About Us

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We would love to share our space with you.

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Use our beautiful space for your next meeting, birthday party, luncheon, book club, and more.

Our indoor gathering space has been a big hit with our Bake Shop customers, taco lovers and we are now ready to share the space as a rental for small events and meetings. The views of meadows, woods and Camels’ Hump are stunning, and in nice weather, the outdoor terrace and gardens are available for use as well. We think our space is perfect for

  • celebrating a big birthday

  • dance parties (tango lovers have been here already)

  • analog work meetings (the space cannot be darkened for digital presentations)

  • a catered meal (kitchen rental is extra)

  • a small rehearsal dinner or micro-wedding

  • art groups, book clubs, meditation groups

The space measures 17 by 34 feet and features up to 3 large wooden tables with seating for up to 30 people. Standing capacity is up to 40 people. The large windows display a view of Camel’s Hump and in winter there is a wood stove that makes for a cozy feel. Indoor and outdoor speakers are available for music too.

The Red Wagon Plants commercial kitchen (17’ by 26’) includes the following:

  • 5 burner induction range and stove with hood

  • Rackmaster hearth oven

  • 3 basin sink

  • produce sink

  • hand sink

  • commercial dishwasher with a 4min wash cycle

  • commercial coffee grinder and coffee maker

  • refrigeration space for the rental period

  • plenty of work space

The whole space is barrier free and rental includes the use of the ADA compliant bathroom.
Tables and benches can be rearranged or removed depending on your needs.

If you have specific questions, please let us know. Contact us at info@redwagonplants.com.

Prices for the Winter 2024/25 season:

GATHERING space RENTAL

2h minimum. Includes use of the outdoor patio, no kitchen use

  • 2h $100

  • 4h $200

with Red Wagon PLANTS catering

Snacks, drinks or rustic farm style lunch

  • $20-75 per person depending on menu

kitchen rental

2h minimum

  • $50 per hour + refundable cleaning deposit

If you are interested in renting our space, please contact us at info@redwagonplants.com.

Please include preferred time and dates, offerings you are interested in and any questions you might have. We look forward to hosting you!

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The Bake Shop - Fall Edition

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Delicious baked goods from our very own Red Wagon Plants kitchen.

At the bottom of this page you will find a sample menu of your September Bake Shop items including delicious Apple Hand Pies and Sweet Corn & Maple Muffins. But first:

Sandwich offerings in September

For Saturday morning breakfast Carey and Amy will be preparing two types of egg sandwiches:

Cheddar & chive egg sandwich on focaccia

Spinach & Swiss egg sandwich on a biscuit

On Sundays Sara is our sandwich chef with these two delicious offerings:

Crispy tofu with herbs & veggies on O’Bread baguette
this banh mi style sandwich is vegan

Roasted turkey, smoked gouda, apple, and fig spread panini
this pressed hot sandwich is made with O’Bread sesame wheat

Sample Fall Menu

Our September hours are Thursdays through Sundays 8am until 3pm or until we sell out. Our last day of regular hours will be Sunday, September 29 2024. We look forward to seeing you and enjoying fall together!

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The Bake Shop - Summer Edition

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Delicious baked goods from our very own Red Wagon Plants kitchen.

Seven Days wrote an article about our Bake Shop. It’s very sweet. You can read it here.

It's what your friend might serve you at their house, if that friend were an excellent cook.


Our Summer hours are Thursdays through Sundays 8am until 3pm or until we sell out.

Below you can find a sample summertime menu.

Bake Shop - Spring Edition

Delicious baked goods from our very own Red Wagon Plants kitchen.

In Spring 2024 we are open Thursday through Sunday from 8am to 5pm or until we sell out.

Everything is made right here by the supremely talented Carey Nershi and Amy Vogler. Coffee is roasted by Karen Strauther of KS Coffee in Waitsfield.

Several of our baked goods are made with almond flour or buckwheat flour and no gluten ingredients: Brownies, Financier and Pistachio cookies. Our Chia / Oat parfait is made without gluten or nuts and is vegan and sweetened with a micro dose of maple.
We use, in part, Vermont grown rye flour that we mill in house and Amy uses her sourdough as the leavening for the focaccia. Seasonally appropriate, we use herbs and flowers grown here on the farm.

We rotate through various menu items, you can always expect some sort of bread, several types of cookies and slices of cake. Below you can find a springtime sample menu.

We are Hiring!

