For several years now, Wakefield’s agriculture department has put on a spring plant sale, which is normally their biggest source of income. This money is used to fund the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and related agriscience classes. Wakefield’s spring plant sale is prepared by the students for the community. This year they had a raging success, nearly clearing out the entire greenhouse.

Wakefield’s agriculture teacher, Sara Beth Veazie, organizes the sale, plans the dates and keeps everything running smoothly. For the last three years, Veazie has been in charge of the agriculture courses and plant sale.

“My favorite part of the plant sale is getting to see my students’ hard work pay off,” Veazie said. “They get to sell all their plants, and the money goes right back into our program.”

A lot of work goes into planning and executing the sale from all parties involved. Students spend most of their classes learning about the different plants being sold, caring for it and maintaining peak conditions in the greenhouse. Veazie focuses on sustainability and getting students hands-on experience with different plant species.

“We have a wide variety of plants that are gorgeous and also student-grown,” Veazie said.

This year, Wakefield’s woodworking team joined the sale effort, displaying a few of their creations, including a pergola they constructed just one week before the plant sale. Their hard work opened up new doors for the agriculture program. It provided a new workspace and storage space for maintaining the plants, which put less strain on the greenhouse.

Patrick Craner, the carpentry and woodworking teacher, has aspirations to sell student-constructed items alongside the agricultural student’s plants at the sale. He dreams of his woodworking class selling raised flowerbeds, wooden decorative pots and lattices.

“We can integrate different products from carpentry into the plant sale and try to expand [the products] so there is more than just plants,” Craner said.

This sale is powered by the students participating in electives such as horticulture and woodworking. While very rewarding, it can be quite the challenge. A junior at Wakefield, Sophia Lopez, has been in two horticulture classes. She has experienced the plant sales as both a shopper as well as a worker.

“[The most] challenging part is physical labor,” Lopez said. “We had to move a bunch of heavy plants, clean the greenhouse and make sure everything looks perfect for the customers.”

To give a streamlined experience to shoppers, students often do a lot of placement work. This year, they had the plants organized by benches: one for houseplants, one for flowers, one for garden plants and one variety bench. Students found this organization process to be both mentally and physically strenuous because of the sheer amount of plants they had to arrange. However, many also felt that the completion of their task was rewarding.

“I like organizing the greenhouse [because] it’s so satisfying after you see everything organized,” Lopez said.

All of this work is put together to create a beautiful greenhouse and great prices for the public. After months of planning, caring for the plants and advertising, students finally get to sell the final products. Taylor Moore, a junior and horticulture II student, spent extra time outside of class to work the sale.

“My favorite part of the plant sale is the customers’ reactions when they either see the price or how pretty the plants are,” Moore said. “They are priced very reasonably, not too cheap, not too expensive.”

Through it all, the Wakefield spring plant sale is a labor of love, made up by the students. It can be a lot of work, but the results are legendary. Supporting the plant sale supports students and agriculture classes alike.

“I have amazing students and they impress me every day,” Veazie said. “They are organized and in it to win it.”