The Kitchen Garden: Abundant Harvest in Small Spaces

The following is a hand out that accompanied a workshop I presented at the NOFA conference Feb 12, 2012. -Julie

An abundant harvest in a small space can seem like a challenge, but by understanding a few concepts, you can make the most of your small garden so that it meets your needs and brings you joy. Observing plants is the best way to develop garden awareness; making good choices is the best way to avoid “garden guilt.” Abundant harvests have to do with efficiency:

• The efficiency of the plant taking up nutrients
• The efficiency of the amount of time it takes for the plant to mature.
• The efficiency of minimized waste.
• The efficiency of using your space to its maximum potential.

These are not hard and fast rules, but can be applied at your discretion in any area of the garden you would like to improve. These ideas can work for the spontaneous or lazy gardener (like me) or for the hyper-planner who maps it all out on graph paper ahead of time (like my neighbor). Think of it as cooking without a recipe - once you know a few techniques and concepts, you can explore and have decent results most of the time. And there is no such thing as garden failure - it is just a lesson waiting to be learned. The big factors:

• Soil - texture, nutrients, compost, fertilizer
• Shape - raised bed, containers, or “in ground”, bed prep
• Water - drip, overhead, by hand, on timers, etc
• Cultivation - weeds, mulching,  pests and diseases, season extension, spacing and timing, succession planting, shape of plants
• Harvest - understanding life cycle of plants, post-harvest handling, when to try for multiple harvest or when to cut your losses, cleaning up plant debris.

Soil should be loose and rich and deep.  In a container it should be a pre-mixed potting soil, not garden soil. If the container is large (1 gallon or more) it should have some drainage material in the bottom. Many things work well for this - styrofoam packing peanuts, crushed up plastic pots, gravel, etc. If a pot is very lare (3 gallons or more) the drainage material can be a little deeper, up to the bottom third of the pot. It is a good idea to cover the drainage material with a piece of burlap, an old pillow case, or some other type of screen or fabric to keep the soil from washing down into the material that should remain porous.

In a raised bed, it can be a combination of materials including pre-made finished compost, leaf mold (rotted leaves - make a pile in the fall, it’s good to go in the bottom of the raised bed in the spring), peat moss, rotted manure/bedding (a good source is horse farms), garden soil,  sand and pre-mixed top soil / compost combinations. The key is to have a mixture of ingredients to re-create the complexity of a living soil system.

In the garden, the soil should be worked deeply with a 4 or 5 pronged fork, and loosed by hand or with a hoe. Even if you use a rototiller in the garden, the plants will benefit from having the soil loosened more deeply than where the rototiller tines reach. It is a good idea to shovel out the paths of the garden and put the extra soil onto the beds. This essentially makes a raised bed and will allow the roots to grow quickly and deeply in their search for food. Nutrients can come from compost, granular fertilizer, “Compost Plus” and/or  mineral inputs. It is a good idea to get a soil test in your in-ground garden or raised bed. If you are using materials in the raised bed that you know are of good quality, you can skip this, but if your plants look deficient during the growing months, you may opt to do a test after all.  Applying granular fertilizer or “Compost Plus” is best done after the plants have had a chance to grow out - either a month or so after seeding or two weeks or so after transplanting. Water is best done through drip irrigation - either soaker hoses or drip tape. A good source of drip tape is Dripworks. Next best watering choice is by hand since you can aim the hose nozzle at the soil, and not get the foliage wet. Third best choice (and not a good one, sorry) is overhead sprinklers: they require less of your time and labor, but they get the foliage wet. Two reasons to avoid getting the foliage wet with overhead irrigation (sprinklers and incorrect hand watering):

1. it rots the plants, and disease can set in. Dry plants tend to be healthier plants.
2. the plants take up water with their roots, not their leaves. You waste a lot of water and the leaves act as a nice umbrella for the roots, making it wasteful. You have to water more than necessary for the roots to actually start drinking. Getting the plants wet and watering the garden are two different things, and it is best not to confuse them.

Watering is best done in the morning - it gives the plants a chance to dry off before night time and supports their busy daytime growth. Watering at the end of the day is not recommended since disease spreads most during humid summer nights.  You can water the garden during the middle of the day, and the plants will still have time to dry off by sunset. Cultivation is simply the act of caring for plants. In larger scale farming, to “cultivate” means to scuff up the soil in such a way that you are removing weeds, usually involving a tractor and some sort of implement. Here we use the term “cultivate” in a broader sense meaning a general discussion of the cultural requirements of common garden plants. The “cultural requirements” of a plant are all the things that a plant needs from humans in order to thrive. For example, the site, the water, the tilth or texture of the soil, the space and  the nutrients are all a part of a plant’s cultural needs. To understand what a plant needs, you have to look at these factors:

1. what is it’s shape? Shape of plants, physiological structure, and type of cells that make up the roots and the foliage all give you clues to what the plant needs. Thin fibrous roots dry out more than thick, tuberous roots (think of an onion plant vs. a tomato plant). Waxy, shiny leaves are more drought tolerant than matte, thin leaves (think of a succulent like aloe vs.a leafy plant like lettuce). Large plants with broad leaves have very different requirements than skinny tall plants (think brcocolli vs onion). The canopy a plant creates is also a clue - plants with a small canopy (onions, celery, leeks) do not cast much of a shadow. This makes them very vulnerable to weeds. Plants that create a large canopy (squashes, cabbages, broccoli, eggplant) cast a large shadow which slows down weed growth. Understanding the shape or growth habit of a plant also helps you maximize the potential of your small garden.
1. A tall, vining plant can be trellised.
2. A low growing, sprawling plant can be planted on the edge where it spills onto a lawn.
3. A tall, skinny plant can be tucked into tight spots.
4. A pretty, decorative plant can be planted in the flower bed.
2. how hungry is it? Plants that need a lot of fertility are often referred to as “heavy feeders”. One common point amongst most heavy feeders is their life span. A baby lettuce plant that is in the ground for 20 days is going to be a light feeder. A giant, prize winning pumpkin in the ground for 130 days is going to be a heavy feeder. Plants that produce fruit such as tomatoes, zucchini, squash, peppers and eggplant are best fed when in a vegetative state (all green leaf growth, earlier in the first 45 days of transplanting); once those plants are in their fruiting state, it is best to lay off the fertilizer or compost which support green growth, not fruit growth. The plant has only so much energy, and if it is putting it into leaf growth, it won’t also put it into fruit growth. It is a balancing act since the green growth needs to happen quickly and in a lush manner in the earlier part of the season in order to support healthy fruiting in the latter part of the season.
3. how thirsty is it? As in the discussion of shape, a plant’s water needs have to do with its structure, but also with weather and soil type. A garden in sandy soil will always need more water than a garden in clay soils. You can look for cues of thirstiness in a plant and water just as needed. These clues include very slight curling of leaves, a blue-like hue that creeps in (this is very sublte), or a very subtle droop in the way flowers are angled. This type of “reading the garden” takes some observation to understand, but gardening is a lifetime project with countless places to learn. Fruiting vegetables tend to taste better with less water. Leafy vegetables tend to taste better with more water. It is entirely possible to water tomatoes only once every two weeks, even in a drought, and get very tasty fruit. If you did that with lettuce, it would be bitter at best, but more likely it would simply be dead.
4. how well does it share? A plant that knows how to share light, water, and nutrients with its neighbors is a plant that does well in small spaces. Radishes are a good example. They can be sown alongside just about any other crop, and they do quite well because of their short life span, lower light requirements, and broader leaves that shade out weeds. Radishes can share. Other examples of plants that cooperate nicely: arugula, baby lettuce, scallions (they are skinny and can go in nooks), cilantro, curly parsley or smaller varieties of Italian parsley, strawberries and wild strawberries, and pansies. Notice....with the exception of scallions, all these plants are low growing, have broad leaves that create a canopy that shades out weeds, and can tolerate a bit of shade that might be thrown by a neighboring canopy.
5. how well does it compete? Plants that compete well are plants that are not easily thwarted by dry conditions, weedy conditions, temperature extremes, or low nutrition. You can always increase your harvest and increase your efficiency by knowing which plants have these characteristics. It basically allows you to prioritize garden tasks -you can make the less competitive plants a priority, and save the more tolerant, tough plants for a day when you have a little more time.  Working smarter in the garden can increase the harvest, and save you some “garden guilt”, just by knowing when to say “it’s okay if that is weedy, it can wait until the weekend.”

