Food for Lane County Hosts First Plant Sale at New Youth Farm Site

For the first time in roughly three decades of operation, Food for Lane County's Youth Farm is hosting its Spring Plant Sale on land the nonprofit actually owns. The sale takes place Saturday, April 4, at 34596 Seavey Loop Road, near the base of Mount Pisgah, with pre-order pickup available today, April 3.

Garden manager Jen Anonia and her team spent recent weeks prepping greenhouses and fields at the property, which FFLC purchased in 2024 with state and philanthropic support. The acquisition ends the Youth Farm's long run on leased land and, according to Anonia, improves production capacity, volunteer orientations and on-farm educational programming all at once.

The sale will offer vegetable, herb, berry and flower starts in 3.5-inch pots and 6-packs, including tomatoes, lettuce, peas and herbs. Food for Lane County accepts EBT/SNAP and offers SNAP matching for edible starts, a feature designed to put fresh seedlings within reach for lower-income households. Hourly farm tours begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

The new Seavey Loop Road site replaces a longtime leased location and gives the Youth Farm significantly more room to scale. In strong production years, the program has distributed more than 100,000 pounds of produce through FFLC's local food pantry network. The expanded property is intended to push those numbers higher while allowing the organization to hire and train more youth crew members each season.

The Youth Farm has anchored Food for Lane County's work since the mid-1990s, pairing food production with youth workforce development and volunteer engagement. Securing permanent farmland in 2024 removes a long-standing constraint, positioning the nonprofit to grow both its crops and its SNAP-matching programs in the years ahead.