The Kitchen Garden: Abundant Harvest in Small Spaces

The following is a hand out that accompanied a workshop I presented at the NOFA conference Feb 12, 2012. -Julie

An abundant harvest in a small space can seem like a challenge, but by understanding a few concepts, you can make the most of your small garden so that it meets your needs and brings you joy. Observing plants is the best way to develop garden awareness; making good choices is the best way to avoid “garden guilt.” Abundant harvests have to do with efficiency:

• The efficiency of the plant taking up nutrients
• The efficiency of the amount of time it takes for the plant to mature.
• The efficiency of minimized waste.
• The efficiency of using your space to its maximum potential.

These are not hard and fast rules, but can be applied at your discretion in any area of the garden you would like to improve. These ideas can work for the spontaneous or lazy gardener (like me) or for the hyper-planner who maps it all out on graph paper ahead of time (like my neighbor). Think of it as cooking without a recipe - once you know a few techniques and concepts, you can explore and have decent results most of the time. And there is no such thing as garden failure - it is just a lesson waiting to be learned. The big factors:

• Soil - texture, nutrients, compost, fertilizer
• Shape - raised bed, containers, or “in ground”, bed prep
• Water - drip, overhead, by hand, on timers, etc
• Cultivation - weeds, mulching,  pests and diseases, season extension, spacing and timing, succession planting, shape of plants
• Harvest - understanding life cycle of plants, post-harvest handling, when to try for multiple harvest or when to cut your losses, cleaning up plant debris.

Soil should be loose and rich and deep.  In a container it should be a pre-mixed potting soil, not garden soil. If the container is large (1 gallon or more) it should have some drainage material in the bottom. Many things work well for this - styrofoam packing peanuts, crushed up plastic pots, gravel, etc. If a pot is very lare (3 gallons or more) the drainage material can be a little deeper, up to the bottom third of the pot. It is a good idea to cover the drainage material with a piece of burlap, an old pillow case, or some other type of screen or fabric to keep the soil from washing down into the material that should remain porous.

In a raised bed, it can be a combination of materials including pre-made finished compost, leaf mold (rotted leaves - make a pile in the fall, it’s good to go in the bottom of the raised bed in the spring), peat moss, rotted manure/bedding (a good source is horse farms), garden soil,  sand and pre-mixed top soil / compost combinations. The key is to have a mixture of ingredients to re-create the complexity of a living soil system.

In the garden, the soil should be worked deeply with a 4 or 5 pronged fork, and loosed by hand or with a hoe. Even if you use a rototiller in the garden, the plants will benefit from having the soil loosened more deeply than where the rototiller tines reach. It is a good idea to shovel out the paths of the garden and put the extra soil onto the beds. This essentially makes a raised bed and will allow the roots to grow quickly and deeply in their search for food. Nutrients can come from compost, granular fertilizer, “Compost Plus” and/or  mineral inputs. It is a good idea to get a soil test in your in-ground garden or raised bed. If you are using materials in the raised bed that you know are of good quality, you can skip this, but if your plants look deficient during the growing months, you may opt to do a test after all.  Applying granular fertilizer or “Compost Plus” is best done after the plants have had a chance to grow out - either a month or so after seeding or two weeks or so after transplanting. Water is best done through drip irrigation - either soaker hoses or drip tape. A good source of drip tape is Dripworks. Next best watering choice is by hand since you can aim the hose nozzle at the soil, and not get the foliage wet. Third best choice (and not a good one, sorry) is overhead sprinklers: they require less of your time and labor, but they get the foliage wet. Two reasons to avoid getting the foliage wet with overhead irrigation (sprinklers and incorrect hand watering):

1. it rots the plants, and disease can set in. Dry plants tend to be healthier plants.
2. the plants take up water with their roots, not their leaves. You waste a lot of water and the leaves act as a nice umbrella for the roots, making it wasteful. You have to water more than necessary for the roots to actually start drinking. Getting the plants wet and watering the garden are two different things, and it is best not to confuse them.

Watering is best done in the morning - it gives the plants a chance to dry off before night time and supports their busy daytime growth. Watering at the end of the day is not recommended since disease spreads most during humid summer nights.  You can water the garden during the middle of the day, and the plants will still have time to dry off by sunset. Cultivation is simply the act of caring for plants. In larger scale farming, to “cultivate” means to scuff up the soil in such a way that you are removing weeds, usually involving a tractor and some sort of implement. Here we use the term “cultivate” in a broader sense meaning a general discussion of the cultural requirements of common garden plants. The “cultural requirements” of a plant are all the things that a plant needs from humans in order to thrive. For example, the site, the water, the tilth or texture of the soil, the space and  the nutrients are all a part of a plant’s cultural needs. To understand what a plant needs, you have to look at these factors:

