The Changing Light

Have you been home, staring out the window? Probably, right? I am certainly doing more of that than ever, and am taking delight in the little details I don’t normally slow down enough to notice. Like the way goldfinches come into their yellow plumage gradually going from buff to bright, or the angle of the sun, or the patterns of mist rising off the snow at sunset. I have picked up a watercolor hobby during this pandemic time, and am grateful for the new ways of seeing. I am learning to pick out the yellow in a blue sky or the infinite shades of purple and orange in a stone wall. It is pure magic. And our gardens are slowly awakening deep underground. The plants certainly notice that change in the sun’s angle; their life depends on it.

It is with that in mind that I wanted to update all of you with a few newsy bits:

1) We will open our greenhouses to the public this season. The survey results are in, and the outpouring of requests for us to open has been heard. We will require masks, hand sanitizing, and we will limit the amount of cars in the parking lot. Keep your eyes on this newsletter for more information as we get closer.

2) We will continue to offer plants, tools, seeds, herb farm products, and merchandise through our online store with curbside pick up. This will begin by the end of this month for anyone looking for seeds, soil, etc. Initially curbside pick up will be every Friday afternoon or by appointment on a pre-arranged day. As the season progresses, we will change to next day curbside pick up.

3) We are putting together our 2021 workshop series, and have some exciting new programs for you. To kick off the season, we are starting with a 3 part series with Ferene Paris Meyer, of All Heart Inspirations, Inc. We are so excited for this time to get together with other gardeners to talk about what gardening means to us, what is our vision, and what do we do to get there. Here is the link to sign up. See below for all the details. Ferene’s class in early December was absolutely perfect. No one wanted it to end; her energy is contagiously enthusiastic, and we can all use that right now.

Life Lessons Harvested from my Garden

A three part series with Ferene Paris Meyer

Saturdays 10 to 11:30 am

2/20, 2/27, 3/6

During these gray, winter days, our anticipation of how our gardens will evolve serve as a light of hope. Ferene Paris Meyer, storyteller with All Heart Inspirations, will rejoin us to host a 3-week storytelling series. During our time together, we will reflect and share stories harvested from gardens. Enjoy this heartfelt space for gardening dreamers, lovers, and enthusiasts as we prepare for the new bountiful season.

****For those in need of a subsidized registration fee, please contact Ferene allheartinspirations@gmail.com for a discounted code to register online. We encourage anyone who wants to partake in this conversation to join us, regardless of ability to pay.****

Thanks for reading, and looking forward to connecting soon,

XOX

Julie

Herb Wreath How To

Here is a little project that is easy to do and uses up herbs from your garden (or purchase one of our kits). Lily and Julie made some herb wreaths this week to give you a sense of how to do it. We instantly felt better after doing a creative project like this, and my wreath is in the kitchen smelling and looking great. Check out this video for a tutorial on how to do it. And if you would like to purchase one of our kits, you can find them here for purchase (we will contact you to arrange pick up at our Hinesburg location).

Peppers

We grew an abundance of peppers this year. With 35 varieties on our plant list, it is hard to not grow too many. Every variety deserves a chance and some are absolute favorites and I end up planting 6 or more plants of each, but really I am making a giant note to stop this madness next year. Every day, for the past month, I am starring at huge bags of peppers in the fridge and figuring out what to do with them. Not a bad problem to have, especially these days. Here are a few things I have been doing.

Pickled Cherry Bomb and other Hot Peppers

I make a brine that is based on this basic recipe from the cook book 6 Seasons by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg. This amount is about enough for 3 pints.

½ cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 ½ cups water

3 tablespoons sugar (original recipe calls for 5 TBS)

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring ingredients to a boil,

Pack washed, stemmed and seeded (optional) peppers into clean glass jars. Add a clove of garlic and a sprig of thyme to each jar.

Pour hot brine over the peppers, filling each jar to the top. Let cool to room temperature and then store in the refrigerator. Please note this brine solution is not acidic enough to preserve the peppers with a hot water bath method of canning. These are refrigerator pickles that will keep for months. I pack big ½ gallon jars of them into the back of the fridge and use them all winter, chopped into tacos, as a topping for sandwiches, stuffed, etc.

You can pickle sweet peppers too, using this method.

Hungarian Hot Wax peppers are perfect for pickling.

I also made this pepper relish recently and really liked it. You can incorporate some hot peppers into the mix if you want it spicy. This is for canning with a hot water bath method. If you have never done this, please make sure to look up a reliable tutorial, like this one.

Pepper Relish

adapted from Well Preserved by Mary Anne Dragan

6 cups of finely chopped sweet peppers, combination of colors. A few hot peppers can be included in the 6 cups for a spicy relish.

2 cups of finely chopped onion

2 cups of cider vinegar

1 cup of sugar (I used ¾)

2 tablespoons of mixed pickling spice (I did not have a pre-made blend, so made my own with coriander seed, bay leaf, a few cloves, a few black peppercorns, 2 dried chilies, and a tsp of mustard seed) in a cheesecloth bundle or a tea ball.

2 teaspoons of dried hot pepper flakes or substitute with fresh hot peppers

2 teaspoons of salt

Combine peppers and onions into a bowl, and pour boiling water over them. Let sit 5 minutes, then drain well.

Combine the remaining ingredients into a large pot, and bring to a boil. Add the vegetables, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes.

Remove from the heat, take out the spice bag. Spoon the relish into hot sterilized jars, leaving ½ inch of head space. Release the air bubbles, wipe the rims of jars clean, seal according to manufacturer’s directions. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Please refer to this process here if you are not familiar with canning.

Other ways to preserve peppers

I freeze them. Just chop up raw peppers, and slide them into a freezer bag. That is it. They can be used in all kinds of stews, soups and braises over the winter.

I make a big pot of sautéed peppers and caramelized onions and freeze that in small bags. In winter, it can be turned into a tasty spread or dip by placing the thawed mixture in a blender with some walnuts, or cheese, or olives or dehydrated tomatoes.

I roast peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, onions and summer squash or zucchini with olive oil, salt, garlic and herbs at 400F for about 45 minutes. I freeze that mixture in freezer bags and then use it as a base for pasta sauces, soups, and a topping for pizza.

Fermented Fresh Salsa

by Guest blogger, herbalist, and RWP Staffer, Sophie Cassel

This is a salsa you make to eat fresh and eat in the fridge, not canned for storage.

Ask anyone in my house or social circle what the big culinary wonder was last summer, and they’ll all tell you: “Fermented salsa!”. Far removed from the cooked salsa in jars, fermented salsa is like a tangy, juicy version of the popular pico de gallo type of dip. This was a technique I learned about years ago on a homestead in Maine, but started preparing last summer when faced with a constant glut of tomatoes and absolutely no desire to turn the oven on for canning.

By mid-August, I was making a half- to whole-gallon of fermented salsa per week, and we were eating it just as fast. It makes a great snack and is a tasty conversation starter when brought to backyard cookouts. Suddenly, adding fermented foods to your diet is as easy as breaking out the tortilla chips! It also makes the best topping for tacos and grilled meats. 

Below is the basic recipe. I change the proportions a little each time, based on what I have ripening in my garden or on the kitchen counter at that moment, and how much I could fit into the half-gallon jar. 

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs ripe tomatoes 

• 1 small onion

• 1-3 cloves of garlic

• 2-3 bell peppers

• Hot peppers of your choice (I like my salsa more mild, so I use 1 jalapeno or 2 hungarian hot wax peppers, but the sky's the limit!)

• Cilantro (stems included), or a mix of cilantro, pepiche, and papalo leaves

• Salt to taste

Method:

• Finely chop all ingredients into similar sizes and layer into a half-gallon mason jar. Add salt and taste; it should be just shy of “too salty”. Stir well (a long-handled cocktail stirrer works well), and cover loosely with the jar lid. Place jar on a plate to catch any overflow during fermentation, and leave on your kitchen counter. 

