In the Garden this week

In the basket - Hungarian Hot Wax peppers. In the box - Jimmy Nardello peppers, Esterina cherry tomato (the little yellow ones), Clementine tomato (small orange ones), not sure what the big yellow tomato is, Prudens’ Purple tomato and Berkeley Pink Tie Dyed tomato (the ones on top that are pink with greenish stripes). Now you know some of our favorite varieties!

They’re here! Tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings are now for sale in the Plant Shop. It has been a very cool spring, so we have waited until now to protect the tender fruiting plants. It is still too early to plant them into the ground, but now is a good time to take home your favorites and harden them off and get to know them a bit. The soil needs to be 50 F which takes about a week of night time temperatures being in the 50’s. Test your soil temperature at about 4” deep (a digital meat thermometer works). Maybe the end of next week will be a good time to plant. In the meantime, prep your beds by adding compost, and making sure the soil is loose and weed-free.

Please note: We don’t have every single variety available at the same time, but we will rotate through all of them as the different generations mature. If there’s a plant that is dear to your heart and you don’t see it on your first visit, we are happy to take your name and number and give you a call when it’s ready.

Just getting started, or want to try something new?

Tomatoes, fragrant and fresh-off-the-vine, are one of the best parts of summer. Don’t be afraid to baby these heat-loving crops - they will pay you back with greater growth and yields in later on.

We suggest trying out a few varieties of different kinds (determinate, indeterminate and cherry) in order to have a harvest that spans the season. Plant your tomatoes at least 3 feet apart to allow for adequate air flow. Here is a post on our blog where you can learn about different categories of tomatoes, and see our recommended tomato planting strategy. When they do grow (often taller than expected!), here are our favorite methods of tomato pruning and trellising that could do wonders for the health and productivity of your plants.

Peppers and eggplant also enjoy being transplanted once the soil warms up. One planting is usually plenty, but again, an assortment of varieties will keep the harvest varied, staggered and interesting. We carry many different sweet and hot peppers, and Asian, Italian, heirloom, full-sized and mini eggplants. This could be the year you discover a new favorite. For newer gardeners, we recommend Lunchbox pepper and Hansel eggplant. They both produce small fruit and are easy to grow and very abundant.

Garden Tips for this Week of May 4th.

  • Plant potatoes - the old adage is to plant potatoes when the dandelion are blooming. In our gardens the soil is dry enough to do so, and now is a good time to do it. Our seed potatoes come from Chappelle’s farm and whatever they don’t grow themselves, they source from trusted sources in Maine.

  • Tiptoe around the garden beds so as not to disturb perennials. It is hard to weed and clean up the garden without doing some damage to young shoots of perennials coming out of dormancy. Using a yoga mat to kneel on, wooden boards to move around and walk on, or a small piece of plywood to stand on are all good strategies to disperse weight, protect plants and not compact the soil too much.

  • This is our annual reminder to spy spots for future spring bulbs, and mark them out on a photo so you remember where to plant them come fall. You can also use plant stakes, survey tape on bamboo sticks and other ways to indicate “this is the spot” come fall bulb planting time. The spring garden and the fall garden are stupefyingly different from one another and it is impossible to remember where you wished there was a clump of early blooming daffodils when the time comes to plant in October or November. We really like Brent and Becky’s bulbs for ordering online.

  • The ruby-throated hummingbirds are back! Now is a great time to put out hummingbird feeders until more nectar sources are available from the plant world. While feeding them sugar water might seem like an unnatural process, we have paved over so much of their habitat with storage unit and dollar stores that one could say the natural order of things is fairly mixed up with human intervention already. Thank you to all of our kind readers who have shown us photos of the hummingbirds at their feeders already.

  • Plant your onions if you have not already done so!

Tasks for the Week

Here is our hot take on what to do in the garden this week.

First, enjoy the beautiful weather. More rain and cold is predicted for later in the week, so hopefully you can find a minute or two to just bask in the sun while watching your garden come to life. The bees are starting to buzz, the early bulbs are putting on a show, and many perennials are popping through the earth and heading towards the light. Photosynthesis is a wonder.

If you have not done so yet, it is time to plant onions. Our packs of onions have about 100 plants in them. Pull them apart, gently and when fully watered. Plant them individually, 4 inches apart, 2 to 3 inches deep. It is ok to cut off the tops of the plants so that they are not too floppy.