1. what is it’s shape? Shape of plants, physiological structure, and type of cells that make up the roots and the foliage all give you clues to what the plant needs. Thin fibrous roots dry out more than thick, tuberous roots (think of an onion plant vs. a tomato plant). Waxy, shiny leaves are more drought tolerant than matte, thin leaves (think of a succulent like aloe vs.a leafy plant like lettuce). Large plants with broad leaves have very different requirements than skinny tall plants (think brcocolli vs onion). The canopy a plant creates is also a clue - plants with a small canopy (onions, celery, leeks) do not cast much of a shadow. This makes them very vulnerable to weeds. Plants that create a large canopy (squashes, cabbages, broccoli, eggplant) cast a large shadow which slows down weed growth. Understanding the shape or growth habit of a plant also helps you maximize the potential of your small garden.
1. A tall, vining plant can be trellised.
2. A low growing, sprawling plant can be planted on the edge where it spills onto a lawn.
3. A tall, skinny plant can be tucked into tight spots.
4. A pretty, decorative plant can be planted in the flower bed.
2. how hungry is it? Plants that need a lot of fertility are often referred to as “heavy feeders”. One common point amongst most heavy feeders is their life span. A baby lettuce plant that is in the ground for 20 days is going to be a light feeder. A giant, prize winning pumpkin in the ground for 130 days is going to be a heavy feeder. Plants that produce fruit such as tomatoes, zucchini, squash, peppers and eggplant are best fed when in a vegetative state (all green leaf growth, earlier in the first 45 days of transplanting); once those plants are in their fruiting state, it is best to lay off the fertilizer or compost which support green growth, not fruit growth. The plant has only so much energy, and if it is putting it into leaf growth, it won’t also put it into fruit growth. It is a balancing act since the green growth needs to happen quickly and in a lush manner in the earlier part of the season in order to support healthy fruiting in the latter part of the season.
3. how thirsty is it? As in the discussion of shape, a plant’s water needs have to do with its structure, but also with weather and soil type. A garden in sandy soil will always need more water than a garden in clay soils. You can look for cues of thirstiness in a plant and water just as needed. These clues include very slight curling of leaves, a blue-like hue that creeps in (this is very sublte), or a very subtle droop in the way flowers are angled. This type of “reading the garden” takes some observation to understand, but gardening is a lifetime project with countless places to learn. Fruiting vegetables tend to taste better with less water. Leafy vegetables tend to taste better with more water. It is entirely possible to water tomatoes only once every two weeks, even in a drought, and get very tasty fruit. If you did that with lettuce, it would be bitter at best, but more likely it would simply be dead.
4. how well does it share? A plant that knows how to share light, water, and nutrients with its neighbors is a plant that does well in small spaces. Radishes are a good example. They can be sown alongside just about any other crop, and they do quite well because of their short life span, lower light requirements, and broader leaves that shade out weeds. Radishes can share. Other examples of plants that cooperate nicely: arugula, baby lettuce, scallions (they are skinny and can go in nooks), cilantro, curly parsley or smaller varieties of Italian parsley, strawberries and wild strawberries, and pansies. Notice....with the exception of scallions, all these plants are low growing, have broad leaves that create a canopy that shades out weeds, and can tolerate a bit of shade that might be thrown by a neighboring canopy.
5. how well does it compete? Plants that compete well are plants that are not easily thwarted by dry conditions, weedy conditions, temperature extremes, or low nutrition. You can always increase your harvest and increase your efficiency by knowing which plants have these characteristics. It basically allows you to prioritize garden tasks -you can make the less competitive plants a priority, and save the more tolerant, tough plants for a day when you have a little more time.  Working smarter in the garden can increase the harvest, and save you some “garden guilt”, just by knowing when to say “it’s okay if that is weedy, it can wait until the weekend.”

Succession planting is another way to increase your yields. This is the act of planting multiple generations of plants so that you have a continuous harvest. The trick with succession planting is to know a few numbers

1. the date of the average last frost in spring
2. the date of the average  first frost in fall
3. the amount of time it takes for a plant to be harvestable (a.k.a. “days to maturity)

and two cultural factors:

1. is the crop frost tolerant or not?
2. is it a “multiple harvest” crop or a one time harvest?

