L-K's FFA holds annual plant sale

 By Bobby Horn Jr.

news@casscountynow.com

LINDEN—The Lin­den-Kildare High Ag de­partment is making spring planting a little easier for area residents by providing starter plants through their annual plant sale.

Mariah McPherson, an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor, said the plants went on sale April 1 and will con­tinue to be sold through the end of May or until they are all sold out. Plants are avail­able at the C.J. Hagler-Squire Cole, Jr. Agricultural Sci­ence Building during school hours.

This year’s offerings in­clude a variety of herbs, flowers and vegetables.

Herbs available include peppermint, Greek oregano, large leaf basil and rose­mary.

Flowers for sale include petunias, salvia, geraniums, zinnias, vinca (or periwin­kle), lobelia, balloon flowers and marigolds. There are also spider plants, canna lilies, and ferns.

Those interested in produce will find seven varieties of tomatoes (including Chero­kee purples, chocolate cher­ries and Arkansas travelers), crookneck squash, and sweet success cucumbers.

For the more adventurous there are four types of vege­table hybrids available.

The karma pepper is a hybrid of the red bell. It has been called the ““new standard of excellence in bell peppers,” and has been described as “scrumptious juicy, sweet flavor with no aftertaste,” by manufacturer Park Seeds.

Another bell hybrid avail­able is the colossal pepper. The colossal sweet pepper plant produces the biggest bell peppers on the market today with fruit averaging six inches long and six inch­es wide. Each bell pepper is grown vertically on the plant so their shape is not distort­ed.

For those looking for a little more heat from their capsi­cum, there is the emerald fire pepper. This jalapeno hybrid registers on the hot end for jalapeno. It’s extra large size makes it a favorite for grill­ing and stuffing.

A 2015 All America Selec­tion Vegetable Award Winner for best squash variety, the bossa nova zucchini hybrid was judged to have a smooth skin texture and a mild sweet taste that exceeded the other summer squash tested