November Catch Up

Our fall weather has been so good and I hope you have all had a few bonus hours in the garden. In the vegetable garden, I am still harvesting greens, carrots, leeks and herbs. I have also gotten to more garden clean up than usual - things such as turning the compost pile, taking copious notes about adjustments I want to make next spring, and even raking a few leaves and cutting back some dead plants. Honestly, this is more than I usually do because I get a strange pleasure out of watching the garden die and decompose. I know that is not everyone’s cup of tea, the garden is the place we get to do what we want. No rules, no judgement.

Have you planted garlic yet? If not there is still time. Same with bulbs. This mild weather is really perfect for it.

Sarah B, Sophie, Chad, Sarah M and Lily planted garlic a couple of weeks ago for our herb farm.

New to garlic planting? Read all about it here. It is one of the key rituals of the season, and such a great way to put some closure on the year and look forward to the next. Optimism is at hand.

November Garden Chores

• Turn the compost pile, and get set up a new one for winter. I use wire panels like these. But I use plastic zip ties instead of the little clips .

• Take notes for the spring and label plants that you want to move, remove, or divide. I use metal stakes with a pencil. It works pretty well, and I just keep a look out for the stakes while doing spring clean up.

• Keep a running list of what worked well, and what you don’t want to repeat.

• Empty out all the annuals containers and cut back annual plants that are in the ground.

• Clean up the garden shed; clean and organize all the tools. Set up a note taking zone so that you don’t have to remember where you left your garden notebook in the fall.

• Cut back dormant perennials however much you want to cut them back. Remember that the more you leave, the more you are helping pollinators and birds by creating winter habitat and forage.

• Rake up leaves, however much you like to do it.

• Give the houseplants a thorough bath, and wipe them down with Neem oil.

Last Week of the 2021 Season

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.

Mid-August News, Shuffling Priorities and Plant of the Week

Heliopsis - one of our quart sized perennials that we are giving away with every purchase this week.

The days are numbered for drinking coffee in the garden while the sun comes up. If you enjoy that kind of thing, I hope that you are getting plenty of it. I find myself doing a mental inventory much of the day, re-organizing the list of things I have to make time for while summer lasts. Lots of swimming, lots of outdoor meals, and that precious early morning coffee in the garden.

The fall garden calls, and I continue to plant more veggies each week for late season harvest. This week: spinach, scallions, lettuce. I was at the Shelburne Farmers’ Market this week, and bought 2 heads of lettuce for my mom. I had failed to plant lettuce a while back and am now in between generations. I am vowing to have every green thing I want ready in the garden between now and December. It is possible. This Succession Planting article is helpful if you want to learn more about working the edges of the season to your advantage.

New in the greenhouse this week: spinach, chard, cabbages, sprouting broccoli, kohlrabi, kales, and lots of new chicories and lettuces. All are cold hardy, and all will create bounty in the fall garden.

Our Plant of the Week is really a Deal of the Week. It is mid-August and we are closing on August 29th, so highlighting just one plant doesn’t seem fair. This week, with every purchase of $25 or more, we will offer you a free quart sized perennial. There are lots to choose from: yarrow, salvia, coral bells, catmint, heliopsis (pictured above), rattlesnake master, boneset, and more. I hope you take advantage of this deal and pop in a few new perennials when you stock up on those fall veggies.

We have had a few requests for a recipe I have been making for years, slow roasted tomatoes for the freezer. if you are curious, you can read about it here. This is one of the main ways I preserve tomatoes. Super easy - just roast tomatoes, garlic, herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper overnight at a very low temperature, and then, in the morning, slide the mix into freezer bags for good winter eating. I also do a version with eggplant, peppers, onions, tomatoes etc as a roasted, deconstructed ratatouille. That also freezes quite well.

I hope to see some of you in the next couple of weeks. I will be working in the greenhouse this Friday afternoon - come say hi!

Thank you for your support and your garden enthusiasm,

Julie

Herb Salts, Plant of the Week, Garden and Kitchen Update

YUM. We are very excited to share this week’s Plant of the Week deal. Any remaining berry plants we have, are available for the Buy One, Get One Free promotion. This includes the following:

• Strawberries - Alpine strawberries in 4-packs that can be used for edible landscaping, and as a perennial ground cover in sun to part-shade; and ‘Mara des Bois’, French ever-bearing strawberries that are in hanging baskets, but can be planted in the ground for years of enjoyment.

• Raspberries- a few varieties, including summer bearing and fall bearing

• Elderberries- hardy, easy to grow native plants that are good for making plant medicine as well as attracting wildlife, creating a hedgerow, and for their fragrant flowers that can be eaten or turned into tea or cordials.

• Blackberries - a hardy, thornless variety that produces huge blackberries

• Gooseberries - an old-fasihoned fruit that is great for jams and preserves

August is a great time to plant berries of all kinds, and leaves them plenty of warm days to establish healthy root systems so that will support them for years to come. Our “Plant of the Week” promotion lasts until Sunday, or while supplies last, whichever comes first. Quantities are limited.

In the Garden

The next few weeks are the funnest part of the gardening calendar in my mind. The weeds are under control, we are in harvest mode, and there are lots of empty spots to fill in with plants for the autumn bounty. Going in this week: more escarole, radicchio, lettuce, scallions, spinach, cabbage, broccoli and sprouting broccoli.