Once you know these numbers and the frost tolerance of a plant, you can make some simple calculations based on your season length to determine how many generations of a particular plant you can grow. For example, head lettuce has about a 40 day life cycle from transplant time to harvest time, and it can tolerate a light frost. This means you can start transplanting it in early May (in Burlington, average last frost is last week of May)  or so, and you can repeat the planting of it every week or so, until early September. (in Burlington, average first frost is first week of October). Head lettuce is something you harvest only once, so if you want a nice head of lettuce every two days or so, you would plant 4 heads of lettuce a week, every week from early May to early September. This will give you a continuous harvest from early June until mid-October. If you are the kind of gardener who “puts in the garden” on Memorial Day and then you never replant, it is likely that you have a big glut of produce at certain times, and then none that is fresh and good at other times. By planting multiple generations of plants, you insure high yields and great flavor. A patch of bush green beans only produces good quality beans for about 2 to 3 weeks. After a while, the beans are tough and sparse on the plant. If you replant a new patch every couple of weeks, you will always have high-yielding, tasty beans. Abundant harvest happen on healthy plants at their prime, and gardens in small spaces require a certain amount of decision making. You always have a choice to pull out tired plants and to replant with new seeds or plants - this is often the most efficient way to have better yields. Mulch is a great way to keep weeds at bay, and to keep moisture near the root zone. It can also build soils, heat the soil, or cool the soil - all depending on your goal and what the plant needs. You can mulch paths and/or growing beds. Raised beds that are constructed out of wood can also be mulched and the paths around the raised beds can be mulched to minimize lawn mowing if you would like. If you use materials that naturally break down such as paper, cardboard, burlap bags, straw or bark, the mulched paths can become mini compost piles. By layering in materials that block out weeds, you are creating a layer of organic matter that will decompose over the course of a year and can then be shovelled onto the growing beds the following spring. Some mulch materials carry weed seeds so beware. They can still be used effectively in the garden, but best as a layer that is covered up with another barrier such as cardboard or burlap. As it breaks down and heats up over time, the weed seeds lose their viability and will not be a problem the following year. Plastic mulches heat the soil and are great for the heat-loving, fruiting crops. Harvest and post-harvest handling are other factors that affect the yield in your garden. Being able to plan or predict when you harvest a crop depends on your knowing the life cycle or days to maturity of that crop. It is entirely possible, to plan a garden harvest around certain dates or to plan for having no harvest during vacation times. An abundant harvest is one that happens when you want it. An unwanted harvest is a hassle - you have to get your neighbors to help, or find volunteers for a school garden, etc. Sometimes that works, but it is possible to minimize unwanted work, and under-appreciated produce by timing the plantings and knowing how much to plant of each crop. There are many charts on the internet that can help you gauge the garden harvest and how much to plant of each crop and when. Johnny’s Selected Seeds has some wonderful on-line tools, as does our own Red Wagon Plants website. Post-harvest handling includes everything from time of day you harvest, how you pack it into your basket or boxes, and how you store it. Morning is generally the best time to harvest since the field heat has not had too much time to affect the leafy green plants. Fruiting plants can be harvest later in the day. Again, this is a place where you can make a choice by harvesting the right plant at the right time of day. If you only have a few minutes to harvest in the morning, do the leafy greens. The fruiting plants can usually wait until later in the day or even a couple of days. Once a plant is cut or picked, it is best to wash it and refrigerate it right away. Again, this is related to an abundant harvest because anything that improves quality reduces waste. Lettuce that is wilted and dirty in the bottom of the fridge drawer is just not as appealing as lettuce that is crisp, clean and ready to eat. A small garden is not a productive garden if what you harvest ends up under-utilized. A good trick is to harvest the lettuce, and when you get in the house, soak it in a basin or large bowl of cold water right away. This takes out the field heat, the leaves absorb some water making them more crisp, and the dirt drops down to the bottom. Lift the leaves out, re-soak once or twice depending on the amount of dirt, and then spin the leaves in a lettuce spinner or by layering between some clean towels. Lettuce treated this way is sure to get eaten, promise! Plants like broccoli, beans, and tomatoes produce more the more they are harvested. Broccoli will generally make one big head, and then produce what is called side shoots all summer long. These shoots are the perfect size for cooking or eating raw and the more you remember to cut them, the more the plant will produce. Often a broccoli plant that goes into the garden in late April will continue to produce side shoots into mid-December - talk about a high yield! Most fruiting plants (tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers and eggplant) will also produce more the more they are picked. These do not need immediate refrigeration, and tomatoes and basil should never go in the fridge. A basket full of cukes and zukes can stay on the counter until a time later in the day when you have had a chance to make room in the fridge or have time to make pickles,etc. Again, a high yield can be a burden or a blessing, depending on how it fits into your life. With a little planning, a very small garden such as a 4’ x 8’ raised bed can include 2 tomato plants, a cucumber plant and a season’s worth of greens. This is often plenty for a single person or a couple. Abundant harvesting is about making choices that lead to efficiency and no waste., beauty and no guilt.  If you use your minimal space for vegetables that you will not use, then the space is wasted, if instead that small space is regularly turned over with fresh plants, and old plants are removed, then you will have a high yield of well loved produce. It is always a better choice to remove the garden debris (think bolted lettuce, cabbage stumps, woody radishes) than to let it limp along, tempting disease and pests.

Some good sources of information

• Our website has an extensive list of resources in the “Garden Journal”
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds, High Mowing Seeds, Territorial Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange and Botanical Interests are all reputable seed companies with lots of educational materials on their websites and in their catalogs. These are great sources of free information.
• Cornell Extension has a website for home gardeners that is very helpful
• Elliot Coleman’s books are geared towards vegetable farmers but have very clear explanations of succession planting, timing and spacing
• Barbara Damrosch, The Garden Primer is my favorite all around basic gardening book
• UVM Extension offers soil tests, a plant pathology lab, and a pest identification lab
• Burlington Permaculture
• Charlie Nardozzi offers a garden coaching program and gives weekly talks on VPR about gardening.
• Friends of Burlington Gardens offers support to school gardens, community gardeners, and anyone interested in learning how to grow food. They offer a season long course at Ethan Allen Homestead that provides brand new gardeners all the support necessary to achieve success in their first year.

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New Plants for the 2012 Line Up

We have been busy at work with ordering seeds, deciding on what plants to grow for the coming year, and which ones to discontinue. We usually add about 10% new varieties each year - enough to keep it interesting, but not so much that we risk having bad inventory or unwanted expenses for a plant no one loves. This is really, really hard since the seed catalogs and plug listings each year show more and more varieties that look tempting. Not to mention the world of heirloom seeds which is so vast and so alluringly historic and charming. If the pressures of pleasing customers and breaking even were eliminated, I would probably have the type of nursery where every plant has a sign that is 12" x 12" with lots of text describing some arcane knowledge about how the variety was bred or discovered, how it was cooked in 15th century Sicily and  how it came to be a Red Wagon variety. My winter job at Red Wagon is part business manager, part HR department, and part curator. Guess which is my favorite. Take a look at the list of new plants and give us some feedback. Our favorite new variety is the kind that comes by way of a customer recommendation, so you get a vote in this process.