Succession planting is another way to increase your yields. This is the act of planting multiple generations of plants so that you have a continuous harvest. The trick with succession planting is to know a few numbers

1. the date of the average last frost in spring
2. the date of the average  first frost in fall
3. the amount of time it takes for a plant to be harvestable (a.k.a. “days to maturity)

and two cultural factors:

1. is the crop frost tolerant or not?
2. is it a “multiple harvest” crop or a one time harvest?

Once you know these numbers and the frost tolerance of a plant, you can make some simple calculations based on your season length to determine how many generations of a particular plant you can grow. For example, head lettuce has about a 40 day life cycle from transplant time to harvest time, and it can tolerate a light frost. This means you can start transplanting it in early May (in Burlington, average last frost is last week of May)  or so, and you can repeat the planting of it every week or so, until early September. (in Burlington, average first frost is first week of October). Head lettuce is something you harvest only once, so if you want a nice head of lettuce every two days or so, you would plant 4 heads of lettuce a week, every week from early May to early September. This will give you a continuous harvest from early June until mid-October. If you are the kind of gardener who “puts in the garden” on Memorial Day and then you never replant, it is likely that you have a big glut of produce at certain times, and then none that is fresh and good at other times. By planting multiple generations of plants, you insure high yields and great flavor. A patch of bush green beans only produces good quality beans for about 2 to 3 weeks. After a while, the beans are tough and sparse on the plant. If you replant a new patch every couple of weeks, you will always have high-yielding, tasty beans. Abundant harvest happen on healthy plants at their prime, and gardens in small spaces require a certain amount of decision making. You always have a choice to pull out tired plants and to replant with new seeds or plants - this is often the most efficient way to have better yields. Mulch is a great way to keep weeds at bay, and to keep moisture near the root zone. It can also build soils, heat the soil, or cool the soil - all depending on your goal and what the plant needs. You can mulch paths and/or growing beds. Raised beds that are constructed out of wood can also be mulched and the paths around the raised beds can be mulched to minimize lawn mowing if you would like. If you use materials that naturally break down such as paper, cardboard, burlap bags, straw or bark, the mulched paths can become mini compost piles. By layering in materials that block out weeds, you are creating a layer of organic matter that will decompose over the course of a year and can then be shovelled onto the growing beds the following spring. Some mulch materials carry weed seeds so beware. They can still be used effectively in the garden, but best as a layer that is covered up with another barrier such as cardboard or burlap. As it breaks down and heats up over time, the weed seeds lose their viability and will not be a problem the following year. Plastic mulches heat the soil and are great for the heat-loving, fruiting crops. Harvest and post-harvest handling are other factors that affect the yield in your garden. Being able to plan or predict when you harvest a crop depends on your knowing the life cycle or days to maturity of that crop. It is entirely possible, to plan a garden harvest around certain dates or to plan for having no harvest during vacation times. An abundant harvest is one that happens when you want it. An unwanted harvest is a hassle - you have to get your neighbors to help, or find volunteers for a school garden, etc. Sometimes that works, but it is possible to minimize unwanted work, and under-appreciated produce by timing the plantings and knowing how much to plant of each crop. There are many charts on the internet that can help you gauge the garden harvest and how much to plant of each crop and when. Johnny’s Selected Seeds has some wonderful on-line tools, as does our own Red Wagon Plants website. Post-harvest handling includes everything from time of day you harvest, how you pack it into your basket or boxes, and how you store it. Morning is generally the best time to harvest since the field heat has not had too much time to affect the leafy green plants. Fruiting plants can be harvest later in the day. Again, this is a place where you can make a choice by harvesting the right plant at the right time of day. If you only have a few minutes to harvest in the morning, do the leafy greens. The fruiting plants can usually wait until later in the day or even a couple of days. Once a plant is cut or picked, it is best to wash it and refrigerate it right away. Again, this is related to an abundant harvest because anything that improves quality reduces waste. Lettuce that is wilted and dirty in the bottom of the fridge drawer is just not as appealing as lettuce that is crisp, clean and ready to eat. A small garden is not a productive garden if what you harvest ends up under-utilized. A good trick is to harvest the lettuce, and when you get in the house, soak it in a basin or large bowl of cold water right away. This takes out the field heat, the leaves absorb some water making them more crisp, and the dirt drops down to the bottom. Lift the leaves out, re-soak once or twice depending on the amount of dirt, and then spin the leaves in a lettuce spinner or by layering between some clean towels. Lettuce treated this way is sure to get eaten, promise! Plants like broccoli, beans, and tomatoes produce more the more they are harvested. Broccoli will generally make one big head, and then produce what is called side shoots all summer long. These shoots are the perfect size for cooking or eating raw and the more you remember to cut them, the more the plant will produce. Often a broccoli plant that goes into the garden in late April will continue to produce side shoots into mid-December - talk about a high yield! Most fruiting plants (tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers and eggplant) will also produce more the more they are picked. These do not need immediate refrigeration, and tomatoes and basil should never go in the fridge. A basket full of cukes and zukes can stay on the counter until a time later in the day when you have had a chance to make room in the fridge or have time to make pickles,etc. Again, a high yield can be a burden or a blessing, depending on how it fits into your life. With a little planning, a very small garden such as a 4’ x 8’ raised bed can include 2 tomato plants, a cucumber plant and a season’s worth of greens. This is often plenty for a single person or a couple. Abundant harvesting is about making choices that lead to efficiency and no waste., beauty and no guilt.  If you use your minimal space for vegetables that you will not use, then the space is wasted, if instead that small space is regularly turned over with fresh plants, and old plants are removed, then you will have a high yield of well loved produce. It is always a better choice to remove the garden debris (think bolted lettuce, cabbage stumps, woody radishes) than to let it limp along, tempting disease and pests.

Some good sources of information

• Our website has an extensive list of resources in the “Garden Journal”
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds, High Mowing Seeds, Territorial Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange and Botanical Interests are all reputable seed companies with lots of educational materials on their websites and in their catalogs. These are great sources of free information.
• Cornell Extension has a website for home gardeners that is very helpful
• Elliot Coleman’s books are geared towards vegetable farmers but have very clear explanations of succession planting, timing and spacing
• Barbara Damrosch, The Garden Primer is my favorite all around basic gardening book
• UVM Extension offers soil tests, a plant pathology lab, and a pest identification lab
• Burlington Permaculture
• Charlie Nardozzi offers a garden coaching program and gives weekly talks on VPR about gardening.
• Friends of Burlington Gardens offers support to school gardens, community gardeners, and anyone interested in learning how to grow food. They offer a season long course at Ethan Allen Homestead that provides brand new gardeners all the support necessary to achieve success in their first year.

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Job Openings At Red Wagon Plants

 

Staff Openings at Red Wagon Plants

2012 Growing Season

1 Full-Time Seasonal Production Person.

This person will start in March (part-time initially) and will continue into mid-June. Must be willing to work long hours, standing, lifting 50 pounds repeatedly throughout the day. This is a fast-paced, fun work setting and perfect for someone who loves plants, and loves the satisfaction that comes from a long day of potting up little plants into their pots and packs. Being comfortable with an iPad, and having experience managing work-flow is key. Starting pay is a function of experience.

1 Part-Time Seasonal Delivery Person

This person will start in mid-April and work through mid-June. This is for someone with a clean driving record, able to drive a 16’ box truck in all kinds of situations and have some experience with merchandising. Part of this job involves creating plant displays, organizing signs, and answering customer questions. Must have gardening experience, customer service skills and be very organized.

1 Part-time Seasonal Retail Person.

This position will be seasonal, from April 20th to July 20th. Some retail experience and considerable gardening experience required. Excellent customer service skills (our style is welcoming, warm, kind, informative)  and  stamina are required. Additionally, candidate must be able to move trays of plants and heavy potted nursery stock. Weekend shift is required, and position involves about 20 to 32 hours depending on the week.

If you are interested in applying, please contact julieATredwagonplantsDOTcom with resume and references.

No phone calls please.

FAQ #1 - Late Blight on Tomatoes and Potatoes

1. Can I do something to avoid the tomato blight (early and/or late season) and what should I do if my tomatoes (or potatoes) are infected?

For tomatoes, try growing blight resistant varieties and space plants 30" to 36" apart for good air circulation. Destroy infected plants ASAP to limit spread of the disease which needs living tissue to survive - plants should go into trash bags and taken to a land fill - not the compost pile. Organic treatment requires that a copper fungicide be applied before the disease appears and every 5-7 days in persistent wet weather.

Each year, plant breeders come out with varieties that are more resilient to blight. Of the varieties we grow, we recommend Juliet and San Marzano Gigante III. They both seem to have naturally occuring resistance to the disease.

