Heirloom plant sale is Saturday at UW-Green Bay

The annual UW-Green Bay Heirloom Vegetable Sale returns on Saturday, May 14, to the Laboratory Sciences Greenhouse on the campus at 2420 Nicolet Drive.

All plants are $1.50. Doors open at 9 a.m., with numbers passed out starting at 7 a.m. for those who’d like to reserve a prime spot in line and enjoy a warming cup of coffee while they wait.

The sale is expected to wrap up by about mid-afternoon.

The goal, as always, is to introduce local gardeners to new varieties, protect agricultural biodiversity, and raise money for student initiatives. The annual sale, sponsored by the Natural and Applied Sciences academic unit, began in 1994 with 300 seedlings. Proceeds are used to bring in scientists and other speakers that students otherwise would not be able to meet, and to support student research projects as well as travel to conferences where they can present results of their research and meet scientists in their fields.

This year the sale features 63 different varieties of tomatoes (6,500 plants), and 35 varieties of peppers (2,200 plants) including six different sweet bells, as well as mild, medium, and hot selections. Other vegetables include eggplants, tomatillos, cucumbers, and lettuce. They’ll also have a good selection of herbs, including four kinds of basil, borage, and 10 varieties of old-fashioned flowers.

“We probably have the greatest selection of tomato varieties offered anywhere in Wisconsin,” says sale coordinator Vicki Medland, associate director of the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity.

Lists of plants offered and links to descriptions can be found at www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/plantsale/index.htm.

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