Bake Sale With a Side of Seedlings

Bake sales unfortunately don't carry over into adulthood very often, much like lemonade stands and onesie pajamas. This is a travesty, because who doesn't love a homey bake sale? Peterson Garden Project has found a way to curate a bake sale that will appeal equally to adults and children, by augmenting baked goods with heirloom seeds. The pastries are courtesy of bakeries and pastry chefs from across the city, served as sweet treats alongside seedlings for Peterson Garden Project's weekend-long plant and bake sale.

(Rosso Sicilian tomatoes. Photo: Seed Savers Exchange)

Peterson Garden Project is an organization that teaches people how to grow their own vegetables, by opening up community gardens throughout the city and providing plots for individuals and families. Just in time for Mother's Day, the organization is conducting a three-day plant and bake sale at their learning center (4642 N. Francisco) from May 10 through May 12, 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. daily. Along with a myriad of baked goods, the sale will include numerous heirloom seedlings sourced from Seed Savers Exchange. Seedlings will include uncommon vegetables such as Rosso Sicilian tomatoes (great for tomato sauce and tomato paste!), petite yellow watermelons, and purple de milpa tomatillos, a variety native to Mexican cornfields.

(Mint Oreos in the making by PGP's Linday Shepherd. Photo: Lindsay Shepherd)

Now on to the baked goods. There will be upwards of 72 dozen small items, two dozen empanadas, cakes, cupcakes, bread, scones, croissants, meringues, caramels, and more. Floriole Cafe & Bakery will provide scones, almond croissants, and breads, The Bristol will supply 10 dozen of their famous Nutter Butters, mini cupcakes will come courtesy of Molly's Cupcakes, and Jillian Dorrestein from Très Jolie Pâtisserie will offer fleur de sel caramels, lemon madeleines, and spring meringues in flavors like orange and lavender. And that's just a small sampling. Peterson Garden Project's own Lindsay Shepherd, herself a formative pastry cook (and former pastry cook at The Bristol), is bringing dozens of homemade mint Oreos.

The sale is BYOBag. Totes will not be provided at the sale, so attendees are encouraged to bring their own makeshift bags or boxes. In addition to seedlings and pastries, the event will have Peterson Garden Project baseball hats, T-shirts, and Square Foot Gardening quick-start kits, for those with an insatiable green thumb.