For potatoes,  try planting potatoes in hills, rather than trenches for better air flow around foliage, and cut off infected leaves on a hot, dry day before the blight moves to the stem. Wait 2 or 3 weeks to dig tubers to reduce the chance for spores in the soil from infected foliage and in potentially nicked tubers. Also, make sure that you are buying potato seed that is certified disease free and comes from a reputable source.

Thanks to Ann Hazelrigg, Plant Pathologist, UVM Extension,  above adapted from "2011- Late Blight Reappears in Vermont".

Websites:  www.hort.cornell.edu/lateblight for disease ID and webinar. www.uvm.edu/mastergardener to submit samples for LB confirmation www.nevegetabl.org for info on fungicides labeled for late blight control

New Plants for the 2012 Line Up

We have been busy at work with ordering seeds, deciding on what plants to grow for the coming year, and which ones to discontinue. We usually add about 10% new varieties each year - enough to keep it interesting, but not so much that we risk having bad inventory or unwanted expenses for a plant no one loves. This is really, really hard since the seed catalogs and plug listings each year show more and more varieties that look tempting. Not to mention the world of heirloom seeds which is so vast and so alluringly historic and charming. If the pressures of pleasing customers and breaking even were eliminated, I would probably have the type of nursery where every plant has a sign that is 12" x 12" with lots of text describing some arcane knowledge about how the variety was bred or discovered, how it was cooked in 15th century Sicily and  how it came to be a Red Wagon variety. My winter job at Red Wagon is part business manager, part HR department, and part curator. Guess which is my favorite. Take a look at the list of new plants and give us some feedback. Our favorite new variety is the kind that comes by way of a customer recommendation, so you get a vote in this process.

Happy garden planning, and check out the rest of the website for the complete plant list, we are updating it this week,

