For some, spring means warmer weather and relief from snow.
For the Jackson County Central FFA Chapter, spring means planting, growing, and eventually selling flowers and plants out of its greenhouse located at the JCC High School in Jackson.
But the greenhouse isn’t just a springtime job. Planning and preparing for the spring planting, growing, and selling season is a year-round job. Laura Bidne, agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at JCC, ordered the plants in late September from Edlin Greenhouse, located near Jackson. The greenhouse provides catalogs Bidne goes through as she selects all of the flowers and plants for the next year based on careful notes.
“I try to take really good notes every year,” said Bidne. “I figure out what people will want and base it off of trends from previous years.”
Bidne’s notes list which plants were grown, which ones sold well and which ones didn’t, which colors were popular, which ones were easy to grow, and the ones that didn’t want to grow. In early March, the greenhouse delivers the plants to the school. Then, planting will begin.
Care of the greenhouse is split between FFA members and Bidne’s floral design class. The floral design class plants, arrange pots and waters the plants as part of its classwork. Various FFA members help with watering, and the floriculture team uses the plants to help practice for its contest by identifying the plants and getting to know what they look like.
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