Sun + Rain = Food
A tree farmer described how trees grow as "Sleep, creep, leap." The garden does the same, with much faster cycles than trees. After a sleepy start, days of sun and rain have kicked things into high gear. All our seedlings are planted. Only a few direct-seed crops...
What else is growing at the garden?
Happy Garden Day to You!
Food and flowers together—beautiful inspiration! Harvesting flowers is good for the plants' health. Filling our homes with flowers is good for our mental health. Everybody wins.
Zinnias, cosmos, and daisies
Food isn't all we grow here at the Garden at 485 Elm. Liz, our flower goddess, makes sure we have cultivated and wild blooming things to calm our spirits and beautify our homes. Gardeners can snip all the blossoms they want. We cut bouquets and give them to our...
The Garden Bounty Is Here
Cucumbers have arrived. On the left are green finger cucumbers, on the right, marketmore cukes. Thinning beets and harvesting beets are now the same task. And mighty tasty too! We glean in our own garden. The lopped-off mustard green flowers will make a delicious and...
Food is love. And we love our community.
Here's a word from the garden's donation team leader, Caitlin Roseen. The first garden donation of 2019 is in the books! This beautiful bunch of garlic scapes was given to Bethany Bowl, which is one of the free community lunch programs in Montpelier. The lunch...
Season of Abundance
Just like that, the garden is vivid, with leafy profusion in many colors. We're dining on garden food daily, and it seems we could harvest lettuces and chard forever. Flowers are blooming, ready for gardeners to cut and and fill their homes. Our greens boxes are...
Hello, summer garden!
Join us for a planting-bed-prep workshop!
P.S. It went great! We learned lots and planted mesclun mixes in well-prepped soil. Please join us at the Garden at 485 Elm for "Soils & Bed Prep for Home Vegetable Gardeners," sponsored by University of Vermont Extension Master Gardener. Registration is required...
Soup’s On!
The season began slowly with a cold, wet June. We planted and replanted. Finally, crops are ready for regular harvesting. How do we share all this food? We harvest lettuce, chard, kale and other greens so they continue to produce as long and as much as possible. We...
You *can* eat the daisies!
Our herb walk with herbalist Diana Baron fell on a gorgeous late spring evening and revealed a big food surprise: daisies! How did I not know this?The buds, leaves, and stems of daisies have a subtle, herbish flavor and crisp texture. Salads will never be the same....
485 Elm Gardeners Protect Honeybees
Mike and Robin Harris, who garden here at 485 Elm, tend honeybee hives at home. Recently, on WCAX-TV, Robin, Mike, and our garden's UVM Extension Master Composter project lead, Andrea Stander, discussed Vermont's efforts to protect honeybees. Honeybees' survival and...