Also, it is time to plant some salad greens, cooking greens, broccoli, fennel, and more. All of the 4-pack vegetables we are offering are cold tolerant and ready to plant. We encourage multiple generations, so just a few each week, and not all at once. Spread the planting out and you will have a well timed harvest.

From seed, it is time to sow radishes, carrots, beets, lettuce for cutting at the baby stage (if you prefer full heads, we recommend transplanting seedlings), spinach, arugula, mustard greens. Peas too if you have not already done so.

Herbs that can be planted now: mint, parsley, cilantro, dill, chives. Herbs to do from seed now: dill, cilantro.

Flowers that can be planted now: pansies, violas, nemesia, snapdragons, argyranthemum, osteospermum, alyssum, and lobularia.

Flowers that can be started from seed now calendula, snapdragons.

Nicole sent us this picture of her onion harvest a few years ago.

Mi casera hermosa / My beautiful customer

Epistle from April: On friendliness in the Bolivian marketplace

The epicenter of Tiquipaya, Bolivia, from the stoop of our most frequented market.

Last month I stopped with a friend at her local corner store in Cruce Taquiña, on the edge of the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, and she congratulated the owners on their recent locally viral tiktok video promoting their housemade bizcochos (traditional easter breads). In this delightful piece of owner-made advertising, the husband proudly proclaims that they will be selling easter breads “in all flavors!” His wife smacks him in mock outrage, saying she is only making one. He turns cheerily to the camera and retracts: “Oh no, caseritos [loyal customers], I was mistaken!” They finish together, “There is just one flavor!” Obviously, I bought my bizcochos from them. 

The Caseros of Tienda B&B

The inimitable caseros of the B&B Market.

In Spanish, ‘caserito’ technically means ‘householder,’ or perhaps ‘homebody,’ with the addition of an endearing diminutive suffix ‘ito.’  But, as a language nerd, the Andean use of the word ‘casero’ is one of my favorite parts of participating in the local economy. Here, “loyal customer” is the primary definition of ‘casero’ and all its variants: casero(s), caserito(s), casera(s), caserita(s), and the surprisingly non-gendered case(s) for short. However, the best part is that it also means “my favorite  _____ vendor”  - and thus the person who I tend to buy eggs from is ‘mi casera de huevo,’ but I am equally hers. 

Since working in Red Wagon’s plant shop, after a long break from retail work, I’ve become much more aware of the potential beauty to be found in relationships between vendors and customers. Experiencing the nuances of that relationship in my town of Tiquipaya in Bolivia this year has added another layer to my appreciation for the dynamic. Beyond the mere functionality of buying and selling, street commerce here is defined by the  pleasures of the lower-case ‘m’ marketplace, where transactions require and can create an intimacy and appreciation between people extending beyond a simple monetary exchange.

Cacao and chirimoya (the yellow slimy one that I don’t like as much as the firm, velvety green one) for sale at the stand of the casera who is so good at flattering me.

The word ‘casero,' a respectful title mutually apt for both buyer and seller, creates a name for their specific relationship and intimates a potential space for respect, loyalty, appreciation, affection and a responsibility to one another within that relationship. Regardless of past purchases, I can address any Bolivian vendor politely as ‘Case,’ and conversely they can address me as the same. Vendors can speak to unknown clients as ‘mi case,’ proposing a possible loyalty or familiarity that does not (yet) exist. After buying some vegetables this morning, the casera encouraged me to return: “Ven, no más, case!” [Come by anytime, Custi!]. Behind me, an older woman sang quietly to herself  “Case, case, case!” I looked back at her and we smiled to one another. 

My favorite fruit vendor (though not always my casera de frutas because her goods are sometimes wildly more expensive) has landed my business many times simply because, when I walk by her stall, she sends the most winning looks from under her intricately painted straw hat, calling to me “Buen día, mi caserita linda, hermosa! ¿Qué va a llevar hoy día? [Good morning my beautiful, lovely little customer! What are you going to buy today?]. I am a sucker for her style. 

Many of my neighbors (including this one) have stores in the front of the first floor of their houses.

