The 22nd Annual Fall Plant Sale and Festival will be held this Saturday and Sunday at Crabtree Farms.
The plant sale is free to the public and runs from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. both days.
Crabtree Farms is a 22-acre urban farm utilizing sustainable farm practices and is a hub for community education.
At the fall plant sale and festival, Crabtree Farms will offer a full array of edible and ornamental, and regionally appropriate plant varieties to the community.
Crabtree Farms’ Event and Administration Coordinator, Meghan Lewis, said patrons can expect to see many varieties of annuals, perennials, herbs, food bearing, and/or medicinal plants for sale. She said many local vendors will also be on-site selling their crafts and creations.
New to the event this year is a re-filling station. Patrons are encouraged to bring in plastic containers. Those will be filled with natural soaps, lotions, cleansers and other eco-friendly products. Another vendor will be there to sharpen culinary knives and garden tools. Food trucks will be there both days to satisfy hungry patrons.
Lewis said she was hired at Crabtree Farms about a year ago but has been involved with the organization for the past few years. She has a background in education and has taught Yoga. She first got involved with Crabtree Farms hosting cooking classes and teaching about creating farm-to-table meals.
Lewis said Crabtree Farms hosts a plant sale every spring and fall, which helps them raise funds. The first spring plant sale took place more than two decades ago. “The spring plant sale was due to the farmers having extra seedlings and plants from their own crop planting,” Lewis said. “So, they opened it up to the community to have a sale.”
She said the first plant sale was small, just one table. “Now it’s this giant thing, with thousands of plants,” she said. “We have almost 36 vendors this time. There are food trucks, there is music. This has grown into something that people plan their year around.”
The fall plant sale will feature plants which have been carefully selected to encourage an ecosystem of native, and non-invasive species for fall gardens.
Lewis said the event is also an opportunity to teach everyone about the rich history of the farm. “It has always been agricultural land,” she said. “The Cherokee were the last people that we know of that were here before colonization.”
The Cherokee were forcefully removed from the land, she said. In the early 1800’s Oakland Plantation was established there, and slaves tended the crops. The owners of the plantation fled during the Civil War. A new owner purchased the property but years later he sold a large portion of the land, and the surrounding neighborhood was developed.
Decades later the land was purchased by John Crabtree. Eventually the land was donated to the city of Chattanooga with the stipulation that it remained in agricultural use. In November of 1998, the community farm we recognize as Crabtree Farms was established.
Lewis said honoring the history of the land is what the team at Crabtree Farms does every day. Connecting the farm to the community is equally important, she said.
During the State of the City address held Sept. 12, at the Walker Theater, Chattanooga MayorTim Kelly spoke about Crabtree Farms and how it will soon be part of the Greenway Belt connecting the Riverfront walkway to the farm and the surrounding areas.
Lewis said she hopes the walkway will draw in more visitors from the Alton Park neighborhood. She said she has several ideas of what she’d like to see along the walkway. “Something like a food forest, or a natural playground area, or places where you could read about the history of Crabtree Farms,” she said.
Crabtree Farms offers a variety of year-round workshops and classes. The farm relies on community support, donations, fundraising events and monthly “sustainers” to cover their operational expenses.
The proceeds from the fall plant sale and festival will directly support Crabtree Farms’ educational and community gardening programs.
Crabtree Farms Hosts Annual Fall Plant Sale and Festival
- September 21 & 22, 2024 9am-3pm
- Crabtree Farms: 1000 East 30th St. Chattanooga, TN 37407
- Free Parking and Admission
- Crabtree accepts Cash, Debit, and Credit Card; and EBT cards for edible plants
For more information about Crabtree Farms and upcoming classes and workshops visit crabtreefarms.org