Welcome to The Garden!

Many farms around us were all out of hay mulch. We finally found a source, and brought home fifteen bales this week. Why do we use straw and not hay? Straw has had seed heads removed. When we spread straw mulch, we're not planting unintentional crops, i.e., weeds....

Some garden volunteers are crops, such as tomatoes and ground cherries that reseed themselves. Even more interesting volunteers may be mistaken for weeds. Here are a few we enjoy allowing to grow, then picking to eat.

  Ingredients: Handful each of roughly chopped... Garlic scapes Chives Scallions Basil Parsley Cilantro And… 2 handfuls raw walnuts Garlic-infused olive oil & roasted nut or seed oil Splashes of lemon juice to taste A few pinches of nutritional yeast Pinch of...

Our community garden is offering a free herb walk in and around the Garden at 485 Elm. It's at 485 Elm Street in Montpelier, just north of Cummings Street. (www.thegardenat485elm.org Herbalist Diana Baron will take us on a tour of summer herbs at 485 Elm. Our tour...

Our first long hot spell took us beyond the fear of frost. It was time to plant our hot-weather seedlings.

This week, an AmeriCorps Team of four made great strides in Compostville's transformation. We're revamping our compost system to have greater capacity for food scraps and a longer season of composting. Compostville at The Garden at 485 Elm is one of four grant-funded...

Finally, the air and soil are warm enough to plant seedlings. This week, we planted Brussels sprouts and herbs and, of course, more seed. Next week, we plant seedlings of tomatoes, cukes, hot peppers, eggplants, and basil.