• Shake jar (with lid tight) 2-3 times per day, loosening the lid to allow for gas to escape through the course of the day. You will start to see bubbles rising to the surface, but shaking ensures that all ingredients stay below the liquid.

• After a day or two, taste to evaluate how the tanginess is developing. Depending on weather, it could take anywhere from 2-5 days to achieve desired levels of fermented flavor. You get to decide when you think it’s ready!

• Eat immediately, or funnel into smaller jars and store in the fridge. It will store indefinitely, slowly building its fermented flavor, but good luck getting it to last long enough!

• Note: If your tomatoes are really juicy, you may want to strain some of the excess liquid when transferring to storage jars. This fermented tomato juice is a refreshing drink, and makes a great addition to gazpacho or cocktails! 

Calendula

Calendula (Calendula officinalis), historically also known as Pot Marigold, is one of those cheery plants that has successfully transcended the gap between herbal medicine and ornamental gardening. Its sunny blossoms start blooming early in the summer if transplanted, and will proliferate all season long and even after frost, as long as the flowers are picked before going to seed. Like others in the Asteraceae family, pollinators flock to this plant, which provides a valuable long-term nectar source. While there are many types of ornamental calendula available on the market, highly medicinal varieties include Resina, Alpha, and Erfurter Orangefarbige. You’ll know you’ve got a potent calendula if when you pick the blossom (snapping it from the stem and removing the flower head and green bracts) your fingers get sticky with resin.

If you’re growing calendula and deadheading the plants regularly, you’ll find yourself with a wealth of flower heads to use. Luckily, there are endless ways to make use of this beautiful and powerful plant! 

Calendula occupies a unique and important place in any herbal medicine chest. Powerful yet gentle, it’s listed as an active ingredient in balms for everything from cracked hands to rashy baby bums. Calendula enjoys a long history of use as a venerated wound healer and anti-inflammatory herb, soothing and repairing injuries and ulcerations of all kinds. As it also has documented immune-stimulating affects (through its work on the lymphatic system), calendula is also useful when dealing with skin issues that stem from some kind of infection. At the start of gardening season, I can often be found soaking my roughed-up hands in strong calendula tea to heal cracked cuticles and scraped knuckles. 

But we can’t talk about skin without mentioning the skin that lines our insides- the digestive tract! In the same way that calendula heals external wounds, it is equally as powerful when taken internally to alleviate the effects of inflammation in the gut. Allergic reactions both inside and out can benefit from application of this herb, and it is gentle enough to use every day in a variety of ways. I love including calendula in mouthwash formulas to heal irritation and inflammation in the gums.

There’s no reason to relegate calendula to the first-aid kit, though. It is also a wonderful tool in the kitchen, adding color and beauty to baked goods and salads as the “poor man’s saffron”. To use, simply pluck the petals off the flower head, and sprinkle into your batter or lettuce mix. The center of the heads, with their sticky resin, tend to leave an uncomfortable feeling on the back of the throat when consumed raw, so it’s best to save those for tea infusions, or thrown into soups and bone broths where you’ll get the benefit of the herb and the visual delight as well. 

Now that you’ve harvested your blossoms and dreamed up all the ways you’ll use your calendula, make sure to dry some for winter use. Flowers should be picked in the height of the day, when they have fully opened and any dew has dried. Dry flowers in baskets or on newspaper, spread in a single layer so that they are not touching (you can also use a dehydrator on the lowest setting). Calendula flowers hold lots of moisture, so it’s important to let them dry fully before storing, lest they get moldy on you. The center of the head should snap apart easily when dry. As the season wanes, leave some flowers to go to seed on the plant. You can harvest these fossil-like structures once they’ve turned brown and come off easily in your hand. 

Calendula is an excellent and safe introduction into the world of herbal medicine, and with its myriad uses, it’s one of the most reliable plants you can keep on hand throughout the year. 

Basic Calendula Oil, Two Ways:

• Calendula flowers, wilted for a few days or completely dried

• High quality oil, such as olive, sunflower, grapeseed, almond, or jojoba

Roughly chop calendula flowers and pack into jar, then fully cover with oil (add an extra glug or two to make sure flowers stay submerged). Label with contents and date, then leave to steep in a dry, shady place for 2-4 weeks. Different herbalists have different habits, and some prefer to let their oils steep in the sunshine, while I keep mine out of direct sunlight. 

If you’re in a rush, you can quickly make an infused oil by heating the oil and flowers slowly in a double boiler, making sure that you stay well below the smoke point for that oil. Heat gently for an hour or two. In either case, when you’re finished infusing the oil, strain out and compost the flowers, label your oil, and store in a dark place for up to a year. You can use this oil to make salves, lotions, and creams, or apply directly to skin. 

Gut-Healing Tea (make with fresh or dry herbs):

• Calendula flower

• Chamomile flower

• Plantain leaf (Plantago spp.)

• Fennel seed

• Peppermint leaf

Blend equal parts of all herbs. Infuse about a handful (approx. ¼-½ cup) of herbs in 1 quart of boiled water, and allow to steep for an hour or overnight. Enjoy hot or iced, and drink daily as part of a regimen to help with digestive upset (can also be enjoyed as part of a healthy-skin regimen, too!)

Resources:

Calendula Monograph: https://www.herbrally.com/monographs/calendula

Henriette’s Herbal: https://www.henriettes-herb.com/blog/yell-calendula.html

Drying Herbs for the Home Apothecary

By Sophie Cassel, herbalist, gardener, educator, and RWP employee. 

So, you’ve planned out the garden beds, planted your herbs, tended dutifully to their new growth, and now you’ve got a garden full of medicinal flowers and bushy growth, beginning to attract the attention of busy pollinators and your awe-struck neighbors. What next? Of course, you could leave the plants as ornamentals, or allow them to go to seed in hopes of expanding the garden next year. But if you’re interested in harvesting plant medicine, you’ll want to have all the tools you need to gather, dry, and store your bounty. Read on for some tips on tools and methods for keeping on top of the harvest, and you’ll be rewarded with aromatic and delicious herbs that will store well through the winter months!

Harvesting

First, a note on harvest. Medicinal plants have been used and revered for as long as humans have been humans, and we can and should show gratitude to the plants for all they offer us. While it bears repeating that wild plants should always be collected with utmost respect and caution towards the continuity of the stand or the species, even our own gardens can be the site of conscious harvest. Remember that maintaining a healthy pollinator population is essential for maintaining a healthy garden, and leave at least a third of flowers for the little critters who make all that abundance possible. With many commonly grown medicinals, leaving flowers for the bugs and birds will also promote seed production, which can then be gathered from in the fall to save for next year or offer to friends. Dead standing seed heads also provide important food sources to birds in the winter, which is another way to pay forward the bounty of the garden. 

That said, it’s helpful to have some key tools to make the harvest go smoothly:

• Baskets: Wide woven baskets are ideal for harvesting big bunches of herbs. They also make good places to dry the plants, since they provide plenty of surface area for air flow. If your basket has an open weave, line it with newspaper to prevent leaves and flowers from falling through the gaps.

• Clippers: Small snips are best for quickly and cleanly trimming off leaves and small stems, especially with plants whose stems don’t snap off cleanly. Make sure to keep your clippers clean to prevent the spread of disease from plant to plant. 

• Rubber bands: Save your old bands and twist-ties from produce and use them to make small bunches of herb sprigs- the diameter of the bunched stems should be between nickel- and quarter-sized to allow for air flow through the leaves. 

When it comes to drying herbs, there are a few different methods, and they work well for different plants, depending on the moisture content of the material you’re harvesting. Small-leaved and twiggy plants like thyme or lavender dry quickly in a bundle, whereas juicier plants like tulsi or calendula flowers need time and lots of air flow. Generally speaking, you want to create an environment that is warm, dry, breezy, and out of direct sunlight. That may be a corner of your kitchen, under the eaves of a garage or barn, or hanging from the ceiling of a three-season porch. Here are some methods you can consider, depending on the type of plant you’re collecting.