When there are people to enjoy buying from, and we have time to enjoy shopping, there’s always the opportunity to enjoy a meaningful human interaction between vendor and customer: a supra-monetary exchange between people who might not otherwise meet or mix socially. This can be a precious commodity in an age where people tend less to speak to or need each other in public. When I work as a casera in my own right, I love meeting new customers and greeting old ones, knowing who is going to be excited about what, seeing my middle school teachers and family friends, meeting caseros [customers] who are also my caseros [vendors] in other contexts. 

The same friend who recently took me to her corner store for bizcochos also has a lovely mother, Rosita, in her 80’s, who always enjoyed her work in corner stores, and later being the proprietress of her own. Not only did she come to know everyone in the neighborhood, but she recounted a time when a local casera who was going through a hard time came often to stay with her in conversation. One day her casera was so distraught that Rosita invited her behind the counter and into the kitchen for lunch and a beer. Together they dubbed her store “La Tienda Radio Cocina” [The Radio Kitchen Store], in reference to call-in advice radio shows. Rosita was also able to give my historian partner an excellent account of local union leader Filemón Escóbar, including his favorite cigarette brand. 

My favorite buttons and lace store.

Another appreciable aspect of the Andean marketplace, as experienced by me (though there are more theoretical essays written on the topic), is the delight of the yapa, a word in Quechua for “a little something extra” thrown in after a purchase, generally given to all customers, but especially those who know to ask for it. Yapas can be especially generous from your casera (favorite vendor), who might also reserve something in short supply if they know that you are likely to come for it and could be disappointed to find it gone. A yapa might come in the form of a small cucumber or apple (though understandably not always the prettiest ones), or an extra half-cup of rice or handful of new potatoes. One of my favorite yapas comes from the caseros of citrus juice, who have carts with mounted manual fruit peelers and squeezers, and from whom, after you drink half of your cup of juice, you can claim your right to a top-up with whatever remains in the recipient under the squeezer. ¿Y mi yapa, caserita?

Sometimes we purchase things according to pragmatics, and I can’t fault that. But I would argue that everything is more beautiful, tastier, more enjoyable, when it comes conjoined with its own story, its origin and subsequent procuration. Things with a tale of origin and/or their journey into our hands have an aura that confers a non-monetary value that can’t usually be enjoyed in goods procured from anonymous sources that appear in our lives anonymously. The often necessary convenience of having our purchases appear at our homes in boxes comes at the sacrifice of this aura, this yapa of meaning co-created in the friendly human exchange at the time of purchase.

A general store in the nearby town of Tarata

On the other hand, I also enjoy being shown that for the Andean vendor, the customer is not always right. Vendors will often close their stores for a family member’s birthday party, or refuse to interact with customers because they are on the phone with a friend, or (though usually this is an unwilling family member forced to act as an employee) blithely state that they don’t have such and such an item when it is clearly visible on the shelf. Though this is usually less convenient for me as a customer, I get a thrill from witnessing the lack of subservience to the almighty dollar, and seeing small business owners and employees take full advantage of their autonomy in their own spaces, guiltlessly giving full priority to their personal lives, rather than sacrificing all to the unrealistic expectations of an automated, ever-available internet Marketplace. 

Our bread caserita works in an unassuming bakery across from our kids’ morning bus stop, and their baguettes are our favorite in a country of seemingly endless bread varieties, each with the name of the town where it is made. This casera, however, is a young woman with an unbreakable poker face and no interest in pleasantries. She doesn’t care to show she recognizes me, or laugh at my jokes, let alone smile. Our housemate Fernando, who is now a baguette devotee as well, returned home one day, triumphant. “I made her smile!” he gloated. “It was more of a muscle spasm at one corner of her mouth, but I did it! …and then Tati punched me and said I always have to flirt with the caseras, but it’s not flirting - it’s just being friendly, polite, showing appreciation!” I have now redoubled my efforts to charm her myself, and met with similarly gratifying victory.

Cochabamban-style hats, for sale in the center of the city.

I feel the same sense of gratification as a vendor when I make a personal connection with a customer. Interactions that occur over a small purchase can allow for a greater display of friendliness than I might feel comfortable in showing a random stranger because both parties (buyer and seller) know our roles (though the vendor must stay, while the customer may leave!). The interaction already has a purpose (the transaction), and pleasantries are a low-stakes, optional adornment - just for the pleasure and fun of it. Or, taken a little farther, making connections in the marketplace can be a form of “Subversion Through Friendliness," a refusal to reduce our human interactions to only the functional and the monetary.

