Our new garden center is now open!

Look for us in the SE corner of Valley Natural Foods parking lot! Sustainable and organic vegetable plants, herbs and flowering plants produced locally from Gardens of Eagan, Green Earth Growers and Glacial Ridge are available. Also, look for high quality, organic garden products and compost at the garden center. And did we mention that our hanging baskets are just loaded with stunning color!

Unique heirloom and hybrid tomato and pepper varieties have arrived and will add extra excitement for your home or community garden plot! For a list of those tomato and pepper varieties, CLICK HERE to see exciting descriptions for Hillbilly, Purple Russian, Chocolate Stripe and Indigo Rose tomatoes, or Tequila Sunrise, Red Knight, Ghost, Georgia Flame peppers and much much more!

Available NOW in our produce department are organic seed potatoes and bare root alliums (onions). Click the links for available varieties and growing instructions.

Check out our It’s Gardening Time Pinterest board for garden ideas and inspiration!

Time to GET GROWING!

Sales of our bedding plants this year have been so hot, that we’ve had to bring in another new  shipment of fabulous veggies and herb plants from Green Earth Growers for your gardening needs! This time something hotter than you can imagine has come with this shipment—yes, it’s the legendary Ghost Pepper Plant!

Last year, having a few ghost peppers growing in our co-op community gardens and finally selling them on our produce shelves was a super hot topic here at Valley Natural Foods. This year, Green Earth Growers agreed to start ghost pepper plants for us and we now have them for sale for the first time ever! We anticipate they will sell like wildfire, so come in soon for best selection. Beware however, for these peppers are ridiculously spicy yet equally delicious.

Other neat plants you’ll find here are many heirloom tomato varieties like Northern Lights, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Black Krim, Green Grape and more. Our pepper assortment includes California Wonder, Orange Sun, Thai Chili, Tabasco and of course the Ghost Pepper! Also, we have herbs too like English Thyme, Cilantro, Flat Leaf Parsley, Catnip and Rosemary.

Check out our online coupons and find one for any bedding plant!

Did you know that nasturtiums (the orange flower pictured) are not only edible but  delicious? They can also add a certain flair to your dish.

Learn how to create that flair in our Wednesday,  May 2nd “Yum Edible Flowers and Weeds” class at Valley Natural Foods from 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Cost is only $14 for non-members and $12 for members.  Come to this class to learn what “weeds” to add to your culinary repertoire along with some fun recipes.

Also, you will get to taste some “flowers and weeds” to see what you like–you might be surprised!!!

Register for the class in-store, by calling 952-8891-1212 ext 221 or online.  Please register by noon on Tuesday, May 1st. The class is taught by Midwest Food Connection’s Kristi Pursell.

Just in – our first shipment of bedding plants from Green Earth Growers! For all you gardeners who like to include cool season plants in your gardens, now’s the time to come to Valley Natural Foods for best selection! Currently available are six-packs of purple kohlrabi, spinach and six-pack mixes like broccoli and cauliflower combos, basic or spicy greens mix, lettuce wildfire mix or Swiss chard bright lights and kale mixes that includes 3 varieties of kale!

Looks like weather conditions are favorable for planting so come check out what we have for you!

With the unseasonably warm March temperatures, it’s time to start thinking about your garden this year!

However, you may be  asking  “Where do I start?”  If so, let Valley Natural Foods help you formulate a plan for your garden this year.

Starting Wednesday , April 11th, we have a NEW gardening series breaking ground at Valley Natural Foods.

The series continues every Wednesday through May 2nd. Sign up online, in-store, or by calling 952-891-1212 ext 221. Cost is $12 for members and $14 for non-members.

• Wednesday, April 11, 6:30-8:00 p.m--Healthy Soil, Healthy Food–Learn techniques to improve your soil for more plant growth.
• Wednesday, April 18, 6:30-8:00 p.m.–Planting to Save: Beginning Seed-Saving–Learn how to plant seeds this year that you can save for years to come.
• Wednesday, April 25, 6:30-8:00 p.m.–Growing and Cooking with Herbs—Learn to grown many herb varieties that will add flavor to your meals.
• Wednesday, May 2, 6:30-8:00 p.m.–Yum! Edible Flowers and Weeds–Yes, weeds are delicious and can add a bit of  flair to your food.

Waving in the breeze is the trellis which carries the birds nest squash plants, up one side and down the other. Tomatoes are barricading the pathway so you have to alter your stride. Rutabagas and turnips are growing larger. Uninvited invader Cabbage Lopper butterflies and their larvae have chewed up the kale and other brassica vegetables.

Peppers, cucumbers, beans, thyme, sage, oregano, dill, fennel, pumpkins, watermelon, kohlrabi, and lettuces are producing their feast of taste and fragrance.

This years harvest again goes to Dakota Woodlands. Including this week, we have donated over 95 pounds of fresh vegetables to enhance the Wednesday evening meals at Dakota Woodlands.

The plan is to keep up deliveries until the very end of the season, hopefully into October.

Stop by anytime and enjoy the growing greenery of the gardens at Valley Natural Foods.