• Hanging: Tied up in those small bundles, herbs that are cut by the stem can be hung from a clothesline or string around the house. If it’s a plant that tends to shed its leaves as it dries, like tulsi or bee balm, you can hang the plant inside of a paper bag, so that as the leaves dry down they fall into the bag. Be sure to check bundles regularly to make sure they are drying evenly, without excess moisture in the inside of the bundle.

• Baskets and Racks: This method works best for flower heads, leaves, and anything with soft or short stems that won’t hold up to bunching. Spread your herbs in a single layer on your basket (lined with newspaper if needed) and place somewhere dry and warm. If you do place your herbs in direct sun, be sure to check them regularly and bring them in before they get too crispy or bleached out. I like to swirl the herbs around in the basket every day or so to make sure they are drying evenly- this is also a good time to remove any thicker stems that are drying more slowly than the other plants. For juicy flowers like calendula or red clover, be sure to check that their middles are fully dry (the centers should snap apart). If you’d like to build your own simple drying screens, there’s a great tutorial here. I set up a wooden clothes drying rack in my living room and place these screens on it, which creates vertical space for drying that doesn’t tie up counter space. 

• Dehydrator: Only use a dehydrator that has a temperature adjustment, as most standard dehydrators will run too hot for delicate plant material. Models like the Excalibur are pricey, but if you already own one for food preservation, they make great herb dryers. Make sure your temperature is on the lowest setting, and check the plants often to make sure they don’t overdry or begin to cook. It may help to chop the herbs a bit first so that they fit on the trays and don’t crowd each other.

Whichever drying method you use, make sure to label your plants, particularly the leafy green herbs that may only be identifiable by taste or smell. Label the drying plants with their name and when they were harvested- this way you’ll also develop a sense of how long it takes for each herb to dry down. Things like ambient temperature and humidity can dramatically lengthen the time it takes for herbs to dry.

After the plants have dried fully, it’s time for the most satisfying step with the funniest name: Garbling! Garbling is the process of stripping and shredding the useful medicinal leaves and flowers from the woody stems, resulting in a finished product that is uniform and easy to use. The best way to garble is to rub the dried plants against a screen (just like the drying screens above) made with half-inch hardware cloth, which will allow the crumbled herbs to pass through into a bucket or bowl below. You can also of course also do this by hand, in one of your big baskets or a large bowl. 

Once your herbs have been processed fully, store them in a sealed plastic bag or glass jar to prevent moisture moving in. Label well and keep in a dark place to preserve their shelf life. Stored this way, home grown herbs will last well over a year. If you’re unsure of whether the herbs are still useful, use your nose and eyes as guides: If the plants look bleached out or yellowy, or if they have no fragrance (or a funky/moldy one), it’s time to add them back to the compost. If you’ve dried them properly, your dried herbs will stay fresh-looking and aromatic, and provide you with an abundance of medicinal and culinary delights well after the garden has been put to bed. 

Resources:

• The Herbal Academy, “How to Make an Herb and Flower Drying Screen”: https://theherbalacademy.com/how-to-make-an-herb-and-flower-drying-screen/

• Carpenter, Jeff and Melanie. The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015.

Thank you, How to Find our Plants and Herbs, plus a Recipe

Thank you from all of us for an incredible, memorable, and unique season!

As our regular retail hours for 2020 end today at 5pm, our team would like to thank you for a wonderfully unique season. We are closing a little earlier than usual, but will keep up a once a week pick up with online sales and will continue twice a week deliveries to our wholesale partner stores. Read below to find out more!

During the month of August, we will be doing curbside pick up once a week, on Fridays between noon and 5. If you would like to order plants, please do so here, and we will have it ready the following Friday as long as orders are placed before midnight on Wednesday.

Our online store will carry an assortment of veggies and herbs for the fall kitchen garden, perennials, and houseplants. For the first time, we will also be offering directly to you the herbs and herbal products coming from our herb farm: freshly harvested herbs in bulk quantities for your drying and processing needs, herb salts, herbal vinegars, and pesto. Please check the website every Saturday for the latest updates, and place your orders by the following Wednesday at midnight for Friday pick ups between noon and 5.

If you need something sooner than the following Friday, just let us know and we can make another arrangement.

Confused? Have questions? Drop us a line at info@redwagonplants.com.

Thanks for a fantastic season in weird times. We are just so grateful for all of the orders and purchases you made this year. You kept our crew going, and you planted gardens like never before. We loved hearing from you and seeing you in person once we opened for shopping.

You can continue to find our plants at our wholesale partner stores:

• Shelburne Supermarket

• Gardeners Supply, Intervale and Williston locations

• Healthy Living

• CIty Market, South End and Downtown locations

• Bibens Ace Hardware, North Ave location

Recipe for Herbes Salées (adapted from Spruce Eats)

Here is a traditional Quebecois way to preserve large amounts of herbs to use all winter.

Suggested uses: A teaspoon in hot water makes a soothing and instant herbal broth. Stir into soups and stews, mix into salad dressings and tomato sauce, mix with cream cheese or cottage cheese….the uses are endless and a jar of these preserved herbs will be a welcome reminder of summer and freshness during the depths of winter.

• 1 cup chives (fresh, chopped)

• 1 cup savory (fresh, chopped)

• 1 cup parsley (fresh, chopped)

• 1 cup chervil (fresh, chopped)

• 1 cup carrots (grated)

• 1 cup celery leaves or lovage or cutting celery (chopped)

• 1 cup green onions (chopped)

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup coarse salt

  In a large bowl, combine chopped chives, savory, parsley, chervil, carrots, celery leaves, and green onions.. Layer 1 inch of herb mixture in the bottom of a crock or glass bowl and sprinkle with some of the salt. Repeat layers until all of the herb mixture and salt is used.

  Cover and refrigerate for 2 weeks. Drain off accumulated liquid and pack herb mixture into sterilized jars. Refrigerate until ready to use. Can keep for up to a year in the refrigerator.

Herbes Salées photo by Kate Bentley

Herbal Vinegar Infusions

By Sophie Cassel, herbalist, gardener, educator and RWP employee. 

Of all the ways of preserving herbs, I think that vinegar infusions really capture the essence of summer in a way that lasts all year. At its foundation, a vinegar infusion is super simple: Chop up flavorful herbs, pack them into a jar, and cover with apple cider vinegar. Let the herbs infuse into the vinegar for a couple weeks, then strain for a punchy liquid that is versatile, healthful, and pretty tasty. 

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is the vinegar of choice, but other vin aigre (translated to “sour wine”) like red wine, white or balsamic are also viable options, depending on what your final product will be. Vinegars are a natural product of the fermentation and winemaking process, and have been used across cultures and generations to preserve and flavor food and beverages. In the northeastern US, apples were originally grown to produce cider and apple jack, and so cider vinegar has been our locally abundant source of acetic acid, the chemical responsible for that puckery tang that is so indispensable to our salads and pickles. 

Many folks are familiar with infusing vinegars for salad dressings- adding a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme and a few cloves of garlic into the vinegar bottle can add complexity to a simple oil-and-vinegar dressing. But did you know that infused vinegars also lend themselves to sweet concoctions?

The first time I fell in love with an herbal vinegar was when a friend, faced with a glut of tulsi flowers from her garden and uninterested in drying the lot, shoved the herb bunches into a jar with apple cider vinegar and let them sit on her kitchen counter until she almost forgot about them. Weeks later, she gave me a sample of the strained liquid. The vinegar had absorbed and preserved all the delicate floral flavors of the tulsi, and it tasted just like we were back in the heat of July. 

Since then, I’ve been getting creative with different herb combinations, and adding honey or molasses to amp up the sweetness of my “elixirs”. When made in small batches, infused vinegars are a fun way to let your inner flavor wizard come through, and delicious local vinegar is inexpensive and easy to come by. Let yourself be guided by the bounty in your garden and your tastebuds, and you’re sure to come up with some successful combinations of your own. Below are a few traditional styles of vinegar infusions, with some ideas for herbs and spices to use. 