Julie

Plant Category	Genus	Variety or Cultivar
Annuals	African Foxglove	Ceratotheca triloba
Annuals	Amaranth	Oeschberg
Annuals	Angelonia	Adessa White
Annuals	Balsam	Impatiens Balsamina
Annuals	Begonia, Tuberous	Illumination Peaches and Cream
Annuals	Begonia, Tuberous	Non-Stop, Bright Rose
Annuals	Begonia, Tuberous	Pin Up Flame
Annuals	Browalia	Endless Flirtation
Annuals	Browalia	Endless Illumination
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Saffron
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Superbells Dreamsicle
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Superbells Peach
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Superbells Trailing White
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Tequilla Sunrise Improved
Annuals	Calibrachoa	Yellow
Annuals	California Poppy	Milkmaid
Annuals	Celosia	Chief Mixed Cockscomb
Annuals	Celosia	Cramers’ Amazon
Annuals	Coleus	Amora
Annuals	Coleus	Big Red Judy
Annuals	Coleus	Fishnet Stockings
Annuals	coleus	Glennis
Annuals	Coleus	Sedona
Annuals	coleus	Wedding Train
Annuals	Cosmos	Cosmic  Orange
Annuals	Cosmos	Cosmic Mix
Annuals	Cosmos	Cosmic Red
Annuals	Cosmos	New Choco
Annuals	Cosmos	Sonata Dwarf Mix
Annuals	Cosmos	Sonata White
Annuals	Dahlia	Happy Days Cream
Annuals	Dahlia	Happy Days Pink
Annuals	Dahlia	Happy Days Purple
Annuals	Dahlia	Happy Mystic enchantment
Annuals	Dahlia	Mystic Haze
Annuals	Dahlia	Mystic Wonder
Annuals	Dahlia	Salvador
Annuals	Dusty Miller	Silver Lace
Annuals	Euphorbia	Mountain Snow
Annuals	Exclusively  Echeveriaa Collection
Annuals	Fern	Montana
Annuals	Fern Collection
Annuals	Floering Cabbage	Osaka Mix
Annuals	Four Oclock	Marvel of Peru
Annuals	Gaura lindiheimeri	Whirling Butterflies
Annuals	Gazania	New Day Mix
Annuals	Geranium	Firestar Purple
Annuals	Geranium	Firestar Salmon
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Mini Cascade Red
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Sunflair Fireball
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Sunflair Neon Pink
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Sybil Holmes
Annuals	Geranium, Ivy	Vancouver Centennial
Annuals	Geranium, Scented	Lemon Fizz
Annuals	Geranium, Scented	P. querquifolia
Annuals	Geranium, Scented	Sweet Mimosa
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Brocade Happy Thoughts Red
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Brocade, Mrs Pollock
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Candy Fantasy Kiss
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Madame Salleron
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Patriot Cherry Rose
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Patriot Lavender Blue
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Patriot Salmon Chic
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Pillar Purple
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Rocky Mountain Lavender
Annuals	Geranium, Zonal	Rocky Mountain Magenta
Annuals	Gomphrena	QIS Formula Mix
Annuals	Hedera	Golden Child
Annuals	Hedera	White Mein Hertz
Annuals	Hypoestes	Splash Rose Select
Annuals	Impatiens	Super Elfin Salmon Splash
Annuals	Impatiens	Super Elfin XP pink
Annuals	Ipomoea	Desana Bronze
Annuals	Juncus	Blue Arrows
Annuals	Juncus spiralis	Unicorn
Annuals	Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate
Annuals	Lantana	Evita Rose
Annuals	Lantana	Bandana Cherry Sunrise
Annuals	Lantana	Bandana Rose Improved
Annuals	Lantana - bandana	Peach
Annuals	Larkspur	Sublime Formula Mix
Annuals	Leycesteria	Jealousy
Annuals	Licorice	Lemon
Annuals	Lisianthus	Echo Lavender
Annuals	Lisianthus	Echo Pink
Annuals	Lobularia	Silver Stream
Annuals	Marigold	Antigua Orange
Annuals	Marigold	Antigua Yellow
Annuals	Marigold	French Janie Primrose Yellow
Annuals	Marigold	French Single Marietta
Annuals	Marigold, French	Durango Tangerine
Annuals	Melampodium	Derby
Annuals	Morning Glory	Grandpa Ott’s
Annuals	Morning Glory	Moonflower
Annuals	Nasturtium	Trailing
Annuals	Nemesia	Angelart Almond
Annuals	Nemesia	Angelart Pineapple
Annuals	Ornamental Corn	Field of Dreams
Annuals	Ornamental Millet	Purple Majesty
Annuals	Osteospermum	3-D Silver
Annuals	Osteospermum	Astra Orange Sunrise
Annuals	Osteospermum	Cape Daisy Fireburst
Annuals	Osteospermum	Cape Daisy Purple
Annuals	Osteospermum	Sunset Orange
Annuals	Osteospermum	Zion Copper Amethyst
Annuals	Oxalis	Allure Burgundy
Annuals	oxalis triangularis	Charmed Velvet
Annuals	oxalis triangularis	Charmed WIne
Annuals	Pansy	Delta Mix Buttered Popcorn
Annuals	Pansy	Delta Premium True Blue
Annuals	Pansy	Freefall Golden Yellow
Annuals	Pansy	Matrix Sangria
Annuals	Pansy	Panola XP Mix baby Boy
Annuals	Pansy	Panola XP Mix Blackberry Sundae
Annuals	Pansy	Panola XP Mix Citrus
Annuals	Pansy	Ultima Blue Chill
Annuals	Pansy	Ultima Morpho
Annuals	Petunia	Bouquet Salmon
Annuals	Petunia	Littletunia Sweet Sherbert
Annuals	Petunia	Mini Strawberry pink veined
Annuals	Petunia	Whispers Star Rose
Annuals	Petunia Cascadias	Cherry Spark
Annuals	Petunia Littletunia	Sweet Dark Pink
Annuals	petunia multiflora prostrate	Easy Wave Plum Vein
Annuals	Petunia multiflora prostrate	Easy Wave White
Annuals	Poppy	White Linen
Annuals	Portulaca	Happy Hour Mix
Annuals	Portulaca	Sundial Chiffon
Annuals	Portulaca	Sundial Mix
Annuals	Portulaca	Sundial Pink
Annuals	Rudbeckia	Autumn Colors
Annuals	Rudbeckia	Cherokee Sunset
Annuals	Rudbeckia	Prairie Sun
Annuals	Rudbeckia	Denver Daisy
Annuals	Salvia farinacea	Victoria Blue
Annuals	Sanvitalia	Cuzco Yellow
Annuals	Scabiosa	Black Knight
Annuals	Snapdragon	Montego Mix Sangria
Annuals	Snapdragon	Rocket Mix
Annuals	Snapdragon	Rocket White
Annuals	Spectacular Succulent Collection
Annuals	Sunflower	Sunny Smile
Annuals	Sweet Potato Vine	Bright Ideas Rusty Red
Annuals	Thunbergia	Arizona Dark Red
Annuals	Thunbergia	Lemon
Annuals	Thunbergia	Orange
Annuals	Thunbergia	Sunny Suzie Yellow Dark Eye
Annuals	Thunbergia	Sunny Suzy Red Orange
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Ayers Rock
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Caribean Cocktail
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Gold and Bold
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Lemon Sorbet
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Lollipop
Annuals	TRIXI COMBO	Sunrise
Annuals	Verbena	Chambray Royal superbena
Annuals	Verbena	Estrella Salmon Star
Annuals	Verbena	Lanai Twister pink
Annuals	Verbena	Royal Peachy Keen
Annuals	Verbena	Tukana Scarlet star
Annuals	Viola	Penny Orchid Frost
Annuals	Zinnia	Dreamland Mix
Annuals	Zinnia	Dreamland Red
Annuals	Zinnia	Sunbow Mix
Annuals	Zinnia	White
Eggplants	Globe	Rosa Bianca
Ferns	Matteuccia struthiopteris	Ostrich Fern
Foliage	Alternanthera	Brazilian Red Hot
Foliage	Alternanthera	Red Thread
Foliage	German Ivy	Green
Foliage	Muehlenbeckia	Wire Vine
Foliage	Setcreasea	Purple Queen
Herbs	Basil	Amethyst Improved
Herbs	Basil	Sacred, Tulsi
Herbs	Basil	Sweet Genovese, Aroma II
Herbs	Basil	Sweet Genovese, Aton
Herbs	Bee Balm	Wild Bergamot
Herbs	Epazote
Herbs	Feverfew
Herbs	Flax
Herbs	French Sorrel
Herbs	Lavender	Fern Leaf
Herbs	Lemongrass	West Indian
Herbs	Mint	Emerald and Gold
Herbs	Oregano	Mexican Lippia
Herbs	Papalo
Herbs	Red Shiso	Britton
Herbs	Red Shiso
Herbs	Rosemary	Prostrate
Herbs	Sage	White
Herbs	Thyme	Lime Golden
Herbs	Thyme	Orange
Herbs	Thyme	Wooly
Herbs	Zaatar	Marjoram
Peppers	Hot	Fish
Peppers	Ornamental Hot Pepper	Chilly Chilly
Peppers	Sweet	Pepperoncino
Peppers	Sweet	Round of Hungary
Peppers	Sweet	Sweet Banana Pepper
Perennial	Adenophora	Amethyst
Perennial	Alchemilla	Lady’s Mantle
Perennial	Sedum	Blue Spruce
Perennial	Sedum	Floriferum
Perennial	Sedum	Oracle
Perennial	Sedum	Picolette
Perennial	Sedum	Voodoo
Perennial	Thyme	Wooly
Perennials	Achillea	Pretty Belinda
Perennials	Achillea	Saucy Seduction
Perennials	Achillea	Strawberry Seduction
Perennials	Achillea	Sunny Seduction
Perennials	Achillea millefolium	Colorado
Perennials	Acorus	‘Ogon’
Perennials	ajuga	Dixie Chip
Perennials	Alcea rosea	Chaters Double Purple
Perennials	Alchemilla Molis	Lady’s Mantle
Perennials	Anemone	sylvestris
Perennials	Aquigelia	Cameo Rose and White
Perennials	Aquigelia	Origami Mix
Perennials	Artemesia	Silver Brocade
Perennials	Astilbe	Delft Lace
Perennials	Astilbe	Deutschland
Perennials	Astilbe	Fanal
Perennials	Baptisia Solar Flare	Prairie Blues
Perennials	Bellis Daisy	Bellissima Rose
Perennials	Bergenia cordifolia	‘Winter Glow’
Perennials	Campanula glomerata	‘Freya’
Perennials	Centranthus	Cocineus
Perennials	Chrysanthemum	Samba
Perennials	Coreopsis verticullata	Early Sunrise
Perennials	corydalis sempervirens
Perennials	Delphinium	Magic Fountains Dark Blue w Dark Bee
Perennials	Delphinium	Magic Fountains Sky Blue w White Base
Perennials	dianthus	Pomegranate Kiss
Perennials	dianthus	Zing Rose
Perennials	Dicentra	Gold Heart
Perennials	Echinacea	Harvest Moon
Perennials	Echinacea	PowWow Wild Berry
Perennials	Echinacea	Sundown
Perennials	Eupatorium dubium	‘little joe’
Perennials	Fern	Barne’s Male
Perennials	Gaillardia aristata	Arizona Sun
Perennials	geranium	Rozanne
Perennials	Geranium cantabrigiense	‘Bergarten’
Perennials	Geranium macrorrhizum	‘Album’
Perennials	Geranium maculatum	‘Espresso’
Perennials	Guara	Pink Fountain
Perennials	Helleborus	Pink Parachutes
Perennials	Hemerocallis	Alabama Jubilee daylily
Perennials	Hemerocallis	Always Afternoon
Perennials	Heuchera	‘Snow Angel’
Perennials	Heuchera	Obsidian
Perennials	Heuchera	Plum Pudding
Perennials	Heuchera	Raspberry Regal
Perennials	Heuchera	Silver Scrolls
Perennials	Hibiscus	Luna Red
Perennials	Iberis sempervivens	Snowflake
Perennials	Iris	‘Before the Storm’
Perennials	Iris pallida	‘Argentea Variegata’
Perennials	Iris sibirica	Pink Haze
Perennials	Joe Pye Weed
Perennials	Juncus effusus ssp.	Twister
Perennials	laminum	Beacon Silver
Perennials	Lamium	Orchid Frost
Perennials	Lamium maculatum	Beacon Silver
perennials	Lathyrus latifolia	Perennial sweet pea
Perennials	Liatris	Floristan White
Perennials	Ligularia dentata	Britt-Marie Crawford
Perennials	Ligularia dentata	Little Rocket
Perennials	Lychnis arkwrightii	Orange Gnome
Perennials	Lysimachia punctata	‘Alexander’
Perennials	monarda	Petite Delight
Perennials	monarda	Purple Rooster
Perennials	monarda	Raspberry Wine
Perennials	monarda didyma	Jacob Cline
Perennials	myosotis sylvatica	Royal Blue Carpet
Perennials	paeonia	Duchess de Nemours
Perennials	paeonia	Felix Crousse
Perennials	Papaver	Flamenco Dancer
Perennials	Penstemon digitalis	Dark Towers
Perennials	Perovskia	Longin
Perennials	Persicaria	Darjeeling Red
Perennials	Phlox glabberima	‘Morris Red’
Perennials	Phlox paniculata	David
Perennials	Phlox paniculata	David’s Lavender
Perennials	Phlox paniculata	Flame series purple ‘Barfourteen’
Perennials	Physostegia	Pink Manners
perennials	Physostegia virginiana	Alba
Perennials	Phystostegia	Crown of Snow
Perennials	Primula	Ronsdorf Strain
Perennials	Salvia	Caradonna
Perennials	Salvia	Sweet 16
Perennials	Scabiosa	Beaujolais Bonnets
Perennials	Scabiosa	Vivid Violet
Perennials	Sedum	Autumn FIre
Perennials	Sedum	Matrona
Perennials	Sedum	Neon
Perennials	sedum	kamtschaticum
Perennials	sedum	sieboldii
Perennials	Sedum spurium	Summer Glory
Perennials	Tanacetum	Robinsons Red
Perennials	Tiarella	‘Delaware’
Perennials	Tiarella	‘Lace Carpet’
Perennials	Tiarella	‘Susquehanna’
Perennials	Trollius chinensis	Golden Queen
Perennials	Veronica	Giles van Hees
Perennials	Viola	Labradorica
Perennials	Viola	Striata
Perennials	Salvia aregentea	Artemis
Shrub	Hydrangea macrophylla	Endless Summer
Shrub	Hydrangea paniculata	Limelight
Shrub	Amelanchier Autumn Brilliance	Service Berry
Shrub	Ilex verticulata	Southern Gentleman
Shrub	Ilex verticulata	Winter Red
Shrub	Viburnum Trilobum	Alfredo
Small Fruit	Blackberry	Black Satin
Small Fruit	Gooseberry	Titan
Small Fruit	Strawberry	Jewel
Small Fruit	Strawberry	Sparkle
Tomatoes	Cherry	Gold Nugget
Tomatoes	Cherry	Green Envy
Tomatoes	Cherry	Isis Candy
Tomatoes	Cherry	Lizzano
Tomatoes	Cherry	Sweet Treats
Tomatoes	Cherry	Terenzo
Tomatoes	Cherry	Sweet Black Cherry
Tomatoes	Container	Red Husky (Patio)
Tomatoes	Determinate	Orange Blossom
Tomatoes	Determinate	Oregon Spring
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Black Prince
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Cosmonaut Volkov
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Costoluto Genovese
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Dona
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Earl of Edgecombe
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Paul Robeson
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Pineapple
Tomatoes	Heirloom	Wapsipinicon Peach
Tomatoes	Hybrid	Brandymaster Yellow
Tomatoes	Hybrid	Park’s Whopper
Tomatoes	Paste	Amish Gold
Tomatoes	Plum	San Marzano gigante III
Vegetables	cantaloupe	Sarah’s Choice
Vegetables	Cantaloupe, French Charentais	Savor
Vegetables	Italian Dandelion	Clio Chicory
Vegetables	Lettuce	Mottistone
Vegetables	Lettuce	Nevada Summer Crisp
Vegetables	Lettuce	Red Batavian Cherokee
Vegetables	Lettuce	Red Cross - Red Butterhead
Vegetables	Lettuce	Red Oak Paradai
Vegetables	Mei Qing Choi (Baby Boc Choi)	Boc Choi
Vegetables	Mustard Greens	Ruby Streaks
Vegetables	Okra	Millionaire
Vegetables	Onion	Mini Purplette
Vegetables	Onion	Redwing
Vegetables	Radicchio	Virtus
Vegetables	Summer Squash	Magda
Vegetables	Vertus	Radicchio
Vegetables	watermelon	Sunshine

