Cayuse Prairie School hosting plant sale this week

There’s a lot growing in Cayuse Prairie School’s garden. This Wednesday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., the community is invited to swing by and support the program through their yearly plant sale.

“I just think that it’s an amazing program and I’m so happy that it’s available for our students,” Horticulture Manager Marleen Probert said. 

“Without our plant sale, the budget being the way it is, we would have a hard time supporting the program.”

The sale supports everything the horticulture program has to buy — dirt, seeds, fertilizer and more. In semester-long classes, between seven and 15 students at a time help out with the garden year-round and learn valuable life skills along the way. All grades help with and learn from the growing and harvesting process. 

“It’s super important that for one thing they see food growing and so they get a better idea of where food comes from and what’s involved. They get to get dirty, which is good for their brain,” Probert explained. 

Throughout the school year, students participate in Montana State University’s Harvest of the Month program. With that harvest, they have made pesto, beet smoothies, lentil hummus and more to share with the entire student body. In the winter, classes plant and harvest microgreens and learn about hydroponics. During summer school, Probert will invite students to help with the garden twice a week. The kids are involved in the entire progress, seed to harvest. 

Next year, Probert hopes to add to the program by renting bees for the garden, so that the kids can learn about them while it’s warm but they can be professionally cared for over winter. 

Plants available for purchase at this year’s sale include a variety of flowers, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, squash, gourds, onions, zucchini and a variety of herbs. 

Plants that are leftover will be added to the school garden and donated to the Mountain Brook Community Center plant sale and Montana Veterans Home.