While at Red Wagon we certainly do our best to please our customers (and enjoy doing so!), I most enjoy working in the retail plant shop because it allows me, playing the most out-going version of myself, to meet and interact with a wide variety of the people in my community (and the special subset of plant-loving people, who are generally an excellent, not to say a superior, group). I like the beneficence of giving out our yapas during plant sales, and, when time allows, having longer and deeper conversations with customers. I love meeting and befriending my coworkers and watching community be created between employees and customers, and between customers themselves. 

Me, April, at Red Wagon in 2015! Extra points if you can identify the apron (appropriated from my dad)

Red Wagon is a handmade business, created and maintained by humans, and supported by human customers, who can have names and personalities known to those of us behind the counter. In a time when there can be so much distance between the buyers and sellers of goods, and even community members in the same room, it is such a pleasure to participate in these interactions based on an appreciation for the miraculousness of the natural world. Thanks for having me (us) as your caseritas and caseritos de plántulas [plant starts], and for being caserit@s of ours. 

***

Awww, did you read this all the way to the end? I’m so honored! If it made you think of something, let me know at april(at)redwagonplants.com

20 years - a note from Julie

22 years ago, I was looking for a place to build out some greenhouses for my herb and vegetable plant growing operation and came across this field in Hinesburg through a friend of mine, Charley McMartin, who was a stone mason and rented land on the property. The owners, the Ross family, took a bet on me and said a resounding “yes!” when I approached them about putting up a few greenhouses on their property. I built the first three greenhouses in the worst clay mud I have ever seen, and learned a lot about site work and excavators in the process. One man’s flat pad is another man’s deep pool. Words matter. We got through those hurdles and were able to supply plants to our wholesale accounts in 2006. The following year, we built the retail greenhouse, and invited you all to come and shop directly from the grower.

From the first three greenhouses and a team of 4 seasonal people, we have grown to 9 heated greenhouses, 5 unheated tunnels and a staff that grows to 28 during the peak season. We bought the land in 2022 and built out the building that houses our bake shop, offices and staff bathroom. It has been a journey full of people that lift you up when you feel down, plants that nourish every cell of our beings, and all of the ups and downs of weather, cash flow, hail storms, bad deals, the occasional strong drink, and lots of very good times. Thanks so much for following along, growing with us and sharing your garden stories.

We would love to keep the celebration going and invite you to send in photos and stories from your gardens. We will publish them here and on our social media pages if you are willing, but also happy to keep things private if you prefer. Your kind words and enthusiasm has fueled this fever dream since the very beginning.

Here is a fun little peek into our 2026 team, made up of some very veteran members (20 years! 17 years! 12 years!) and a few new folks we are excited to welcome to the crew.

Our crew from 2010….. me, Sophia, Anne, Lily, Danielle, Allison, and Eric. We will be peppering in photos from the way back time machine this year.

WINTER MARKET SNEAK PEEK!

Take a peek at the talented artists and craftspeople you’ll see at our upcoming Winter Market, a cozy afternoon of community, creativity, and holiday cheer.


Sunday, December 7th, from 12pm to 4pm,

2408 Shelburne Falls Road, Hinesburg, Vermont,

Free admission.


This festive market will feature a collection of local artists and makers offering beautiful handmade gifts, providing the perfect opportunity to shop small and support Vermont talent this season. While you browse, you can sip mulled wine, enjoy treats from our Bake Shop, and take in the scent of fresh evergreen wreath-making in action.

You'll also find a selection of Red Wagon's own herb products, gardening tools, merchandise, and gift cards ideal for the gardeners, cooks, and plant lovers on your list.

Spend the afternoon in our warm, heated greenhouse, surrounded by friends, beautiful things, and a little bit of holiday sparkle. We look forward to celebrating the season with you!

BEE HAPPY VERMONT

Pedro Salas and Susan Reit de Salas, of Bee Happy Vermont, will have honey, hand-crafted 100% pure beeswax candles, lip balm, and other honey and beeswax treats from their beehives in the hills of Starksboro, VT and the farmlands of the Champlain Valley.