I have harvested garlic, shallots and sweet onions. If you haven’t done it yet, you probably should this week. The storage onions - yellow, red, and cipollini - look almost ready in our garden. I will check them later in the week, and if I see that lots of the tops are laying down, I will pull them all out of the soil. I usually wait for about half of them to be fallen over as a sign that they are mature enough to cure well and develop those papery skins that allow them to stay firm in storage all winter long. If you are not sure if your onions are ready, send a photo and we can help you decide.

In the flower garden, Lily has been deadheading her zinnias and recommends making a bouquet to give to someone. It feels good. She has a new baby niece who turned one week old today, and was the lucky recipient of said bouquet. So adorable.

Sara says to check for hornworms in the tomato patch. The earlier you catch and destroy them, the less chance of a full on invasion. Good luck.

In the Kitchen

I have started freezing and canning in earnest, with a big batch of Roma beans taking center stage this weekend. If you have not grown these or eaten them, I encourage you to put them on your list for next year’s garden, or stop by a farmers’ market or farm stand to stock up while summer is still with us. Trillium Hill Farm in Hinesburg has them currently.

Eggplants and peppers are finally abundant in the garden (the rain slowed them down) and I just made a simple dinner with roughly chopped peeled eggplant, shallots, peppers of all kinds, halved cherry tomatoes, torn herbs, minced garlic, a glug of olive oil, and chunks of feta. I laid everything out on a sheet pan and roasted it for about 45 minutes at 375F. What an easy summer dinner, served warm on the deck, or at room temperature for a picnic by the lake. Preferably with an icy cold rosé and a baguette from O’bread or this easy recipe for pita from King Arthur. I spent a good part of the pandemic winter making pita, and I am not mad about that new skill.

Our herb salts and vinegars are now available! We have been busy harvesting and chopping herbs, and curing them in salt for maximum flavor and fragrance. I recommend them all right now, especially to elevate simple garden meals of cucumbers, tomatoes, greens, and grains into something special every night of the week. They are also great for the grilling and entertaining you might be doing outdoors while the getting is good. You can find them at our Hinesburg greenhouses, at City Market, Hunger Mountain Coop, Farmers to You, Intervale Food Hub, Sweet Roots Farm, Trillium Hill Farm, and Philo Ridge Farm. And here online. We are set up to ship herb salts and vinegars. Maybe you would like to make someone’s day by sending some as a gift?

Enjoy the week, enjoy each other.

Julie

Plant of the Week: All annuals.

This week, we are featuring all annual flowers and annual foliage plants as our Plant(s) of the Week. That means they are all buy one, get one free. Why annuals in the first week of August? Because we still have 9 weeks left before our average first frost. Because it has been raining every day, and maybe you need a splash or two of brightness. And, if we get a late frost, or if you protect tender plants during those initial cold nights, we could be enjoying annual flowers for another 3 months. That is a long time! Our summers are short, and we want to help you make the most of it.

In the garden

The rain has done a number on our gardens. How about you? Diseases are starting to set in, a few plants are rotting in place, and the tomatoes are slow to ripen. Gardening is not for the faint of heart. I feel hopeful that it will all even out in the end and we will have a good tomato harvest, but in the meantime, I will be spending some time doing some garden clean up.

• If you are growing sweet onions (Walla Walla or Ailsa Craig are the varieties we offered in the spring), I recommend you harvest those soon. They don’t do as well with lots of moisture. If your other onion plants look good, you can likely leave them in the ground a little longer.

• The celery is nicer than ever, loving all this rain. If you have big celery plants, it is ok to harvest just the outside branches and let the rest of the plant continue growing.

• The cut flowers are cheery and full, and I have started to take home buckets of flowers to make arrangements around the house. It is a nice way to spend a rainy evening, especially while listening to this.

• I am leaving some bolting cilantro in the garden so that I can harvest the blossoms for salads and later, the green seeds for little flavor bombs. Bolting herbs and herb flowers are one of my favorite additions to meats and veggies hot off the grill.

We hope you come by for our Thursday garden walk. You will have a chance to walk around the gardens with Chad and with me. We will show you what is working well, what is not (this is Real Talk), and we will share strategies for pest / disease control and how to harvest for best results. You can ask all the questions you want such as “when is a cantaloupe ready?” or “how do I deal with Colorado Potato Beetle?” You get the picture. We will meet at 6 pm, and walk around the gardens, herb farm, and behind the scenes in the greenhouses. If you prefer riding in a golf cart, let us know. We are happy to help anyone who needs the mobility assist. Sign up with this button so that we know how many people to expect:

Wishing you a dry and sunny week,

Julie

P.S. Our Hinesburg greenhouses are open for in person shopping every day from 8 am to 6 pm. No appointment needed.

• Our online store is available for Friday afternoon curbside pick up. Please have your orders in by midnight Wednesday. The full array of our plants is available only at our Hinesburg greenhouses. The online store just carries tools, seed, and a fresh herbs for pre-ordering.

• Sara and Sophie have been bringing plants to our wholesale partners. You can find a list of those stores here.

Plant of the Week: Buckets and Baskets and Crates, Oh My!

