Garden Event List

This monday, members of the Starr Farm collective, one of three collective gardens that VGN has had the pleasure of managing this season, harvested August`s abundance after a productive meeting.

The meeting was called for a few reasons. One, to simply gather as a group after splitting up across weekly work shifts, another to harvest our abundance and share equally amongst the group, and lastly, to discuss the triple E virus threat, considered high risk in our county.

Despite this new challenge, members of the collective were able to develop a plan that felt safe and manageable by everyone within a short amount of time, allowing us plenty of time to connect about less stressful topics, harvest, and eat together. VGN is grateful to be navigating the various climate change challenges we are facing with all of our collective gardens members and everything they bring to the gardens 🙌

We are also grateful for @btvparks and the Conservation Legacy Fund that has made this work possible. ...

Here is a glimpse into our Thursday mornings in a collective garden where families grow culturally meaningful crops together, practice climate-smart gardening techniques, and create community through shared land and resources.

Biweekly programming has been managed by Vermont Garden Network, in partnership with the @thefamilyroomvt and funded by @btvparks Conservation Legacy Grant. We extend enormous appreciation to VGN garden mentors Amy and Izzy, as well as to Family Room staff who lead a joy-filled parade over to the collective garden every Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Photos descriptions:

Late summer harvest basket: corn, blackberries, kale, carrots and sungolds

Bitter melon growing on the garden archway entrance. This was one of the top three culturally meaningful crops desired by the Family Room community. @new_farms_for_new_americans shared these bittermelons with us, from seeds started at @redwagonplants.

Plant-based dyes: yellow (dyer’s chamomile) + blue (japanese indigo) = green! Children made pom poms and friendship bracelets with the plant dyed wool.

A typical activity day at the Family Room Collective Garden, with many ages and cultural backgrounds engaging in hands-on gardening.

A row of culturally meaningful greens: njama njama, kale, molokhia and collards

One of the few ears of corn we saved from racoons/squirrels. This is zapalote chico, a landrace corn from Mexico, seeds shared by Nando from @moonandstarsvt

Ecuadorian women taught us how to properly hill “choclo” (corn), while a young boy filled a wheelbarrow with weeds.

The bean tent building team. These bamboo posts are now covered in long asparagus and plump scarlet runner beans.

The garden in May, with burlap bags to mark the pathways and our experimental use of paper mulch where we planted onions (big success, we are now fans of this paper mulch!)

The community garden plots we were assigned in April - full of weeds and old trellises. We spent many hours weeding, tilling, tarping, and tilling again before we were able to plant. ...

After last year’s flooding at the Intervale, the members of the Seedsong collective garden gathered to process the loss of their growing season through creative writing. This summer, in early July, they shared their reflections, prose, and poetry with @vermontpublic in honor of the one-year anniversary of the flood… before knowing they were about to get struck with another.

Even so, this episode of Vermont Edition reminds us all why we value our #collectivegardening community so much. It’s about coming together, growing together, and weathering the storms together. We hope you’ll give it a listen — the link is in our bio. 💚🌱 ...

"Molokhiyya is a plant and dish from the jute family, with roots tracing back to ancient Egypt. Today, it`s a beloved staple across the Levant and North Africa, with each region and family adding its unique twist to the dish. As a Palestinian-American, I grew up savoring this dish as a stew. Fresh Molokhiyya is hard to come by in the U.S., so my family would often bring back multiple bags of dried, finely minced Molokhiyya leaves from their trips back to Palestine or Jordan.

Our family recipe involves sautéing onions, olive oil, lamb, and spices in a pot, followed by water to make a rich broth. The Molokhiyya is then added and simmered to perfection. Finally, garlic and olive oil are sautéd in a separate pan and added to the dish. This stew is served over basmati rice with a generous splash of lemon juice as it enhances the flavors.

This summer, I finally saw the Molokhiyya plant for the first time while visiting farms and gardens in Burlington, Vermont. Witnessing Molokhiyya being grown here was profoundly moving as I felt a deep connection to my roots when the attempt to erase my people and culture is extremely prevalent. In the face of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians, preserving and sharing our food is a powerful form of resistance as it keeps our culture alive."

-VGN intern and @agroecology_uvm fellow ...

This week’s Seedsong dispatch is all about ABUNDANCE ✨🌶️🫛

July is always a special time in the garden: All of spring’s hard prep work comes to fruition in a big way. But between the latest heat wave and so much rain, it has shaped up to be a busy time, too. We’re working hard to keep up with weeding, succession planting, and watering—sometimes it feels like the to-do list is a mile long.

But at the end of each shift, we pause, catch our collective breath, and revel in the harvest together. Leaving notes for the next crew in our shared binder while we snack on snap peas and swap recipes… that’s what it’s all about. ...

Job announcement: we are hiring a Garden Apprentice to join us from May through October! We`ve welcomed stellar apprentices in the past, like Carolyn and Jade who are photographed in this post.

The full job description, including hours and compensation, is linked in our bio. ...