Spring planting season is just about here, and Guilford County’s annual plant sale at the Guilford County Farm is set to begin on Wednesday, April 1.

According to Guilford County officials, the sale will start at 9 a.m. that day and continue through Saturday, May 30 – or until all the plants are sold.

The plants for sale are grown by Guilford County Parks staff in the greenhouse at the Guilford County Farm, located at 7315 Howerton Rd. in Gibsonville.

County officials say buyers will be able to choose from a wide variety of plants, including native perennials, ornamental annuals, vegetable plants, succulents, herbs and hanging baskets.

Seed packs will also be available for sale.

According to a statement from the county announcing the event, the sale will be open every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as well as on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

Plants will be sold in 3-inch pots, 6-inch pots, 1-gallon pots and hanging baskets. Prices will range from $3 to $18 depending on pot size.

For anyone planning to stop by, the county notes that only cash and checks will be accepted.

The Guilford County Farm used to be the Guilford County Prison Farm, where low-threat inmates worked the land, tended cattle and grew much of their own food. The inmates even made a famous Jailhouse Jelly, which former Sheriff BJ Barnes would sometimes give jars of to commissioners – though privately many commissioners over the years expressed to the Rhino Times a reluctance to actually eat the jelly given the circumstances under which it was created.

About a decade and a half ago, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners voted to close the jail down.

The farm has a long history that stretches back nearly a century. It became a “Prison Farm” in the early 1930s, and the first prison dorm on the site was built in 1935. That building – made from stones gathered right off the land by inmates – still stands as a reminder of the farm’s origins.

Today, the property looks a whole lot different – though it remains a large and active part of the community and the surrounding area.

The site totals about 800 acres, with about 720 acres operated by the Guilford County Parks Department and about 80 acres still being used by the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department as a training facility.

Of the land managed by the county, about 600 acres are leased to local farmers who grow crops and raise cattle, while the remaining 120 acres are maintained by the county for public use.

Those areas include well-known hiking trails, greenhouses, vineyards and fishing ponds ≠  making the farm both a working agricultural site and a community destination.

More information about the Guilford County Farm and its greenhouse is available through Guilford County Parks at GuilfordCountyNC.gov/Parks.

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