Tomato plants are abundant in Ross Valley, where approximately 500 have sprouted in the backyards of members of the Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church.
Church volunteers started growing the popular plants, which they plan to sell, when they caught word that the pandemic halted the UC Marin Master Gardeners’ massive spring tomato plant sale. The event features hundreds of plants that grow best in Marin.
“We realized there was going to be a gap this year,” said Patti Vance, a church volunteer who raised seedlings at her home. “We thought this was just one of those things we could help out with.”
The benefit sale is set for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the church parking lot at 100 Tarry Road. If there are any plants left over, they will be made available Sunday after the Easter church service.
The project is an offshoot of the church’s “justice garden,” an effort launched in 2013 to grow organic produce to benefit community hunger relief programs. Since its founding, the project has raised more than $22,000 in donations to help the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and other organizations.
“One of the missions of the Presbyterian church is hunger relief,” said the Rev. Beverly Brewster, who started the garden with her partner Michael Durphy. “I think people, now with COVID, are more aware of food insecurity, and how many hungry children we have in this county. Our goal is to reach as many vulnerable people as possible.”
Durphy, the church’s green thumb, said volunteers grow carrots, chard, kale, beets and herbs, among other plants. As for tomato plants, they have been part of the church’s garden for over a year, after Durphy decided to grow them at home to transport to the church garden.
“We ended up with more than we needed,” he said, noting that the tomato plants were a hit at the church’s farm stand last year. “That sort of inspired a couple of volunteers to think, what if we raised a lot in the community and had a communitywide sale?”
David Lewis, director of the University of California Cooperative Extension, which manages the UC Marin Master Gardeners program, called the community effort “a wonderful idea.”
Lewis said the organization decided to cancel its annual tomato market when December hit and shelter-in-place rules were still in place. The organization has a greenhouse at the Falkirk Center in San Rafael.
“For the safety of our volunteers, who grow the seedlings in our greenhouse, we decided, we can wait a year,” Lewis said.