• Switchel: Also known as “haymaker’s punch”, this is a classic beverage drunk by northern farm workers while working through the heat of the day. Switchel usually includes ACV, honey or maple syrup, and water, with herbs steeped in for flavor. It functions much like a home-made sports drink, with the vinegar and sweetener providing much-needed electrolytes and salt. Try infusing a jar of vinegar with ginger, thyme and lemon, and keeping it on your counter, ready to add to your sweetener and water for a refreshing beverage that can be drunk throughout the day, even if you’re not making hay. 

• Shrub: These vinegars are infused with seasonal fruit and honey to make a luscious syrup. Added to cocktails or sparkling water, shrubs are tart, sweet, and deeply refreshing on a hot summer’s day. Added to a bit of hot water in the winter, it brings to mind the flavors of summer. Try a combination of strawberries and thai basil, or blackberries and raspberries with anise hyssop. The color of the berries will seep into the vinegar, adding a visual element to any beverage.

• Fire Cider: This spicy concoction has been a staple of the kitchen medicine community for generations, receiving added attention in past years as the fight to prevent the trademarking of the name went national. Kitchen staples like onion, garlic, horseradish, cayenne and black pepper are chopped and added to vinegar and honey, then strained when the brew is nicely potent. Taken by the spoonful or added to a hot toddy, Fire Cider is sure to clear the cobwebs from your immune system and provide some internal warmth in the depths of winter. If you’re excited about Fire Cider, a new book compiled by Rosemary Gladstar dedicated to the topic will give you ample recipe ideas and inspiration.

Infusing herbs in vinegar is so quick and simple, you’ll soon find yourself making a new batch every week, capturing the seasonal shifts of your garden. Make sure to label every jar with the date you made it and the herbs you added in. Infused vinegars are safe for everyone when diluted, and make an excellent offering to kiddos or folks who aren’t drinking alcohol. They also can help jump start digestion before a meal. The possibilities are as varied and abundant as your garden!

Further resources:

Folk Medicine: A Vermont Country Doctor’s Guide to Good Health. Dr. D.C. Jarvis. 1950’s book, makes some wild claims but is a fun read and a portal back in time. His office is preserved at the Shelburne Museum!

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Samin Nosrat, 2017. Specifically the chapter on acid, but this entire book is a treasure trove.

Fire Cider! 101 Zesty Recipes for Health-Boosting Remedies Made with Apple Cider Vinegar. Rosemary Gladstar, 2019. The “godmother of Western herbalism” and the originator of Fire Cider, Rosemary is an enormous resource to the beginning herbalist.

Pesto Time

photo by Kate Bentley

PESTO for eating fresh or freezing

In food processor, blend until coarsely chopped:
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed (can sub half the basil leaves with baby spinach)
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan-Reggiano cheese (about 2 ounces)
1/3 cup pine nuts (can sub chopped walnuts)
3 garlic cloves, minced (about 3 teaspoons)
Slowly drizzle in:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Do not over blend, the heat from the food processor will bring out the bitterness in the oil and the basil.
Taste, and season with
1/4 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste

Herb Salad

This is a simple way to use herbs from the garden and create a delicious condiment to add to soups; grilled meats, fish or vegetables; or eat on its own. Feel free to get creative with the herbs you have, experiment, and blend types of herbs together based on what you prefer. What follows is a master recipe to use as a guide.

HERB SALAD MASTER RECIPE

2 cups roughly chopped parsley, or flat parsley leaves (individually picked off the stems)

½ cup scallions or chives, finely chopped or ¼ cup shallots very finely chopped

¼ cup additional herb of your choice (optional): lemon basil, thai basil, marjoram, oregano, etc (this is where the fun pairing with foods happens)

juice of ½ a lemon

¼ tsp finely crushed raw garlic (optional)

2 TBS olive oil

Salt to taste (I like a flaky salt such as Maldon)

Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl, and taste for salt. If it tastes too tart, a tiny sprinkle of sugar can help balance the flavors.

Other possibilities:

For tacos or beans: use cilantro instead of parsley, lime juice instead of lemon and add some finely chopped hot pepper.

With fish or chicken: : add ¼ cup of tarragon or chervil or dill to the parsley

On tomato based dishes like pizza, grilled tomatoes, or red sauced pasta: add ¼ cup marjoram or oregano. Cut back the lemon juice to just a squeeze of lemon. If you have lemon basil, this is a great place to use it. And note that the flowers of the herbs are declicious too.

On pork right off the grill: add some bronze leaf fennel flowers, finely chopped.

With pasta or potato salads: substitute red wine vinegar for the lemon juice, and add lots of basil cut into fine ribbons “chiffonade”. Stir the herb salad into the pasta or potatoes. If you increase the oil and vinegar, the herb salad becomes a dressing of sorts.

Add some finely chopped celery and carrot, and turn into a stand alone salad or spoon onto green salads.

Use as a condiment in sandwiches

Spoon on grilled or toasted bread, and shave a good parmesan or other hard cheese on the top for a simple lunch.

Use as a topping for scrambled eggs or a filling for an omelet with feta cheese

Succession Gardening for Success

Garden Planning for the Seasonal Kitchen

Growing vegetables in your backyard, community garden or in containers by the kitchen door is a great way to feed yourself - whether it be just a few ripe tomatoes in August or a full-fledged homesteader's garden, you are on the path to feeding yourself and your family. Gardening is a great way to improve how you eat while spending some contemplative time outside. With all of these benefits in mind, it is easy to jump into gardening enthusiastically, and you will reap even more rewards with a little bit of planning. In Vermont, our gardening season seems short but can be stretched almost year round with a few simple tips. I always recommend that people take a look at how their vegetable gardens have been in the past and find just one or two things they would like to improve so that they can grow more of it for a longer season. For example a common question I hear is "how can I keep cilantro from bolting?" Well, in short, you can't. But with a few changes in your gardening practices, you can grow it all spring, summer, and fall without ever seeing it go to seed.    The trick is to understand the life cycle of each vegetable or herb and how to best plant it to maximize its harvest. With certain crops, like zucchini, it is best to understand how prolific they are and to plant them conservatively so that the entire garden (and thereby your diet and your neighbors' diet) is not taken over with just one thing. It is also helpful to plant things seasonally so that the harvest is not so overwhelming in August with little to eat before or after. Or sometimes we just want fresh salads all summer, but don't replant and are left salad-less after July 1st.

Succession Planting for Successful Gardening

Certain crops should be planted multiple times throughout the season to ensure a continuous harvest. This is called succession planting. How often you plant is a matter of taste and space and time. The following list describes the maximum you could do with each crop, but adjust according to your needs and priorities - this is just a guide. If you want to make sure you have a certain vegetable all summer long, then you can follow the guidelines. If you want it a little less, then create your own modified planting schedule.

• Lettuce can be grown from seed or from transplants. Seed grown lettuce is often grown in a row that can be cut and will re-grow a few times - think of mesclun. Transplanted lettuce can be grown to produce full heads like what you find in the store. Both methods require regular planting every week or two for a continuous harvest. It can be planted from seed in mid-April to mid-August for cut greens and transplanted for full heads from late April / early May through early August. Some people will transplant a few plants and plant some seeds at the same time in a different area; this method provides two generations of lettuce and two types of salad greens. Once the cut lettuce becomes bitter in the heat of summer, it is best to pull it up, recondition the soil with compost, and plant something else. If the goal is to always have fresh lettuce, it is very simple to do if you remember to replant it. You can even purchase a number of plants and hold some in their pots in a shady spot and only plant out a few each week. You can seed it yourself in trays or pots and follow this same method. Having several varieties, cold-tolerant ones for spring and fall plantings, and heat-tolerant ones for mid-summer, will produce the best flavor.