Open Positions for the 2024 season……

Red Wagon Plants is known for high-quality organic plants, an efficient, system-based work flow, and stellar customer service. We have a fun work atmosphere with fellow plant lovers, a paid lunch break, free plants for your own garden, and a beautiful work environment.

Want to join our team?

Red Wagon’s RETAIL TEAM in Hinesburg, VT has openings.

Our retail crew is the face of the operation and we count on our staff to be knowledgeable, courteous, and confident. When not helping customers, people on the retail crew are moving plants all day long, restocking, and keeping the greenhouses clean and tidy. We are continuously making room in the retail greenhouses for new plants from the production greenhouses, creating displays and filling our space with color. We expect our retail crew to have a strong memory so they can recognize our regular customers, remember plant names and also know where all the plants are located. Our retail crew is responsible for watering and maintaining plant health within the retail greenhouses.

Interested in being a Retail Crew Member? 

Requirements: 

  • You are a gardener and plant lover with a strong background of gardening in Vermont. 

  • You have a growing interest in perennials, annuals, container gardening, vegetable gardening, you have the confidence to give advice to beginner and more advanced gardeners. 

  • You are physically fit to work outdoors in all weather and lift heavy plants repeatedly. 

  • You are friendly, kind, and patient. 

  • You enjoy working in a team. 

  • You are able to keep your calm in a busy and crowded retail setting. 

  • You can work independently and have a sense of responsibility. 

  • You have already worked in either a retail garden center, a vegetable or flower farm, for a landscaper or a nursery OR you have at least 5 years of experience gardening in a climate like Vermont's. 

When? 

  • Seasonal Position, Mid April to June/July/August - end date varies case by case. 

  • Full time and part time positions are available.

  • Daily schedule varies. We’re looking for both opening shifts, beginning at 7:30am and closing shifts, ending at 6:30pm.

  • 3 to 5 days a week, and must be available for at least 1 weekend shift per week. 

  • Starting pay $18-$20 per hour depending on experience.


If you would like to apply, please contact Retail Manager, Lily Belisle, lily@redwagonplants.com with a resume and references, and tell us why you’d like to work with plants and with Red Wagon.

Red Wagon’s PRODUCTION TEAM in Hinesburg, VT has openings.

Our production crew is the heartbeat of Red Wagon. We seed, plant and water everything we grow and we count on our team to be quick on their feet and hardworking. This job is repetitive by nature and very physical. It’s great for a natural listener, someone that loves to participate in systems, and a person who pays attention to details.

Interested in being a Production Crew Member? 

Requirements: 

  • You are a plant lover.

  • You are physically fit to work outdoors and in greenhouses in all weather and lift heavy plants repeatedly. 

  • You are friendly, kind, and reliable. 

  • You enjoy working in a team. 

  • You are able to keep your calm even with an enormous to do list. 

  • You can work independently and have a sense of responsibility. 

When? 

  • Seasonal, 6-week Position, Mid April through May. 

  • Full time and part time hours are available.

  • 3 to 5 days a week, flexible with what days of the week. 8:00-4:00


If you would like to apply, please contact Production Manager, Sarah Bacon, sarahb@redwagonplants.com with a resume and references, and tell us why you’d like to work with plants and with Red Wagon.

Morning Waterer

We are looking for someone who would help us with just watering in April and May. This is a part time position, and 2 to 3 hours a day. It could happen early, before another job or a little later in the morning after kids get dropped off at school. This is a great way to start the day - plants and quiet focus and a little physical activity.

If interested in helping us with watering, please email sarahb@redwagonplants.com

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Year End Giving

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You all helped us reach some really lofty goals with our giving campaigns this year. We were able to match your donations of $500 for flood relief and donate $1000 in cash to two local farms and New Farms for New Americans. We also donated over $30,000 in cash and plants to over 40 area groups working on food security, garden education, justice and equity, and other worthy endeavors that strengthen our sense of community. We share this list with you in case you are in a position to share your bounty.

