Supporting community and school gardens in Vermont.
by Grace Morrissey, VGN Garden Education Intern So much has been growing in our senior gardens as spring has slowly turned to summer. Both plants and people have begun to flourish in the warm weather. Over the past few weeks we’ve been busy filling up the garden plots, planting seeds and starts of all varieties; […]
I’m Sharon Newman, Garden Coordinator for Chittenden County affordable housing, a partnership between VGN and Champlain Housing Trust (CHT). One site I have spent a lot of time at this season is Beacon, permanent housing for homeless residents, located in South Burlington. Back in March, as I did my pre-season check in, I noticed that the winter […]
By Gordon Clark, Coordinator, Vermont Victory Gardens Inspired by a Hunger Council meeting early in 2019, some residents in the Village of Barton, Vermont, close to the Canadian border in Orleans County, decided to build a few raised beds for local residents in need. There were no takers. Issues of time, experience, skills and tools […]
A conversation with Mindy Blank, Executive Director, Community Resilience Organizations This actually gives me a lot of hope for the future because agriculture is something that can realistically be regenerative—obviously, it will take a lot of work for regenerative agriculture to become a common practice, but it can be done. Regeneration Corps participant from Sharon […]
Community gardens partnering with food shelves to determine what to grow and how to donate it is an essential step in getting fresh food to those who need it. In the Northeast Kingdom and the Mad River Valley, two food shelves are flipping that narrative by reaching out to their local communities to see what […]
The UVM Extension Community Horticulture Program (Master Gardener & Composter) trains volunteers and uses research-based gardening information to help all Vermonters improve their gardening, leadership and environmental stewardship skills. How the program works: After completing a 16-week online course, trainees become volunteer Interns. To transition from an Intern to a Certified Master Gardener (EMG), trainees […]
Stamford VT Seed Savers – Stamford, VT Helen Fields and her husband, Stephen Greene, are both long-time advocates and organizers for bringing gardens and garden-based education into the communities where they live and work. The couple’s most recent project is the Stamford VT Seed Savers, a local garden education program, growing and seed saving at […]
Malletts Bay Congregational Church – Colchester, VT Dan Dougherty had been trying to get his church to start a community garden on excess land the church owns for years, but unsuccessfully. “I had seen an article in Seven Days about Victory Gardens and it was like BAM! Most of our congregation will be able to […]
Many people turned to gardening this season as a simple act of hope–to plant a seed is to bring life. Others sought out a new hobby to combat the idleness of this “pause” and commune in the great outdoors. And many more saw the potential of gardens to address freshly exposed realities, long-lived and new, […]
Hi all 👋 We have an exciting new project on the horizon and need your support to achieve the final steps! With 200 new members we will be able to create a growing & learning space within our new community greenhouse. Help us to meet our goal by becoming a member today!
Follow the link in our bio to learn more and join as an individual, school, and/or business.
We are delighted to begin a new partnership with @huertasvt, thanks to a Farmer Resilience Grant we recently received through @nofavermont.
The Huertas Project is a community-based food security project that enables Latino/a migrant farmworkers and families living on Vermont’s dairies to access culturally familiar and local foods through cultivating kitchen gardens.
VGN will be providing technical support through the growing season, focusing on soil fertility, pest management, season extension, and climate resilient growing practices. We`ll also be providing useful supplies such as soil amendments and row covers, and capturing a handful of videos in Spanish to share this work more broadly among Huertas participants.
Photo credit goes to Naomi, thank you for the lovely capture! In the photo, Carolina from VGN is chatting with Epimenio, a gentleman originally from Chiapas who`s been working on dairy farms in Vermont for over a decade. Epimenio talked about his favorite hot peppers "chile manzano, con las florecitas moradas". Carolina recalled those peppers with purple flowers from her days managing urban agriculture programs in Mexico City. Naomi, Huertas Co-Director, took the sticker label off of a manzano pepper that Epimenio showed us. We are all now on a mission to figure out how to grow manzano peppers locally.
We eagerly await sharing more of our partnership work in the coming months!
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is often thought of as an approach solely for farmers, but these strategies are also useful for gardeners. During this workshop we will discuss how to select and appropriately apply various low-tech strategies (e.g. selecting resistant varieties, using row cover, planting dates, etc.). We will focus on some of the most prevalent vegetable pests, including flea beetles, leaf miner, Colorado potato beetle, cucumber beetle, swede midge, and leek moth. Come prepared to share your own experience managing pests in your garden!