• Cilantro is very similar to lettuce in its growing habits. It will grow up to a point and then goes to seed, called bolting. It will bolt more quickly in summer heat and, conversely, will stand ready to harvest for many weeks in the cool weather of fall - even early winter. It is good to time plantings so that cilantro is ready to harvest before June 21 (the solstice), and then plant more afterward. It can be transplanted or grown from seed. Like lettuce, it is simple to do both at the same time, thereby giving the gardener two generations. Cilantro seed is coriander, so it does have a use if you enjoy that flavor. There is nothing you can do to prevent cilantro from bolting entirely, but you can slow the process down by placing your mid-summer plantings in a partly-shady spot.

• Dill can be treated just like cilantro, and, like coriander seed, dill seed heads have a use in the kitchen, so it is fine to let some of the dill patch go to seed. The seed heads can be used in pickles. you can also let them self-sow or save the fully dried seeds in a paper bag for replanting.

• Basil can be planted multiple times for best results. Plants can be pinched to slow down the flowering, but best flavor will come from newly replanted basil plants. This is a heat loving plant. Should only be planted once soil temps are in the upper 50's - usually last week in May or first week in June. Basil's flavor is at its peak right before it starts to make flowers.

• Cucumbers, cantaloupes, and zucchini and summer squash are best in quality when well tended. Just a single plant or two of any of those is usually enough for the home gardener, but by planting it two to three different times, spaced out, the quality will always be good. The dates are: June 1st (or last week in May if you are in a warm spot), July 1st and July 15th. This method will ensure a continuous harvest of prime looking vegetables. Just remember to pull out and discard the pest- and disease-prone older plants. If your compost gets very hot and is well managed, it is okay to compost these plants. Pest problems will diminish when the older, less healthy plants are removed. And you can use that opened up space for a quick growing crop like, lettuce, herbs, scallions, greens or fennel.

• Arugula, mustards and other cutting greens for salads are best if sown or transplanted on a weekly or biweekly basis. Again, a small amount can be seeded next to the transplanted crops in order to give you 2 generations at once. This way you can have smaller quantities coming in at various times.

• Broccoli gives the gardener a couple of options. It is best if transplanted and can be planted over 3 dates in the spring and 3 dates in late summer for a continuous harvest. I would choose late April, early May and mid May for the spring plantings and then Early August, mid August and early September for the fall plantings. Full heads can be harvested and the plants can stay in the ground to produce side shoots.

• Green Beans are best when fresh and young. The seed is relatively cheap, so it is better to rip out old plants and have new ones coming along regularly. Having smaller, multiple plantings also means that no on is stuck picking beans for hours on end. Sow new seeds when the previous or first generation is about 6 inches high.

• Boc Choi, Cabbage, and Cauliflower can also be planted multiple times. Cabbage holds well in the heat and can be planted every couple of weeks late April through early August. Boc Choi and Cauliflower are not as heat tolerant and should be planted around the same dates as broccoli (see above). It is best to use row cover like Reemay on these young transplants so that flea beetles do not destroy the plants.

• Spinach is another one that does not do well in the heat, but can be planted multiple times in spring and late summer. It can also overwinter with a little straw mulch for very early spring eating. Frequency of planting can happen every week mid April to early June and then early August to mid September. The last plantings in September are the ones which will be over-wintered and eaten the following spring. Apply straw mulch on overwintering spinach in December once the ground is frozen.

• Beets, Carrots, Turnips can be planted from seed every two or three weeks from mid-April until about the third week in July. Summer carrots are not the same as fall carrots and certain varieties do better in summer than in fall. The flavor of fall carrots is much sweeter, so I usually plant a larger patch in the fall. Fall carrots can also be stored all winter without going bad due to their lower moisture content. I don't love summer carrots, so I often skip those. Remember, it is all about what you like to eat.

• Celery and Celeriac are slower growing and can be transplanted 1 to 3 times during the season, from mid May until early July. These need lots of water and benefit from straw mulch to hold the moisture evenly around the roots.

• Bulb Fennel and radishes are similar to lettuce - they can be planted each week if really loved, but they bolt in the heat and do best in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall. They are best if planted late April to early June and then again late August to mid September. They are cold tolerant and hold well in late fall. Radishes are grown from seeds and fennel is best transplanted. Fennel also benefits from a straw mulch - even moisture around the roots is what helps it make larger roots.

• Corn - it is possible to do multiple plantings over different weeks, but an easier method is to plant all at once, but with various varieties that have different days to maturity. There can be a 40 day span between early and late varieties.

• Peas can be planted every week, but this requires a lot of harvesting, irrigating, trellising, and variety research. It is possible though. More practically, the home gardener can sow 2 or 3 varieties in late April with various days to maturity. Fall plantings are sometimes successful but are weather-dependent. These should be done in mid August.

The following are generally planted just once a year, but the harvest can be staggered with a few tricks:

• Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant - try a few varieties of each in order to not have everything at once. Determinate tomatoes will provide you with a big harvest all at once which is a good thing for people who make big batches of sauce for canning or freezing. Determinate tomatoes are the ones that grow until a certain height and then mature all at once. Indeterminate tomatoes are the ones that grow indefinitely until the frost and the fruit ripens gradually August until frost or disease kills the plant.

• Peppers and eggplant are best if transplanted in early June once the soil warms up. One planting is usually plenty, but again an assortment of varieties will keep the harvest varied, staggered and interesting.

• Onions and Potatoes are generally planted all at once, and again a few different varieties will provide you with a longer period of fresh eating. Both onions and potatoes can be stored for long periods of time in cool and dark conditions. Both can also be eaten fresh as young, green onions or new potatoes. Both can be harvested, cured, and stored for eating year round, though some onion varieties store much longer than others.

• Winter Squash is another crop that is planted just once and can be stored. It is best cured for a week or two in a warm spot before eating.

• Watermelons are usually planted just once in the home garden (early June is best). Cantaloupes can be planted as late as early July.

Open Spots

When you harvest a crop and create an open spot in the garden, take advantage of that spot with any of the quick growing crops that you like to eat. Some easy ones to try from transplants:

• arugula

• baby boc choi

• fennel

• lettuce

• mustard greens

• scallions

• kale

• chard

• beets

• herbs - pretty much any herb can be planted up until early August. Cilantro, dill, parsley, chervil are all cold tolerant and can be planted as late as mid-September from plants (mid August to late from seeds)

You can also tuck in flowers that grow vertically and don’t take up too much room:

• cosmos

• verbena bonariensis

• lisianthus

• calendula

• poppies

From seed, you can try:

• carrots

• beets

• radish

• asian greens

• mustard greens

• lettuce

• bush beans

Ashwagandha, aka Winter Cherry or Indian Ginseng, Withania somnifera, Solanaceae

If you’ve been tracking the various “wellness” industries in the past few years, or even just perused the supplement section at your local grocery store, you’ve likely noticed the name of Withania somnifera, commonly called ashwagandha or winter cherry. A powerful herb popularly used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine (among other medicinal traditions of southeast Asia and Africa), ashwagandha root has become something of a darling in the West, used in expensive skincare regimes and “biohacking” diets that pledge eternal life to the devoted. As a member of the class of herbs known as “adaptogens”, ashwagandha has been traditionally used to help with sleep, build adrenal reserves, and improve overall vitality. However, like any exotic remedy, there are very real concerns around the sustainability and ethical production of plants grown far away once an unprecedented demand for them has been created. 

Lucky for us, ashwagandha is a fun and relatively simple herb to grow in the home garden, and its very real health benefits provide an opportunity to easily upgrade your medicine chest. A member of the Solanaceae family, ashwagandha shares some characteristics with other family members like eggplants and peppers. It produces husk-enclosed fruits that look like tiny tomatillos, and appreciates plenty of heat and sunshine. However, ashwagandha is adapted to grow in sandy, dry conditions, and doesn’t need much in the way of water or fertility, just sweet, well-draining soil. Ashwagandha is prized for its long, tough roots, so well-worked soil is imperative to good root growth. The plants should be started indoors or purchased from a nursery (like Red Wagon) to give you a jump start on the season, and only transplanted outside or into a greenhouse once the soil has fully warmed up. I like to space my plants about a foot apart, which provides room for root growth but allows the plants to support each other once they reach their mature height of two to three feet tall.