  • JUMP

  • Boys and Girls Club Burlington

  • Burlington Dismas House

  • Lake Champlain Waldorf Shool

  • Vermont Day School

  • AALV

  • St.Michaels

  • Underhill School

  • Whole Heart

  • Special Olympics Vermont

  • CP Smith PTO

  • People's Farm/Intervale Center

  • Branch Out! Burlington

  • Pride Center of Vermont

  • Vermont Garden Network

  • New Farms for New Americans

  • CVOEO

  • Mercy Connections

  • Charlotte Senior Center

  • Janet Munt Family Room

  • Women’s correction facility garden

  • COTS

  • First Roots Preschool

  • Quarry Hill School

  • UVM Master Gardener Program

  • New Communities

  • Food Not Bombs

  • Hinesburg Resource Center

  • Friends of the Hort Farm

  • Community Health Center of Burlington

  • Burlington Garden Club

  • VT Fresh Network

  • Sustainability Academy

  • Bixby Library

  • VT Kidney Association

  • Starksboro Coop Preschool

  • Starksboro Harvest Fest

  • Burlington Food Shelf

  • HANDS

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Behind the Scenes: Pest Management at Red Wagon Plants

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Red Wagon Plants operates as an organic agricultural business. What does this mean for pest and disease management?

Beneficials, our best friends

When visiting our greenhouses you will occasionally find a hanging basket with nothing but tall grass growing in it. Aesthetically maybe not quite pleasing enough to hang on your front porch, and you might wonder what it’s doing here! When you look more closely, you will see that the grass is covered in little black aphids. Depending on how long this ‘banker plant’ has been in use, you will likely also find aphid-sized golden balls attached to the blades of grass. Some of them have a tiny hole cut into one end.

Parasitized aphid mummies

What’s going on here? One of our best and most effective ways to control aphids is the use of parasitoid wasps. If you’re imagining a swarm of yellow jackets buzzing around in our greenhouses, let me paint a different picture: These tiny wasps are less than an ⅛ of an inch long and won’t sting us, so they are not very scary to humans. Aphids are the ones that should be afraid, though. The female wasps lay their eggs into live aphids! When the egg hatches, the larva eats the aphid from the inside, then pupates, turning the dead aphid into the golden-tan mummy out of which it emerges.

We use these beneficials as a preventative measure, so we may not have aphids in our greenhouses when we release them, but we want them to be ready as soon as we have an aphid outbreak. This is where the banker plants come in.

The banker plants - made up of some species of grain and bird cherry-oat aphids - is a nursery for the wasps to lay their eggs in. Bird cherry-oat aphids will only attack cereals and not other crops in our greenhouses, so we are not spreading one pest while trying to manage another.

There are various types of parasitoid wasps, many of which will also visit your garden and aid in your pest management. One of my favorites are the ones that lay eggs on tomato hornworms and eat them up from the inside!

Parasitoid wasps are not the only invertebrate helpers we employ here at Red Wagon Plants. There are many other beneficials that can be used as a preventative measure. Most of them specialize in eating aphids, thrips, spider mites or all of the above, as well as other tasty pests.

Lacewing larva enjoying an aphid meal

Scouting for pests and diseases

Besides beneficials, scouting is the key ingredient to good pest and disease management. This means taking a close look at one plant of each variety each week. This is a lot of work, but it keeps us up to date with what is going on in the greenhouses. As soon as a pest or disease is detected, we can intervene. Oftentimes this means squishing pests by hand, picking off diseased leaves, or moving plants to a dedicated “hospital” area for special treatment and monitoring. Knowing where the pest hotspots are, tells us the most effective place to spread our beneficials each week.

Only if all other measures fail, do we apply broad-spectrum insecticides. Even though these products are approved for organic production, they do not differentiate between friend and foe. So we use them very sparingly and in a localized manner. This is how Integrated Pest Management (IPM) differs from conventional pest control: We only spray after a certain level of pests have been detected, not on a calendar schedule. This has obvious benefits for the environment, and the health of staff and customers.

Preventative Sprays

As any gardener in Vermont knows, fungal diseases are widespread in our humid climate. To limit diseases like powdery and downy mildew, we use preventative sprays. Some of these products actively kill spores on contact by drying them out and changing the pH level. Others contain a beneficial bacterium that will compete for space with pathogens. This means that if the beneficial bacteria is there first, the mildews have less room to spread. Unfortunately every new leaf that grows will need to be treated with this beneficial, so this spray is applied on a weekly schedule as soon as conditions are conducive for mildews. So if you see me walking around at Red Wagon Plants with a Ghost-Busters backpack sprayer, that’s likely what I’m doing!

A display of healthy blooms and foliage plants

This post was written by Kat Consler, RWP’s Integrated Pest Management specialist.




Our Production Team

If you are a regular shopper at RWP, you have likely met the kind and smart people that work in our retail spaces, but you probably have not seen behind the scenes. We have a team of incredible people seeding, planting and growing the plants you take home. It is because of their tremendous work ethic, attention to detail and love of plants, that our plants just hum with vibrancy. Thanks to Sara, Sarah B., Sarah M., Steph, Jill, Chad, Kat, Audrey, and Megan for making the magic happen with your hard work.

