10 years ago, the Boise Flea Market was born from a love of finding vintage treasures. The street-style market full of vintage goodies and handmade items is held on Sundays every summer in the Albertson’s Stadium parking lot.
With a large variety of small businesses tabling at the market, walking through the busy aisles and eyeing the stalls is something every Boise resident should experience, even if you don’t plan on buying anything.
Boise Flea Market founder and operator, Erinn Urquiaga, looks for opportunities to work with students as often as possible.
“I feel like I need to give back to young entrepreneurs because that’s how we give back to our communities,” Urquiaga said, noting that the flea offers discounted booth rent for students in partnership with the university.
Young entrepreneur Jenna Plum, a business administration student, leapt at the chance to sell her own product at the flea: plants.
At this year’s market, Plum will sell a wide array of beginner-friendly, low-maintenance plants including pothos and spider plants, ideal for student life and dorm living.
After moving into her first apartment, Plum and her roommates decided to fill the space with plants. Shortly after, most of the plants were dead.
“I’ve noticed a lot of people don’t understand how to water plants,” Plum said, “I totally killed [my first plant] because I thought you were supposed to water it every day.”
A detailed care guide designed by Plum comes with the purchase of any plant, including information about light requirements, watering instructions, soil preferences, repotting instructions and pet safety.
Plum’s plants are cut and propagated, meaning taking a cutting from a larger parent plant to grow new plants, from a variety of sources, including her mother’s plants and others she sourced from local shops.
Growing the plants herself allows for detailed and accurate care guides, with the goal of ensuring all plants will thrive in their new homes.
“The hardest part is just waiting,” Plum said, “it is kind of like watching grass grow.”
Plum said keeping plants improves serotonin, relieves stress and anxiety and keeps the air fresh and clean. For Plum, plants also provide a sense of routine. Growing up in a house full of greenery, her passion for plants has been a long time coming.
“My love of plants definitely started from my mom,” she said.
Cassie Findling, Plum’s mother, spent many days of Plum’s youth gardening.
“I always tried to get her to come outside and garden with me,” Findling recalled.
When Plum moved out and realized how much she missed her mother’s plants, her new apartment quickly became a jungle.
When Plum decided to sell plants at the flea market, her mother was proud to see her own passion instilled in Plum.
“I never know what to expect with Jenna,” Findling said, “It did surprise me, but didn’t all at the same time.”
For Plum and Findling a love for plants seems to be genetic. When Findling was a young girl, her mother and grandmother would collect flowers and trade with their friends at church.
“My grandma always said that you never say thank you for flowers because they’re supposed to be shared,” Findling said, adding that she still has tulips and daffodils gifted from her mother and grandmother growing in her garden today.
This sentiment holds true for Plum.
“I’m most excited [to see] people smile,” Plum said. “I like making people happy, especially if it’s something that’s personal to me.”
