Vermont Garden Network
Supporting community and school gardens in Vermont.
Vermont is home to a network of more than 500 community-based gardens! Find a garden near you by searching our online Garden Directory.
Partnerships
Vermont Garden Network offers community programs with help from partnerships across the state! These programs are designed to connect specific populations to … Read More »
VGN Membership
Members grow with us! By belonging to VGN, you are joining other members to invest in better access to gardening for all and building deeper connections with … Become a Member »
Program Report
Click on the link below to learn more about VGN’s core programs and their impacts: 2021 VGN Impact Report Learn more about the state's vibrant network of nearly … Learn More »
🍎 Friendly reminder 🍐
Grant applications to plant FRUIT & NUT trees in your community-based garden are due by December 16.
Link to grant application details is in our bio!
@branchoutburlington
@vt.gardens
We are thrilled to announce that our annual seed bundle donations are ready to be mailed to gardeners all around Vermont!
Donations are intended for community-based gardens and gardeners who would benefit from receiving a few extra seed packets to grow nourishing food. Bundles include a mix of 30 vegetables, herbs & flower seed packets; most are organic, some are conventional seeds.
Link in bio to request a seed bundle donation or link to https://vtgardens.org/seed-bundle-donations
We are receiving applications for the Vermont Fruit & Nut Tree Grant until December 2, please help us spread the word!
Goals:
- To support planting fruit and nut trees at community garden sites in Vermont.
- To prioritize planting of these trees at sites serving underserved populations.
- To ensure survival and proper care of these trees through grant guidance, educational offerings, and sharing resources.
- To develop and share success stories and best practices for community fruit and nut tree planting, care and use.
Follow the link in bio to read application guidelines.
@vt.gardens @branchoutburlington
After two years of socially distancing during the holidays, our annual fundraiser is back! Book your session online ASAP to make sure your family is able to book a time to create some beautiful and festive photo for your annual holiday card, or to treasure as a keepsake. Each family will leave have the option to receive their digital images via email, or to take the photos with their own camera/smartphone. Link for reservations in bio!
There is still time to RSVP and join us for more conversation around collective gardening!
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Collective Gardening Community of Practice Fall Meetup via Zoom
Wednesday, November 9
9-10:30am
More details and RSVP link in bio
We've been reflecting on our work around collective gardens as we prepare for our upcoming community of practice Zoom Meetup. We recently heard from garden members at the Co-op Victory Garden (the collective market garden we manage at the Intervale in Burlington) and here are a few of their reflections.
We'll be sharing more thoughts around collective gardening through the week in hopes that YOU will join us on November 9th from 9-10:30am for a conversation around shared garden spaces and how to build a robust and resilient collective gardening movement.
Link in bio for more info and to RSVP for our community of practice Zoom Meetup on Nov 9.
Collective gardens are growing spaces where gardeners share the work of planting, tending and harvesting in one large plot together, differentiated from the traditional individually-tended community garden “plots.” These growing communities have their own unique set of opportunities, challenges, and creative solutions.
The Collective Gardening Community of Practice welcomes all individuals involved in this work, to share ideas, swap resources, and brainstorm solutions for more robust and resilient collective garden communities.
Our next Zoom Meetup will be on Wednesday, November 9, from 9:00-10:30am.
In preparation for gathering, we encourage all participants to read the 8-page “Growing Our Gardens, Growing Ourselves: A Curious Gardener’s Guide to Garden Planning, Journeying with Robin Wall Kimmerer”, generously shared by @fruition_seeds. The reflection questions in the reading invite readers to pause and contemplate why we are gardening, who we are gardening for, and how gardens grow us just as much as we grow them. We look forward to expanding on these reflections with all of you in the context of collective gardens as another growing season comes to a close.
RSVP link in bio!
Our fall crops at the Co-op Victory Garden are looking spectacular!
One reason to love the chicory plant family is that pests seem to ignore them, so we get to directly admire their burgundy hues. Under the row cover we are growing broccoli, cauliflower, bok choi, and many cabbage varieties - row cover is the only way we avoid swede midge and cabbage whites. Elsewhere in the garden we have many carrots, beets, fennel, and cilantro growing nicely in this cooler weather. Our most recent succession planting for fall features lots of spinach, arugula, claytonia, and mâche - we’ll harvest those into December, they will overwinter, and then continue to provide us with a nutritious green harvest in early spring 2023.
