By: Kathryn Fenstermacher

Most local folks – especially the gardeners – know to mark their calendars for the first Saturday in May. That’s because on May 6, from 9 a.m. to noon, the Blackford Junior-Senior High School (BJSHS) Greenhouse will host their annual plant sale, as they’ve been doing for over 40 years.

Plant shoppers will be greeted by a new look this year, as they step through the door of a brand new greenhouse that was completed in the fall. According to Shelbi Louck-Blankenbaker, BJSHS ag teacher and director of the greenhouse operation, the new facility provides additional space for planting, storage, and moving around among the plants. “It’s really nice to have the extra room,” she said.

For BJSHS students in plant and soil science classes who are responsible for running the greenhouse, a typical growing season starts in October. This is when they begin planning for the following spring and the first plants are started from cuttings. Work begins in earnest in January and February, as tiny seedlings arrive in need of tender love and care. Vegetables are planted from seed in March. By the time the sale rolls around, the fruits of these labors are a miracle to behold: vibrant pink begonias cascade from hanging baskets, while bushy tomato plants sprout from an aquaponics tank, fed by the nutrient-rich water below that’s home to hundreds of tiny fish.

This new aquaponics system is a favorite addition to the greenhouse space for Nathan Elliott, a senior at BJSHS who is completing a career pathway program focused on agriculture. This specialized education pathway allowed him to delve deeper into his interest in plants, spend more time in the greenhouse, participate in plant research, and build leadership skills as a teaching assistant. After graduation, Elliott plans to study agronomy at Ivy Tech while working at AgBest fertilizer company in Hartford City. “My experience out here in the greenhouse has definitely helped shape what I want to do,” he said.

Elliott has enjoyed working hands-on with the aquaponics system, which he said is the commercial growing method often used for the produce that lands on grocery store shelves. He said he’s enjoyed the opportunity to “try out something new.”

“Not a whole lot of people have fish in their greenhouse,” he added.

Louck-Blankenbaker worked directly with the school corporation and their architects to design the new space and tailor it to her students’ needs. The greenhouse is for them as much as it is for the plants. Even on a dark, windy morning, the greenhouse is warm and bright, a safe haven where students can get dirt under their fingernails and tuck a blossom behind their ear. It’s no wonder that Louck-Blankenbaker was awarded Most Influential Educator for 2023 by Top Ten Senior Brianna Stroble. 

Those who attend the sale on May 6 can have a look at the aquaponics technology, in addition to the automated sunshade and water curtain that regulate the growing environment in the greenhouse so that the plants thrive all season. They can also admire the handiwork of the BJSHS manufacturing class, who are offering pre-sales on handmade picnic tables available for pickup on the day of the sale. 

The main attraction, of course, is the beautiful array of plants for sale. Seasoned shoppers know that they need to be early birds, as over half of the stock sells within the first hour, according to Louck-Blankenbaker. Hanging baskets and geraniums are top sellers, but nearly everything sells by the end of the day. 

Louck-Blankenbaker credits their success to the community’s support of and appreciation for their hands-on learning approach. The students grow everything themselves, from scratch, instead of purchasing fully-grown plants like some programs do. This student-run operation teaches them practical skills of plant care, from planting to dead-heading, pricing to budgeting. It also develops skills like responsibility and teamwork. “There’s a lot of lessons to learn,” she said.

And since the students participate in the entire growing season, they get to see the full cycle of a plant, from seed to maturity. This is Louck-Blankenbaker’s favorite part of the process. “I just like seeing the kids work together as a team and see all there is to put into the greenhouse,” she said. “They’re always shocked by how quick stuff will grow.”

All money raised from the sale is put back into funding the greenhouse operation: to purchase materials for next year’s sale, as well as equipment for labs and other learning activities in the plant science classes. Any vegetable plants that don’t sell are donated to the local food pantry.

It’s easy to see that Louck-Blankenbaker flourishes in the greenhouse, right alongside her students and their plants. And no wonder: her parents owned a greenhouse operation in Redkey, IN for 12 years while she was growing up. She also inherited a love of flowers from her grandmother. With this green thumb running through her family line, she knew that plant science would be her favorite class to teach. When she’s not working in the greenhouse, she is tending to her own garden at home – where she said she has “way too many flowers.”

The 2023 Annual Plant Sale will take place from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, May 6 at the greenhouse located at the back of the BJSHS, 2392 North State Road 3 N, Hartford City, IN. Patrons may park anywhere in the lot unless otherwise marked. Only cash or check payments will be accepted. Shoppers are advised to come early, as most plants sell by 10 a.m.