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

Welcome to The Garden!

The Winter Squash Bed Becomes the Garlic Bed

The Winter Squash Bed Becomes the Garlic Bed

Winter squash harvest day comes before the first frost or after the squash have stopped maturing in each day's reduced sunlight and warmth. Gardeners harvested the squashes for sorting and distribution then pulled up the vines, which went onto the garden waste...

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What else is growing at the garden?

A Grateful Look Back: Garden Catnip Distilling Workshop

A Grateful Look Back: Garden Catnip Distilling Workshop

The garden gives us so much to be grateful for all year long. Today we express deep garden gratitude to Lauren Andrews, a Central Vermont nurse turned aromatherapist and Aromed Essentials proprietor. On a beautiful early September day, Lauren expanded our...

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Putting the Garden to Bed

Putting the Garden to Bed

It's called "putting to bed" because the garden doesn't die; it sleeps. And we gardeners rest our bodies while dreaming about and planning the garden for spring. Harvesting the last radishes. Plenty of beautiful radishes for gardeners and shoppers at the Montpelier...

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Next Season’s Garlic Is Planted

Next Season’s Garlic Is Planted

Garlic seed is . . . garlic! Every August when we harvest the garlic crop, we retain have of it for replanting. We reserve the biggest, most beautiful heads, In late October or early November, weather depending, Just before it's time to plant, we separate those robust...

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The Ginger Harvest Is In

The Ginger Harvest Is In

It's tiny but tasty. And almost all of the plant is edible. Each small stack is a ginger share. The bucket to the lower right contains the rhizomes for planting next season. The yield was about as much again as we planted. We're theorizing that letting it grow longer...

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The Garden Remains Awake, Alive, & Productive

The Garden Remains Awake, Alive, & Productive

In the fall, people start asking "How was your garden this year? Must be just about put to bed, eh?" Not quite! Here's what continues in the garden: profusions of salad and leafy greens, herbs, and root veggies; beans, eggplants, peppers, tomatillos, zucchini, and...

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Lusciously Beautiful Winter Squash Harvest

Lusciously Beautiful Winter Squash Harvest

Sometimes a perfect crop is ready for harvest on a perfect day. Here at the Garden at 485 Elm, we harvest all the winter squash at once. Then we count how many we have of each variety, divide it by the number of gardeners' households (this year: 17), and put them out...

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Peak Garden

Peak Garden

The garden lives throughout the year. It sprouts in spring, grows lush in summer, wanes deliciously in fall, and subsides beneath the frozen earth in winter. Each phase has its beauty and place in the seasonal cycles. Now the garden is at peak productivity, and we are...

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Join Us This Friday for a Garden Tour

Join Us This Friday for a Garden Tour

Experience the Garden at 485 Elm's eight-season-old collectively grown garden! Join us on Friday, August 13, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at 485 Elm Street in Montpelier. Please walk or bike if you can; park cars in the driveway facing the garden to allow everyone space to...

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Sumptuous Garlic & Onion Harvest

Sumptuous Garlic & Onion Harvest

Garlic and onions are among the five crops we harvest all at once and divide into shares. Unlike beans, greens, and peas, which continue producing as everyone harvests all they can eat, these crops are one and done. Shares are very generous! We laid out the garlic by...

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Bursting with Herbs

Bursting with Herbs

Every season, the Garden at 485 Elm gives dozens of pounds of food to local organizations ensuring our neighbors have access to fresh, delicious local food. On a beautiful evening, we harvested basil, oregano, and thyme that went to the Montpelier Food Pantry for...

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