The Garden at 485 Elm
People growing together:
a collaborative community garden in Montpelier, Vermont

The light at the end of first big garden push

The sun shines on The Garden at 485 Elm a few minutes longer each day. The warmth propels seeds into germination, plants into flower, and gardeners into productivity.

Many of our crop plants are mature enough to mulch around. Here, Lesley and Catherine place hay in the onion bed. At top right, our garlic is thriving in wooden boxes.

Hannah and Chris lay the last rows of black plastic around plants that love hot dirt: Tomatoes, ground cherries, and okra. On the left, note the black hose fed under the garden fence into the drip-hose system that now irrigates most of the garden. In the background, Compostville is cooking.

Hannah is thinning carrots. Four rows of carrots are growing on either side of two rows of sugar snap peas.

The broccoli rabe was going to flower. Bonnie harvested it all, and we divided it up to eat. She replanted that bed with spinach.

This broccoli rabe is ready to trim, wash, and eat. Above that, butterhead lettuce heads have been thinned from a bed, giving other heads room to grow and gardeners something tender and delicious to eat right now.

It’s time to replant greens in several boxes. Susan browses the garden’s seed file to see what looks delicious. She picked Merveille des Quartre Saisons (a red and green bibb lettuce). Susan planted another arugula bed, too.

Tomato feeding time.

We shall have tomatoes!