Happy garden planning, and check out the rest of the website for the complete plant list, we are updating it this week,

Julie

Plant Category	Genus	Variety or Cultivar
Annuals	African Foxglove	Ceratotheca triloba
Annuals	Amaranth	Oeschberg
Annuals	Angelonia	Adessa White
Annuals	Balsam	Impatiens Balsamina
Annuals	Begonia, Tuberous	Illumination Peaches and Cream
Annuals	Begonia, Tuberous	Non-Stop, Bright Rose
Annuals	Begonia, Tuberous	Pin Up Flame
Annuals	Browalia	Endless Flirtation
Annuals	Browalia	Endless Illumination
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Saffron
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Superbells Dreamsicle
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Superbells Peach
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Superbells Trailing White
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Tequilla Sunrise Improved
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Yellow
Annuals	California Poppy	Milkmaid
Annuals	Celosia	Chief Mixed Cockscomb
Annuals	Celosia	Cramers’ Amazon
Annuals	Coleus	Amora
Annuals	Coleus	Big Red Judy
Annuals	Coleus	Fishnet Stockings
Annuals	coleus	Glennis
Annuals	Coleus	Sedona
Annuals	coleus	Wedding Train
Annuals	Cosmos	Cosmic  Orange
Annuals	Cosmos	Cosmic Mix
Annuals	Cosmos	Cosmic Red
Annuals	Cosmos	New Choco
Annuals	Cosmos	Sonata Dwarf Mix
Annuals	Cosmos	Sonata White
Annuals	Dahlia	Happy Days Cream
Annuals	Dahlia	Happy Days Pink
Annuals	Dahlia	Happy Days Purple
Annuals	Dahlia	Happy Mystic enchantment
Annuals	Dahlia	Mystic Haze
Annuals	Dahlia	Mystic Wonder
Annuals	Dahlia	Salvador
Annuals	Dusty Miller	Silver Lace
Annuals	Euphorbia	Mountain Snow
Annuals	Exclusively  Echeveriaa Collection
Annuals	Fern	Montana
Annuals	Fern Collection
Annuals	Floering Cabbage	Osaka Mix
Annuals	Four Oclock	Marvel of Peru
Annuals	Gaura lindiheimeri	Whirling Butterflies
Annuals	Gazania	New Day Mix
Annuals	Geranium	Firestar Purple
Annuals	Geranium	Firestar Salmon
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Mini Cascade Red
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Sunflair Fireball
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Sunflair Neon Pink
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Sybil Holmes
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Vancouver Centennial
Annuals	Geranium, Scented	Lemon Fizz
Annuals	Geranium, Scented	P. querquifolia
Annuals	Geranium, Scented	Sweet Mimosa
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Brocade Happy Thoughts Red
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Brocade, Mrs Pollock
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Candy Fantasy Kiss
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Madame Salleron
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Patriot Cherry Rose
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Patriot Lavender Blue
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Patriot Salmon Chic
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Pillar Purple
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Rocky Mountain Lavender
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Rocky Mountain Magenta
Annuals	Gomphrena	QIS Formula Mix
Annuals	Hedera	Golden Child
Annuals	Hedera	White Mein Hertz
Annuals	Hypoestes	Splash Rose Select
Annuals	Impatiens	Super Elfin Salmon Splash
Annuals	Impatiens	Super Elfin XP pink
Annuals	Ipomoea	Desana Bronze
Annuals	Juncus	Blue Arrows
Annuals	Juncus spiralis	Unicorn
Annuals	Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate
Annuals	Lantana	Evita Rose
Annuals	Lantana	Bandana Cherry Sunrise
Annuals	Lantana	Bandana Rose Improved
Annuals	Lantana - bandana	Peach
Annuals	Larkspur	Sublime Formula Mix
Annuals	Leycesteria	Jealousy
Annuals	Licorice	Lemon
Annuals	Lisianthus	Echo Lavender
Annuals	Lisianthus	Echo Pink
Annuals	Lobularia	Silver Stream
Annuals	Marigold	Antigua Orange
Annuals	Marigold	Antigua Yellow
Annuals	Marigold	French Janie Primrose Yellow
Annuals	Marigold	French Single Marietta
Annuals	Marigold, French	Durango Tangerine
Annuals	Melampodium	Derby
Annuals	Morning Glory	Grandpa Ott’s
Annuals	Morning Glory	Moonflower
Annuals	Nasturtium	Trailing
Annuals	Nemesia	Angelart Almond
Annuals	Nemesia	Angelart Pineapple
Annuals	Ornamental Corn	Field of Dreams
Annuals	Ornamental Millet	Purple Majesty
Annuals	Osteospermum	3-D Silver
Annuals	Osteospermum	Astra Orange Sunrise
Annuals	Osteospermum	Cape Daisy Fireburst
Annuals	Osteospermum	Cape Daisy Purple
Annuals	Osteospermum	Sunset Orange
Annuals	Osteospermum	Zion Copper Amethyst
