The Horticulture Department will be selling a selection of over 1000 plants this weekend. Come and get one before they’re gone.

The sale commenced on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will continue on until Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The sale was located at the Horticulture Department also known as the 1600 building which is bordering along Berkeley Ave.

Parking was be free, and cash or checks are only accepted.

The sale’s success has created loyal customers over the years.

“I think it’s been about ten years, I go to different ones, but I make this one every year,” said Helen Wood on attending the plant sale.

Wood owns a habitat with over 1000 plants and provides nectar food for all her local butterflies and hummingbirds.

“We’re here to serve the community,” said Valerie Loew on why they hold the sale every year. Loew is a horticulture professor who teaches permaculture, aquaponics and hydroponics. “The money generated from our plant sales pays to have our interns here.”

The process of creating the plant sale takes months. It is planned throughout the year, according to Gregg Quint, an intern who is charge the shade house.

The interns are hired in January and stay until the fall. Throughout the course of two semesters, the interns will learn all the skills of a horticulturist.

While they are learning their skills, they produce plants that will sell to pay for their salary, according to Loew.

“It’s a learning experience, a lot of propagation and volume,” said Edwin Gomez, a intern at the Horticulture Department who is charge of perennials. “We get to know the basic needs that plants require.”

“Right now I’m working at a nursery, and they actually hired me pretty quickly because I had all my previous knowledge and experience from here,” said Gomez on his preparation at the Horticulture Department.

Loew won an innovation grant and the department used the money to build new farming systems to teach students controlled environmental agriculture, the future of farming.

“We’re pretty much the only community college in California that offers a course a 3-unit course in aquaponics and hydroponics,” said Loew.

The department is trying to promote the idea of growing locally and growing near the urban center which cuts down the amount of energy and transportation fuel involved, according to Dr. Roger Kern, a microbiologist and biotechnologist who has worked for NASA’s jet propulsion laboratories for over 20 years.

Fullerton College is in line to receive a brand new Horticulture STEM faciltiy sometime in the future according to the Measure J bond project.

Loew recommends any student, especially a STEM major, to take a course and check out what’s available in the Horticulture Department.