SUSAN LEPPLE

Susan Lepple will have beautiful rustic garlands to adorn interior spaces. All materials have been grown or collected by Susan, who has an aesthetic appreciation for the elegant wispiness of grasses, the mounding greens of mosses, the complexities and colors of flowers, the texture and form of seed pods and the irregular nature of branches, twigs, and vines.

JANET GRAY FROM EVERYBODY WINS! VERMONT

Janet Gray from the Everybody Wins! literacy program at the Hinesburg Community School will be talking to people about volunteer opportunities and sharing books and stories to keep kiddos entertained in our cozy greenhouse during the winter market.

In Everybody Wins! sites around Vermont, adult volunteer mentors are carefully matched with students at their local elementary schools to read together, have conversations, and make enduring connections weekly over lunch. Their Power Lunch program sets children up to love reading and succeed in life. It supports local schools and communities by connecting community members to their schools. Mentors say that reading day is their favorite day of the week!

ZOE JEWETT SHELDON

Zoe Jewett Sheldon, of Vesper Hill Farm believes in making beautiful things that nourish the land and its wild inhabitants. Through rotational grazing, native plantings, and other practices, she’s re-inhabiting her 200-year-old Vermont farmstead - enhancing habitat for grassland birds and other wildlife while her Lincoln Longwool sheep grow the lustrous fleeces she transforms into yarn, felt pelts, woven goods, and handmade dolls. Every piece she creates is proof that farming can nurture both beauty and biodiversity.

VERMONT QUILT BEE

Hope Johnson of Vermont Quilt Bee will be selling her intricate and kaleidoscopic honey bee-inspired fiber art, made right in Shelburne, Vermont. Hope’s beautiful prints of her wall and larger-sized art quilts portray hives in all seasons and colors of the year and celebrate the mathematical beauty of some of our most important and sweetest pollinators. Hope proudly and gratefully shares her success with the beekeepers whose stewardship and knowledge of the honey bee has allowed her to flourish artistically and raise awareness of the importance of ecosystem health.

COLORS OF NATURE VT

Lynne Gavin, of Colors of Nature VT, is a natural dye resource: an advocate for natural color, teaching classes, and growing dye plants. Lynne sells one of a kind pieces of apparel both upcycled and new, homewares and accessories, each hand dyed and constructed in Richmond, Vermont. Lynne's specialties include botanically printed textiles, indigo shibori to plant dyed cottons, silks, wool and linen

DIG DIG SPOONS

Jennica Stetler of Dig Dig Spoons will have spoons and various other utensils that she has foraged, shaped, carved and finished up the road at her farm in Hinesburg. Dig Dig Spoons are made to cook, serve and eat real food! They are carved from local foraged hardwood Straight grained cherry, birch, poplar, maple and apple and chopped into a spoon with an axe and knives. 

PAPER CLAY NATURE

Sharon Fennimore of Paper Clay Nature will have her playful animal and botanical-inspired designs on ceramics, clothing and paper goods. Sharon is an artist, writer, and independent educator based in rural central Vermont.

WOOLFDEN HOMESTEAD

Nora Woolf of Woolfden Homestead will have a range of her beautiful and useful handmade brooms, including full house brooms, cobwebbers, pot scrubbers, round, hawk and turkeytail handwhisk brooms perfect for sweeping surfaces, vehicles, auras and anything that needs cleaning off. Nora works with broomcorn, cord, leather, hardwood sourced as closely to home as possible.

CRY BABY CLAY

Katie Cameron of cry baby clay makes handmade ceramics “ that bring big feelings to small daily moments.” Her endearing and irreverent mug, pots, berry baskets and other homewares are made in small batches following her whimsy.

CRAFTER SPOTLIGHT: PENNY HEWITT

Penny weaves a basket, letting her future materials soak for pliability

“Learning utilitarian skills can point to alternative ways of shaping a culture that fosters land, tradition, and community stewardship.”

- Penny Hewitt

This month, Penny will be teaching her popular birch bark ornament class at Red Wagon Saturday, November 22, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

Click here to learn more and register!

Penny Hewitt is passionate about revitalizing and sharing traditional skills, particularly in the form of black ash and bark basketry. As a homeschooling mom, craftsperson and homesteader, among other things, she practices her craft for income, pleasure and to meet the needs of her homesteading life.