This week we’re featuring one of our best deals yet: Buy one large planter, get one free! If you need some late season color for the porch or patio, we’ve got you covered with vining hanging baskets, gorgeous sap bucket planters, and locally made apple crates from our neighbors at Clifford Lumber that are overflowing with blooms.

Our friend and retail staff member Hope Johnson is to thank for designing many of our annual combinations. Hope brings a keen eye and a mastery of color and form to everything she does, whether it’s arranging planters or designing her stunning bee quilts. We’re lucky to have an artist like Hope on our team.

Below is a list of the many containers we have available. Prices range between $15.99 and $60, so finding symmetry in your patio garden is particularly economical this week!

• Thunbergia: Also known as Black-eyed Susan Vine, with pops of butter yellow and orange flowers that peek out from draping foliage. Place in a hot, sunny spot where it can trellis along a fence or drape down from the hanging basket.

• Mandevilla: A tropical plant with bold pink blooms that we eagerly anticipate every summer. These plants love the heat, but can also be brought indoors to overwinter.

• Passionflower: We have two varieties of this stunning vine- “Aphrodite’s Nightie'‘ + “Blue Bahama”. Both will produce lush climbing foliage and totally unique blooms through the summer and fall. And did you know it has a calming effect when used as a tea herb?

• Lophospermum: This year we are finally carrying this sweet flowering vine in “Wine Red” and it could not be easier to grow. Just place the basket in part to full sun and enjoy the burgundy flowers all season long.

• Nasturtium: A kid favorite! Edible flowers and leaves cascade out of these sweet baskets. Infuse into vinegar for a spicy salad dressing, or pickle the seed pods for a highly local take on capers.

• Herb Trios: 12” oval pots that feature mixed basil varieties and classic culinary herbs. Bring to your next potluck and place in the center of the table for on-demand garnishes.

• Tomato Buckets: Trellised in 3 gallon pots, these tomatoes are great for patio snacking or adding some additional cherry tomato varieties to your collection. For folks who are summering in Vermont, they also offer a late planting opportunity.

• Shade Baskets: If you’re working with part to full shade, fear not. Our fiber baskets are full of sturdy foliage and flowers that look good through the season. Our friends at Stone Soup fill their awning with them every year for long-lasting color and texture.

• Sap Buckets and Apple Crates: These make wonderful gifts, as they come ready to display and provide cut flower options close by when placed near an entrance or by the kitchen door. This week, you can find the perfect one for a friend- and get one free to keep for yourself.

Passionflower “Blue Bahama”

In the Garden

Have you been cutting back your annual flowers? While it’s important to leave some blossoms for the pollinators to enjoy, cutting annual flowers prolongs their bloom time and provides you with fresh backyard bouquets every day. Additionally, flowers that have been pollinated tend not to last nearly as long in a vase as those that are cut before the insects find them. Now is a good time to scan your cutting garden and prune back any spent flower heads or those that have gone to seed- think of it as a haircut for your garden.

With all the rain we’ve been getting, it’s a good idea to add fertility to your flowers and vegetables now, especially if you have loamy or sandy soil. We like to use Vermont Compost Company’s Compost Plus for gentle, long-lasting feedings that will keep the produce and flowers in peak production.

As always, our retail greenhouses are open from 8-6 every day, and we’re happy to answer questions and help you find your new favorite plants. You can join us in person on August 5th for our free First Thursday event; this month Chad will be talking about pests and diseases of the home garden.

Happy gardening,

Sophie

P.S. If your kitchen ambitions are larger than what your garden can provide, we have bulk fresh herbs available to purchase: Use the secret code BASIL for $5 off your order of Sweet Genovese Basil.

Plant of the Week: 3 Native perennials

In our attempt to reduce plastic, we have been growing a few plants in fiber pots. They are not perfect, but they have been good for a few things. One of our experiments was with native perennials. We wanted to give you an option that feels ecological for those extra-eco plantings, so this week’s Plant(s) of the Week are a trio of power house perennials for the native / pollinator garden:

Asclepias tuberosa, a.k.a. Butterfly Weed - a little slow to get established, but once it takes off, it provides a bright pop of orange all summer long.

Eupatorium maculatum, a.k.a. Joe Pye Weed - a tall meadow plant that looks so striking in the landscape and is always covered in bees and butterflies

Schizachrium scoparum, a.k.a. Little Bluestem - the Audubon calls this a living bird feeder.

You can buy one ($5.99), get one free of any of the plants in this power trio. It is okay to mix and match, and we encourage you to bring home all three so that you can create a little pollinator habitat with three plants that bloom at different times, at three different heights, and create a perfect little haven for our smallest friends.

In addition, we have lots of great perennials in smaller sizes this year so that you can add to your existing garden or create a new flower bed without breaking the bank. Quarts are $9.99, 4” pots are $4.99.