This workshop will take place at the SeedSong Victory Garden in the Tommy Thompson Community Gardens, located in the Intervale in Burlington, VT.
Register at the link in our bio!
Last week we welcomed the 2023 Thriving Gardens Course students to our teaching garden! Together we planted a row of peas to mark the occasion 🫛 (and YES, we always match our nail polish to our compost 💅🌱)
Late April/Early May is a perfect time to plant a second succession of peas (yes, second! the first is right after snow melt, typically late March/early April). Peas are a cool weather crop and prefer to germinate in cool soil temps as low as 45 degrees! We at VGN will soak our peas in water up to 24 hrs ahead of planting to help the seed coat swell ensuring higher germination success. Then we dust the seeds with an inoculant that contains Rhizobium bacteria (found at your local garden supply store). This bacteria exists symbiotically within the pea roots helping them to fix Nitrogen out of the atmosphere.
After these steps, we plant our peas 3-4" apart and intercrop a radish seed for every 6 peas as well as border the peas on both sides with a row of leafy greens like spinach or mesculin mix to enjoy while we wait for the peas to mature.
Enjoyed this tip about peas? Sign up for our newsletter via the link in bio to read our newly featured `garden tip of the month` and to stay in touch about upcoming events and other ways to get involved.
Putting starts or seeds in the ground is great, but with a good understanding of soil health and fertilization your crops will thrive!
In this workshop we will go over the basics of building healthier soils and fertilization techniques for common garden vegetables. We will focus on low cost efforts using stuff you might find around your household or nearby wild areas. We will also go over and answer any questions about products you can buy to help fertilize your garden.
Sign up at the link in our bio 🌱
Volunteer with us during our annual Day in the Dirt Event on April 29th...only one week away!
Work may include building garden beds, assembling deer fences, spreading mulch, planting pollinator plants and other spring garden tasks. No special skills required and tools are provided. Get your hands dirty and maybe learn something too - fun for all ages and abilities!
Sign up at the link in our bio 🌞
Cool spring temperatures are ideal for growing many beloved crops, while others will need a little extra warmth and protection from potential frost.
Join us for an exploration of row cover thicknesses, plastic and biodegradable mulch to warm up soil, tarping techniques to eliminate weeds, and peek inside our DIY low tunnel.
These simple season extension techniques require minimal investment in materials to achieve a gardener`s dream of harvesting luscious spring greens, getting an early start on brassicas, and prepping soil to welcome warm season crops in a few weeks.
Register at the link in the bio 🌱
This has been a gorgeous week to work at Seedsong and prepare for the season ahead!
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Seedsong is a collective market garden where we share access to land and resources, practice intensive growing techniques, and offer a mentorship program. VGN oversees aspects of garden management such as sourcing materials, guiding the planting calendar, coordinating work days, and mentoring members so that they can focus on growing nourishing food for themselves and their community.
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Yesterday we borrowed a tilther from our friends at the @intervalecenter. At our garden production scale we can’t easily justify purchasing a tilther, however, the collective spirit of the Intervale farming community makes tool sharing possible. A tilther is a lightweight bed preparation tool used to incorporate amendments and mix in the top 2 inches of soil. Powered by a drill, it is a breeze to use, just ask Chloe who powered through ⅓ of our garden beds!
After analyzing soil tests and consulting with UVM Extension, we decided to add peanut meal (nitrogen), potassium (K), peat moss (to lower the pH), and Azomite (micronutrients) to our garden beds this year.
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An excellent opportunity to visit Seedsong is coming up in a couple of weeks - we are offering a workshop in the Garden Like a Farmer series (Registration is FREE! thanks to @intervalecenter, @agroecology_uvm, @skinnypancake). Carolina from VGN will be facilitating a class titled “Season Extension: Low Tunnels, Row Cover & Mulches”.
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Registration link in bio!
Looking for a fun volunteer activity for yourself, your family or a group of friends? Join us on April 29th at one of a dozen school and community gardens across Vermont for our annual DAY IN THE DIRT.
