Green thumbs unite! Elmhurst church offers locally-grown organic plant seedlings

Posted January 22, 2025 9:23 pm

Submitted by Karen Pachyn

The First Congregational United Church of Christ in Elmhurst has launched its 11th annual Organic Seedlings Sale. You can preorder plants by going to their website: elmhurstucc.org/store/.

Pay by credit card on the website or find a hard-copy order form there. Print out the form and send it to the church office with cash or check, if you prefer. See the website for more details.

Orders are due by Feb. 28 and will be available for pick up at the church’s Green Garden Fair on Saturday, May 10, from 9 a.m. to noon on the church grounds at 235 S. Kenilworth in Elmhurst.

And while you have until Feb. 28 to place your order, you are encouraged to get it in early. While the church hopes to receive everything exactly as requested from their growers, horticulture is not an exact science. The growers reserve the right to make substitutions when necessary. When filling orders, the church will give priority based on the dates received. You improve your chance of getting everything you requested by making your selections early.

With sixty different varieties of vegetable, herb and flower plants to choose from, gardeners can select their old favorites and try some new things too. Organic vegetable and herb seedlings will be provided by Baas Greenhouses, Inc. Their seedlings are grown in Mokena, Illinois, which is just 30 miles south of Elmhurst, so the church is offering a very local product. Baas has been USDA Certified Organic since 2005.

Baas doesn’t provide flowers, but to be sure that our pollinator friends are taken care of, the sale will offer flower seedlings from We Grow Dreams Greenhouse in West Chicago. The floral seedlings will not be organically grown. But We Grow Dreams provides job training and employment for the developmentally disabled, so it’s well worth it to support their mission. New this year, We Grow Dreams will be providing the church with Confetti Lantana loved by hummingbirds, plus they are easy to grow and beautiful.

All plants will be provided in 3½- to 4-inch containers.

For more information about the Seedlings Sale or the Green Garden Fair, contact elmhurstucc@sbcglobal.net or call (630) 832-2580. Follow the church at facebook.com/FirstCongregationalUCCofElmhurst/

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