Garden Gift Ideas and a Few Other Things

Here are some last minute ideas for the gardener on your list.  And by the way, you can also always offer them a gift certificate to our greenhouses; nothing says "optimism" like a gift they can't use until the days are long and the soil is warm!

• I learned about this crafty gift tag site here. It's not too late to add some easy, homemade (ie extra credit) to your gift giving.
• And who wouldn't like an interesting houseplant hanging out in here?
• Or how about this fun little project for the front door?
• This is our favorite gardening glove.
• You could purchase a nice weekly calendar for the gardener in your life and write down all of these monthly tips on the appropriate pages. You could even go to our blog post on succession planting and help make them a garden plan with all the reminders they need to plant their favorite crops on the correct dates.
• Our friends at Square Deal Farm do a great job with maple syrup and pancake mix. And they will ship just about anywhere.
• One of the stores to whom we sell our plants, Woodstock Farmers Market, suffered some huge setbacks during the Hurricane Irene floods in late August. They are back up and running after a heroic effort to get the store back in shape, and they have an incredible selection of  items that they can ship anywhere.
• Healthy Living, another one of our cherished wholesale accounts, is offering discounts on gift cards between now and Dec. 20th.
• A do-it-yourself garden bench is a sweet and lovely project to work on all winter if you have a nice work space in the basement.
• If you have some fruits in the freezer from the garden or a local farm, you might want to consider making a chutney to preserve in nice, decorative jars.
• A nice basket of  squashes, garlic, onions, potatoes from the garden is thoughtful and practical. You can also make onion or garlic breads, wreaths of dried chilies, or herb swags. If not this year, it is something to keep in mind for next year.

2012 Stone Wall Workshops

Charley MacMartin, owner of Queen City Soil and Stone, and all around great guy will be continuing his popular winter workshop series in our shared greenhouse starting in January. Please read Charley's message below for more information.

Stone wall workshops. Our introductory stone wall building workshops for homeowners and tradespeople promote the beauty and integrity of stone. The one-day, hands-on workshop focuses on the basic techniques for creating dry-laid walls with a special emphasis on stone native to Vermont. Workshops are held inside warm greenhouses in Hinesburg. The first workshop date is Saturday, January 14, 2012, and workshops continue through March 2012. The one-day workshop is $100. Space is limited. For complete schedule and registration information, go to the link www.queencitysoilandstone.com/workshops.html or contact Charley MacMartin, 802-318-2411.

Herb Spiral Workshop

Our retail greenhouse is co-owned with a wonderful business also located at the same site. It is Queen City Soil and Stone, owned by Charley Macmartin of Burlington. Not only is Charley one of the nicest people you could ever meet, he is also the talent behind all of the stone work you see in our parking area and our lovely display garden. Charley uses the retail greenhouse as the home of his winter workshop series for homeowners and landscape professionals who want to learn or perfect dry wall masonry. The first workshop in this series is a perfect one for the Red Wagon Plants community since it is focusing on herb spirals. These simple and elegant structures are a great way to plant lots of herbs close to your kitchen door and in such a way that you give each herb the type of micro-climate it craves. Herb spirals provide various conditions in one small space - dry and sunny, shady and moist and everything in between.

Here is Charley's description of the upcoming workshop :

Queen City Soil & Stone’s series on garden stone features continues in November with a workshop on herb spirals. An herb spiral is a stone wall twisted in on itself creating a garden bed of varying soil depth and planting possibilities from kitchen herbs to strawberries to cut flowers. The workshop will be held at Red Wagon plants in a heated greenhouse on Saturday, November 12, from 9am to 2pm.

The cost of the workshop is $50 and space is limited. To sign up, call Charley MacMartin at (802) 318-2411.

The workshop will be hands-on:  building an herb spiral, discussing herb spiral design and learning about the plantings that a spiraling garden bed allows.

Apple Pie Beats Chores

When today rolled around, I had lots of good intentions to do a bunch of garden chores, exercise, get some office work out of the way, and lots of other tasks that good intentions depend upon. But instead, the chores, tasks and lists took a back seat to making an apple pie with my daughter.

She made her first crust, which I learned from my father, which he learned from Molly Stevens, and you can learn how to make it by reading this. Yes, that is right, 3 sticks of butter for a double crust pie. Gulp. Hope to get in that exercise.

The apples came from Boyers' Orchard in Monkton, and they were just tossed with a little lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon. Nothing fancy. The beauty of apple pie lies in simplicity. Getting me to agree to cinnamon and a double crust is about as wild as I will go - I would rather have an apple tart, single crust, with unadorned thinly sliced apples arranged in a pretty pattern. But I suppose that is the French in me.

A little egg wash goes on the crust, and vent holes are made to let out the steam so the crust does not turn to a watery mess. The beautiful creation goes into a 475F oven for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 425F. Check on it after 20 minutes or so, but it usually takes an additional 40 minutes or so to cook.  I often turn the heat down one more time for the last 20 minutes.

Garden Chores this Weekend

The time to get things done in the garden is shrinking. My good intentions are to get lots done this weekend. Here is what I have lined up for this weekend in the garden: Fill the new raised beds that I just put in the back yard.

Get soil ready for garlic planting.

Finish planting shrubs along the fence line between our yard and our neighbors' new barn. I am planting Ilex verticulata, or winterberry. The bright red berries are a nice contrast against the wooden building and will bring lots of birds to the yard.

Add compost to some new flower beds for next year.

Turn the compost pile.

What do you have planned?

Garden Breakfast for a Cold and Rainy Day

The weather's turning and so is my attitude towards the kitchen. In summer, I would rather be outside, just like you, and it can be hard to make time for all that garden produce to make it into anything but some quick salads and grilled dishes (at the beach, no less).  Here is a great dish that works for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and pretty much anything in between. I made a big batch last Sunday and it kept us happy pretty much all day.

A green bean and ham hash - take some of those older green beans from the garden (the ones that did not get killed by the frost because they were hiding under the cover of leaves) and chop them up into 1/3 inch pieces. I like Romano beans for this, the wide and flat kind that is loaded with extra flavor and can be cooked a long time if you like a slowly simmered green bean, which I do, in case you are asking.  Chop up an onion, some garlic, and a potato. Chop everything pretty small, this is hash, not stir-fry. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil, add the onion, garlic and potato and cook until starting to soften, about 8 minutes over medium heat to high heat. I also added pimenton, a smoked paprika, at this point. If you don't have any, a little sweet paprika and cumin might be nice. Keep stirring the onions, garlic and potatoes every minute or so, but letting it all stick a little and brown is okay - that is how you build flavor. Once the potato is softened somewhat, add the chopped or sliced green beans, some chopped ham (I bought an incredible petite ham from Bread and Butter Farm last week) and a good splash of cooking sherry, white wine, broth or water (my order of preference for the liquid). Scrape the pan so the browned bits get incorporated into the liquid, lower the heat, and put a lid on the pan. At this point, the vegetables are both sauteeing and steaming. Wait about 10 minutes hear, stirring once or so and adding another splash of liquid if it is getting very dry. Add salt and pepper to taste, after 10 minutes, and a splash of cream, half and half, or milk - the dairy helps bind all the flavors and keeps the vegetables from getting dry.  Stir and sautee another 5 mintues or so, adding another splash of dairy as needed, and that is it.  This is great served with an egg on top, over easy or over hard, or scrambled on the side. But really, it is great on its own with nothing else and will keep you going for the whole day. So you can go out and pick apples, take a hike, put the garden to bed, and all the other stuff that still keeps you outside a little longer. Winter is not here yet!