We have the following in smaller sizes:

Eupatorium perfoliatum, a.k.a. Boneset

Saponaria ocymoides, a.k.a. Rock Soapwort

Heuchera a.k.a. Coral Bells in lots of different varieties

Rudbeckia hirta ‘Indian Summer’, ‘Goldilocks’, and ‘Cherokee Sunset’

Allium cernuum, a.k.a. Nodding Onion

Centranthus ruber a.k.a. Rosy Red Valerian or Jupiter’s Beard

Anise Hyssop

Molina Grass ‘Windspiel’

Chasmanthium latifolium, a.k.a. Northern Sea Oats

Hibiscus moscheutos, a.k.a. Hardy hisbiscus ‘Luna Swirl’

Dianthus - lots of varieties

Monarda bradburiana - a favorite native plant of mine. It makes a great ground cover and grows well in all sorts of conditions

Monarda didyma, a.k.a. Scarlet Beebalm

Salvia nemerosa ‘Caradonna’

Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe’

Eryngium yuccifolium - another favorite native plant of mine. It’s got great architecture in the summer garden.

Echinacea angustifolia

Echinacea purpurea

Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’

Achillea millefolium ‘Moonshine’ and ‘Sassy Summer Sangria’

Nepeta x faassenii ‘Junior Walker’

Heliopsis helianthiodes ‘Summer Night’ - this won’t stay at this size / price point for long. It is a fast growing, big plant, and will get bumped up to a gallon or two gallon pot soon. It is a great filler for the back of the border where you want late July (yellow) color and height. It would look great with this week’s power trio Plant(s) of the Week!

In the Garden

It is time to harvest garlic. While the rains have made it hard to find a good time to pick, we want to encourage you to do it sooner rather than later. The longer the garlic sits in wet soil, the less success you will have to cure it properly. Harvest now so that the skins don’t rot and leave all the cloves exposed all winter long. To learn more about harvesting and curing garlic, you can read these blog posts from the way back machine.

Now is a great time to assess the perennial gardens and take notes about changes you would like to make. It is often a time of year with less color in the garden. The early bloomers are done, and the late season flowers haven’t started quite yet. Some great additions: salvias, echinacea, flowering shrubs such as smooth leaf hydrangea, Russian sage, geranium, Eryngium, and lots more. We can help you out with your selection if you tell us what you are looking for in terms of height, color and exposure.

I am ripping out the old peas and planting more greens of all sorts. I have been harvesting lettuce, beets, kohlrabi, cucumbers, greens of all sorts, and radicchios of all sorts. Take a look at anything that is sub-par in the garden, and turn that space into something productive. We have lots of new 4-pack veggies each week and can help you make the most of the summer and fall with succession plantings that you will harvest until the ground freezes.

I have to admit that there is a pile of bark mulch in my driveway that doesn’t seem to magically go away. I bought it to add to my arsenal of murder weapons in my attempt to eradicate the Bishop’s Weed at our house. But it is still there, and so is the Bishop’s Weed. Do you have any projects that you can never make time for? We all do, right? I am hoping to wrap up some of those danglers this week. And no, I don’t think bark mulch will really help to kill the Bishop’s Weed. But it will hide the ugly black plastic that I will smother it with first. Wish me luck.

Happy gardening,

Julie

Plants of the Week: It's all about the HERBS!

Welcome to the basil forest!

It’s official- harvesting plant medicine has begun in earnest and, depending on who’s in your garden, won’t stop until first frost. This time of year it’s all about the Aster and Mint families.

Blossoms like calendula, chamomile, echinacea and yarrow all benefit from regular deadheading, and create small consistent harvests that lend themselves well to infusions in oil or apple cider vinegar to create soothing topical applications for all manner of skin ailments. Infuse a pint of oil (local sunflower, olive or jojoba are lovely) with freshly-wilted chamomile, calendula and yarrow, then blend with local beeswax for tins of salve. You’ll be the hero of every chapped lip and dry hand you know!

Mint family plants like lemon balm, tulsi, basil, peppermint and spearmint should be harvested when the bottommost flowers on their spikes have begun blooming, or slightly before. Cutting at this time encourages bushy regrowth, and gives you the highest quantity of aromatic leaves and flowers without a lot of stem or seed. Be sure to make yourself a half gallon of fresh mint tea to have on hand in the fridge- plants with high volatile oil content (read: nice and smelly) will last the longest in the fridge, as the volatile oils do double duty inhibiting fermentation. This also clues us in to their amazing ability as general support for our immune system. Harvest on a hot, sunny day and dry quickly in a breezy, warm spot to get the highest volatile oil content from your plants.

Tulsi drying on racks in our greenhouse

We are doing a big sale this week- buy one herb pot, get one free! Culinary staples, perennials, and tea herbs are all available and will continue to produce well into early fall. Come by the greenhouses between 8-6 every day to stock up on herbaceous joy this week!

This is a great time to bulk up your herb garden with a new-to-you plant or more of your favorites. Include a couple of lemon verbena and rosemary plants to make Sophie’s favorite “lazy tea”: Just add a few whole leaves of lemon verbena and a sprig of rosemary to the bottom of your cup, then cover with hot water and steep five minutes. It’s the perfect afternoon pick-me-up, and is even better when steeped overnight and served on ice.

No more room for herbs in the garden? We’ve got you covered! We are now offering bulk fresh herbs for pickup at our greenhouse. Dry sage and thyme for holiday gifts, brew tulsi and anise hyssop tea for your whole cookout, make a cool mint bath for your sunburn… the possibilities are endless!

