Welcome to The Garden!

On a beautiful September evening, naturalist Ned Swanberg led gardeners and visitors through the diverse life along the North Branch, where the Garden at 485 Elm grows.

Since our first season (2014), the Garden at 485 Elm has had a perennial bed between the garden fence and the sidewalk. The garden serves several roles. The primary role is producing food together, for each other and for donation to other community members. Another...

Naturalist and 485 Elm gardener Ned Swanberg will lead us in looking for late summer changes along the river. What:  River Discovery Walk Along the North Branch When:  Thursday, September Sep 13, 5:30-7 p.m. Where:  Meet at the Garden at 485 Elm in Montpelier The...

In early September, the garden's generations within the season are in full swing. It's full of food ready to eat and blooming flowers with more coming along. We're putting beds to bed, too.  

In mid to late August, there's lots to eat. We plant seed for late greens, hoping to enjoy young spinach, mesclun mixes, tat soy, and mustard-spinach greens in the fall. Other beds are finished for now. Former onion rows are getting compost and cover crop seed.

At a children's center garden, woodchucks ate the vegetables they'd planted. Only the watermelon was spared. So Irina Markova, who has been gardening here for three years, brought children to the Garden at 485 Elm for a midsummer visit. Irina said they would cook and...

It's disappointing when a favorite crop doesn't produce well. This season, for example, our lushly leafy eggplants are not laying many eggs. Other times the food is plentiful but in hiding. Recently, gardeners here have mentioned difficulty finding enough cucumbers,...

It's obvious that harvesting ripe squashes, cucumbers, and tomatoes will result in meals. Some plants require harvesting to stay healthy and continue producing. Peas and beans left to rot on the vine signal the plant that it's time to die. Continually picking these...

Last fall we planted garlic. We used a combination of garlic seed we grew here and some we purchased from nearby organic growers: porcelain stiff neck, Moreno hillside, and elephant garlic. Before rinsing off the heads, we snipped the stems instead of braiding or...