Join us this Saturday, August 6th from 11-2pm here at Valley Natural Foods! We’ll meet in the Co-op Community Garden area for our co-op’s first ever participation in Gardening Matters’ Community Gardening Day.

Over 50 Twin Cities community gardens are on the tour and everyone has fun, with different activities available at each site! Valley Natural Foods will be serving free cold beverages, Fair Trade coffee and glad corn snacks for all Co-op Community Garden visitors. Be sure to check out the official map of all  the garden locations and  festivities available.

Cool off after the tour by visiting our Valley Natural Foods Juice and Java counter! Check out our online coupons and save $1.00 on a refreshing fruit smoothie of your choice. Coupon good through August 9, 2011.

From gardening advice, to free facials and bone scans, there are a lot of fun educational events happening at the demo kiosk this weekend and within the coming weeks.

Make sure to take advantage of these wonderful opportunities and mark them on your calendar!

Complimentary MyChelle Facial Demos: Saturday, May 28th, 11am-2pm

Licensed esthetician, Zi Ata, will be giving free, 20 minute facials in our wellness department using MyChelle products. She will access your skin condition and utilize the MyChelle products that will best help. Sign up in the Wellness Department.

MyChelle treatments smooth the look of wrinkles, unclog pores and clear the way for other products to work more effectively. Cellular turnover is enhanced, helping skin to kick its own innate self-rejuvenating and repair mechanisms, allowing your skin to act younger, healthier and more vibrant.

FREE Ask a Master Gardener Session! Wednesday, June 1st, 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

This could be a good time to ask a real pro! There will be a FREE Ask a Master Gardener session at the Valley Natural Foods demo kiosk on Wednesday, June 1, 3:00-6:00 p.m. Dakota County Master Gardener John Zweber will here to answer your gardening questions, whether you are a beginner or an advanced home or co-op community gardener. He will also be promoting his upcoming Square-Foot Gardening class too. Be sure to pick up a new Education at the Co-op booklet for June-September in-store. All new classes are also listed on our co-op calendar.

Coming Up:

Square-Foot Gardening
Saturday, June 11th, 2011
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Instructor: John Zweber
$5.00/members, $8.00/non-members

Learn the basics of Square-Foot Gardening, the practice of planning small, but intensively planted gardens. Attend this class to understand how to select a proper site, construct a square foot garden, determine the right amount of plants, maintain proper plant care, along with learning harvesting and other methods to extend the growing season. Square-Foot Gardening is less work, it saves water, creates less weeds, is pesticide/herbicide free, is easily accessible and can effectively utilizes small spaces.

Free Bone Scan Sponsored by Rainbow Light: Thursday, June 9th, 10am-3pm

Valley Natural Foods is hosting  free 20 minute bone scans; sign-up in the Wellness Department. Rainbow Light is offering free bone scanning opportunities via “Mobile BoneIQ”  Centers” to consumers nationwide in leading retail locations such as Valley Natural Foods. Bone scans can help detect early risk for bone loss and fractures, and gives consumers the tools and information to intervene and prevent bone loss.

Gardens of Eagan and Green Earth Growers each have just shipped us their next round of bedding plants! More varieties of heirloom tomatoes, flower packs and interesting herbs are all here, just waiting to be planted into your garden. There are even a few artichoke plants out there but we’ve been told artichoke plants must get in the ground NOW as they can take about 100 days until harvest! There’s a fun selection of herbs as well, including stevia plants! Beautiful geranium plants are available in 6″ biodegradable pots made with rice-hulls.

All bedding veggies, flowers and herbs are displayed storefront during regular business hours. Check our online coupons for $.50 off your choice of one single or one 4-pack of bedding plants this week!

An assortment of flower and vegetable starter plants have arrived at the co-op! Check out our first shipment of Pansy’s, Snapdragons, Zinnias, Marigolds and a few others fresh from Green Earth Growers and Gardens of Eagan.

Cool weather plants including onion starts and greens such as kale and lettuces, and warm weather veggies like heirloom tomatoes are all from Gardens of Eagan. There will be a second shipment of these items and more around mid-may.

A note from Gary Johnson, Community Relations Developer at Valley Natural Foods:

As the interest in gardening is increasing so are the offerings of information. Sources range from books, magazines, online sources, personal experience, master gardeners, and gardener friends and acquaintances. Hopefully you can locate information easily so as not to delay your time at other meaningful tasks (such as enjoying your gardening and garden). If you are involved in a community garden in the area or at our co-op community garden, your fellow gardeners may be willing to share their experience and knowledge. Stop by our co-op gardens anytime!

Check out some of the current gardening books we have in stock here at Valley Natural Foods:

Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening – Pauline Pears
How to Grow More Vegetables – John Jeavons
One Magic Square, The Easy Organic Way to Grow Your Own Food on a 3-Foot Square – Lolo Houbein
Carrots Love Tomatoes, Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening – Louise Riotte
Grow Great Grub, Organic Food From Small Spaces – Gayla Trail
Gaia’s Garden, A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture – Toby Hemenway
Four-Season Harvest – Eliot Coleman
The New Organic Grower – Eliot Coleman
Food Not Lawns, How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community – H.C. Flores