Building mesh screens to sift dried herbs

We have some upcoming classes for the herbal enthusiast (registration required):

July 20th: Know and Grow your Chicory. Julie and I are teaming up to talk all things chicory- from its use as an ancient medicinal herb, to coffee substitute, to revered Italian vegetable and everything in between. Taste tests included!

August 5th: First Thursdays in the Garden: Chad will be talking integrated pest management this month- how we do it at RWP and how you can at home. Julie will offer a behind-the-scenes tour of our greenhouses. I’ll also be hosting our September 2nd edition to talk about fall herbs!

August 21st: Harvesting and Processing Medicinal Herbs. We’ll dive deep into the different ways to preserve and use the herbal bounty in this hands-on three-hour class, so bring your questions and jars!

Let us know what you’re making from the season’s bounty, and of course come by any day 8-6 with questions, concerns, and success stories. We’re happy to help and love hearing about your garden journeys.

Plant of the Week (POW)

This week’s plant of the week is actually a whole group of plants. We are offering flowering vines, and if you buy ONE, you will get THREE free! They’re a bit tangled together at this point, but they are healthy and dark green, and with a little patience can be untangled and turned into an almost instant trellised green wall. Or make a teepee out of bamboo and let them climb all over the structure. Cover an old fence, create a privacy screen, pull down the gone-by spring peas and replant with flower vines. You get the picture - there are lots of fun uses for flowering vines. Please note, that this is while supplies last. If we run out of vines, we will switch to something else for our Plant of the Week (POW). The selection includes

• Cypress VIne

• Morning Glories (3 different kinds)

• Hyacinth Bean Vine

• Sweet Peas

• Scarlet Runner Beans

IN THE GARDEN

Maintenance pruning and weeding in the perennial gardens

The rain has been such a blessing this past week. We are now seeing lots of weeds and quick new growth and jungle feeling is real! May I suggest our sickle weeder and our small snips as tools to help you in that endeavor? When the garden is growing so quickly, it becomes harder to get weeds with a hoe, so I turn to my hand tools for a quick cultivation run through when the weeds are small.

If your strawberries have finished producing fruit, it is time to renovate them

1. mow it down (the whole thing, with a line trimmer)

2. rototill the edges of the beds to keep the growth in the center of the bed, and out of the walking paths

3. fertilize the strip of stubble that will remain and become next year’s bed and water it well if we have another dry spell.

Check your garlic. It is ready to harvest when about ⅔ to ¾ of the leaves have turned brown. We will probably harvest ours next week.

Wash and prep your vegetables as soon as you harvest them. Lettuce greens store so much better when they have been washed and dried first. I try to prep everything I harvest as soon as I bring it into the kitchen. Bags of dirty, hot greens just wilt and get ignored, but if I trim, wash, and dry salad greens, I am much more likely to eat a salad with every meal. I have been blanching chard and kale as I bring it home too. I then have an easy cooked green to eat with eggs or add to a taco, or a grain bowl. It makes meal planning a lot easier.

Herbes Salées - a Traditional Quebequois Preservation Method

Recipe for Herbes Salées (adapted from Spruce Eats)

Here is a traditional Quebequois 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, yogurt or cottage cheese for dips, spreads and snacks….the uses are endless and a jar of these preserved herbs will be a welcome reminder of summer’s 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

Plant(s) of the Week: A power trio

Tulsi with bee friend. Photo by Sophie Cassel

Happy Solstice! We are finally beginning to see the fruits of our early season labor, as the chamomile and calendula come into full flower, the mints begin to really take off, and the perennial valerian and angelica stand tall. I have been absolutely flabbergasted by the way my second-year lemon balm and catnip plants have bushed out, and have begun cutting them back to dry for winter teas. Any time I harvest plants for drying, I also make a batch of fresh herbal tea. This weekend I gathered

• the first calendula blossoms

• a handful of chamomile

• a few sprigs of bronze fennel

• a big bundle of lemon balm

I chopped them all into a half-gallon mason jar and let it steep in the sunshine for a few hours before straining over ice for a perfect “sun tea”. A tea like this only exists at a unique moment, and in a unique garden. This snapshot of the season is a great way to get to know your individual herbs.

This week, in our retail greenhouse, we are offering a trio of herbs as our “Plant(s) of the Week”

• Anise Hyssop

• Tulsi (which we have a blog post about)

• Chamomile.

These are a perfect sun tea trio. All three are plants that you’ll definitely want more than one of in your garden, and when you buy these three staple medicinal herbs, you get three free!

You can find me in the garden drinking sun tea, reading, and hanging out with the plants,

Sophie Cassel

Late June Garden Chores

Plant now for this look later in the summer.

IN THE GARDEN

—> Keeping up with the weeds after the rain is a priority. They will all bounce up and make a carpet in no time. For best results, cultivate when the weeds are young, once the soil has dried out.

—> Fertilize onions, leeks, and shallots because this is when they put on the most growth. I use Compost Plus and water once or twice with fish emulsion during the weeks of late June and early July.

—> Stake and prune tomatoes. Keep the suckers pinched off, and the foliage off the ground. Doing this now will keep the plants disease free for much longer. If you have not yet, I recommend mulching under the plants to keep the soil from splashing up on the leaves since this is one of the ways disease can spread. We will show you how to do this on our July 1st Plant Walk.

