Culminating a several-month-long inaugural run in the program’s greenhouse, Marietta’s FFA chapter hosted their first plant sale on April 21 and 22.
“We weren’t supposed to start until 10, but people started showing up at 8 this morning, and business has been pretty steady since then,” said Advisor Josh Bazor, looking out over a greenhouse full of plants, every one of which his students either planted from seed or plug, or propagated from a cutting.
The entire experience has been “learn as you go,” full of trial and error, but Bazor and his bunch have gained a lot of knowledge along the way, and are ready to apply that newfound knowledge to the next crop of plants.
“Our up-front costs caused me to lose out on some sleep, and we had some missteps here and there, but for our first time, I’m pretty proud of us,” Bazor remarked with a smile.
Even the missteps weren’t huge bobbles in the grand scheme of things. More what I’d call learning on the fly. You know, things like not ordering enough pots, or maybe not starting enough things from seed at the right times, trying to win in the fight against bugs – those kinds of things.
Also, Bazor wishes he’d taught his students/sales staff a little more about the plants.
“They’ve done a great job, but I wish I’d taken the time to teach them more about what plants thrive in sun or shade so they’d be able to help our customers better,” Bazor explained.
And speaking of customers, there were plenty of them, a mix of community people, parents, and even some former FFA members.
“I wanted to come back and show my support for the chapter,” said one shopper. “FFA was a huge part of my life when I was in school. There were tons of people who helped us, and now that I’m out of school, I want to do the same thing.”
For their first ever sale, the whole gang was pleased with the results and the sale. Bazor and his students are already working the bugs out, pun intended. They’ve got better ideas for planting, insect control, and the myriad of other things that they’ll need to make their greenhouse more successful.
They’re learning as they go. You know, kind of like you’re supposed to do in school.