Planting Potatoes in Trenches and Elsewhere
The timing was perfect. The night before potato planting, a gardener found the last of 2023's blanched-and-frozen potatoes at the bottom of the chest freezer and made a delicious treat: Slice the potatoes thinly, brush with avocado oil, sprinkle with seasonings—in...
What else is growing at the garden?
Summer Squash: It Begins
It starts with a couple of fruit. Then a few. And then, if we're lucky, the Zucchini Apocalypse is nigh!
It’s Harvest O’Clock!
Peas are sweet, delicious, and ready to eat. Chamomile and Johnny Jump-ups Rainbow Chard Kale of Many Colors Italian Large-Leaf Basil Lettuces and More Lettuces Yet to come: beets, onions, ginger, and beautiful flowers holding the promise of many, many more...
Life Happens
And it's so beautiful.
Warming Up for Warm-Weather Crops
Chris plants ground cherry (or husk cherry) seedlings. We decided not to grow tomatoes this season, as they take many, many hours of care every week. Ground cherries are a tomato relative that's much easier to grow and is delicious to eat right off the bush like fresh...
How Crops Get Here: Rhubarb
An email arrived from the person who sold her Montpelier home to the mother of one of the garden cofounders. Rhubarb was growing in the garden beside the house, and the seller thoughtfully suggested we might want it for the community garden. Garden cofounder Chris in...
Safe, Successful Small-Scale Composting in a Pandemic
Back in the beforetimes . . . Compostville at the Garden at 485 Elm was built from 2017 to 2019 with help from a generous grant and partners including the Vermont Community Garden Network, the Composting Association of Vermont, and the Central Vermont Solid Waste...
A Day in May on Planet Vermont
This, too, is Vermont gardening. Tender young peas Garlic and herb beds Boxes of salad and leafy greens
Giving Food on Giving Tuesday
The Garden at 485 Elm made an offering on Giving Tuesday: Garden donation team leader Caitlin Roseen brought our extra—and still beautiful—onion starts to the Montpelier Food Pantry. Caitlin writes: These onion starts will be offered to shoppers along with seed...
Planting Days Are Here Again
The new health-and-safety considerations for work parties and gardeners gardening here on their own are working well. Seed and seedlings are in the ground: peas, onions, carrots, salad greens, kale, and more. Art projects and experimental crops are under way. We...
Time to Conduct a Potato Experiment
What better time to try new things when absolutely everything seems like an entirely new thing? Years ago, the garden grew potatoes in one of the fenced garden’s plot. It was labor-intensive and not greatly beloved. The results were delicious, but local potatoes are...
