Sequim Gazette staff

Another sunny spring means Sequim is soon to bloom with baskets.

Sequim High School agriculture students and Sequim FFA are busy prepping 140 baskets to hang from light poles and sit in planters through the summer.

The annual program, started in 1997, benefits

the high school’s agriculture program, FFA and the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Christmas lights program in downtown Sequim.

Baskets include geraniums, lavender, lilacs, petunias and more. The City of Sequim maintains the baskets by watering daily.

Steve Mahitka, agriculture instructor and FFA adviser, said interest in agricultural programs is growing and more than 200 students are signed up for courses next year.

Freshmen with the Introduction to Agriculture class enjoy their work so far.

Maya Dippert signed up this year because she thought it’d be different from regular science courses and finds it fun.

Bryce Dryke and Jacob Lund wanted to be outside more and learn science that’s more hands-on.

“And we get to help the community,” Lund said.

In addition to the city’s baskets, students are prepping 30 more baskets for Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend.

Minimum sponsorships for a basket are $100, with sponsors’ names displayed on green tags along with those of the baskets’ creators. For more information, call Emily Westcott at 683-0183 or 360-670-6294.

The FFA and agriculture classes hold their annual plant sale at the school’s greenhouse, 601 N. Sequim Ave., from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. May 15-18. Call the school at 582-3600.