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!

The average last frost date for the Twin Cities usually happens around mid-May. But that has not stopped a few of our co-op community gardeners from starting a few things right now in their garden plots—yes, our community gardens are now officially open! Plot reservations filled up quickly for the 2012 season, however  four plots have just become available again and we are offering them to anyone interested on a first come, first served basis.

If you are hoping to get involved with us in our co-op community gardens, now is the time to act by contacting Gary Johnson at community@valleynaturalfoods.com or 952-891-1212, ext. 236. You may also inquire about availability at customer service.

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!

Whether you grow veggies in a community garden plot, your own backyard or on a deck or patio in pots, now is the time many of you are enjoying a delicious harvest, depending on what you’ve planted. Harvesting fresh vegetables in Minnesota peaks during the entire month of August and even into mid-September.

Boosting your soil right now with an extra dose of  rich compost or worm castings may be beneficial for getting the most flavor out of your tomatoes and peppers! Top dressing around your plants will also  help retain moisture in the soil during these dog days of summer. It will also benefit your midsummer vegetable plantings for a fall harvesting of beets, turnips, leaf lettuces, radishes, green onions and a variety of leafy greens.

Looking for a coupon? Visit online coupons and save $2.00 off one bag of Carpenter’s Cottage Down to Earth Worm Castings, located in our produce department in the garden section.

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.

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!

Free for the taking! The sod from our co-op community gardens has been rolled up and placed on pallets at  the east end of our Valley Natural Foods parking lot. Perhaps you need to patch up a few places in your yard after our long winter. If so, please help yourself! Just stop by customer service and let them know you will be taking some sod. You may take as much sod as you like.

Co-op Community Garden Update: For those of you who have leased a plot in the smaller garden mandala, feel free to begin your gardening. For those of you awaiting plots in the larger mandala, look for a future e-mail announcement about an upcoming work day for completion of those plots.

The garlic is, that’s what! Last fall, Gary Johnson, now serving as our community relations developer planted northern-hardy Chesnok and Krasnodar hardneck varieties of garlic last  November.  We noticed the garlic shoots poking up through the straw right after the snow receded!

Throughout the growing season, we will learn through this garlic demonstration how to harvest scapes (the flower stem that shoots up from the center of the plant before the plant matures), the final harvest of garlic bulbs and how to dry and store them.

The Valley Natural Foods garden classroom is located on the south side of our building and will serve as a teaching platform for various gardening techniques, styles and plantings. It ties into our Farm to Market education—a belief that we should know where our food comes from. The Garden Classroom also supports our mission of a healthy community.

7th Annual Community Garden Spring Resource Fair

at the Sabathani Community Center, Minneapolis
Saturday, April 2, 2011, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
(doors open at 8:30 am)

The 7th Annual Community Garden Spring Resource Fair Offers 15 exciting workshops!

Keynote: 9:00 a.m. Frogtown Farm – The Power of Collaboration

Morning Workshops: 10:40 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.

Eliminate Erosion – Increase Productivity, MetroBlooms Landscape Designers

Tell your Garden’s Story! Working with Media, Margo Ashmore, Northeaster and NorthNews Newspapers

Garden Together! Communal Gardening Panel, Gardeners from Celeste’s Dream, Jardin Paraiso Comunidad and St. Cloud Community Garden

Fruit Tree Orchards: Planting for the Long Term, Midway Greenspirit Community Gardeners

What’s the Hoopla about Hoop Houses? Extend Your Growing Season! Starr Carpenter, Market Grower, Rebecca Harnik, Minnesota GreenCorps

Afternoon Workshops (Session 1): 1:00 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.
Doing More with Less: Superabundant Small Gardens, Susan Reed, Dowling Community Gardener

Environmental Justice and Soil Mitigation, Representatives from Environmental Justice Advocates of MN and the Women’s Environmental Institute

Share Your Produce! Gleaning and Food Shelf Donation Panel, Panelists from Emergency Food Shelf Network, MN FoodShare, and Guardian Angels Community Garden

Understanding the 2012 Farm Bill, Mark Muller, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and Adam Warthesen, Land Stewardship Project
Sticks and Stones Garden Art, Nancy Ward, Artist and Community Gardener

Afternoon Workshops (Session 2): 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.

Community-Based Problem Solving, Jay Clark, U of MN Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA)

Join the Local Food Economy, Collie Graddick, The Co-op Project, Starr Carpenter, Market Gower

Employer Sponsored Community Gardens Panel, Gardeners from the Haberman Group, Blue Cross and Boston Scientific

In-Ground Mushroom Cultivation, Jeremy McAdams, Cherry Tree House Mushrooms

How to Eat More Veggies Everyday,Tracy KS Yue, Healthful Cooking Coach

Saturday, April 2, 2011
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m.)

Sabathani Community Center
310 E. 38th St, Minneapolis (near 23, 18, and 11 bus lines)
More information, complete schedule, and pre-registration online at www.gardeningmatters.org

As food prices rise, communities and families are looking for options to assist with their household budget. Community gardens are neighborhood educational centers for growing your own food, deepening roots in the community, & beautifying the neighborhood. Community gardens are a hands-in, feet-on green space bridging generations & cultures.

Presenting Sponsor: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
 

Event Sponsors: Edible Twin Cities, JobCorps, Linden Hills Co-op, Sabathani Community Center, Specialized Environmental Technologies, Inc., Valley Natural Foods
 

Grassroots Sponsors: Barbette, Bryant Lake Bowl, Egg/Plant Urban Farm Supply, MN Institute of Sustainable Agriculture, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum – Education Department, MN-NRC-SARE, MN State Horticultural Society, Mother Earth Gardens, Red Stag Supperclub, Seward Cooperative Grocery and Deli, University of Minnesota Extension

With the approaching Daylight Saving Time (2:00 a.m. March 13), what a great time time to start thinking about your garden! And why not start early by planting your seeds indoors with an easy-to-use Jiffy Professional Greenhouse seed-starter kit. Stop by our produce department and pick-up a kit or two. Then check out our colorful display of  High Mowing Organic Seeds. It won’t be long before Spring arrives (official date is 12:00 a.m. March 20)!

No space for a garden? Come garden with us by leasing a plot right here at Valley Natural Foods. If you are interested in community gardening, please visit: Want to Get Healthy? Get Dirty!