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What is Hope up to in the Garden?

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Here is a little update from Hope Johnson about what she has been up to in her garden. Hope is an unmatched talent in many departments and creative ventures including quilt making, garden design, and as an advocate for bees and pollinators. We always look to her for inspiration and now you can too!

She says:

Turned the compost which is now thawed enough to do so.

Pruned back and reduced the bed size of the Fall Gold Raspberries. Added a dusting ofwood ash (not enough to alkalize but good for potassium), lightly weeded and mulched a lot.

After a very positive experience growing winter squash last year, I am expanding my vegetable beds in the sunny area of my yard since the star magnolia has turned my kitchen garden into a part-shade environment with the consequence of inadvertently growing miniature vegetables.
NO DIGGING. Put down a generous layer of partly decomposed horse manure and bone meal, then wet cardboard, and a layer of locally sourced leaves (from my lawn) and straw. By planting time in late May, I think the microbes and invertebrates will have done their thing and I'll addhomemade compost to each planting hole.
The garlic is up and I planted two new varieties this year, Duganski and Vietnamese Red.



Our New Look!

You may have noticed we have a new look! We are excited to share it with you and hope you love it as much as we do. When I started this business, in 2005, my daughter was 8. She had a hand in coming up with our first logo - the sweet girl pulling the wagon. Louissa is now 25 (gulp!), out on her own big adventure and fully adulting.  As a team and business , we have grown up too.  While we still love these memories and that image, we have felt ready for a little makeover. Our new look better represents the abundance that surrounds us and embraces the community we’ve grown into today.  To us, it feels fresh and reflects our optimism for the future, yet remains grounded here in Hinesburg and in the 15+ year journey that has brought us to this moment. 

Big thanks to designer Tara Lynn Clayton, who has been an absolute pleasure to collaborate with. And to Lily Belisle, Sophie Cassel, April Howard, FM Muñoz, and Dan Kirk who have been busy guiding this process and making all new materials that you will see around the greenhouses, online and at our plant stands around town.

Fun fact: we have 1088 new plant signs in the works!

I am incredibly grateful to this team, and everyone on the Red Wagon crew (past, present and future) for taking this plant growing venture from a card table at the Burlington farmers market in 1996 to what it is today - a bustling oasis of plants, people, greenhouses and an herb farm. Dreams do come true. 

We are Hiring!

Open Positions for the 2022 season……

Red Wagon Plants is known for high-quality organic plants, an efficient, system-based work flow, and stellar customer service. We have a fun work atmosphere with fellow plant lovers, a paid lunch break, free plants for your own garden, and a beautiful work environment.

Want to join our team?

Red Wagon’s RETAIL TEAM in Hinesburg, VT has openings.

Our retail crew is the face of the operation and we count on our staff to be knowledgeable, courteous, and confident. Since 2020 we now have multiple ways of shopping at Red Wagon, in person and online (limited). When not helping customers, people on the retail crew are moving plants all day long, restocking, and keeping the greenhouses clean and tidy. We are continuously making room in the retail greenhouses for new plants from the production greenhouses, creating displays and filling our space with color. We expect our retail crew to have a strong memory so they can recognize our regular customers, remember plant names and also know where all the plants are located. Our retail crew is responsible for watering and maintaining plant health within the retail greenhouses.

Interested in being a Retail Crew Member? 

Requirements: 

  • You are a gardener and plant lover with a strong background of gardening in Vermont. 

  • You have a growing interest in perennials, annuals, container gardening, vegetable gardening, you have the confidence to give advice to beginner and more advanced gardeners. 

  • You are physically fit to work outdoors in all weather and lift heavy plants repeatedly. 

  • You are friendly, kind, and patient. 

  • You enjoy working in a team. 

  • You are able to keep your calm in a busy and crowded retail setting. 

  • You can work independently and have a sense of responsibility. 

  • You have already worked in either a retail garden center, a vegetable or flower farm, for a landscaper or a nursery OR you have at least 5 years of experience gardening in a climate like Vermont's. 

When? 

  • Seasonal Position, Mid April to June/July/August - end date varies case by case. 

  • Full time and part time positions are available.

  • Daily schedule varies. We’re looking for both opening shifts, beginning at 7:30am and closing shifts, ending at 6:30pm.