In an effort to deepen her connection to the land and limit her participation in consumer culture, she strives to grow, craft and participate in seasonal harvests for as many of her needs and wants as possible. Her baskets are made from hand-harvested resources from local forests, and let the qualities of varying materials dictate their use.

Penny is inspired by the traditions of many cultures, and is grateful for the opportunities of connection to the land and people, past and present, that her craft cultivates. She also appreciates the generous community of talented makers and growers with whom she trades skills, ideas and wares.

As a teacher, she enjoys “teaching people how to use their hands and simple tools to transform natural materials from the surrounding forests into objects of beauty that are useful in everyday life”

You can find her teaching children and adults all over Vermont and beyond; in private homes, on farms, at her studio in the Northeast Kingdom, at art centers and traditional skills schools and gatherings.

Penny Hewitt’s birch bark ornament making class will be happening at Red Wagon Saturday, November 22, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Click here to sign up!

Letter from April: Chilltu, Tree Tomato

Chilltu, tree tomato, or Solanum betaceum, in my neighborhood, with fruits ranging from immature to overripe.

Solanum betaceum was one of the first plants to catch my eye as I wandered around Montecillos, my neighborhood outside of the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The flower clusters (pale pink with yellow centers, akin to the wild vining nightshades we see in Vermont) and fruits screamed “nightshade!” but the woody stems and enormous leaves were like no nightshade I knew. The ripe fruits look not unline the Striped Roman tomato, and have a perfectly pointed oval shape all of their own. 

Voila, the Tree Tomato, or chilltu, a fruit indigenous to the Andes, grown globally, and called by more than a dozen names.

In Bolivia, it is called tomate de árbol [tree tomato] in Spanish, chilltu in Quechua (a widely-spoken indigenous language of the Andes), or chilto in ‘Quechuañol’ (Quechua that has been adapted into Spanish). After I observed my first chilltu, I started to see them everywhere: at my local organic farm, at my Quechua language school, the fruits for sale in local markets, and, thrillingly, in my own yard!

The enthusiastic chilltu stewards I spoke with noted that the short-lived trees spring up of their own accord, and all had let them grow, looking forward to several years of harvest. However, many here are unfamiliar with the fruit, a phenomenon perhaps explained by the disparagement indicated by one of its additional names: “Poor man’s tomato.” The chilltu, while it can be used like a tomato, is more fruity and sour, with a thicker skin, and the cross-section reveals two earshaped lobes of dramatic black seeds. Here in Cochabamba, it can be found rarely in salsa, juices and marmalades. I hear that the more orange varieties are sweeter, while the redder fruits are more sour. The curious can watch three recipes being prepared by an Ecuadoran chef here.

[Above: A fruiting chilltu tree with its woody trunk, sliced mature fruits, flowers, and a bonus llama that lives at the school where I’m studying.]

I bought a bag of ripe fruits from the market, planning to try some recipes with them, but my enthusiastic family simply cut them in half and ate them like pudding cups by the spoonful before they could be transformed into anything more prepared. I don’t see them for sale very often and, these days, I am eagerly watching the chilltu at the top of my garden as the flowers turn from cloud pink into lime green droplets, swell to the size of duck eggs with pale stripes, and finally ripening, start to take on the oranges and reds of a Vermont hillside in fall. 

Houseplant Care Through the Seasons

Fall

If your houseplants have been enjoying the summer outdoors, now is your best chance to get them ready before you move them back into the house. This means:

  • check them for pests and apply a Neem spray if necessary

  • plants that have become root bound will enjoy a larger sized pot. Don’t go too big, just enough for their roots to comfortably fit. Add new soil.

  • not all plants have to come back inside, some can head to the compost pile. If you’re emotionally attached and they still have a few healthy leaves or stems, take cuttings to propagate and toss the rest.

If you’re in need of new containers for your houseplants, take a look at our Bergs pottery selection. They look beautiful and can last a lifetime. If you need new houseplants for yourself or as a gift, we have plenty of those, too.