High Priority - Roasted Ratatouille for the Freezer

I have to admit that I don't love frozen vegetables for the most part. So if you have a favorite way to freeze a vegetable from your garden, please share it with me. Here is one I like and eat willingly out of the freezer come the dark days of winter. I want to share this simple thing with you in hopes you might have a similar beloved thing to pass on to me. For some reason, this year has not been a year when I put up a lot of food for winter. A few jars of tomatoes and this amazing thing I will now show you are the only things I have done. No beans, no salsa, no jams, no chutneys. Well there is still time, so maybe I will play catch up and do a plum chutney with the amazing plums passed on to us by our friend, Yvan.

This recipe starts in the spring. I basically plan part of my garden just so I can have all the right veggies to make this. You need

• onions

• garlic

• peppers

• eggplant

• tomatoes

• zucchini or summer squash

The garlic gets planted the previous fall, the onions go in in late April, and everything else goes in June 1. I like to freeze about 10 to 20 quart bags of this ratatouille, so I usually plant about 6 pepper plants (3 Ace and 3 Italia) ,  6 San Marzano tomatoes, 6 eggplants (usually a combination of Listada di Gandia, Orient Express, and Hansel), and 1 zucchini plant ( I do two plantings, one June 1 and one July 1 that way the plants are always healthy). Most households do not need more than 1 zucchini plant. Really.

Harvest all the veggies, wash them well. And start chopping. This year, I was a bit lazy and bought a few disposable pans to do the roasting. It made for easy clean up, but the veggies did not caramelize as much as they would have on metal or pyrex. Lesson learned.

So basically you just chop up all the vegetables into 1" chunks or so. The proportions are different every year, but it is usually about 1 part onions, 1 part peppers, 3 parts eggplant, 2 parts tomatoes, and 2 parts zucchini. I chop everything separately and then add it to the pans. I then drizzle olive oil over every thing. Add lots of salt, good sea salt is best, and then handfuls of chopped herbs to each pan. I like a blend of thyme, oregano, and rosemary. But other combinations work well.

Preheat the oven to 375F and slide in the pans. Turn and toss every 20 minutes, until everything is cooked and starting to caramelize. The overall cooking time really depends on the amount you are doing, the type of pan you are using, the thickness of the vegetable layer in each pan, etc. Basically, cook it until the whole house smells really good and the veggies are very soft and starting to brown. If I were making this for a meal to be eaten that night, I would do a single layer, in pyrex, and let it get golden brown. This is much harder to do in big batches in a home oven, and since freezing compromises texture and flavor anyhow, I think of these roasted veggies as additions to other recipes all winter long, not the main showcase in a meal.

Once everything is cooked, let it cool down completely, and then carefully scoop it into plastic quart-sized freezer bags. I usually use a measuring cup and one of those funnels for jars, since it makes life a little easier. Once frozen, the veggies can be used in pasta sauces, on pizza, in lasagnas, in soups and stews, as fillings in calzones, or as a topping for polenta, etc. You get the picture. It's such a nice way to have a little taste of summer in the winter and uses up so much of that amazing garden produce. Even in a summer like this one, when I have had to take some time away from gardening and preserving, I made sure to do some of these roasted veggies for the freezer.

This blog post was written by Julie Rubaud.

Best-dressed pasta goes for the layers

Turn on the oven - 400F. Go to the garden and look for cherry tomatoes.

Take lots of said cherry tomatoes and cut them in half and dump them into a glass or pyrex baking dish, a big one, so that they are in a single layer.

Add some finely chopped cipollini onion. Or red onion, or sweet onion, or any kind of onion really.

Add a few or more tablespoons of olive oil. A good one. Don't skimp here, you want everything well coated, slippy-slide like.

Grab some herbs like savory, rosemary, oregano, sage, (and/or) thyme and chop them up finely or coarsely, depending on the look you want and your tolerance for stems in food.

Add plenty of good sea salt.

Toss together and slide pan into a pre-heated 400F oven. Forget about it for a good 45 minutes. Check and stir / flip once, about half way through. It will start to get caramelized and yummy. You can do this ahead of time and just let it sit in the turned-off oven for a while. Gets better with time, promise.

Meanwhile, do the second flavor layer......

Heat up a generous amount of olive oil in a heavy saute pan (1/2 cup or so).  I used cast iron and it was lovely.

Chop up some sweet onion, red pepper, hot pepper.  (If you need quantities, try 1 medium onion, 1 large red pepper or 2 small, 1 jalapeno or cherry bomb or 2 thai hot peppers, or more to taste. No rules here.)

Add onion and peppers to hot olive oil, and let it fry for a while. Stir every now and then. These will sizzle gently for about 10  minutes. They will soften, get fragrant, etc.

Chop up about 6 cloves of garlic.

Chop up about 4 tablespoons of herbs - a combo of oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme is nice. But really, any woody, fragrant herb will do here.

Find some paprika. My favorite is Pimenton (the smokey kind) but if you don't have that, you can use sweet or hot (if you can take the heat.) If you don't have any paprika at all, just skip it; the dish will be good without it.

Add garlic, paprika, herbs, and about 1/2 tsp salt to olive oil and peppers in the pan.  Stir, and turn down the heat. This will simmer together another five minutes or so over low heat. More time is fine. But 5 minutes is the minimum. Again, expect fragrance here.

You can get the pasta water going at this point.  You know...big pot, lots of water, salt.

Once pasta water is boiling, add the pasta. However much you need and while it cooks finish off the sauce.

Here is how:

Squeeze a lemon. Turn sauce # 2 off ( the one on the stove, not the one in the oven) and take it away from the heat. Add the lemon juice. It may sizzle a bit, so stand back. Stir together. Add some chopped parsley or basil (one or the other, not both, please).

Take roasted cherry tomatoes out of oven. Add the sauteed peppers and herbs to the tomatoes, scraping up every savory bit. gently and lovingly merge the two sauces. Serve in a bowl with a nice small ladle.

This is a rich, olive oil intense sauce. Use sparingly over the pasta with lots of freshly ground black pepper. The flavors add up to more than the sum of the parts. Really.

Some possible additions, if you must:

• anchovies ( with the peppers and onions on the stove)
• olives (pitted and chopped, added at the end with the lemon juice)
• capers (can be added at the beginning or at the end. Gives you two different flavors either way, experiment with which you like best).
• scallions (toward the end of the cooking time in either of the two sauces)
• freshly grated parmesan (to pass around at the table)

But really, the beauty of this sauce duo is the simplicity. Don't overdo the flavors right off the bat. Try it as is. Just swoony and simple.

Frost Dates in Vermont - South Hero is the Winner!

Here is a great chart that analyses all the temperature data collected in Vermont over the years and gives us the probability of dates for first and last frosts around the state. South Hero and the lake Champlain Islands have Vermont's longest growing season (measured by number of frost-free days according to N.O.A.A).  Take a look and prepare your garden for those first frosty nights. Here is what I do at my house to prepare for those first frosts:

If it is a really early frost, (September in Hinesburg), I will harvest all the ripe fruit on the heat loving plants (squashes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc) and if the plants still look healthy and have lots of unripe fruit, I will cover the plants with row cover. You can use sheets, blankets, plastic sheeting, etc. If the frost is coming at a later point, I often won't bother with the plant protection - just harvest all the fruit (green tomatoes can ripen indoors) and call it a day!

I don't bother to protect lettuce unless the first frost is very cold and very early. Lettuce can handle a few light frosts, so it is usually not a problem early on. Later in the season, I set up some simple wire hoops and keep the lettuce under row cover for the remainder of the season. This allows fresh lettuce to be harvested for salads well into November. It is good idea to seed or plant fresh lettuce in late summer and early fall so that the protected plantings of fall are fresh and tender. It is not really worth it, from a culinary perspective, to keep old or bitter lettuce alive. Plus it won't do as well if it is past its prime and won't fend off the cold like a younger planting can.

Hardy greens like kale, mustard greens, collards, etc do not need row cover and can live, unprotected, into December. You can always put some sort of protection over them in November to increase the harvest period past December, but it can be difficult to do with the taller plants. The wind dessicates them and makes them unappealing, and without a larger structure like a cold frame or mini-greenhosue, it can be difficult to give them adequate shelter.

All these attempts at fall crop protection will leave you grateful for the sweet rewards of fresh salads, tomatoes coming out of the cellar ripened and tasty, and nutritious leafy greens sweetened by the kiss of cold.