Ashwagandha grows well alongside Tulsi or other sturdy mint family members like lemon balm, especially those that don’t mind a little shade cast by the ashwagandha leaves. I’ve planted calendula around my plants as well, but the calendula can become a bit leggy if they’re spaced too closely together. The same beetles that like to snack on tomatillo plants (called tomatillo beetles or three-lined potato beetles) will attempt to feast on your ashwagandha leaves. Check the leaves regularly for the tell-tale orange eggs, and if necessary put on some gloves and squash the mating adults and larvae when you see them. Even with a fair amount of leaf damage, the ashwagandha plants will soldier on, but I think it makes for better medicine when the plants are lovingly defended. While the flowers are fairly drab, the husked fruits make for a beautiful backdrop as they turn red in early fall.

Ashwagandha and Tulsi have similar cultural needs: they are warm-climate perennial plants that really thrive as annuals in our short northern summers. Plant ashwagandha in early June, and watch it take off through the whole summer, right up until frost. Harvest by loosening the soil and pulling the whole plant up, making sure not to break the roots in the process. Roots should be sprayed clean and chopped up immediately (a sharp pair of pruners will do the job). The first year I grew ashwagandha, I pulled up a plant and neglected to chop it up for a couple days. That was four years ago, and I still have that same root hanging as an ornament in my house- it grew so rock-hard that processing quickly became an impossible task. Once the roots have been chopped, you have a few options. You can use them whole (added to chai blends or tinctured in vodka), or you can further powder the root and add it to everything from drinks to baked goods. 

Honestly, the first time I smelled fresh ashwagandha root, I thought it smelled like a swimming pool. Since falling in love with its gentle, nourishing qualities, I now associate the smell with the plant’s own charisma. Once dried, the smell is reduced, and you’re left with a potent medicinal herb that carries the extra benefits of being locally grown and lovingly harvested.

Many of the constituents in ashwagandha are best extracted in a bit of fat, so I usually simmer it in a bit of milk or coconut oil when preparing it. Below is a simple recipe for hot chocolate. Try drinking before bedtime to ease into a restful sleep, or as a midday boost without added caffeine! And of course, always talk with your health care practitioner about any herbs or supplements you’re regularly utilizing.

Ashwagandha Hot Cocoa:

• Ashwagandha root, chopped and dried

• Cocoa powder

• Dark chocolate chunks

• Milk (cow or non-dairy, but make sure it has some fat in it)

• Cinnamon

• Sweetener of your choice (I like maple syrup)

  • Toss a handful of chocolate chunks into a saucepan, cover with water, and stir while simmering, until chocolate has thoroughly melted into the water. 

  • Add ashwagandha root (about a tablespoon per serving) and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

  • Add cocoa powder, milk, and cinnamon, and continue to cook on low heat for another 5-10 minutes.

  • Add sweetener to taste, strain out ashwagandha, and serve! The cooked roots can be reused a couple of times before composting. 

Resources:

Ashwagandha monograph: https://www.herbrally.com/monographs/ashwagandha 

Cech, Richo. Making Plant Medicine. Herbal Reads, 2000

Sweet Potato Time Has Come

Starting today, we have sweet potato slips available for sale in our online store for next day curbside pick up. They are sold 3 slips to a pot, and each slip turns into a plant that produces 5 to 10 pounds of sweet potatoes. Harvesting them in the fall is so fun, and you will feel like a gardening champion. Please note that the slips must be kept well watered at planting time for the first couple of weeks. Daily soakings will ensure the growth of healthy plants. When you buy 6 plants, we will throw in a 7th for free.

This is the 12th year of our fundraising partnership with the Vermont Community Garden Network - that is a lot of sweet potatoes grown over the years in support of the educational and food security programming throughout the state. We love this organization and the work it does to make gardening accessible to all.

Sweet potatoes are fun to grow and are a nutrient dense food that stores well through the winter. They are not grown like “Irish” potatoes (which actually come from Peru), and they are not even related. Sweet potatoes originate from South America and they are in the morning glory family. They grow as a long vine along the ground and produce large, orange sweet potatoes just below the surface of the soil. They can also be trained to climb up a trellis, and they can even be grown in containers. In 2009, Starksboro customers shared their very interesting container method via a photo album, which you can view here.

The organic slips come from Jones  Family Farms in Bailey, North Carolina, and are approved for use in certified organic production by Vermont Organic Farmers, LLC.

Planting Instructions

Sweet potatoes are grown from slips, which are cuttings from a parent vine. The slips grow best in a loose, sandy or silty soil that drains well. If they are grown in a rich dark soil they may discolor but are still good to eat.

Transplant the slips into garden beds during June, once nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees. Transplant in the late afternoon or on an overcast day. Lay the slips on their sides with 2/3 of the slip buried a half inch under the soil. Water enough to keep the soil moist, for the first couple of weeks.

Plant the slips 10 to 18 inches apart in rows that are two to three feet apart. The rows or raised bed should be elevated 4 to 8 inches above the ground level to allow the sweet potatoes room to form.

Keep the cuttings watered while they are getting established. The leaves that were originally on the planted slips will dry up and fall off leaving just the vine stem. New leaves will emerge from the cuttings as the slips become established.  Hoe around the vines to cultivate weeds and mulch with straw if desired. The sweet potato vines will cover the ground reaching 5 to 10 feet in length.

Pest Control – Deer love sweet potato leaves, so be sure your planting area is fenced if deer are a problem. A flying gold colored beetle may chew round holes in the leaves. The vines are tough and will keep growing despite insect damage.

Harvesting – Sweet potatoes are dug and harvested in late September through mid October, a day or two before the first predicted frost. Most of the sweet potatoes will be just below the parent plant. Each plant can produce up to six sweet potatoes.

Curing and Storing – After harvesting, dry the sweet potatoes on the ground for two or three hours. Allow them another 10 to 14 days to cure at room temperature or above, before storing the sweet potatoes at a temperature between 50 and 60 degrees F.

Unlike potatoes, sweet potatoes should not be kept cold in a garage, refrigerator or outbuilding. If properly cured and stored, they will keep until April. Enjoy!

Grow it Forward Fund Update

Every year, we donate plants to many projects that support garden education and food security in our community. This year, because of the generous donations made by our customers via our Grow it Forward Fund, we have been able to donate exponentially more plants, and have even been custom growing plants specifically to donate them to various projects.

• the Family Room Garden

• the many gardens related to the VT Community Garden Network and Housing Vermont

• senior living gardens via HANDS

• the City of Burlington's Plants 4 People Program 

• numerous Victory Garden efforts in Huntington, Burlington, and Williston

• the scholarship fund to the Burlington Area Community Gardens

• the enterprise gardens of New Farms for New Americans via the Association of Africans Living in VT. 

• the Meals for All program of the Vergennes Boys and Girls Club

• the majority of the field transplants for the “People’s Farm” project of the Intervale Center.

• we will be donating a portion of our June sales to Soul Fire Farm in support of their goal to create “equity in access to land, sustenance, and power in the food system”, cited from their strategic goals, which you can find here. . Leah Penniman and her team do work that is incredibly inspiring, and we encourage you to learn more here.

Many of these projects are regular partners in our plant donations program, but this year, because of the many generous contributions into our "Grow it Forward" fund and because of the City of Burlington's Plant for the People Initiative, we have been able to reach many new gardeners with free plants for local food production. So thank you. Every bit helps, and just the fact that people can get outside and grow their own food feels very meaningful right now.

Plant Updates, Tomato Workshop Take 2, and Thank You!