—> Now is a great time to put in a strawberry or asparagus patch. We have both available as bare root stock and our retail team can explain how to do it if you are not sure.

—> I have planted all the required staples such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc, and now I am ready to plant the electives. This week it is the cut flower garden. I have the following combos planned for different spots in the new display garden (which you can see on our First Thursday Plant Walks).

• -Marble Arch Mix Salvia, Cosmos, Zinnia ‘Benary’s Giant White’

• -Verbena bonariensis, Zinnias ‘Benary’s Giant Mix’ and ‘State Fair Mix’, Rudbeckia hirta

• -Statice, Strawflower, Gomphrena, Celosia, Amaranth (all for drying)

• -Sunflowers - a crazy mix of all of our varieties

Medicinal Herb Bundles for 2021

2021 is going to be a big year for medicinal herb growing! With ever more people finding joy and solace in tending to plants, many folks are also realizing that home gardening can be more than just tomatoes and pansies. At Red Wagon we’re branching out as well, and growing even more herbs with traditional medicinal uses. Maybe you’re feeling ready to dive in to the world of healing herbs but a little overwhelmed at all the choices available (don’t even get me started on how *all* plants are medicinal!) Our specially tailored herb bundles are a great way to fill your garden with plants that you know you’ll use and enjoy. Additionally, we’ll offer support through educational videos and recommendations all season.

Our pre-made bundles are only available through our online store; you can also find the individual plants in our retail greenhouses when you come to shop in-person.

To help you get to know the herbs, we’ve made introductory videos for all four bundles; check them out on our Youtube channel. In the video descriptions you’ll also find some book recommendations, many of whose authors have their own super-informative youtube channels. Let these resources be a jumping-off point for your own personal experiences and kitchen experiments with the herbs!

Garden Tea Time Bundle: This kit is full of only the tastiest herbs for making fresh and dried teas. If you’re working with herbs and children, this bundle offers kids a safe and yummy way to pick their own medicine.

Skin Care Herb Bundle: This kit makes a great gift for that glowing garden goddess in your life! Infuse oils for salves and make at-home hydrosols (floral waters) with the vibrant herbs in this bundle.

Sweet Dreams Herb Bundle: Whether you need help counting sheep or just a little support getting through the stresses of the day, the herbs in this kit have got your back.

Basic Home Apothecary Bundle: If you’re ready to form long-term relationships with some perennial herbs, this bundle is full of highly regarded medicinal plants that can be harvested from for years to come. These are great herbs to use when learning how to make tinctures (shelf-stable infusions using alcohol, vinegar or glycerine).

You might be wondering how to start working with herbs early this season, in addition to planning and planting the garden. One thing I do in the spring is go through the dried herbs I still have from seasons past. Now is the time to blend up those random dried herbs to make room for this year’s bounty. I also find it much easier to drink a daily herbal infusion when I have it already mixed up in a pretty jar on the counter. Right now, I’m drinking a blend of garden staples like lemon balm, wood betony and peppermint mixed with some early spring wild plants that will be ready to harvest soon: self-heal, nettles, and red clover. These herbs are mineral rich and help support the healthy liver and lymph function to ease the transition from winter into spring.

If you still have a bunch of dried culinary herbs, try mixing them up to use on roast chicken, spring soups (Nettle and potato soup anyone?), or sprinkled on toast with butter and the first radishes of the year. And remember, culinary herbs are good medicine, too!

2021 can be the year you work more deeply with herbs as a part of your everyday life. We look forward to offering more resources, and hearing about your experiences in the garden this growing season!

New Medicinal Herbs for 2021

By Sophie Cassel

Note: The plants discussed here have long histories of use, and the information included does not constitute medical advice. Be sure to check in with your medical provider before using any new herbs long-term. 

This year I have the honor of introducing you to some of our newest additions to the Red Wagon Plants medicinal herb family. In addition to the many medicinal herb starts we grow every year, we have added some plants that are tried and true herbal allies, if not as common in the modern Vermont garden. 

Medicinal herbs tend to be very closely related if not identical to their “wild” counterparts, with very little breeding done by humans for horticultural production. In this way, the most adaptable and hardy plants tend to thrive, and those very compounds that aid the plant’s survival also serve to act medicinally in the human body. Horticultural plant breeding is often targeted towards things like bloom time and flower color, so medicinal constituents may decrease as the plant adjusts in favor of these showy adaptations. For those of us who appreciate a more natural looking perennial garden, the wild beauty of the unmodified plants is part of their charm, and an assurance that we are growing high-quality medicine as well. 

Another trick to medicinal plant growing is germination. Many of these more wild plants have adaptations to ensure seed viability which actually make them much more difficult to reliably germinate at home. Replicating the plant’s natural experience, such as letting the seeds go through a period of cold stratification (for northern climate plants) or nicking the seed coats to mimic the passage through an animal’s intestine, will help increase germination. They’ll never behave quite like a tomato or spinach seed, because these medicinal plants have not adapted to rely on human propagation. This means that buying established plant starts is a great way to ensure success this year, and you’ll be able to save seed to experiment with expanding your patch in years to come. 

You’ll notice that a couple of these plants have the species name “officinalis”, as do other herbs that we grow; that’s a clue to the fact that these plants were historically included in official pharmacopeias and monastic apothecaries well before Linnaeus’s time in the early 18th century. 