The Overwintered Garden

“Overwintered” is a term used to describe a vegetable that is planted in the spring, summer or fall of one year in order to be eaten in the spring of the following year. This is a great way to extend the growing and eating season in our Vermont climate. Overwintered crops generally are dormant all winter long and then come back to life with the lengthening days and warming temperatures of spring.

Overwintered Spinach - Not all vegetables can survive our VT winters, but the few that can include spinach, parsnips, leeks, garlic, and parsley. Spinach for early spring eating (mid to late April) should be sown in the first two weeks of September. Once it germinates, allow it to grow without harvesting or touching it. You can eat a little if you want, but ideally you will leave as much of the plant in the ground as possible. Once very cold weather hits, in early to mid-December, you can protect the spinach under a layer of straw, or leaves, or a few layers of thick row cover (Reemay or Agribon can be found at Gardeners’ Supply Company or ordered online at Johnny’s Selected Seeds). In the early spring, as soon as the ground has thawed out, remove the layers of protection and you will see the spinach slowly coming to life, long before any other plants begin to stir. It won’t look like much at first, but will quickly grow to be the size of spinach planted during normal times. It will be extra sweet from having survived the cold and will be incredibly rewarding - a truly vibrant food. This is such a delicious treat for early spring and really worth the trouble.

Overwintered Parsnips- parsnips are a long season crop. They are best when planted in very early spring and harvest the following year. This allows them to grow to a good size and then sweeten up with the cold temperatures. Plant the strange looking seeds in shallow trenches, ¼ inch deep (that is NOT very deep!). Keep well watered and well weeded all summer long. In the fall, you can harvest a few of the larger parsnips to eat September through December, but be sure to elave a few for spring time meals. Once the ground is frozen, in later December, mulch heavily with a layer of straw. The straw moderates the soil temperatures and prevents the soil from buckling and heaving with the freeze and thaw cycles. Pull off all of the mulch as soon as the ground thaws, and then in late April and early May, you can dig up huge, sweet roots that are a lovely addition to spring time soups, roasted vegetable dishes and purees.

Leeks are another crop that is planted very early in spring - mid to late April is ideal. The small and slender plants are planted in trenches, about 6 to 8 inches apart in rows that are 12 inches apart. Keep leeks well watered and weeded. Once they are about 10” tall, you can fertilize them with a good organic fertilizer such as Pro Gro from North Country Organics or Compost Plus from Vermont Compost Company. Then hill up the plants with soil from in between the rows. A good hoe makes this job much easier. The more you hill, the larger the plants will be. This allows for more of the white, edible portion to grow. Hilling also helps to keep the moisture even, another condition which encourages bigger growth. You can hill leeks one more time before fall, in early August or so if you choose to. If you cannot eat all of your leeks in the fall, leave a few in the garden for overwintering. Mulch well with straw (about 6” in depth) and let sit in the garden all winter long. On warmer winter days, you may be able to still harvest some of the leeks if the ground has not frozen solid under the mulch. With whatever leeks are left in the ground come snow melt, pull off the mulch and wait to see what happens. Not all leeks will have successfully lived through the winer, but about 40 to 60% should if you have followed these steps. You will see some yellow and rotting foliage with fresh green growth poking through. These are the leeks that have made it through winter. Let them size up a bit before harvesting. They will come back to life and can be picked and eaten in later April or mid-May. You will have to peel back some of the outer layers, but underneath will be a luscious, silky treat. So sweet in spring, and a great addition to soups, vegetable tarts, or braised meats.

Other crops: I have had good luck with late seedings of lettuce, scallions, cilantro and dill. These all overwintered fine and were good for a few salads in very early spring before they decided to go to seed. The lettuce varieties that I have found to be most well adapted to overwintering are Merveilles des Quatres Saisons, a beautiful French heirloom variety,  and Tango, a green oakleaf. You can also plant shallots and garlic in fall for early harvests. Green garlic is an immature head of garlic that tastes milder than its full grown version.  Parsley is a biennial and will also come back to life in the spring before it goes to seed. Biennials make a flower in their second year, so this is normal plant behavior! Remember, every winter is different. This type of growing requires flexibility, observation, and a willingness to experiment. Exact planting and harvest dates are not easily determined because they are a function of weather, where you garden is sited, and micro climates. The best way to understand overwintering is to start doing it, and see what works well for you. Observe each crops natural life cycle, and learn to work with it in the context of our long and cold winters. There is no better way to say “Hello, Spring!” than by harvesting your first salads in April when green life is just beginning to stir.

Fall Planting Guide

Mid-August is rolling around, and with it comes some vegetable planting possibilities that will feed you late into autumn and early winter. This is a great time to clean out some of the garden beds that have finished producing and replant them with some fresh crops for late season harvest. Here are a few options that you might want to consider incorporating into your later summer gardening routine.

A note on flea beetles and row cover. Flea beetles are little, black and jump around on your plants while making tiny little holes. They love anything in the brassica family - cabbage,broccoli, arugual, mustards, collards, etc. Row cover is a white fabric used to keep out insects and/or to warm up the soil and air around the plants. It does not hurt to use row cover to speed things along and to keep out the flea beetles. Broccoli - seed a small amount directly into garden beds, or buy transplants up to mid-August. If you are direct seeding into a garden bed, remember to thin or prick out and replant the broccoli babies so that they have proper spacing (15” or so). Cabbage - same as broccoli. Choose shorter day varieties. Seed packets usually list the days to maturity for all crops. In early August, you can usually get away with planting a 60 day cabbage that will be ready in early October. Kale - this is a great time to put in a few more kale plants or seeds, they will size up before snow flies, and will withstand lots of wintery weather. The good thing about kale, is that once it is full grown, it will just stand around in the garden waiting to be picked. It does not get “too old” or bolt (jump into seed production mode). This makes it a great early winter crop and a joy to harvest under snow fall. Collards can be treated this way as well. Arugula - a nice addition to salads, this tender green with a mustard-like flavor is also a great survivor of cold temperatures. It can withstand many hard frosts and will continue to add a little spike to your salads well into November and December. You can put row cover on it to keep away the flea beetles and to give it a little extra protection from cold winds that can dry it out. If it starts to turn a little purple in the colder temps, don’t worry about it, it is still fine to eat. This is just a symptom of not being able to absorb phosphorous in cold conditions. Turnips - a short season salad turnip can still be sown in August. I like the Hakurei variety from Johnny’s. It is delicious raw in salads, sliced thinly or finely diced, or sauteed in a little butter with fresh herbs (winter savory makes a special appearance at my house, often in this dish in particular). People who think they hate turnips will just be shocked when they taste these buttery slices that just melt in your mouth. Spinach - in the first half of August, it is a good idea to plant a large patch of spinach. It will germinate in the cooler night time temperatures (spinach does not like to germinate in the heat) and will last a long time in the field in the cool temperatures of October and early November. Carrots - fall carrots are best seeded right around July 4th. This gives you a chance to do an early batch of carrots for late spring, early summer eating, and then a second (or third) batch for fall eating. Fall carrots are considerable sweeter than spring seeded carrots and are definitely worth the trouble. Boc Choi - this is another crop that does really well in the cooler temperatures of fall. It is not a heat lover, and therefore should only be planted in April and May and then again in mid to late August for fall harvest. This benefits from row cover if you have a lot of flea beetle pressure. There are quite a few different versions of boc choi, and if you like the crunchy texture and delicate flavor of this crucifer, then please consider trying baby boc choi, red boc choi, or full sized boc choi. While it is easier to start with plants, it is certainly possible to direct seed this crop. Beets - fall time beets are sweet, tender, and do not have that “dirt” taste of beets grown in full summer heat. Last planting date for fall beets is around August 10th. They should be direct seeded in the garden and then thinned to one plant per 2 to 3 inches. You can space the rows 10 to 12 inches apart and fit about 3 rows in an average bed with a 4 ft width. The greens are tasty too, and the little delicate plants you pull out when thinning are a great addition to sauteed greens, soups, or even salads if very young.

Cilantro and Dill - these herbs can be planted directly in the garden from seed as late as mid-August. They grow well in the cold, and actually prefer it. The cold slows them down and prevents them from going to seed. Plant a good sized patch since you can harvest the plants well into December. They can take a frost, a snow fall and still will bounce right back.

Mustard Greens - these can be planted just like arugula. See instructions above.

Radishes - are a great addition to the late season garden. They can be planted right up to early September, and will maintain a high level of quality right up until it snows.