Annuals	Oxalis	Allure Burgundy
Annuals	oxalis triangularis	Charmed Velvet
Annuals	oxalis triangularis	Charmed WIne
Annuals	Pansy	Delta Mix Buttered Popcorn
Annuals	Pansy	Delta Premium True Blue
Annuals	Pansy	Freefall Golden Yellow
Annuals	Pansy	Matrix Sangria
Annuals	Pansy	Panola XP Mix baby Boy
Annuals	Pansy	Panola XP Mix Blackberry Sundae
Annuals	Pansy	Panola XP Mix Citrus
Annuals	Pansy	Ultima Blue Chill
Annuals	Pansy	Ultima Morpho
Annuals	Petunia	Bouquet Salmon
Annuals	Petunia	Littletunia Sweet Sherbert
Annuals	Petunia	Mini Strawberry pink veined
Annuals	Petunia	Whispers Star Rose
Annuals	Petunia Cascadias	Cherry Spark
Annuals	Petunia Littletunia	Sweet Dark Pink
Annuals	petunia multiflora prostrate	Easy Wave Plum Vein
Annuals	Petunia multiflora prostrate	Easy Wave White
Annuals	Poppy	White Linen
Annuals	Portulaca	Happy Hour Mix
Annuals	Portulaca	Sundial Chiffon
Annuals	Portulaca	Sundial Mix
Annuals	Portulaca	Sundial Pink
Annuals	Rudbeckia	Autumn Colors
Annuals	Rudbeckia	Cherokee Sunset
Annuals	Rudbeckia	Prairie Sun
Annuals	Rudbeckia	Denver Daisy
Annuals	Salvia farinacea	Victoria Blue
Annuals	Sanvitalia	Cuzco Yellow
Annuals	Scabiosa	Black Knight
Annuals	Snapdragon	Montego Mix Sangria
Annuals	Snapdragon	Rocket Mix
Annuals	Snapdragon	Rocket White
Annuals	Spectacular Succulent Collection
Annuals	Sunflower	Sunny Smile
Annuals	Sweet Potato Vine	Bright Ideas Rusty Red
Annuals	Thunbergia	Arizona Dark Red
Annuals	Thunbergia	Lemon
Annuals	Thunbergia	Orange
Annuals	Thunbergia	Sunny Suzie Yellow Dark Eye
Annuals	Thunbergia	Sunny Suzy Red Orange
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Ayers Rock
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Caribean Cocktail
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Gold and Bold
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Lemon Sorbet
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Lollipop
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Sunrise
Annuals	Verbena	Chambray Royal superbena
Annuals	Verbena	Estrella Salmon Star
Annuals	Verbena	Lanai Twister pink
Annuals	Verbena	Royal Peachy Keen
Annuals	Verbena	Tukana Scarlet star
Annuals	Viola	Penny Orchid Frost
Annuals	Zinnia	Dreamland Mix
Annuals	Zinnia	Dreamland Red
Annuals	Zinnia	Sunbow Mix
Annuals	Zinnia	White
Eggplants	Globe	Rosa Bianca
Ferns	Matteuccia struthiopteris	Ostrich Fern
Foliage	Alternanthera	Brazilian Red Hot
Foliage	Alternanthera	Red Thread
Foliage	German Ivy	Green
Foliage	Muehlenbeckia	Wire Vine
Foliage	Setcreasea	Purple Queen
Herbs	Basil	Amethyst Improved
Herbs	Basil	Sacred, Tulsi
Herbs	Basil	Sweet Genovese, Aroma II
Herbs	Basil	Sweet Genovese, Aton
Herbs	Bee Balm	Wild Bergamot
Herbs	Epazote
Herbs	Feverfew
Herbs	Flax
Herbs	French Sorrel
Herbs	Lavender	Fern Leaf
Herbs	Lemongrass	West Indian
Herbs	Mint	Emerald and Gold
Herbs	Oregano	Mexican Lippia
Herbs	Papalo
Herbs	Red Shiso	Britton
Herbs	Red Shiso
Herbs	Rosemary	Prostrate
Herbs	Sage	White
Herbs	Thyme	Lime Golden
Herbs	Thyme	Orange
Herbs	Thyme	Wooly
Herbs	Zaatar	Marjoram
Peppers	Hot	Fish
Peppers	Ornamental Hot Pepper	Chilly Chilly
Peppers	Sweet	Pepperoncino
Peppers	Sweet	Round of Hungary
Peppers	Sweet	Sweet Banana Pepper
Perennial	Adenophora	Amethyst
Perennial	Alchemilla	Lady’s Mantle
Perennial	Sedum	Blue Spruce
Perennial	Sedum	Floriferum
Perennial	Sedum	Oracle
Perennial	Sedum	Picolette
Perennial	Sedum	Voodoo
Perennial	Thyme	Wooly
Perennials	Achillea	Pretty Belinda
Perennials	Achillea	Saucy Seduction
Perennials	Achillea	Strawberry Seduction
Perennials	Achillea	Sunny Seduction
Perennials	Achillea millefolium	Colorado
Perennials	Acorus	‘Ogon’
Perennials	ajuga	Dixie Chip
Perennials	Alcea rosea	Chaters Double Purple
Perennials	Alchemilla Molis	Lady’s Mantle
Perennials	Anemone	sylvestris
Perennials	Aquigelia	Cameo Rose and White
Perennials	Aquigelia	Origami Mix
Perennials	Artemesia	Silver Brocade
Perennials	Astilbe	Delft Lace
Perennials	Astilbe	Deutschland
Perennials	Astilbe	Fanal
Perennials	Baptisia Solar Flare	Prairie Blues
Perennials	Bellis Daisy	Bellissima Rose
Perennials	Bergenia cordifolia	‘Winter Glow’
Perennials	Campanula glomerata	‘Freya’
Perennials	Centranthus	Cocineus
Perennials	Chrysanthemum	Samba
Perennials	Coreopsis verticullata	Early Sunrise
Perennials	corydalis sempervirens
Perennials	Delphinium	Magic Fountains Dark Blue w Dark Bee
Perennials	Delphinium	Magic Fountains Sky Blue w White Base
Perennials	dianthus	Pomegranate Kiss
Perennials	dianthus	Zing Rose
Perennials	Dicentra	Gold Heart
Perennials	Echinacea	Harvest Moon
Perennials	Echinacea	PowWow Wild Berry