Without further ado, here are some of the newest additions to the Red Wagon medicinal herb family:

Marshmallow (Althea officinalis): A relative of hollyhock and hibiscus, this pale-pink flowering beauty lives up to its name, thriving in wet or dense soils. It will also do just fine in garden soils with enough moisture. Growing 3-5’ tall, plant marshmallow towards the back of your perennial beds, but still within easy enough reach to harvest the flowers and soft, velvety leaves for tea. All parts of this plant, including the 2+ year old roots, are valuable for their soothing mucilaginous qualities, which smooth out digestion and soften skin. A great herb for the kid’s garden!

Wood Betony (Stachys officinalis): This plant used to be a staple in old European herb gardens, and has been venerated for centuries as a panacea to “preserve the liver” and ease emotional malaise. Well-behaved clumps of deep green leaves form attractive mounds for the front of the garden, with stately 2’ spikes of purple flowers that will continue to sprout as you harvest through the season. Clip back stems, leaves and flowers and dry for a subtle, earthy tea that can clarify the mind and support healthy digestive function.

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): As our retail manager and fellow herb aficionado Lily said, “After 2020, everyone could use some skullcap!” A native wetland herb in the Mint family, skullcap will happily sort itself around plants like marshmallow and valerian, growing 1-2’ tall with petite periwinkle-colored flowers appearing along the stems. One of our most valued herbs for relaxing muscle tension and general anxiousness, this plant is used both to support sleep and simply find ease through the day. Cut back a few times over the season and dry for tea or infuse in alcohol to make a tincture. Skullcap doesn’t have much of a flavor, so it plays well with other aromatic family members like lemon balm, peppermint, and tulsi. 

Elecampane (Inula helenium): Do you ever wish your sunflowers had a little more sass and came back every year? Elecampane is your answer! Growing up to 6’ tall, elecampane sports finely-petaled yellow flowers born on thick bracts, with large clasping leaves that are a showstopper in the garden. Named after Helen of Troy, the root of this plant has been long revered as a pungent digestive tonic with a camphorous aroma that lends itself well to infused honeys and cordials. It’s valuable in supporting lung health and getting out stuck “gunk” wherever it may be lodged. 

California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica): We’re bringing back the California state flower to our collection this year. While related to the other garden poppies, Eschscholzia flowers later and requires far less in terms of soil quality to thrive. The only annual on this list, plant California poppy alongside other self-seeding annuals like chamomile and calendula, or tuck it around the front of a sunny perennial border that you don’t have time to mulch or fertilize. The whole plant is used medicinally, including the striking red root and attractive long seed pods (which also make excellent everlasting bouquet additions). Tincture the plant in vinegar or alcohol to make a tonic for sleep that is impeded by either pain or discomfort of body and mind alike.

Pruning Raspberries with Lily Belisle

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.

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.

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

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

Enjoy!

Tiny Clay Pots, Living Greens, Medicinal Herbs, and What to Do in the Garden.

The greenhouse industry once propagated and sold plants in these tiny pots.

For this week’s curbside pick up, happening Friday between noon and 6, we have some very sweet offerings to bring life and cheer to your weekend. First up, are these adorable viola collections. They are planted in tiny antique terracotta pots, and will make a lovely statement on your table. The greenhouse industry is full of plastic, and this year we are kicking off a year long experiment with reducing plastic use. Plants were once propagated and sold in these tiny clay pots, and by offering them to you this week, we are including you in that mission. Keep your eye out for more efforts to reduce plastic, and please give us your feedback.

Our Living Greens are so good right now. I have been making a daily salad with clipped mustard greens (mizuna, Tokyo bekana, arugula, Cheap Frills) and dressing it with just a squeeze of lemon, hazelnut oil, and our herb salts. It is just so good! When you order a tray of mustards, we will give you two kinds of each, and you will have fun textures and colors to mix into your salads. These are mild, sweet mustards. Not sharp at all.

Our greens are a living tapestry of colors, textures and flavors.

IN THE GARDEN

It looks like after this weekend, the daytime temperatures will be in the 50’s, and night time temperatures will be at or just above freezing. If your garden is dry enough, towards the end of next week, you can direct seed the following into your soil:

• Peas

• kale

• spinach

• mustards

• lettuce

• carrots

• beets

• turnips

How do you know the soil is dry enough to work?

Do this simple test: make a handful of soil into a little ball, drop it from knee height. If it shatters, you soil is dry enough But if it stays in a little ball or breaks into just 2 or 3 pieces, it is too wet. Walking, rototilling and digging in a wet garden creates compaction. This means that your soil will feel like concrete all summer, and plants won’t grow well, and certain weeds will thrive and be very hard to pull out. Think of your garden beds as fluffy pillows, and avoid doing anything that reduces the loft. For best results, please just wait until the soil is dry before working the soil, seeding and planting.

If your garden soil is too wet, or you live in a colder place, you can always scratch the garden itch by cleaning up the shed, sharpening tools, and cleaning out your containers. It is nice to get a fresh start, and have everything ready once the weather is warm enough.

