There’s a new plant sale in Salt Lake City on the west side. The first Fairpark Community Plant Sale takes place Saturday at Constitution Park.
The greenhouse is in donated space next to a Vietnamese restaurant called All Chay. Project lead Tom King dips a flat of Old German tomatoes in water. He’s preparing the plants for the sale, which will take place just a few blocks away next to the Fairpark and the Jordan River Parkway Trail. King is a boardmember for the Fairpark Community Council, and the one who came up with the idea for the sale.
“I’d like it to make members of the community get to know each other better through meeting at the sale and through the shared experience of growing food in their own yards,” King says.
“I’m a west side resident for all of my life, so for this to happen for our community, best thing ever,” says Shauna Peck, also a council board member and volunteer. Peck says she’s never really gardened before, but she’s been spending two hours a day on this project.
“You know, it brings us together,” she says. “We’ve had people that are coming from all over the city to buy our plants. To see them come down, and be so happy with the variety that we have, I mean we have five different types of cherry tomatoes that you never get to see in the store like that. What can I say? I just love it down here, and I love what we’re doing!”
Peck says they’ve already sold almost half of the 4500 seedlings they’ve planted, but there will be plenty left for the sale which starts Saturday at 10am. The event will also include activities for kids, a snail cage building workshop, and free seeds for lettuce, carrots, zucchini, and cucumbers.