  • 3 to 5 days a week, and must be available for at least 1 weekend shift per week. 


If you would like to apply, please Contact Retail Manager, Lily Belisle, lily@redwagonplants.com with a resume, 3 references, and a cover letter describing why you’d like to work with plants and with Red Wagon. Tell us what you love most about gardening! Show us why you want to share your love of gardening with others.


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A year for growing and learning

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Welcome to a new year, friends. We are putting together our workshops and classes for the 2022 season and would love your help. Would you let us know more about your garden learning goals for this year and what type of events you would like to attend, virtually or in person? We cannot wait to hear your thoughts, and we have created a quick survey for you to fill out. It should take less than 5 minutes, and to thank you we will enter you in a raffle to win a complete set of our homegrown and handmade herb salts and vinegars. Thank you so much for your time and help. We cannot wait to see you all soon.

Cheers from Julie, Sophie, and Sarah - the Red Wagon Community Outreach Team

Last Week of the 2021 Season

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Our last week of the season!

Thank you for gardening this year, and for supporting us in all the incredible ways that you do. .

Thank you for gardening this year, and for supporting us in all the incredible ways that you do. Without all of your interest in gardening and plants, we would not be here. Our work is fun, and meaningful in every way, and attracts such a great team of people, both as workers and as customers. I am so grateful to each of you for another wonderful season. July and August have been a little more quiet than normal, and I am guessing it is because of the rain and the ability to travel and visit. I know my own garden has suffered its share of neglect due to its absentee owner. But this week, I am vowing to turn that around and spend 3 early morning sessions cleaning up, cutting back, and putting in a few new plants. Maybe you are feeling a little need to tame the jungle too? I welcome you to follow along and help keep me accountable in this late August push. I am happy to help you do the same. Share your goals and projects with us. You can tag us on social media, or send us an email, or even better, come in this week and give us an update. We love to hear from you.

In the Garden

My 4 projects this week in the home garden:

  • Redo my herb planters for fall. I am ripping out old basil, cilantro, dill and planting fresh for fall.

  • Cut back some very tired looking perennials that melted in the rain.

  • Pull out some thugs, and replant with some better behaved plants.

  • Rein in some of the plants along my gravel path - mainly Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (Cranesbill) and Stachys ‘Helen von Stein’ (Lambsear)

I will take some photos before and after each session. Feel free to follow along on Instagram or Facebook.

In the vegetable gardens at work, I will continue to lay in successions of greens for the fall. I am harvesting tomatoes, eggplants (finally) and peppers non-stop.

In the Kitchen

I have been making lots of yummy things with all the produce:

  • Refrigerator pickles with the hot peppers. I use them in everything! The pickling mellows out the heat, and I take out a whole pepper, chop it fine, and add it to morning eggs, tacos, ricotta for stuffing other veggies, etc.

  • Bread and butter pickles with cucumbers

  • Eggplant parmesan

  • Baba Ganoush

  • Roasted eggplant, fennel, sweet onion, tomatoes, herbs and garlic for the freezer

  • Peach Jam

  • Plum Jam

  • Peach Bourbon BBQ Sauce

  • Brandied peaches

  • Frozen blueberries

  • Blueberry tart

  • Blueberry sauce

Full disclosure - I have purchased eggplant and cucumbers and blueberries. Thank you, Old Road Farm, Steph, Adams Berry Farm and Sweet Roots Farm! I did not have great success with the eggplant in our heavy clay soils this year due to all of the rain. And our cucumbers all died due to a virus early in the season. Yes, these things happen to everyone and I we are fortunate to have fabulous farms in this area who work magic with soil and seeds no matter the weather. And a giant thank you to my friends Amy, Matt and Yvan for the peaches and plums. I am very lucky to have exceedingly generous friends with thriving home orchards.

I am happy to share recipes if you would like any.

In the Greenhouses

Our “Plant of the Week” deal is once again a whole group of plants, not just one. Here is the scoop: you buy 3 perennials and or shrubs, and we give you a fourth 1 free. It is ok to mix and match, and the lowest priced item will be the freebie. It is a great time to stock up on plants for the future planting projects (keep them watered until you get to them) that can happen a little later. Maybe once the kids are back in school, you can steal away into the garden for a few hours and pop in your new plants.

We are cleaning up, and starting the maintenance projects that keep our crew busy into the fall and winter. The herb farm continues to produce beautiful and fragrant harvests twice a week, and the indoor herbs are doing really well in their new beds.