Perennials	Echinacea	Sundown
Perennials	Eupatorium dubium	‘little joe’
Perennials	Fern	Barne’s Male
Perennials	Gaillardia aristata	Arizona Sun
Perennials	geranium	Rozanne
Perennials	Geranium cantabrigiense	‘Bergarten’
Perennials	Geranium macrorrhizum	‘Album’
Perennials	Geranium maculatum	‘Espresso’
Perennials	Guara	Pink Fountain
Perennials	Helleborus	Pink Parachutes
Perennials	Hemerocallis	Alabama Jubilee daylily
Perennials	Hemerocallis	Always Afternoon
Perennials	Heuchera	‘Snow Angel’
Perennials	Heuchera	Obsidian
Perennials	Heuchera	Plum Pudding
Perennials	Heuchera	Raspberry Regal
Perennials	Heuchera	Silver Scrolls
Perennials	Hibiscus	Luna Red
Perennials	Iberis sempervivens	Snowflake
Perennials	Iris	‘Before the Storm’
Perennials	Iris pallida	‘Argentea Variegata’
Perennials	Iris sibirica	Pink Haze
Perennials	Joe Pye Weed
Perennials	Juncus effusus ssp.	Twister
Perennials	laminum	Beacon Silver
Perennials	Lamium	Orchid Frost
Perennials	Lamium maculatum	Beacon Silver
perennials	Lathyrus latifolia	Perennial sweet pea
Perennials	Liatris	Floristan White
Perennials	Ligularia dentata	Britt-Marie Crawford
Perennials	Ligularia dentata	Little Rocket
Perennials	Lychnis arkwrightii	Orange Gnome
Perennials	Lysimachia punctata	‘Alexander’
Perennials	monarda	Petite Delight
Perennials	monarda	Purple Rooster
Perennials	monarda	Raspberry Wine
Perennials	monarda didyma	Jacob Cline
Perennials	myosotis sylvatica	Royal Blue Carpet
Perennials	paeonia	Duchess de Nemours
Perennials	paeonia	Felix Crousse
Perennials	Papaver	Flamenco Dancer
Perennials	Penstemon digitalis	Dark Towers
Perennials	Perovskia	Longin
Perennials	Persicaria	Darjeeling Red
Perennials	Phlox glabberima	‘Morris Red’
Perennials	Phlox paniculata	David
Perennials	Phlox paniculata	David’s Lavender
Perennials	Phlox paniculata	Flame series purple ‘Barfourteen’
Perennials	Physostegia	Pink Manners
perennials	Physostegia virginiana	Alba
Perennials	Phystostegia	Crown of Snow
Perennials	Primula	Ronsdorf Strain
Perennials	Salvia	Caradonna
Perennials	Salvia	Sweet 16
Perennials	Scabiosa	Beaujolais Bonnets
Perennials	Scabiosa	Vivid Violet
Perennials	Sedum	Autumn FIre
Perennials	Sedum	Matrona
Perennials	Sedum	Neon
Perennials	sedum	kamtschaticum
Perennials	sedum	sieboldii
Perennials	Sedum spurium	Summer Glory
Perennials	Tanacetum	Robinsons Red
Perennials	Tiarella	‘Delaware’
Perennials	Tiarella	‘Lace Carpet’
Perennials	Tiarella	‘Susquehanna’
Perennials	Trollius chinensis	Golden Queen
Perennials	Veronica	Giles van Hees
Perennials	Viola	Labradorica
Perennials	Viola	Striata
Perennials	Salvia aregentea	Artemis
Shrub	Hydrangea macrophylla	Endless Summer
Shrub	Hydrangea paniculata	Limelight
Shrub	Amelanchier Autumn Brilliance	Service Berry
Shrub	Ilex verticulata	Southern Gentleman
Shrub	Ilex verticulata	Winter Red
Shrub	Viburnum Trilobum	Alfredo
Small Fruit	Blackberry	Black Satin
Small Fruit	Gooseberry	Titan
Small Fruit	Strawberry	Jewel
Small Fruit	Strawberry	Sparkle
Tomatoes	Cherry	Gold Nugget
Tomatoes	Cherry	Green Envy
Tomatoes	Cherry	Isis Candy
Tomatoes	Cherry	Lizzano
Tomatoes	Cherry	Sweet Treats
Tomatoes	Cherry	Terenzo
Tomatoes	Cherry	Sweet Black Cherry
Tomatoes	Container	Red Husky (Patio)
Tomatoes	Determinate	Orange Blossom
Tomatoes	Determinate	Oregon Spring
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Black Prince
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Cosmonaut Volkov
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Costoluto Genovese
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Dona
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Earl of Edgecombe
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Paul Robeson
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Pineapple
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Wapsipinicon Peach
Tomatoes	Hybrid	Brandymaster Yellow
Tomatoes	Hybrid	Park’s Whopper
Tomatoes	Paste	Amish Gold
Tomatoes	Plum	San Marzano gigante III
Vegetables	cantaloupe	Sarah’s Choice
Vegetables	Cantaloupe, French Charentais	Savor
Vegetables	Italian Dandelion	Clio Chicory
Vegetables	Lettuce	Mottistone
Vegetables	Lettuce	Nevada Summer Crisp
Vegetables	Lettuce	Red Batavian Cherokee
Vegetables	Lettuce	Red Cross - Red Butterhead
Vegetables	Lettuce	Red Oak Paradai
Vegetables	Mei Qing Choi (Baby Boc Choi)	Boc Choi
Vegetables	Mustard Greens	Ruby Streaks
Vegetables	Okra	Millionaire
Vegetables	Onion	Mini Purplette
Vegetables	Onion	Redwing
Vegetables	Radicchio	Virtus
Vegetables	Summer Squash	Magda
Vegetables	Vertus	Radicchio
Vegetables	watermelon	Sunshine

