Thank you Michael for Hosting Ballard Sprouts for 12 years!

Ballard Sprouts – Last Distribution of plants

For the last 12 years Ballard Sprouts has been starting seeds in a backyard greenhouse in February.  We tend these seeds/plants until the Seattle weather warms up (Mid April) and donate the plants to the Seattle Giving Gardeners who will grow & harvest them and donate the produce to the Seattle Food Banks and food needy programs. These gardeners come from all over the city to pick up the plants. Typically we grow over 20,000 plants but this year we downsized to 11,500.

This is the last year for this program in Ballard.  We have searched for the last two years for another greenhouse and backyard where we could continue this project in Ballard.  Despite following many leads, we have not been successful. But in the last two years we have started two new Sprouts projects: one is at Heron’s Nest which is a Shared Space in West Seattle and one in the private yard on Beacon Hill. These two projects are very successful. The Heron’s Nest Sprouts is in its second year with a very strong team of volunteers.  The Beacon Hill Sprouts grew over 7,500 plants in their first year. Congratulations to them. See photo below.

We want to extend a very heartfelt thank you to Michael for the last 12 years of graciously allowing us to use his yard/garden space to grow thousands and thousands of starts! Also, we are so grateful to all the faithful volunteers who have made this project successful over the years. P-Patch and community giving gardens throughout the city have benefited from these efforts. Way to grow!