Every spring, locals in the know look forward to our annual vegetable and herb plant sale.  This year’s sale will start on Saturday, April 23^rd and run Saturdays and Sundays, 9am-2pm, through the end of May.

Why should you buy your plant starts from Urban Futures Farm?

Glad you asked.  Simply put, we offer the highest quality vegetable and herb starts at the most affordable prices in town.

First, we begin with the highest quality, non-GMO seed we can find.  All of our seed is selected for its vigorous growth,  suitability to our unique Northwest climate, flavor and nutritional value.  In fact, the plant varieties we sell are the same ones we grow for our CSA customers, so we know they are winners.  All of our seeds are sown in a climate-controlled propagation room, then hardened off in plastic tunnels and cold frames so they are ready to take home and put into the ground when you purchase them.

Because of our low overhead and commitment to food justice (making good food available to as many people as possible) we strive to keep our prices well below what you would pay at other local nurseries.

What will you be selling?

A full range of Northwest appropriate annual vegetables and herbs, including:  broccoli, cabbage, Napa cabbage, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, Swiss chard, Pac Choi, Tatsoi, mustard greens, arugula, collard greens, zucchini, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, sweet peppers, hot peppers, basil, parsley and cilantro. And of course our famous tomatoes – 12 varieties this year!  Each week we will send out a complete list of what we will have for sale that weekend.

Why should we buy from Urban Futures instead of a local nursery?

We think there are a few things that make our plants stand out.  First, not all of the plants you will find at a local nursery are appropriate for our climate.  Just this week we saw stores selling many different plants that just won’t grow well in our climate based on our experience.  Second, we select our plant varieties based on taste and nutritional value.  Many of the plant starts you see in local nurseries are commodity varieties, not necessarily selected for taste and nutrition.  Third, while many local nurseries are already selling plant starts, we’ve found no advantage to planting out starts until at least the third week of April. With nighttime temperatures expected to hit freezing over the next week and likely the following week, its simply too early to plant out many of the things you see in the nurseries right now.   We only sell plants that are ready to go into the ground, which is why we don’t start selling plants until the third week of April. And finally, because we stand by what we sell, when you buy plants from us we are available by phone, text or email as your on-call consultant to answer your questions and help you solve your garden problems.

So mark you calendars for Saturday April 23^rd,  and every Saturday and Sunday through May, and come  visit us to get the plants you need for a successful, bountiful harvest this summer.

Today, Lexi (looking like a bright flower!), Harry and I planted a rainbow of 300 sunflowers! Can’t wait to see them bloom!