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Pruning Raspberries with Lily Belisle

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Many trees, shrubs, vines and brambles benefit from annual pruning. Many plants have their own preferred way to be pruned. It can be difficult to gain confidence with a task you only get to do once a year. Plants are forgiving, and give second chances. So my suggestion is to watch a YouTube video and give it a try. Raspberries are a great place to start.

Raspberries are vigorous growers once the plants are established and you'll greatly improve your yield, disease resistance, and ease of harvest with annual pruning. There are 2 types of raspberries - ones that make fruit on second year canes (floricanes), these are your summer raspberries - and ones that make fruit on first (primocane) and second year canes (floricanes), these are your fall raspberries with a few fruits in the summer. I grow both types at my house and prefer to prune them all the same way.

You'll need hand pruners or loppers and gloves. These canes are prickly.



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The goal is to remove all canes that are 2 years old (floricanes) and any damaged or weak canes. Cut cane down as close to the soil level as possible.

How do you tell which canes are floricanes? They will have branching, the bark will look dull and weathered, and when you cut them the wood will be dead.

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Many of my canes were damaged by rabbits, so I cut all those down too. Any very thin canes should also be removed.

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Lastly with all the remaining canes that I'm keeping I prune them down to be about 4-5' tall.

Enjoy!

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Virtual Workshop Schedule for Spring 2021

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We are so excited to share our spring workshop line up with you. This year, our three main workshops will be supplemented with an exciting array of follow up opportunities: related plant and seed collections; garden visits with presenters; tools and other merchandise that complement the topic; and late summer and fall workshops to help with harvesting, preserving and maintaining the food, medicine and gardens you will create with us this year.

Your success in the garden is our goal. Plain and simple. We will provide you with everything you need to make it work.

Julia Parker Dickerson: Introduction to Pollinator Gardens 

Saturday, March 20th from 10:00AM -11:30AM 

Delve into the importance of pollinator gardens, and prepare to create your own wildlife haven. Julia has so much inspiring, hands on experience transforming public spaces into beautiful oases for our beneficial insects and friends. Participants in this workshop can recreate this at home with our plant and seed collections and garden visits with Master Gardener Julia and members of the Red Wagon Team. Cost $15.  

Julie Rubaud: Onions 101 

Tuesday, March 23rd from 5:30PM -6:15PM 

Back by popular demand! Everything you need to know to grow, harvest and store onions. Onions need to go in the ground early. Find out why and all the other tips and tricks to growing and storing onions, leeks, and shallots. Never buy another onion! Cost $10.

  

Julie Rubaud: Gardening for Abundance - Vegetables 

Saturday, March 27th from 10:00AM -11:30AM 

Gain guidance and tips in creating a garden to support your definition of abundance this year. We will focus on storage crops, growing for preserving, and sharing with local food pantries. Red Wagon will offer additional support with plant and seed collections that will be available for purchase during the season, garden visits with Julie and other Red Wagon team members, and late summer and fall workshops that support your canning and freezing and dehydrating activities. We will help you partner up with local food pantries if you would like to share the abundance. Cost $15.  

Julie Rubaud: Strawberries 101 

Tuesday, March 30th from 5:30PM -6:15PM 

Plants? Bare root? What is the difference? Come find out! We are bringing back this popular workshop to help new gardeners learn all about growing strawberries. They are easy to grow as long as you know what they like and have realistic expectations. Jam, frozen berries, and countless fresh fruit can be had from the home garden. Cost $10.

 

Sophie Cassel: The Medicinal Herb Garden - Growing for Beauty and Wellness 

Saturday, April 3rd from 10:00AM -11:30AM 

An introduction to why and how to create and utilize your own medicinal herb garden. Sophie’s workshops are fun and filled with practical easy to follow instruction. Her understanding of medicinal plants is vast and enthusiastic. Participants can follow up with this class by purchasing our medicinal plant collections, scheduling garden visits with Sophie, and singing up for follow up workshops in late summer and fall to help you process your medicinal herb garden into products for home use. Cost $15.

  

Chad Donovan: Pests and Disease of the Garden 101

Tuesday, April 13th from 5:30PM -6:15PM 

Learn to prevent, identify and treat regular pests. Pro tips for garden success! Chad brings his decades of gardening and greenhouse experience to you in an accessible and easy to understand format. He is responsible for our the overall health of our plants in our greenhouses and herb farm, and does an incredible job explaining how home gardeners can achieve similar results. Cost $10.