We’d love to show you around the Co-op Victory Garden (it’s the collective market garden we manage at the Intervale, in Burlington) and offer you taste tests of this delicious harvest. Send us a message if you’d like to visit during an afternoon garden work shift (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday) or a morning shift (Wednesday & Saturday).
We also welcome volunteer hands, so if you want to enjoy autumn weather in a garden, send us a message to include you in volunteer emails.
@vermontchicoryweek @vt.gardens
Now is an ideal time to be selecting various plants for seed saving. Join us for our last workshop in the Garden Like A Farmer series - Seed Saving & Sharing, on Thursday at 5pm, at the Intervale.
We’ll be exploring tips and techniques for saving seeds from different plants and we promise you will leave the workshop in awe of the botanical world.
Registration is free! Follow link in bio to sign up and receive the location confirmation.
We encourage participants to bring seeds you may have saved and would like to share with others.
@intervalecenter @btvparks
Join us for a last workshop in the Garden Like a Farmer series to deepen your relationship with seeds. Where do your seeds come from? What seeds would you like to pass on to the next generation of growers?
We will reflect on the beauty and abundance of seeds as we learn tips and techniques for seed saving in a small-scale garden. Learn about self-sowing annuals like calendula, culinary herb seeds like coriander, fermenting mucilaginous tomato seeds, and much more!
We encourage attendees to bring seeds you may have already saved and are ready to swap with other growers.
Registration is free! Link in our bio!
@intervalecenter @btvparks
Join us for our last collective garden tour of the season - this time at the Folsom Learning Garden in South Hero on Saturday, September 10.
As part of our efforts to educate folks about and promote the practice of collective gardening, VGN is partnering with gardens around the state to offer tours where you have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in gardening demonstrations.
Click through the photos or follow the link in our bio to learn more about our Collective Garden Tours in August & September.
@vt.gardens @shift_meals
Get ‘em while they’re hot!
Our new hand-printed tote bags are available with the purchase of a ticket to the Garden Gala event at Stowe Cider on August 18th. Come join us for drinks and fun garden activities!
Ticket link on our website.
Member Spotlight: Meet the Manchester Community Garden!
The Manchester Community Garden, located in the town Recreation Area, was started about 20 years ago, and has been a member of Vermont Garden Network for the past year.
The garden has 40 plots and has mixed uses from groups and families to solo gardeners. The Regenerative Agriculture Garden Group has three plots and utilizes regenerative practices to grow food for the local food shelf.
Read the full story on our website! (Link in bio)
Yesterday’s garden class with @new_farms_for_new_americans looked like this:
Seed saving culturally significant crops: we flagged gagon cucumbers for seed saving. They grow huge and have a leathery, crackly brown skin when ready to harvest. Nepalese farmers have been excited to use gagons for making achar (fermented spicy delicious pickles).
Variety comparison: amaranth comes in many different colors, leaf size and shape, flavor, growth vigor. And every farmer has their prefered variety to grow.
Plant-based dyes: we experimented with the salt rub method to process indigo - and everyone was impressed at the deep indigo hues that emerged. All class participants took home an indigo-dyed silk handkerchief, along with a handful of indigo stalks to root and transplant into their gardens.
Come join us for a celebration of gardens- August 18th at Stowe Cider!
It’s only mid-summer, but it’s time to focus on fall harvests and winter storage crops. In this workshop, we will explore succession planting and get into the nitty gritty of scheduling your direct sowing and transplanting to make the most of the growing season. Factors such as diminishing daylight, pest life cycles, and cooler temperatures pose advantages and disadvantages for fall plantings. If you have been dreaming of sweet carrots, overwintered spinach, watermelon radishes, and easily growing cauliflower, then be sure to join us for this workshop.
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In-person on Thursday, July 7 from 5-6:30pm at the Co-op Victory Garden, Intervale, Burlington.
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Free! Registration link in bio.
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After the workshop, be sure to head down the dirt road for good food, good music, and good people at the first Summervale of the season! @intervalecenter
An ode to gardening hands, and especially these hands. One hand from an elderly gentleman who rolled up his wheelchair to an accessible bed to transplant cilantro. And the other hands belonging to Grace, one of our fabulous Garden Education interns who gently guided the transplanting at a senior residence this morning.
Gardening hands full of L-O-V-E.
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A call for volunteers!
The growing season is now fully upon us and VGN is seeking extra support in our gardens as well as on our committees! If you have some downtime and would like to get involved, we have opportunities for you. Whether you want to get a taste of our Burlington based gardens or help plan an event!
To learn more about how to volunteer with VGN, visit our website (link in bio).
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