I woke up this morning with the garden on my mind. I have been watching our back yard open up this season and feel its energy, ready to burst a little more with the dawn of each new day. As we enter the third year of our meadow-style home garden, I have noticed a huge increase in the birds that come to our feeders and generally treat the back yard as their banquet. A flock of Carolina wrens came through last week and hopped through the garden foraging for whatever goodies it is they like, and every morning our resident lady Cardinal swoops in and sits on the branch of the mulberry tree right outside the window, showing off, all shy and coy. It is such a show.

As the weather warms up, many of you are thinking about tomatoes. The tomato webinar I hosted last week was sold out with a huge request for more, so I am going to do it a second time this Thursday at 5:30. Here is the correct link to sign up if you are interested. And today at noon, I will do a Facebook Live video walking through our tomato, eggplant and pepper greenhouse. You can join me for a look behind the scenes and hear about all the different varieties we are growing. And you can find them here too.

French marigolds have crested, double flowers in rich oranges, reds, yellows, and bronze. A summer staple in the garden.

Here are some other plants newly up on the website:

Marigolds, Sweet Corn 6-packs, Tasty Jade cucumbers, and Cherokee Purple tomatoes are some of our summer favorites.

Flower Power Bundles - annual flower plants to make a cutting garden or mix into flower beds. We have included 9 of our favorite varieties in this bundle, and there are 2 plants or more in each pot.

Basil Bundles - a collection of Sweet Genovese Basil, along with our specialty basils like pistou, purple, thai and lemon for the herb lover and pesto maker.

Our potting soil is back in stock for filling your planters and window boxes, along with watering wands and many other helpful tools that we were sold out of earlier in the week. It is been a challenge to keep things in stock with all of the eager gardeners out there these days!

Thanks so much for all of your support this season. It has been just incredible, and our Red Wagon team has done the best job to adjust and shift. I feel very proud of all of us working together to make gardening work for our community. You generous contributions to our Grow it Forward program (you have raised over $600 so far) are being used to fill gardens at housing sites in Chittenden County and Addison County in partnership with VT Community Garden Network and Housing Vermont. We are also working with Champlain Housing Trust and Food Not Bombs to bring big, potted cherry tomatoes to people who don’t have access to gardens. All of this makes us smile, and feels incredibly rewarding. Thank you.

Enjoy the garden,

Julie and the crew

Tomato Time

We have been getting so many eager requests for tomatoes, and they are finally released, as of this morning. It is still too early to plant them, but we know that many of you like to select them early, so here they are.

Many varieties are available, but many more are still growing and will be available next week.. We have all of your favorite varieties growing in our greenhouses. Here is the link to what we have available now.

Keep them indoors at night or anytime temperatures dip below 50F. They really don’t like the stress of cold nights and cold soil. Soil temperatures should be at 50F for tomatoes to really thrive and take off. We are nowhere near that with all of the cold nights we have had lately.

Some of our staff favorites:

• Sungold for snacking in the garden

• Celebrity for big batches of sauce or freezing

• Pink Berkeley Tie Dye and Brandymaster Yellow for slicing onto sandwiches

• Prudens Purple for old fashioned heirloom flavor.

• Juliet for salsa, roasting and quick salads

• Paul Robeson for earlyness and for flavor

My mouth is watering as I type this! I absolutely cannot wait for tomato and eggplant and pepper season!

Tomato plants are looking good and getting ready to meet their new homes.

• There is still room to sign up for this afternoon’s Tomato 101 Webinar at 5:30. We will close the registration at noon, and send out the Zoom invitation at 2pm. If you want to sign up here is the link.

I will help you decide on which tomatoes to choose for your garden, how to plant them and care for them including a quick look at pruning and trellising, and some of my favorite ways to preserve them for winter. My goal is to help you grow and enjoy tomatoes in the summer and, if so inclined, know how to preserve them to get through winter without ever buying a tomato. You have until noon to sign up.

I am really loving the clematis this week. It is just beaming and healthy. Clematis does really well with eastern exposure. It likes to have its roots cool, so I often plant nasturtium or calendula at the base of the vine to keep the sun from hitting the root zone.

We are grateful for all of your support and hope you are doing well during this unusual time. We will continue with our pre-orders, home delivery and next day curbside pick up for the rest of May and are not sure when / if we will open to the public this year. Our online ordering system is going very well and we find that it is the best way to keep our staff and community safe and to move as many plants out of our greenhouses as possible. Thanks for your understanding and for all of your orders. We miss seeing you!

Take care, and happy gardening,

Julie and the crew.

It is a Team Effort!

Hope’s Lady’s Choice plant collection was inspired by the colors of the flags used by Suffragettes to win the vote for women.

Hi friends,

As we continue to march through this new way of selling plants online, I have enlisted the help of our crew to come up with some beautiful combinations of plants for these warming up spring days. Chad has been busy making gorgeous planters in antique metal sap buckets and wooden buckets. Hope is putting together bundles of plants that will make stunning arrangements for you to make your own porch planters or window boxes. We would, of course, rather be getting our plants to you in person than through a website, but we are getting creative with the situation and finding inspiration from the plants to share with you.

Home Garden Update As the weather warms up a bit, I have been dividing and moving perennials in my home garden. Once the daffodils stop blooming, I will divide the thicker clumps and replant them in bare spots next to white primula and yellow blooming euphorbias. Fall planted bulbs force us to think a year ahead, and somehow that is soothing right now. One helpful trick for planning the future spring garden is to take a photo of the flower beds right now, and then mark it up to identify where you would like to plant bulbs in the fall. It is very easy to forget what the early spring garden looked like by the time fall comes around and you are ready to plant bulbs.

In the veggie garden, our onions are planted, garlic is growing, peas are germinating, and the first round of lettuces and greens are planted in a cold frame and in the ground outside. To help you with early season gardening, we have added row cover, metal hoops, and earth staples to the website. They are used to make protective tunnels to keep out insects and to keep plants warm. While all the veggies we are currently selling are frost tolerant, the extra protection is great for keeping out flea beetles and for encouraging good growth.

Tomatoes we be available May 14th. It is still too cold to plant tomatoes, but don’t worry we have lots coming along. The soil temperature needs to be 50F to satisfy heat loving tomatoes. It takes at least 5 nights in a row at 50F or higher for the soil to warm up that much. If you stress tomatoes by putting them in too early, they will just be more prone to diseases later in the season. We will be releasing our tomatoes online on Thursday, May 14th. We grow 70 plus varieties, so please don’t expect to see them all at once, they will roll out over a couple of weeks as they size up. By the way, I never plant tomatoes before the first week of June. That is a month away. In the meantime, I will be teaching a tomato webinar on May 14th to give you an orientation to the varieties we grow and some tips on how to select them and how to grow them. Sign up here.

If shopping online is not for you, our plants can be found at our regular wholesale spots :

• City Market (both locations)

• Healthy Living in South Burlington

• Bibens Hardware North Ave in Burlingotn

• Gardeners Supply (Burlington and Williston locations)

• Jail Branch in Barre

• Guy’s Farm and Yard in Montpelier

• Full Circle Gardens in Essex

• Martin’s Hardware in Bristol

• Village Hardware (formerly Essex Agway) in Essex

• Shelburne Market

• Vee’s Flower in Waitsfield

• Lantmans in Hinesburg (starting Monday)

We will not be opening to the public in May. Our curbside pick up and home delivery service is working well to meet our two goals for this unusual year: to keep our staff safe and to help as many people as possible have vegetable gardens. The social distancing required would just not work in our crowded greenhouses. We are a production focused, agricultural business, and need to stay aligned with the goals at hand. Thank you so much for your understanding, and for all of the incredible support we have received this past month. We are very sorry to not see you enjoying the plants in our greenhouses, but it makes us so happy to know you are safe at home, gardening.

Our Grow it Forward program has already collected $370 dollars towards plants, soil, and seeds that we will be growing and donating through the Vermont Community Garden Network, Housing Vermont, and area schools and non-profits. This afternoon, Louissa planted 50 tomato plants in big pots to share a little joy with people who might not be able to garden easily. Thanks for helping us spread the bounty.