  

Ben Mayock: Basketry for the Garden: Weaving the Carrying Tray

Tuesday, April 17th from 10:00AM -12:00PM 

A hands-on experience weaving your own 'Carrying Tray' garden basket with local artist and basket maker, Ben Mayock. After a winter of private Zoom workshops with Ben, we are so excited to share our experience with all of you. Space is limited, and will require a pick up of the materials prior to the workshop. Materials can be shipped for an additional cost if you are not local. Cost $55. 

 

Julie Rubaud: Tomatoes 101

Tuesday, May 11th at 5:30PM -6:15PM 

Back by popular demand! This is the day we release our tomato plants and answer all your questions. Julie will go over her favorite varieties, the best practices for planting and trellising and some of her favorite preservation methods. We grow 75 tomato varieties - find out why and which ones are right for you. Cost $10.

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Blast Off!

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The last week of February is when we typically start up the greenhouses. That means we turn on the heaters, run the water, clean up and sanitize all the surfaces of each greenhouse, and get some seeds into the soil. Our spring starts now, with more time in the greenhouse touching plants and dirt and feeling the sun warm us up. While we fast track ourselves out of winter with the help of the greenhouses, here are a few things you could do at home to follow along.

  1. Start seeds. If you have grow lights, now is a great time to start leeks, onions, shallots, and certain perennials. If you don’t have grow lights, you could sprout seeds in a mason jar or start some edible shoots in a sunny window. Mustard greens are the quickest, and the most forgiving of poor light. Here is a blog post on how to start your own shoots and micro-greens indoors. You can order seeds in our online store and pick up your order Friday afternoon (or get in touch to arrange a time that suits you). Our bagged soil has started to come in too. You can s find that here. More soil and seeds coming soon!

  2. Make a plant list. Here is what we are growing this year. This is a perfect time to get out the graph paper, the garden journal or the art supplies and dream up your garden plan. Some people make “mood boards” by cutting out pictures from garden magazines. You can create a digital version using Pinterest, Google Slides, or Powerpoint. Or, if you are like me, you can simply make lists of plant names. I just love keeping a list of plants in a notebook, or on my phone that I can keep adding to as I the mood strikes or as I learn about a new variety. There are so many ways to plan a garden, and they are all correct. Let us know if you want help!

  3. Learn about something new you would like to grow. This year, I really want to get into forcing Belgian endive. I am learning about it on You Tube and by talking to other growers. It is one of my favorite things to eat, but it requires some planning. You can learn more about how it is done on a big commercial scale here, . Chicories in general are on my list for this year. This video by Charles Dowding is a great introduction if you are curious too.

  4. Mark your calendar! We will be opening for walk in shopping on Friday, April 16th. Please keep your eye out for more information about in-person shopping, hours, and COVID protocols. We cannot wait to see you and share the greenhouses with you again.

With gratitude for all of your support,

Julie

PS.

We want to let you know that Family Cow Farmstand will be closing at the end of this week. We are so sad to say goodbye to Aubrey and Scott, and we wish them well on their next adventure. They have been the absolute best farmers, neighbors and friends. We eagerly await their next iteration. For now, come to the farm stand and stock up in the next few days.

A perfect gift from Aubrey this winter - chicories grown in Massachusetts at Kitchen Garden Farm. This photo has inspired my 2021 garden plan and set the bar quite high for improved radicchio growing in our display garden. I cannot wait.

A perfect gift from Aubrey this winter - chicories grown in Massachusetts at Kitchen Garden Farm. This photo has inspired my 2021 garden plan and set the bar quite high for improved radicchio growing in our display garden. I cannot wait.

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Thank you, How to Find our Plants and Herbs, plus a Recipe

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Thank you from all of us for an incredible, memorable, and unique season!

Thank you from all of us for an incredible, memorable, and unique season!

As our regular retail hours for 2020 end today at 5pm, our team would like to thank you for a wonderfully unique season. We are closing a little earlier than usual, but will keep up a once a week pick up with online sales and will continue twice a week deliveries to our wholesale partner stores. Read below to find out more!

During the month of August, we will be doing curbside pick up once a week, on Fridays between noon and 5. If you would like to order plants, please do so here, and we will have it ready the following Friday as long as orders are placed before midnight on Wednesday.

Our online store will carry an assortment of veggies and herbs for the fall kitchen garden, perennials, and houseplants. For the first time, we will also be offering directly to you the herbs and herbal products coming from our herb farm: freshly harvested herbs in bulk quantities for your drying and processing needs, herb salts, herbal vinegars, and pesto. Please check the website every Saturday for the latest updates, and place your orders by the following Wednesday at midnight for Friday pick ups between noon and 5.

