Order your Organic Field-grown, Hardy Native Perennials by 5/4

Fri, 04/24/2015 - 7:00am

Story Location:
123 High Street
Belfast, ME 04915
United States

The Belfast Co-op is sponsoring its 5th annual Perennial Plant Sale with Rebel Hill Farm; all proceeds go to this MOFGA-certified organic farm. These organic perennials are field-grown, well rooted, and necessarily hardy. The medicinal and culinary herbs are all over-wintered, hardy perennials. Many of these plants are native to Maine. Print catalogs are available at the Co-op, or you can view the catalog and download the order form here

Julie and Peter Beckford of Rebel Hill Farm in Clifton, Maine, have raised organic, field-grown perennials for over 20 years. They believe the plants gardeners choose to grow matter a lot to wildlife and the surrounding natural areas, and advocate that planting organically grown native perennials can help transform your property into a wildlife preserve, sustaining native pollinators and other animals they have co-evolved with.  Native, as they use the term, means: growing in Central or Eastern North America prior to European settlement. If the plant is native to Maine, it is noted in the catalog.

Pre-orders must be mailed to Rebel Hill Farm by May 4. Pre-ordered plants will be delivered to the Belfast Co-op on Saturday, May 9 between 9-11am in the Pendleton Lane side lot. There will be additional plants available on that day for spontaneous purchase.

For more information about the ecological importance of planting native plants, visit: http://bringingnaturehome.net. From that site: “Our studies have shown that even modest increases in the native plant cover on suburban properties significantly increases the number and species of breeding birds, including birds of conservation concern.”

The community-owned Belfast Co-op, open 7:30am to 8pm daily, is located at 123 High Street in downtown Belfast. For more information about the sale, contact the Co-op’s education coordinator, Kate Harris, at (207) 338-2532.