POTATO VARIETIES for the 2025 season

It’s true: When the dandelions are blooming in your neighborhood, it is time to plant potatoes. In New England, dandelions can be used as a reasonable gauge to tell if the soil has dried and warmed enough for potatoes to be comfortable. All potatoes like well-draining soil, but some of the varieties we carry are well suited for heavier soils.

If you’re working in clay soil, give Dark Red Norland a try. This is an early season potato with high yields and great flavor, firm white flesh and red skin.

If you’re at the other end of the spectrum, working in sandy drought-prone soil, All Blue is a great performer. Blue skin, blue flesh and blue flowers make this one extra special.

If you’re growing in containers or grow bags, varieties with small tubers are your best choice. Banana is a buttery yellow fingerling variety with good storage qualities. Upstate Abundance boasts very early, golf-ball-sized potatoes with white flesh and a creamy texture.

Our overall Red Wagon favorite variety is called German Butterball. Its delicious flavor and texture lends itself to many culinary uses and never disappoints. If you’re looking for an earlier season variety with similar flavor qualities, Carola is a great choice as well. Both have yellow flesh and skin.

Find instructions on how to plant and care for your potato patch here.

This blog post was written by Kat Consler.

A Closer Look At Pea Varieties

The optimal time to seed peas here in Vermont is in April as soon as the ground can be worked. You don’t want to start too early or the seeds may rot if the soil is too wet. And you don’t want to wait too long or the pea plants will suffer in the heat later in the season and produce a smaller crop.

Following is a selection of open-pollinated pea seeds you can find in our retail store. All parts of these peas are edible - flowers, pods and shoots. All of them can be grown as micro-greens as well.

In our climate we recommend providing support for pea plants of all sizes. Four posts with a line of string surrounding a pea patch is sufficient to prevent shorter varieties from flopping over in the wind and rain. Anything taller than 4’ will benefit from a trellis. Chicken wire, cattle fence, hardware cloth or Hortonova netting attached to t-posts or wooden stakes are all great options.

Our selection for the 2025 season:

SNAP PEAS - ideal for fresh eating, they’re crisp and sweet

Sweet Gem (High Mowing) - around 4’ tall, sweet and crisp with strong powdery mildew resistance.

Sugar Magnolia (Hudson Valley) - 5’ tall with gorgeous purple flowers and pods.

Amish Snap (Seed Savers Exchange) - 5-6’ tall, sweet and crisp pods on prolific vines.

SNOW PEAS - harvest when they’re small for a stronger pea flavor or let them grow slightly puffy for sweet and crisp pods

Blizzard (High Mowing) - 3’ tall, prefers being trellised. Sweet and easy to pick.

Swiss Giant (Hudson Valley) - 5’ tall. beautiful bi-color flowers (they’re edible too). high yield of large 3-4” pods.

SHELL PEAS - these involve more work with shelling, but the tender sweet peas are so worth it

PLS 595 (High Mowing) - short, 3-5’ tall plants with high yield. Very long pods with an average of 11 peas per pod.

Champion of England (Seed Savers Exchange) - grows up to 10’ tall! A historic variety from the 1840s. Prolific and sweet, with 8-10 peas per pod.

This blog post was written by Kat Consler and Julie Rubaud

Gardening 101 Extravaganza

A full day of learning in support of newer gardeners.

This is our first ever all day learning event. Our goal is to be welcoming and supportive of new gardeners. Throughout the day we will offer many opportunities to explore the basics of growing your own food and flowers and dreaming up your ideal landscape. In this new learning format, we have a whole day of activities planned and you are welcome to come for just one component or stay the whole day.

GARDENING 101 SCHEDULE

Saturday, April 20th

ASK ME ANYTHING ROUNDTABLES — 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Join us around the table to discuss your gardening questions with a Red Wagon expert as well as fellow gardeners. This is a free drop-in station where you can get inspiration and find answers, and no sign-up is required. Different members of Red Wagon’s team will be staffing the table and each block of time will focus on a specific theme.

10:00 am - 12:00 pm Plan your garden and create a vision board with Julie Rubaud

We are going analog! Whether you’re designing your veggie garden or your perennial beds, we invite you to get creative and dream big. All materials will be provided but feel free to bring in your own pictures, magazines, Pinterest board or favorite garden journal. This is a free “drop-in” program and you can come and go as you please. No prior registration required.

12:00 PM - 2:00 pm FOCUS on soil, from testing to amending with Chad Donovan

If you have ever sent in a soil sample and don’t know what to do with the results or you’re curious what healthy, fertile soil looks like, this is the time to stop in. This is a free “drop-in” program and you can come and go as you please. No prior registration required.

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Focus on Seeds - starting them indoors, outdoors, reseeding and more with Kat Consler

Some plants like to be transplanted, others prefer to have their roots be undisturbed. Kat will help you determine the best way to get your plant babies off to a great start. This is a free “drop-in” program and you can come and go as you please. No prior registration required.

WORKSHOPS

Three workshops fill out this Gardening 101 day. They cost $25 each and are limited to 12 participants so we recommend that you sign up ahead of time.

10:00 am - 11:30 am Vegetative Propagation with Jacob Holzberg-Pill

Learn how to make more of your favorite plants with Jacob Holzberg-Pill. This workshop will offer a broad overview on many different types of vegetative propagation: crown division, root cuttings, scaling, tip layering, softwood and hardwood cuttings. In this hands-on workshop we will explore which asexual techniques work best for different species and genera. Participants will practice some of these techniques and take home some fun new plants. Sign up here.

12:30 Pm - 2:00 pm Favorite tools for the veggie garden with Julie Rubaud and Kat Consler

We all have our favorite tools to use in the garden. From trellising supports and row cover to weeding tools and gloves. Julie and Kat will talk about their successes and failures with various materials and how to get the most use out of their favorite garden tools without having to purchase too many things. Sign up here.

3:00 PM - 4:30 pm Growing Cut Flowers with Lily Belisle

Are you dreaming of endless summer bouquets? Lily will help you make that dream come true. In this class, she’ll talk about her favorite cutting flower varieties and which flowers and foliage plants to grow and harvest to keep bouquets on your table throughout the seasons. You’ll get tips for successful growing and learn which tools to use to increase abundance and ease. Please bring all your cutting flower questions and leave with inspiration and plant wish lists. Sign up here.

We look forward to seeing you! Our greenhouses will be open normal hours, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.