Frost Dates in Vermont - South Hero is the Winner!

Here is a great chart that analyses all the temperature data collected in Vermont over the years and gives us the probability of dates for first and last frosts around the state. South Hero and the lake Champlain Islands have Vermont's longest growing season (measured by number of frost-free days according to N.O.A.A).  Take a look and prepare your garden for those first frosty nights. Here is what I do at my house to prepare for those first frosts:

If it is a really early frost, (September in Hinesburg), I will harvest all the ripe fruit on the heat loving plants (squashes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc) and if the plants still look healthy and have lots of unripe fruit, I will cover the plants with row cover. You can use sheets, blankets, plastic sheeting, etc. If the frost is coming at a later point, I often won't bother with the plant protection - just harvest all the fruit (green tomatoes can ripen indoors) and call it a day!

I don't bother to protect lettuce unless the first frost is very cold and very early. Lettuce can handle a few light frosts, so it is usually not a problem early on. Later in the season, I set up some simple wire hoops and keep the lettuce under row cover for the remainder of the season. This allows fresh lettuce to be harvested for salads well into November. It is good idea to seed or plant fresh lettuce in late summer and early fall so that the protected plantings of fall are fresh and tender. It is not really worth it, from a culinary perspective, to keep old or bitter lettuce alive. Plus it won't do as well if it is past its prime and won't fend off the cold like a younger planting can.

Hardy greens like kale, mustard greens, collards, etc do not need row cover and can live, unprotected, into December. You can always put some sort of protection over them in November to increase the harvest period past December, but it can be difficult to do with the taller plants. The wind dessicates them and makes them unappealing, and without a larger structure like a cold frame or mini-greenhosue, it can be difficult to give them adequate shelter.

All these attempts at fall crop protection will leave you grateful for the sweet rewards of fresh salads, tomatoes coming out of the cellar ripened and tasty, and nutritious leafy greens sweetened by the kiss of cold.

Things to Plant Now. You Will be Glad You Did.

August is rolling around, thundering ahead,  and with it comes some vegetable planting possibilities that will feed you late into autumn and early winter. This is a great time to clean out some of the garden beds that have finished producing and replant them with some fresh crops for late season harvest. Here are a few options that you might want to consider incorporating into your later summer gardening routine.

Broccoli

- seed a small amount directly into garden beds, or buy transplants up to mid-August. If you are direct seeding into a garden bed, remember to thin or prick out and replant the broccoli babies so that they have proper spacing (15” or so).

Cabbage

- same as broccoli. Choose shorter day varieties. Seed packets usually list the days to maturity for all crops. In early August, you can usually get away with planting a 60 day cabbage that will be ready in early October.

Kale -

this is a great time to put in a few more kale plants or seeds, they will size up before snow flies, and will withstand lots of wintery weather. The good thing about kale, is that once it is full grown, it will just stand around in the garden waiting to be picked. It does not get “too old” or bolt (jump into seed production mode). This makes it a great early winter crop and a joy to harvest under snow fall. Collards can be treated this way as well. A note on flea beetles: It does not hurt to use row cover to speed things along and to keep out the flea beetles. They are little biting insects that make little holes in the leaves and generally slow down a plant’s growth by stressing it a bit. All vegetables in the brassica family are susceptible to flea beetles - broccoli, kale, cabbage, mustards, arugula, collard greens, and boc choi are all in this family.

Arugula -

a nice addition to salads, this tender green with a mustard-like flavor is also a great survivor of cold temperatures. It can withstand many hard frosts and will continue to add a little spike to your salads well into November and December. You can put row cover on it to keep away the flea beetles and to give it a little extra protection from cold winds that can dry it out. If it starts to turn a little purple in the colder temps, don’t worry about it, it is still fine to eat. This is just a symptom of not being able to absorb phosphorous in cold conditions.

Turnips

- a short season salad turnip can still be sown in August. I like the Hakurei variety from Johnny’s. It is delicious raw in salads, sliced thinly or finely diced, or sauteed in a little butter with fresh herbs (winter savory makes a special appearance at my house, often in this dish in particular). People who think they hate turnips will just be shocked when they taste these buttery slices that just melt in your mouth.

Spinach

- in the first half of August, it is a good idea to plant a large patch of spinach. It will germinate in the cooler night time temperatures (spinach does not like to germinate in the heat) and will last a long time in the field in the cool temperatures of October and early November.

Overwintered Spinach - overwintering means keeping a vegetable alive through the winter for spring harvesting and eating. Not all vegetables can survive our VT winters, but the few that can include spinach, parsnips, leeks, garlic, and parsley. Spinach for early spring eating (mid to late April) should be sown in the first two weeks of September. Once it germinates, allow it to grow without harvesting or touching it. You can eat a little if you want, but ideally you will leave as much of the plant in the ground as possible. Once very cold weather hits, in early to mid-December, you can protect the spinach under a layer of straw, or leaves, or a few layers of row cover. In the spring, as soon as the ground has thawed out, remove the layers of protection and you will see the spinach come to life, long before any other plants begin to stir. This is such a delicious treat for early spring and really worth the trouble. A future post will be just about overwintered vegetables, so if this is something you have been wanting to try in your garden, check back here in a few days!

Cilantro and Dill

are good herbs for fall planting since their cold-hardiness is unmatched, and it will give you something to add to autumn salsas, salads, and pickles. Just sprinkle some seed into a shallow trench, press them in, and lightly cover with soil. The planting depth is very shallow here, just 1/4 inch or so. One of the most common problems with crops seeded directly into garden soil, is that they get planted too deeply. Remember this basic rule of thumb: the seed needs to be planted only 2 times deeper than its own size. Cilantro and dill will live until the first snow! They thrive in the cold. They are true soldiers of season extension.

