Supporting community and school gardens in Vermont.
To till or not to till, that is the question… By Libby Weiland, Statewide Network Coordinator One of the things I love most about community gardens–and I’m struck by it each time I pay a visit–is the fact that there are as many growing methods and gardening styles as there are gardeners to employ them. […]
By Libby Weiland & Virginia Holiman My Visit “Show our guest what you’ve been growing,” says Ms. V, and within minutes of my arrival two young boys are guiding me around their yard–past the volunteer squash patch, through the archway starting to twine with scarlet runner beans, around the sunflowers just about to bloom, to […]
“Grow Gardens Everywhere for Everyone” By Marilyn Chiarello (Edible Brattleboro) & Libby Weiland (VCGN) In January, 2015, Edible Brattleboro founder Marilyn Chiarello was first inspired to bring edible landscapes to Brattleboro after viewing Pam Warhurst’s TED Talk, entitled “How We Can Eat Our Landscapes.” With the support of Post Oil Solutions, a not-for-profit that develops […]
By Libby Weiland, Statewide Network Coordinator & Joann Darling, Good Food Good Medicine Joann Darling is a Food Justice educator for the Barre-based group, Good Food Good Medicine. Good Food Good Medicine is a grassroots food justice program that provides adult and children’s community food and gardening education free of charge to residents in two […]
Hear from employees about their own experience with workplace gardens!
By Libby Weiland, Statewide Network Coordinator & Stephen Greene, Stamford Seed Savers Long-time garden organizers, Helen Fields and Stephen Greene—instrumental movers and shakers in the school and community gardening movement in Southern Vermont—are excited to have turned their focus on their home community—Stamford, Vermont. Helen and Stephen were looking for a project that would unify […]
By Libby Weiland, Statewide Network Coordinator This summer I paid a visit to Ludlow Community Garden, tucked away behind the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts, in the small south central Vermont town of Ludlow. As I drove over the creek and around the bend to the far back fields, I was surprised […]
On an unseasonably misty day in August a crew of local Upper Valley food organizers, advocates and gardeners hosted Vermont Community Garden Network (VCGN) staff for a tour of White River Junction community and school gardens and public orchards. The Upper Valley region is recognized statewide as a hub for local food and garden activity. […]
Have you ever wondered about the Network in Vermont Community Garden Network? The Network is a patchwork of more than 500 community-based gardens extending across the state: Town, neighborhood, and housing community gardens, providing space for residents to grow their own and gather with neighbors; Teaching gardens at schools, early care centers, universities, and community […]
Presented to you by Vermont Community Garden Network, this webinar provides: tips from gardening expert Charlie Nardozzi on in-the-garden season extension techniques, inspiration on how to build and manage a community hoop house from Bethany Dunbar of Center for an Agricultural Economy and Hardwick Community Garden, and lessons from Olivia Brooks, Morgan Willis and Phyllis […]
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
Announcing Regional Garden Coordinator Positions!
We partner with local housing providers to connect residents across the state with opportunities to grow their own food and connect with their neighbors. Each county where we operate this program has a regional coordinator who is responsible for running workshops with residents and helping to answer their questions about gardening. If you have some time in your schedule and a passion for gardening and helping others, apply for a Garden Coordinator position!
☝Visit the link in bio to see the full job description.
🍎 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
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
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