COTE: Heirloom stalking beats day at a mall

By Maria Cote, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Thursday, May 8, 2008

I've read that when shopping, men and women are opposites. Men "hunt" - they track down their prey (say, a white sweater - the first one spotted will do just fine, thank you), grab it and head to the checkout line.

Women "gather," content to shuffle through rack after rack of sweaters to find the perfect knit wonder in just the right shade of white (not winter white, mind you; only a slightly blue-tinted white will do).

I feel like one of the guys. Crowds make me dizzy, too many choices make my knees weak and the high price of everything from groceries to clothing makes my wallet hurt.

But the plant sales listed on pages 6 and 7 sure look tempting. I might just brave the crowds for that perfect pansy or the most robust rose. Most are held outside in the fresh air, so none of that claustrophobic "trapped in the mall" feeling.

Most important, many of these sales give back to the community. The mother of them all, the Denver Botanic Gardens sale, helps support a gem in this city.

Another, the Ginormous plant sale in Boulder, supports Growing Gardens, an organization that manages community gardens where everyone from youths to seniors can experience the wonders of organic gardening.

A plant auction and sale by the Front Range Organic Gardeners (they like to call themselves FROGS), caught my eye.

A few facts about FROG:

* The club - about 60 members strong - has been up and running since 1986, making it one of the longest-running garden clubs in the state.

* The group's plant sale/auction has been going on every May for the past 20 years. This year the event is Thursday at the Denver Presbytery Hall; call 303-744-7871 for more information.

* Around 90 percent of proceeds from the sale go to nonprofit organizations. This year's recipients include Earthlinks, the Troy Chavez Foundation Gardens and Global Children's Gardens.

* All plants are either seed-started by club members or divided from their organic gardens.

"We were organic before it was even cool to be organic," says FROG member Linda Tegtmeier, the auctioneer at the event.

"The specialty of this sale is the huge variety of tomato plants, especially heirloom varieties. It's unlikely that people will find these at garden centers."

OK, FROG member. I have no need for the perfect white sweater, but for a glorious heirloom tomato? I'll jump.