Master Gardeners Ready Saturday, May 29, for Gardeners

The annual Master Gardeners of Otsego County plant sale returns this year on Saturday, May 29th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. following the pandemic hiatus last year.  The sale will showcase familiar and many hard-to-find varieties and species difficult to find elsewhere.  The sale will be held at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Education Center, 123 Lake Street, Cooperstown. 

Do you enjoy vine-ripe, homegrown tomatoes picked at their peak with rich flavors and sweetness?   This year, 35 tomato transplant varieties are offered, many classified as heirlooms and others designated as All-America Selections.  Seven varieties of dwarf tomato plants, including Fred's Tie Dye, Artic Rose, and Tastywine are also offered for small gardens.  Master Gardener volunteers will be present to answer your questions on tomato variety and other plant selections.       

Peppers from sweet to hot, including Mad Hatter with its small hat-shaped peppers with a hint of heat,  Sugar Rush, and Cornito Giallo will be featured along with seven other varieties.  A dozen vegetable choices from beets to cucumbers, to Swiss chard, are available. 

In addition, 110 choices of annuals and perennials flowering plants—some of which are deer resistant--and more than 25 varieties of herbs, such as Spicy Bush basil with small leaves not requiring further kitchen preparation, will be attention-getters. 

The sale proceeds support outreach to local residents by volunteer Master Gardeners, including the telephone help-line, educational programs, the GROW program for community-based projects utilizing the skills of  Master Gardeners, and the redevelopment of educational gardens and improved infrastructure at the Lake Street Cooperative Extension headquarters.

While pandemic guidelines are being eased, CCE asks all visitors to use masks and maintain social distancing.  Hand sanitizer will be provided.  Please bring boxes to carry your purchases home.

Master Gardener Volunteers serve as a link between residents and the nation’s cooperative extension system, an outreach of land grant universities. For more information, visit Otsego Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale 2021 or contact Cornell Cooperative Extension at 607-547-2536 ext. 228, otsego@cornell.edu or email Don Smyers at drs269@cornell.edu for more information or find us at www.facebook.com/CCESchoharieOtsegoMG and https://www.instagram.com/otsegomastergardener/.

Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.