🌱Follow the link in our bio to sign up! 🌱
Work may include building garden beds, spreading mulch, planting pollinator plants and other spring garden tasks! No special skills required and tools are provided. Get your hands dirty and maybe learn something too - fun for all ages and abilities!
All fundraising supports participating gardens and VGN’s state-wide grant programs.
Dear garden friends, have you heard about our Veducation Van Program?!
2022 was the Veducation Van`s pilot year, where it joined/hosted over 20 events and workshops with just half the growing season to work with! Now in its second year, The Veducator is gearing up for its first full season, with an aim to reach three times as many folks across the state 🙌 You can see a map of our 2023 visits and learn more about the program by clicking on the link in our bio.
Hope to see you out there in the garden!
longer days
warmer weather
sun shining
flowers popping
snow melting
birds singing
trees budding
rivers flowing
gardeners prepping
All signs of Springs arrival 🪷 which begs the question...what are you looking forward to growing in your gardens this season?!
We are kicking off our Garden Like a Farmer workshop series with a pruning workshop on Thursday from 5-7pm!
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Join us as we meander through fields and gardens at the Intervale to learn all about pruning alongside Jacob Holzberg-Pill. .
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Participants will have an opportunity to both observe and practice pruning of multiple types of fruit trees and shrubs.
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All workshops in this series are FREE, thanks to a collaboration between @intervalecenter, @agroecology_uvm, @skinnypancake, and @btvparks
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Registration is required to receive confirmation of our meeting location.
Link in bio to register, or visit www.intervale.org/calendar
Spring has arrived at last 🌼 Come get your hands back in the soil by volunteering with us in our greenhouses and gardens this growing season!
To sign up, email angela@vtgardens.org and we will send you emails with volunteer opportunities as they pop up 🌿
( Photo of our very own Garden Education Manager, Carolina, who`s bagging up seed starting mix for our program partner @new_farms_for_new_americans )
Become a gardener, teacher, friend and integral member of the VGN community this growing season by applying to one of our INTERNSHIPS! Our internships offer opportunities to...
🌱 learn more about gardening
🌱develop your hands-on, in-the-garden teaching style
🌱grow your community by attending potlucks and other community building events
Click on the link in our bio to learn more and apply 🙌
In anticipation of our annual Seed Swap - Saturday, March 11 from 10am-1pm at @fletcherfree in Burlington - we are sharing a tip for labeling seeds. Whether you are attending a local swap or simply labelling packets in your own garden-saved collection, we encourage writing down as much information as possible.
At the Seed Swap, we`ll have envelopes, labels and pens for attendees to label seeds brought from home and label new seed envelopes going home.
➡ Swipe to see an example of one of our recently labelled seeds. We`ll pack the individual seeds inside the envelope and attach a few stems of dried Starflower to admire just how magical this dried flower is!
JOB OPPORTUNITY ALERT 📣
Addison county residents and county neighbors, do you have some time in your schedule and a passion for gardening and helping others? Follow the link in our bio and apply for our Addison County Garden Coordinator position today 🌱
We`ve already mailed out 196 bundles (that`s 5,880 individual seed packets!), each containing a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers. And we still have more bundles ready to go to the post office! If you would appreciate receiving a bundle, please follow the link in our bio to request one. We will continue to mail seed bundles through the end of March, or until supplies last.
We are thrilled to once again be hosting our annual Seed Swap in person!
Everyone is welcome, including experienced seed savers and newbies, young and old, container gardeners and homesteaders. Come as you are and bring seeds if you have seeds to exchange. We will have plenty of commercial seeds to share as well for folks arriving without seeds of their own. We will provide small envelopes and labels.
@fletcherfree @btvparks @vt.gardens
With snow on the ground, it is the perfect time of year to begin planning your garden-filled summer ahead ☀️ and just in time! Our team is expanding as we gear up for this year’s growing season. We have a couple different internship 🌽 and part-time job🌶opportunities. Follow the link in our bio or go to our website to read more about each position 🌱
Are you growing food collectively with others in your community, or interested in getting something started? Join us for this two part training on how to....
Manage a collective garden
Define your garden principles & goals
Build resources and relationships
Engage and foster community
Design an accessible and productive garden
🌱Register at the link in our bio!
🌱Open to everyone
🌱Sliding scale
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