If you need something sooner than the following Friday, just let us know and we can make another arrangement.

Confused? Have questions? Drop us a line at info@redwagonplants.com.

Thanks for a fantastic season in weird times. We are just so grateful for all of the orders and purchases you made this year. You kept our crew going, and you planted gardens like never before. We loved hearing from you and seeing you in person once we opened for shopping.

You can continue to find our plants at our wholesale partner stores:

  • Shelburne Supermarket

  • Gardeners Supply, Intervale and Williston locations

  • Healthy Living

  • CIty Market, South End and Downtown locations

  • Bibens Ace Hardware, North Ave location

Recipe for Herbes Salées (adapted from Spruce Eats)

Here is a traditional Quebecois way to preserve large amounts of herbs to use all winter.

Suggested uses: A teaspoon in hot water makes a soothing and instant herbal broth. Stir into soups and stews, mix into salad dressings and tomato sauce, mix with cream cheese or cottage cheese….the uses are endless and a jar of these preserved herbs will be a welcome reminder of summer and freshness during the depths of winter.

  • 1 cup chives (fresh, chopped)

  • 1 cup savory (fresh, chopped)

  • 1 cup parsley (fresh, chopped)

  • 1 cup chervil (fresh, chopped)

  • 1 cup carrots (grated)

  • 1 cup celery leaves or lovage or cutting celery (chopped)

  • 1 cup green onions (chopped)

  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup coarse salt

    In a large bowl, combine chopped chives, savory, parsley, chervil, carrots, celery leaves, and green onions.. Layer 1 inch of herb mixture in the bottom of a crock or glass bowl and sprinkle with some of the salt. Repeat layers until all of the herb mixture and salt is used.

    Cover and refrigerate for 2 weeks. Drain off accumulated liquid and pack herb mixture into sterilized jars. Refrigerate until ready to use. Can keep for up to a year in the refrigerator.

Herbes Salées photo by Kate Bentley

Herbes Salées photo by Kate Bentley

Tomato Time

We have been getting so many eager requests for tomatoes, and they are finally released, as of this morning. It is still too early to plant them, but we know that many of you like to select them early, so here they are.

Many varieties are available, but many more are still growing and will be available next week.. We have all of your favorite varieties growing in our greenhouses. Here is the link to what we have available now.

Keep them indoors at night or anytime temperatures dip below 50F. They really don’t like the stress of cold nights and cold soil. Soil temperatures should be at 50F for tomatoes to really thrive and take off. We are nowhere near that with all of the cold nights we have had lately.

Some of our staff favorites:

  • Sungold for snacking in the garden

  • Celebrity for big batches of sauce or freezing

  • Pink Berkeley Tie Dye and Brandymaster Yellow for slicing onto sandwiches

  • Prudens Purple for old fashioned heirloom flavor.

  • Juliet for salsa, roasting and quick salads

  • Paul Robeson for earlyness and for flavor

My mouth is watering as I type this! I absolutely cannot wait for tomato and eggplant and pepper season!

Tomato plants are looking good and getting ready to meet their new homes.

Tomato plants are looking good and getting ready to meet their new homes.

I will help you decide on which tomatoes to choose for your garden, how to plant them and care for them including a quick look at pruning and trellising, and some of my favorite ways to preserve them for winter. My goal is to help you grow and enjoy tomatoes in the summer and, if so inclined, know how to preserve them to get through winter without ever buying a tomato. You have until noon to sign up.

I am really loving the clematis this week. It is just beaming and healthy. Clematis does really well with eastern exposure. It likes to have its roots cool, so I often plant nasturtium or calendula at the base of the vine to keep the sun from hittin…

I am really loving the clematis this week. It is just beaming and healthy. Clematis does really well with eastern exposure. It likes to have its roots cool, so I often plant nasturtium or calendula at the base of the vine to keep the sun from hitting the root zone.

We are grateful for all of your support and hope you are doing well during this unusual time. We will continue with our pre-orders, home delivery and next day curbside pick up for the rest of May and are not sure when / if we will open to the public this year. Our online ordering system is going very well and we find that it is the best way to keep our staff and community safe and to move as many plants out of our greenhouses as possible. Thanks for your understanding and for all of your orders. We miss seeing you!

Take care, and happy gardening,

Julie and the crew.