern can be reached at 509-855-2775.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.