Lettuce - you can direct seed certain varieties of lettuce for fall harvest. Some do better than others in the cold. I like to plant Merveilles des Quatres Saisons and Tango for their beauty, taste, and cold hardiness.

Parsley - this herb can take very cold temperatures, so make sure, in mid-July or so that you have a nice patch of this going into fall and later summer. If this is an herb that you use frequently, it does not hurt to plant two or three different patches over the course of later April to mid - July. It is a slow grower, so after mid-July you can only plant it from transplants, not seed.

The Fall Garden Confessional

As the owner of a greenhouse business, my gardens are completely neglected between snow melt and late July. This is a problem. Our seasons are short enough as it is, and to lop off about 4 months of key gardening time is a pity. I try to make up for it by making time for the gardens later in the summer and I spend a lot of time on prepping the garden in the fall so that spring planting activities go smoothly and quickly. Early August is a great time to plant or replant the vegetable garden. Throw in some broccoli, lettuces, cabbage, cilantro, salad turnips, radishes, spinach, and even peas. They will be so good in September and October, and you will head into fall feeling like royalty. Rather than see the garden's decline in the heat of late August, you will see a spruced up and abundant second coming. The cool night time temperatures of late Augusst and September are key to a successful fall garden. You can also use this time to fertilize the feed the garden soil (I use Compost Plus) around the annual vegetable plants. They'll reward you with glossy, dark green foliage and scrumptious meals well into late fall.

So as I sit out and look at the raised beds behind my house, I feel better. The overgrown jungle is mowed, the beds are weeded, replanted and looking beautiful. I wish I had more time in spring, but I just don't and I have come to accept it. It's okay, gardening without guilt, right?

Season Extension and Late Summer Projects in the Home Garden & Celebration with Guest Vermont Secretary of Ag Chuck Ross

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Things to Plant Now. You Will be Glad You Did.

August is rolling around, thundering ahead,  and with it comes some vegetable planting possibilities that will feed you late into autumn and early winter. This is a great time to clean out some of the garden beds that have finished producing and replant them with some fresh crops for late season harvest. Here are a few options that you might want to consider incorporating into your later summer gardening routine.

Broccoli

- seed a small amount directly into garden beds, or buy transplants up to mid-August. If you are direct seeding into a garden bed, remember to thin or prick out and replant the broccoli babies so that they have proper spacing (15” or so).

Cabbage

- same as broccoli. Choose shorter day varieties. Seed packets usually list the days to maturity for all crops. In early August, you can usually get away with planting a 60 day cabbage that will be ready in early October.

Kale -

this is a great time to put in a few more kale plants or seeds, they will size up before snow flies, and will withstand lots of wintery weather. The good thing about kale, is that once it is full grown, it will just stand around in the garden waiting to be picked. It does not get “too old” or bolt (jump into seed production mode). This makes it a great early winter crop and a joy to harvest under snow fall. Collards can be treated this way as well. A note on flea beetles: It does not hurt to use row cover to speed things along and to keep out the flea beetles. They are little biting insects that make little holes in the leaves and generally slow down a plant’s growth by stressing it a bit. All vegetables in the brassica family are susceptible to flea beetles - broccoli, kale, cabbage, mustards, arugula, collard greens, and boc choi are all in this family.

Arugula -

a nice addition to salads, this tender green with a mustard-like flavor is also a great survivor of cold temperatures. It can withstand many hard frosts and will continue to add a little spike to your salads well into November and December. You can put row cover on it to keep away the flea beetles and to give it a little extra protection from cold winds that can dry it out. If it starts to turn a little purple in the colder temps, don’t worry about it, it is still fine to eat. This is just a symptom of not being able to absorb phosphorous in cold conditions.

Turnips

- a short season salad turnip can still be sown in August. I like the Hakurei variety from Johnny’s. It is delicious raw in salads, sliced thinly or finely diced, or sauteed in a little butter with fresh herbs (winter savory makes a special appearance at my house, often in this dish in particular). People who think they hate turnips will just be shocked when they taste these buttery slices that just melt in your mouth.

Spinach

- in the first half of August, it is a good idea to plant a large patch of spinach. It will germinate in the cooler night time temperatures (spinach does not like to germinate in the heat) and will last a long time in the field in the cool temperatures of October and early November.

Overwintered Spinach - overwintering means keeping a vegetable alive through the winter for spring harvesting and eating. Not all vegetables can survive our VT winters, but the few that can include spinach, parsnips, leeks, garlic, and parsley. Spinach for early spring eating (mid to late April) should be sown in the first two weeks of September. Once it germinates, allow it to grow without harvesting or touching it. You can eat a little if you want, but ideally you will leave as much of the plant in the ground as possible. Once very cold weather hits, in early to mid-December, you can protect the spinach under a layer of straw, or leaves, or a few layers of row cover. In the spring, as soon as the ground has thawed out, remove the layers of protection and you will see the spinach come to life, long before any other plants begin to stir. This is such a delicious treat for early spring and really worth the trouble. A future post will be just about overwintered vegetables, so if this is something you have been wanting to try in your garden, check back here in a few days!

Cilantro and Dill

are good herbs for fall planting since their cold-hardiness is unmatched, and it will give you something to add to autumn salsas, salads, and pickles. Just sprinkle some seed into a shallow trench, press them in, and lightly cover with soil. The planting depth is very shallow here, just 1/4 inch or so. One of the most common problems with crops seeded directly into garden soil, is that they get planted too deeply. Remember this basic rule of thumb: the seed needs to be planted only 2 times deeper than its own size. Cilantro and dill will live until the first snow! They thrive in the cold. They are true soldiers of season extension.

Let us know if you feel inspired to try your hand with some of this season extension - we love to hear about it!

Managing Garden Pests: Cucurbits (Squash Family)

The problem with plants that taste good to us is that they also taste good to a variety of insects. These bugs can suck the juices out of the plant, chew big ugly holes, and transmit diseases.  Because plants in the squash family (melons, cucumbers, squashes, and zucchinis) are very juicy and sweet, bugs love them. But don't despair! We can help you identify and manage these pests so you can bring in the bounty. Cucumber Beetles

These pesky little creatures are about 1/4 inch long with yellow and black stripes. They love to chew cucurbit leaves until they look like lace. They fly but tend to fall off the leaf when you disturb it, so put your hand underneath to catch them. Squish the beetles and look for their orange eggs laid in the soil around the plant. You can often catch them in pollinated squash flowers, then just squish or drop in a bucket of ammonia, kerosene, or other poison. For serious infestations, spray plants with pyrethrum (a botanical pesticide) every 3-4 days.

Squash Bugs

These large bugs are often found in pairs on squash family plants. They are brown or black, shield-shaped, and about 3/4 inch long. They lay very shiny reddish eggs on the undersides of leaves. They can be easily controlled by squishing or with applications of insecticidal soap. Making a small moat of wood ashes around the plants will control the bugs as well, since they hate walking over the ashes. Just make sure not to get any ash on the plants!

Aphids

Aphids are one of the most common garden pests. They can be difficult to see because they are very small and often green or tan in color. They suck the sap of the tender young foliage and undersides of leaves. If you see ants on your squash family plants, you probably have aphids, since ants are attracted to the honeydew produced by aphids. A variety of methods for managing aphids are available. The best remedy is to squish them when you find them. You can also make "bug juice" by mixing the squished bugs with water and spraying the plants. A spray made of ground garlic, onions, or hot pepper can also be used to repel aphids. Insecticidal  soap or horticultural oil can be used as a last resort.

Flea Beetles

Flea beetles are not as common on cucurbits as they are on plants in the cabbage or mustard families, but they can do damage. They are very small, about the same size as an aphid, and shiny black. They jump like fleas when disturbed and make zillions of tiny holes in leaves. Flea beetles can be repelled using row covers, hot pepper, or garlic sprays, and as a last resort can be killed with pyrethrum.

This Week in Photos - June 29th, 2011

It's getting to be that time in the season when there's more time for fun projects - the vegetable garden is in, and with the exception of weeding and succession planting, one can finally delve into the beauty and creative freedom of flower gardening. And just in time, as if by magic, the first rudbeckia unfurls its yellow petals, the astilbe raises its frothy plumes, and the daylilies unpack their sweet blossoms as if to say, "I'm out in the world now! Come play!" Our perennials look more dazzling than ever (and with our sale,  they're also a steal)! If you'd like to learn about perennial selection and maintenance, our resident gardening expert, Hope Johnson, will be teaching a free workshop at our greenhouses on Saturday, July 16th from 9-11am. Come with your gardening questions, hopes, and dreams!

We still have lots of beautiful annuals for tumbling over window boxes, making bouquets, twisting into braids or brightening a veggie garden - whatever suits your fancy!