Materials for Activity

• Seasonal, fruit- or vegetable-bearing potted plants or seedlings to sell
• Tables and chairs; container(s) to hold money; pens/pencils and paper to record sales and/or provide receipts
• Poster board, color markers, and tape
• Information about the organization or cause that will receive funds

Preparation for Activity

Engage the group in the preparation, as well as the culmination, of the plant sale:

• Research an organization or a community effort for which a plant sale can raise funds. Choose a cause that puts your donation to work supporting the miracle of agriculture, life-giving vegetation cultivated for our survival. The Global Crop Diversity Trust works in many nations giving farmers knowledge and tools to cope with local effects of global warming and climate change. You might also raise money to purchase Community-Supported Agriculture shares for individuals in your congregation, people in your larger community who are in need, or for a local food pantry.
• Obtain information about the organization to display at the plant sale table.
• Plan a date, time, and place for the plant sale. Publicize through congregational and community media.
• Obtain potted herbs and vegetable seedlings. Ask a local garden shop for a donation or discount. You can increase earnings by starting seedlings yourself weeks ahead of the plant sale. Arrange a time for participants to help transfer small seedlings to individual pots.
• Prepare information about proper care of each item you will sell.
• Designate an adult to be responsible for money.

Description of Activity

Engage the group to honor the miracles of nature’s vegetation and human cultivation with a sale of fruit and vegetable plants. Raise money for an organization or a local effort that promotes small-scale, local agricultural farming for sustenance.

Consider expanding this project from a one-time fundraiser to a congregational commitment to a community garden plot, participation in a community-supported agriculture co-op, or ongoing support to bring locally raised crops to a local hunger relief organization.