Let us know if you feel inspired to try your hand with some of this season extension - we love to hear about it!

Dirt

When the first delivery of potting soil comes to our greenhouses, I usually take a moment to stop what I am doing and just dig my hands in the dirt. This year, I have been a bit busier than normal, so I had to wait a few days to do it, but the feeling is the same. It means winter is winding down; that the seeds that are waiting patiently in the storage bins will have a springboard for their magical emergence; and that flowers, greenery, and fresh food will soon be in our lives again.

Winter used to be a difficult time for me, but I have learned to accept its slowness and constricting nature. I spend time outside as much as possible and try to rest; something about hitting 40 makes me understand the value of Doing Nothing more than I used to I suppose. But during those earlier years, when winter was more difficult for me, I always marked the first soil delivery on my calendar and that became the date towards which I would count all winter long. When that day finally came, Dennis, who delivers for VT Copmost Company would drive his truck into the barn and the big pile would spill out of the dump truck and I would wait politely for him to leave before taking off my boots and socks, pulling up pant legs and sleeves, and just dig into that fluffy warm pile.  A thawing takes place, a deep, deep thawing, and gratitude just settles in.

This Might Be One of the Most Dramatic Skies I have Seen

Here is what it looked like at the greenhouses a couple of days ago. We really have had some kind of weather lately!

Plants are growing well in spite of the crazy weather. Out in the garden, we are planting broccoli, lettuce, kales, cabbages, onions, fennel, escarole, spinach, peas, beets, and carrots. Come by and see what the crew has been up to - the plants look really gorgeous and are ready to make your yard smile!

First Week in the Greenhouse

Last week was the first week back in the greenhouse and all the work went so smoothly it didn't even feel like work. It would take more poetry than what is in me to describe the joy I feel from being back at work and playing with plants. I am also so grateful for our amazing team of kind and hard working people - Allison Lea, Eric Denise, Dana Ozimek and Buddy Koerner. It makes a huge difference to have such an all star team of Red Wagon Plants allumni, and the plants feel the love and experience too. Here are a few shots of the week's progress.

Can you find Sandy peeking at everything in the photo above?

And here are a few of the 2010 geraniums.....

Hens and Chicks waiting for a warm spot in a rock garden or along a stone path.....

Some Sweet Allysum poking through...

Any signs of life stirring in your garden?

Making Plans for Spring

I have been making a few plans for the season, along with the help of my co-workers. We always come up with a few new ways each year to reach more people, be more informative and helpful and to make our workspace more efficient and comfortable. One of the best aspects of a seasonal business is the available time, each year, to reflect and improve. Every problem that occurs in one season has a chance to be improved upon the following season. This is true of gardening in general, but when that forgiving cyclical approach is applied to running a business, it can help everyone feel saner and ready for the challenge of a quick and furious growing season.

This year's areas of improvement are, drum role please...

Communication - we hope to better reach our customers with the information they seek. We are often asked questions about a growing method, a pest problem, a cooking question, etc and we hope that by making our website more informative we will be able to meet some of those needs.

Infrastructure - after the growing season we will be replacing the plastic on the three of our greenhouses. By replacing the plastic every 5 years, we insure that proper light levels are getting through the glazing. We will also take the time to regrade the gravel base in each greenhouse as a way to control weeds and water flow. We will replace the black landscape fabric over the gravel and that will give us a nice, clean start to the 2011 season. Keeping a greenhouse clean is one of the most important factors in organic production. Weeds, algae, and dirt are all great habitats for pests and disease; since we don't have the chemical means to take care of these problems, we must rely on simple hygiene and cleanliness. Eric Denice, our resident can-fix-anything delivery person and all around wonderful guy, will also be building some new benches to keep the plants out of harms way (ie, the hungry mouths of many, many voles). Last year, the voles destroyed tray after tray of broccoli, lettuce, kale and countless other tidbits. Raspberries in the mouse traps were the only thing that could compete a little with the tender green growth of our much loved plants. Sorry, voles, we had to do it.

Information Management - our database is a constant work in progress. We keep track of thousands of varieties on our database - this includes all the information we can gather about the plant including every time we have ever seeded it, how many weeks we seed it per year, what kind of pest problems it has, how well customers like it, etc. This has been an ongoing project of many years, and now it is finally at a point where all of that information gathering is proving useful and there is enough data in the system to simultaneously make my head spin and make heart leap. I love knowing when things are planted and how to improve the cropping strategies.  I am a secret computer geek who is really grateful her parents sent her to computer camp at the age of 12.

Community Outreach - As always, we will be working with many, many groups this year to donate plants to community garden projects. We hope to teach a few workshops, maybe one or two about canning and freezing the garden harvest, and also some hands on workshops in the garden, so people who haven't done it learn how to sow seeds directly, the best way to transplant our starts, etc. Our teaching and plant donations are the absolute best parts of this business. Few things give me more joy in my work life than driving around with a van full of plants that will be distributed to neighborhoods that need beautifying and to families that need a little help with their food. If you know of a group that could use some free plants for public gardening purposes (schools, churches, food banks, etc) please let us know, and we will add them to our list of Community Partners.

Salix nana or the Willow Wonder

Certain plants look just right in the snow, and since I am home so much more in the winter than in the summer, I like to make sure there is some winter appeal to our gardens. We have a hedgerow of Salix nana, or Arctic Blue Willow. They are a fast growing plant, perfect for privacy screens, bird habitat and bee forage.

Here is the same shrub in winter. I love how the snow just hangs in the branches. Birds perch here and get out of the wind. And the twiggy nature of these willows keeps them well employed as a privacy screen all year long.