Are you interested in growing your own gifts for the holidays, for teachers, for hosts, for office friends? If so, now is a great time to propagate succulents, spider plants or hedera and put them in cute pots. It is fun to organize a little indoor gardening / nursery set up and watch them grow, especially if you have kids around. You can leave the plants outside for now, but bring them in as night time temps dip into the lower 50’s. Don’t know how to propagate these plants? Come in and we will show you how. Please note, that some plants are trademarked and it is not actually legal to propagate them. The ones we are recommending here do not fall in that category.

Garden Crafts Day: Saturday, Sept. 27th

Celebrate the beauty of handmade traditions at Garden Crafts Day! Join us on Saturday, September 27th, 9 AM - 5 PM, for creative workshops inspired by the garden and the woods. Learn to create fall woodland garlands, carve your own wooden utensils, or craft a garden bench broom. Build whimsical fairy houses, explore the magic of indigo dyeing, and hand-shape terracotta pinch pots. All levels welcome—come play, learn, and leave with something uniquely your own. All levels welcome—come play, learn, and leave with something uniquely your own. Sign up here.

Carving Wooden Utensils, Instructor: Jennica Stetler of Dig Dig Farm. 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Learn techniques and carve a spoon from local green wood using hand tools.

Garden Bench Brooms, Instructor: Nora Woolf of Woolf Den Homestead. 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Students will have the opportunity to make a round whisk and a garden bench broom.

Terracotta Pinch Pots, Instructor: Katie Cameron of Cry Baby Clay. 9:00 AM -10:30 AM
Hand sculpt your own custom terracotta planter while learning pottery techniques.

Fairy Houses, Instructor: Jodi Whalen. 11:30-1:30 PM
Craft a whimsical fairy house from sustainably foraged forest finds.

Fall Woodland Garlands, Instructor: Susan Lepple. 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM. Cost: $54
Use grown and foraged plant materials to create a delicate and flowing fall garland to adorn an interior space.

Indigo Dyeing, Instructor: Lynne Gavin of Colors of Nature VT. 2:00- 4:00 PM
Experience the art of indigo vat dyeing, exploring traditional shibori and resist techniques.

Meeting Rosemary Again for the First time

Greetings from rosemary as a tree!

In a lucky year, an abundance of herbs offers the luxury of seasoning with generosity: new potatoes roasted with rosemary is an iconic savory combination, and one that I both love and look forward to. After tentatively harvesting a few sprigs of my favorite herbs in spring, I look forward to preserving my bountiful herb harvest for winter (join us for Herb Day on September 14th to learn more!). But abundance can also be an invitation to playfulness: what flavor combinations can we try, if herbs are no longer a luxury, if we have enough to experiment? 


There’s a delight in re-meeting a known herb and learning fresh aspects of its character. A research trip once brought me to some Paraguayan farming cooperatives, where my hosts greeted me at dawn with hot yerba mate prepared with grated coconut and rosemary. The flavor combination surprised me, but Paraguayan tereré drinkers mix a wide range of medicinal herbs into their iced mate. Years later, a friend of my mother’s wowed a potluck gathering with a simple skillet shortbread flecked with fresh rosemary, and I’ve since enjoyed Nu Chocolat’s rosemary orange truffle. In these preparations, rosemary’s piney resin plays a sweet and almost citric accompaniment to the richness of coconut, butter, and chocolate, and was such a compelling surprise; it almost felt like a different ingredient altogether! 

In other climates, the herbs we keep in pots and nurse through Vermont winters (or try to), grow into startlingly tall shrubs and trees. When I think about it, it’s amazing that we get to enjoy so many herbs from warmer climates as much as we do! As I write from the semi-tropical high plains of Cochabamba, Bolivia, I’m reminded of the bay laurel trees and rosemary and lavender bushes that friends have proudly shown me in their gardens in the last few weeks, and meeting those plants in elder incarnations I don’t get to see at home. Here too, pápalo, one of Red Wagon’s specialty herbs and a staple in much of Latin American cooking, is called by its Quechua name, quilquiña, and waves at my tastebuds from salads, stews and savory baked goods.


Meeting an herb in a new way always makes me curious about what other new ways I could  meet and enjoy the herbs I know and love. My friend Carolina’s watermelon and tomato salad with mint and feta dressing is a revelation of sweet, fresh and savory flavors. What herb recipes have surprised and delighted you recently? Let us know! Email us at info@redwagonplants.com with your favorites!