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?
A Perfect Day in May
After nearly two inches of rain, the soil was moist, fluffy, and perfect for gardening. Gardeners are edging the garlic bed. Grass is wonderful to walk on, but it relentlessly works its way into garden beds. Edging prevents the garlic from being choked out. It also...
Transplanting Edible Perennials
Today we relocated two perennials: asparagus and French sorrel. The right time is when the roots are robust but the plant hasn't yet done much leafing. Asparagus went into these two boxes in April 2020. They were too shaded and the plants didn't do much. This is a...
Spring Planting Is Here
Thanks to generous donations, we have delicious peas and seed for many other crops to grow. Pea seeds are just peas. Very special peas that grow into very delicious peas. The peas are planted and the soil is being mulched. This holds the moisture so the peas require...
Glimpses of Spring in the Garden
It's nearly time to roll up some of the netting we used to anchor leaves last fall. The leaves served the newly planted garlic seed well. They protected it from heavy snow all winter long so the moment the ground and air warm enough, the garlic seed can sprout for our...
Our Mothership: the Vermont Community Garden Network
The Vermont Community Garden Network (VCGN) has been there for us since before we dug up the south lawn and invited the community to garden together here. Way back in the winter of 2014, I went looking for a community-garden template (my favorite way to work). I...
The Garden in Winter
The garden sleeps. We don't. The garden is blanketed in snow. Compostville is still and frozen. The tabletop leaning against the garden shed holds heavy snow. In the growing season, we spread and dry crops on the table's mesh surface. Garden managers Chris and Sheryl,...
Thanks to the Plants and the Planters
The Plants Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to...
Sweet Dreams to the 2020 Garden
We're still enjoying some garden greens and herbs, but we've done our last big harvests and created a cozy winter bed for the garden. https://youtu.be/gkvq0G3Tris It's all about the leaves. The City of Montpelier gathers truckloads of bagged leaves from neighborhood...
Brussels Sprouts: The Last Big Garden Harvest
While there are still salad greens, kale, and herbs to harvest, and a few lovely daikon radishes in a box bed, this special seasonal treat was our last big harvesting hurrah. We dug out all the Brussels sprouts, popped the sprouts off the stalks, and separated them...
The Garden’s Ancient History
This essay by 485 Elm gardener and naturalist Ned Swanberg originally appeared is reprinted from the Bridge with the author's permission. ESSAY: Discovering Watershed Passages Through Time and Space MONTPELIER — From the bridge near my home, I could drop a “Pooh...
