Spring success
A local plant sale became very popular very quickly this year.
Horticulture teacher John Hiers talks about some of the plants for sale at a greenhouse at Woodstock Union High School in Woodstock, Vermont. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
People usually flock to the spring plant sale at Woodstock Union High School in Woodstock, Vermont, during the week leading up to Mother’s Day. But this year, they couldn’t wait that long.
Spurred by the doldrums of self-isolation amid the pandemic, customers jumped right on the annual sale once word got around.
“Last week, we almost sold in one week what we do in an entire month,” said John Hiers, longtime horticulture teacher at WUHS, on Monday. “It was neighbors telling neighbors, everyone just wanting to get out.”
All five weekdays last week were busy. When customers walked in, they lit right up at the colorful spring-time scene.
“Just a breath of fresh air,” Hiers said.
The spring sale is an annual favorite that people look forward to for weeks, and Hiers knows it well. He’s retiring this year, after over three decades of teaching at WUHS. His pride was unmistakable as he shared this fact: The sale actually funds nearly two-thirds of the WUHS horticulture program’s budget.
“Sixty percent of our program funds itself,” he said.
Hiers’ last plant sale of his Woodstock career is a bit different. Though interest was high in the first week, the main greenhouse wasn’t packed. That’s because, in accordance with state regulations, the plant sale team limited the number of people allowed inside, practiced social distancing and wore masks, while constantly disinfecting equipment after use. Hiers is deemed an essential employee, and the greenhouse an essential service, he said.
The school’s horticulture program has a firm place in the community as well. The program makes all the big flower baskets that hang in Woodstock Village; it also donates tomato plants to the senior center and the Woodstock Food Shelf.
“We’re very tied to the community here in our greenhouses,” Hiers said.
Meanwhile, his students are home, immersed in horticulture projects. They’re building their own greenhouses with their parents, Hiers said, and sometimes they drop by the main WUHS greenhouse to get seeds.
Over the years, the horticulture program has become a special resource for students interested in this field. It drives education, inspires careers, and helps the community. Speaking as one of Hiers’ first horticulture students in the late 1990s, it’s an uplifting feeling for me to see how the program has grown over the years. This week, a number of local families took home the results of that work, which will brighten up their homes and add to their gardens. It couldn’t have come at a better time.
— Gareth Henderson