Sewickley Civic Garden Council’s May Mart to return after pandemic hiatus

Multiple garden clubs from the across the Quaker Valley area are coming together for a major flower and plant sale in Sewickley.

Sewickley Civic Garden Council’s May Mart returns after a three-year pandemic hiatus.

Broad Street will be closed from Beaver to Thorn streets from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 13 for the event.

Admission is free. More than 50 vendors are expected to participate.

“I think this is a time for families to plant gardens, and teach children about flowers and vegetables and spending time together,” said Terri Tunick, May Mart committee and Grapevine Garden Club member.

“May Mart offers a lot of great opportunities, and it’s just a fun event. I’m excited to bring back an event that brings the community together and supports local businesses.”

May Mart has been a Sewickley area tradition for more than 50 years. It last took place in 2019.

Committee co-chair Margie Gilfillan of Grapevine Garden Club said its return took more than a year of planning.

“I think we’ve been extremely fortunate in this community having a number of volunteers working May Mart for a long time,” she said. “The oral history is just fantastic. Everyone in planning this year has been involved in a very substantial way in years past.

‘We’ve been able to fairly easily pull our notes and go through our memories and get organized. There is just a tremendous about of enthusiasm for May Mart and commitment in finally being back in the community.”

The following are featured items available through the various clubs:

• Edgeworth Garden Club will sell blue salvia, hibiscus, hanging geranium baskets and herbs. They will also have planting-ready jar kits and baked goods.

• Grapevine Garden Club will offer a wide variety of its tried-and-true tomato cherries through slicers, green, red, and yellow. Complementing the tomato offerings will be mammoth basil with various peppers.

• The Little Garden Club will sell hydrangeas, ‘No Brainer Containers’ and perennials from members’ gardens.

• Trowel & Error Garden Club will offer flats of annuals and small pots of flowers, lavender sachets, and Sewickley Gazebo note cards.

• Village Garden Club will sell herbs, offered both in grower’s pots and as curated culinary basket collections, featuring tags with information for their culinary and household use. Deer resistant perennials with educational information will also be available.

• Sustainable Sewickley will offer milkweed and the Ultimate Cloth, a microfiber cloth for green clothing sellers is guaranteed reusable for up to five years to support the environmental focus of May Mart.

This year’s theme is Keeping Sewickley Green.

A plethora of supplies for indoor and outdoor gardening will be available.

People from Sustainable Sewickley, PittMoss and Zero Waste Wrangler will be available to talk about their programs, recycling and composting.

Other activities include pot painting with seeds, street chalk art and much more.

Vendors include Steel City Salts, Hughes Farm & Apiary, Labyrinth Farm Candles, Miller’s Gourmet Foods, Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Weister Lane Whimsies, Sewickley Confectionery and Sand Hill Berries.

The Sewickley Civic Garden Council helps fund, plant and maintain the hanging baskets and Broad Street flowers each year.

Each SCGC member club funds, plants, and maintains one of Village’s gardens or public spaces, including Wolcott Park, Sewickley Post Office, Sewickley Public Library Patio, and Walnut Street Parklet.

Proceeds from the sales at May Mart will support these efforts.

For more information, including a map and complete vendor list, go to sewickleygardens.com.