MEDICINAL HERB WORKSHOP

Sophie Cassel, herbalist, Red Wagon team member, and owner of Patchwork Plants, will be teaching a Zoom class this Saturday at 10 am on growing herbs for health and wellness. I hope you join her for a fun, inspiring, and incredibly informative look at how plants can help us thrive. Sohpie’s knowledge and enthusiasm knows no bounds. You can sign up here.

UPCOMING

We will be open to the public on April 16th and we will continue to offer curbside pick up and online ordering. For the next two weeks, we will continue to offer curbside pick up on Fridays, and then, once we open, we will switch to next day pick up. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

For in - person shopping, we ask that everyone wear a mask and ask that you shop on weekdays if your schedule allows. We are hoping to avoid the weekend crowds, and will give away a free plant to customers who shop Monday through Thursday. Thanks so much for your consideration as we work hard to keep our staff and community safe.

For pick up tomorrow, please have your orders in by midnight tonight.

Thanks so much, and happy gardening, Julie

Pollinator Habitat Gardening

When planting a garden to attract pollinators, it is important to look at all the life cycles of the beneficial insects you are trying to help and to attract. Sometimes, we are just focused on that flashy butterfly feeding on nectar, but we need to also think about the less showy stages of the caterpillar and the cocoon. They need different plants at different stages. While focusing on the feeding stage of adult insects and butterflies is a great start, we invite you to dig a little deeper. 

Tips to  encourage a lively community of beneficial insects:

• Have a community of plants that bloom for as long a time as possible. Think about early spring all the way to deep freeze

• Leave debris in the garden over the winter. Do your “fall” clean up in the spring, once the soil is warm and all the eggs have hatched out of hollow stems, bark, under the leaves, and mulch.  If you feel compelled to cut back the plants in the fall, leave them in piles on the edge of the garden to keep intact the winter habitat. 

• Instead of raking leaves in the fall, let them stay in place. they will break down and add to your garden soil. In the spring, any leaves that have  not broken down over the winter can be added to parts of the garden that need the soil built up or you can add them to the compost pile. 

Some of my favorite plants to include: 

Valerian – easy, tall, and leaves you lots of woody, hollow stems for winter shelter. The while umbel flowers are attractive, and the seed heads persist all summer long, into the fall and winter. 

Eupatorium – also known as Joe Pye Weed. This is a favorite native meadow plant that does well in heavy soils. It has huge, umbel shaped flowers in late summer, and the seed heads look great going into winter. 

Echinacea and Rudbeckia – cone flowers and black eyed susan. These are mainstays of the  perennial garden for a reason. They are easy to grow and attract many beneficial insects to the garden. Large patches of them are more effective than single plants here and there. 

Try to create a big swathes of these plants, and create variation in height and texture by interspersing them with 

Calamintah nepeta ssp nepeta photo credit: Stonehouse Nursery

• Calamintha nepeta  ssp nepeta

• Salvia

• Penstemon

• Alium

• Eryngium yuccafolium

• Heliopsis

• Helenium

• Grasses

Finally, tuck in ground covers to help suppress weeds by covering all the bare soil:

• Geranium maculatum 

• Geranium sanguineum

• Tiarella

• Lamium

• Carex

• Epimedium

Zinnias, verbena bonariensis, calendula, bronze leaf fennel, and tulsi basil are annual flowers and herbs that I love to introduce into the perennial garden or the vegetable garden. They do a great job of feeding a large group of insects and butterflies and will attract many pollinators to the vegetable and fruit garden. Plus their pops of color and varying textures charm and catch the eye from a distance. 

Red Wagon resources to get you started:

• Keep an eye out for Chad’s Beneficial Insect Seed Mix this year to try some of this at home, from seed.

• We will be offering plant collections that include many of these varieties so that you can follow our formula without having to search each individual plant.

• And you can take a workshop this Saturday, March 30th with Julia Parker-Dickerson to learn all about her experience making Pollinator Habitat Gardens in public spaces.

Thanks for caring about the smallest creatures.

Happy gardening,

Julie

Virtual Workshop Schedule for Spring 2021

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.

Growing Indoor Greens - a great project to do with kids.

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Tokyo Bekana and Ruby Streaks

We all have the spring fever itch around late February, and it can be scratched a little by growing some edible greens indoors. We recommend mustard greens because they tolerate low light, can be eaten while small and they grow relatively quickly.

Just fill a shallow tray with good potting soil that you have moistened well. It should feel like a sponge that has just been wrung out - not drippy, but not dry either. Place seeds on top, about ¼” apart; it does not have to be exact. Gently press the seeds into the soil, and sprinkle a very small dusting of soil over the seeds. It is best to NOT bury them deeply, they don’t need that and it will just slow down the germination.

Keep the soil in the tray moist by watering regularly, and then start to eat the greens when they are anywhere from sprout sized to 4” or so in height. They probably won’t regrow much indoors, but you can experiment and see how they do. The types of seeds you use and the soil and the amount of light you have and how much you water all are factors that affect the rate of growth. Try different varieties, different watering methods and see what works best for you. You can usually have a small “micro-green” harvest within 2 to 3 weeks.

Here are some varieties we recommend for your indoor shoots and micro-greens:

Arugula

Spicy Blend

Mustards

• Tokyo Bekana

• Yukina Savoy

• Tatsoi

• Ruby Streaks

Blast Off!

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.