Happy gardening to you all,

Julie

We are growing it forward with these potted tomatoes that Louissa planted today.

Chad has been making these very sweet planters filled with annuals, a small perennial and a foliage plant. Once they outgrow this pot, all the plants can be replanted and repurposed for other uses. It is like a mini-nursery of your very own. A perfect gift, and the perfect way to welcome spring.

I am finding so much relief in the garden these days. I hope you are taking time to notice all the small emerging plants, the subtle changes day to day, and finding solace in how the plants are behaving 100% normally. As we re-arrange our lives around a virus’ logic, the plant world marches on beautifully. Lily was mentioning how nice the flowering bulbs are this year, with steady cool temperatures and no serious downpours, the blooms are holding up so well and lasting a very long time. Daffodils are not face down in the mud, and the spring color show will linger for a while.

Here are some ideas and jobs for the weekend:

Prepare the garden beds We are all eager to plant and to get out in the garden, and while there are many frost tolerant veggies and herbs that can go out now, I would encourage you all to think ahead to warmer days and make sure that your garden dreams and reality line up. If you are looking to start a new garden or expand an existing one, now is a great time to do it. Clifford’s Lumber in Hinesburg sells rough sawn hemlock boards for raised beds, and you can get deliveries of topsoil and compost from a number of local businesses (we do not do that ourselves). Shoot us an email if you have any questions about preparing the garden. We want you to be ready when it is time to plant tomatoes! Because we are only doing curbside pick up and home deliveries, we REALLY miss talking to you all about your garden plans. Chad, Hope, Lily and I are all available to return calls and emails and talk shop with you. So don’t hesitate to get in touch. 802.482.4060 or info@redwagonplants.com (or just hit reply to this).

Watch this beautiful movie about Piet Oudolf and his work. The English museum Hauser + Wirth is allowing free streaming of the film, Five Seasons: the Gardens of Piet Oudolf, until midnight on Sunday. Here is the link. This will be such a treat, and I am going to watch it for the second time. Inspiration is at hand.

Order fruit trees. Our good friends at Champlain Orchards have started a fruit tree nursery. You can place an order now for pick up on May 2. Because of our curbside and home delivery system, we are not able to sell trees at this point, so we encourage you to support Andrea, Bill, Rupert and Rosa in their budding family nursery operation. It is a great selection with varieties that are often difficult to find. Here is the link.

Think ahead to gift giving for Mother’s Day May 10th. We ask that you place orders by Wednesday, May 7th to ensure pick up or delivery before May 10th. Some suggestions:

• Our wooden crates with potting soil and 6 to 9 herb plants for a DIY herb garden kit.

• A digital gift card - these can be ordered in any amount, and make a great gift anytime. Maybe someone you know could use a little cheering up right now? The digital format makes it very easy to give and share a little plant love.

• An herb or flowering planter pre-made for you ahead of time and ready to shine.

• Succulents or houseplants for bringing a little joy to the indoor gardener.

And finally, we would like to let you know about our Grow it Forward program. Every year we donate thousands of plants to area non-profits and schools for garden education and food security projects. This year, the need is greater than ever, and we are growing extra plants specifically to donate. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please consider a small contribution. And if you or someone you know would like to grow food this year, but cannot afford the seeds or plants, please reach out. We are here to help, no questions asked, and will do what we can to ensure that anyone who wants to grow a vegetable garden can do so.

Wishing you all health and happiness in the garden,

Julie

New Normal

We are having fun teaching gardening workshops as webinars, and creating beautiful workspaces in each greenhouse. But we miss you!

Hi gardening friends,

Under normal circumstances, yesterday would have been our opening day. And instead of throwing a big annual opening day party with Caledonia Spirits cocktails and Farmers and Foragers’ food truck and Vadeboncoeur pastries, the red wagon crew cracked open a couple of bottles of wine at lunch, sat 10 to 20 feet apart. We cheered each other on. It was the closest we have come to a group lunch, usually the highlight of our days, in over a month. Our crew is just incredible and we have been working safely and extra hard to get plants to you this year. The online store is a big success and the curbside pick ups and home deliveries have been smooth for the most part. Please give Jayson a giant thumbs up as he helps get plants to your car when you come to pick up. He is new this year and has jumped in 100% to make sure our curbside pick up and delivery systems are clear to customers. If you call with a question, it is likely Jayson you are speaking with and he is answering questions like a true veteran even though it is only his second week.

As I have promised many of you, we will use the newsletter to give you updates about what is available. I update the online store every few days, so if you don’t see what you are looking for, just check back.

New this week in the online store:

• organic bagged seed potatoes (bulk seed potatoes coming soon)

• bundles of perennial plants that are design kits for an instant garden

• asparagus crowns

• strawberries in both plant form and as bare roots

• lots of cold hardy herbs

• cold hardy vegetable bundles

• artichokes, and a few other veggies (LOTS more coming soon!)

• pansies

• seeds (we are temporarily sold out of many varieties but getting another shipment soon)

• bagged compost (potting soil is arriving next week)

• gloves, tools, and gardening products, including BT for protecting brassicas from cabbage moth caterpillars.

• Gift Cards

• Webinar registration - upcoming topics include Strawberries 101 and Asparagus 101.

We are so grateful for all of your support and for your increased enthusiasm in gardening.

In parting, I would like to recognize the hard work that Lily Belisle, our retail manager, has done this past month to shift our focus from a physical retail greenhouse to an online store. She has learned all kinds of new skills, taught them to all of us, and done it with a smile on her face the whole time. Here she is yesterday, picking orders in the imminent snow storm, happy as a clam. Thanks, Lily.

Thank you, Lily! And all of Team Red Wagon.

I will do another Facebook Live Stream today at 10 am.

Hope to see you then! We miss you all very much, and it is nice to connect over social media. Let us know how you are doing with your garden, tag us in garden photos, and most importantly, enjoy watching your garden unfold and grow.

Sending good thoughts,

Julie

Onions

Baby onions, about two to three weeks away from transplant time.

A while back, I delivered a crate of onions and garlic to my dad. We had some coffee, talked over the Thanksgiving meal plans, and I took a little walk. That day is a distant memory, my father has since passed away, but the image of those onions and garlic has stayed in my head. The way they filled the wooden crate brings me to a memory of the smile on my dad’s face when he saw them, the food we talked about making together, the warm coffee in our hands.

Onions are a back ground vegetable, easily taken for granted, but aren’t they the basis of flavor in most dishes?

Some people are like onions too. Sharp and edgy at first, sweet and mellow with time and heat.

I am thankful for their plumpness, their abundant harvest, the flavor they will bring to our meals, and the way they generously keep so well under the right conditions.

I rarely buy onions or garlic, usually having enough from the garden to last the year, in some form or another. The storage onions that are great to eat fresh in July, when cured properly, last until March or April. By then chives are ready, then scallions, then green garlic and fresh onions again, one following the other, with a predictable rhythm.

My dad is gone now, but the memories are not, storing and keeping, sweetening with time.

The best time to plant onions is as soon as the ground can be worked, usually middle to end of April in Vermont. They don’t mind cold ground. They prefer it actually, and the earlier they go in, the rounder and larger they will be. Their trajectory is programmed by the sun; as the days get longer, the onion plants remember to follow the cue and they grow round and big. If you neglect this key part of onion growing and plant them late, the onions stay small, and more oval in shape, in a sort of protest.

Our onion plants come in 4 packs. There are about 80 plants in each pack. You just need to separate each individual plant (it is a quick job, especially if the plants are well watered). Then make a trench, 4 inches deep, as long as you want. And then lay each onion delicately in the trench, white roots down, green part up. Fill the soil in around each plant, pat firmly and water well. If 80 onions is too many, you can certainly plant some of the plants in little groups of 4 to 6, and harvest them young, to eat like scallions or baby onions. These are easily the best value in the gardening world, not be forgotten.