MEETING WITH CONGRESSMAN PETER WELCH

Today, a small group of people sat down to talk with Congressman Peter Welch and his staff about agricultural issues. We met at Roots, the Restaurant and spent an hour or so sharing our points of view on local food, federal regulations, the farm bill, farm-to-institution, land access, and conservation. The Congressman, who is now on the House Agriculture Committee, was genuinely interested (and knowledgeable) about the issues and solutions we brought to the table.

Thank you to the Rutland Area Farm and Food Link (RAFFL) for bringing us together. Thank you Congressman Welch for listening to the good people of Vermont!

FARMERS IN WINTER

We are taking full advantage of this snowy winter!

Yesterday we went sledding at Georgetti Park in Rutland City with Tara Kelly (director of the Rutland Farm and Food Link) and her three children! What Fun!

Today we are back to seeding, working in the greenhouse, and planning and prepping for spring - but yesterday was a blast!!!

NOW AVAILABLE: FARM SHARES from RADICAL ROOTS

We are so excited to announce that Radical Roots Farm is now accepting registrations for our new FARM SHARES! Just click on the FARM SHARES tab above to find complete information and how to access our easy to complete registration form.

Remember: Purchasing a Farm Share from Radical Roots is a WIN-WIN situation. You will save from 10-25% on your produce for the season. And you will support our season by making this upfront investment in our farm!
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!

Carol and Dennis

SNOW TODAY - SPRING TOMORROW

Soon this snowy greenhouse will be bursting with precious seedlings!!! The days are now 10 hours long - perfect for those little plants to get growing! The lettuce and onions are already planted, and every day we are seeding more and more. Get ready for spring!!!

THE LONG LIST OF WHAT WE ARE GROWING THIS YEAR!

Here is the list of the veggies, herbs and flowers we will be growing this season. Items that are green will also be available as starter plants.



1. Artichokes
2. Green Beans
3. Burgundy Beans (new this year)
4. Yellow Wax Beans (new this year)
5. Lima Beans (new this year)
6. Beet Greens
7. Beets
8. Broccoli
9. Broccoli Rabe
10. Brussels Sprouts
11. Cabbage - red, Napa, savoy (new this year), storage
12. Carrots
13. Cauliflower
14. Celery
15. Celeriac
16. Dandelion Greens
17. Belgium Endive (new this year)
18. Escarole
19. Frisse (new this year)
20. Radicchio (new this year)
21. Cucumbers
22. Eggplant (new this year)
23. Fennel (new this year)
24. Stevia
25. Green Lance
26. Kale - Red Russian, Tuscano, Winterbor
27. Collards (new this year)
28. Kohlrabi
29. Leeks
30. Lettuce
31. Salad Greens
32. Cantaloupe (new this year)
33. Onions – sweet, red, storage, cipollini
34. Scallions
35. Pac Choi
36. Parsnips
37. Peas –snap, shell, snow (new this year)
38. Potatoes – red, russet, Yukon gold
39. Sweet Peppers
40. Hot Peppers – cherry bomb, cayenne (new this year), Serrano, poblanos (new this year), jalapeno
41. Pumpkins
42. Radishes – French breakfast, black Spanish (new this year), red and colored
43. Daikon
44. Shallots (new this year)
45. Spinach
46. Zucchini
47. Yellow Summer Squash
48. Patty Pan Squash
49. Winter Squash – acorn, butternut, red kuri, delicata (new this year), blue ballet (new this year), sunshine kabocha (new this year)
50. Swiss Chard
51. Tomatoes
52. Tomatillo (new this year)
53. Turnips (new this year)
54. Watermelon
55. Basil
56. Cilantro
57. Dill (new this year)
58. Lavender (new this year)
59. Parsley
60. Garlic
61. Flowers - sunflowers, zinnias, ammi (new this year), frosted explosian (new this year), colored sorghum (new this year), salvia (new this year), nasturtium (new this year), tulips (new this year)

RADICAL ROOTS - THE MOVIE

It's here! A short video that group of Green Mountain College students did about Radical Roots Farm! We were thrilled to help them with their college project - and equally as thrilled with the outcome. Thank you Elyse Carter, David Golembeck, Nate Bell and Tomer Kilchevsky!

We hope you all enjoy!

PLANNING FOR THE SEASON

It's that time of year again! Our seeds have arrived and we are deep in the heart of planning for our upcoming season. Farmers and home gardeners alike LOVE this time of year - when everything is new and the possibilities seem endless. Of course it is so easy to get carried away - sit down with a few seed catalogs and you will be tempted to grow 50 varieties of tomatoes!!!


We are big fans of Johnny's Selected Seeds and get most of our seeds from this employee-owned business in Maine. We also get some seeds from Fedco a cooperatively owned seed company, also in Maine. They both offer northern-cold-hardy varieties and a good selection of organic seed.


This year we have increased the amount of land we will put into cultivation! We are quite excited as this gives us a bit more breathing room (for the humans as well as the plants!!), as well as space to put in a few new varieties and a greater quantity of our most popular produce. For example, we will be more than doubling the number of artichokes we plant this year - and offering some starter artichoke plants for those who want to grow these beauties yourself.


Artichoke Starts from Last April






We will devote more land for carrots, lettuce, broccoli and other popular crops, and we will be able to plant small amounts of collards, radicchio, endive, lima beans, and escarole for those who asked for these veggies last summer. This extra land is a real bonus and we look forward to working it well.

So what are we growing? You will find the full list in our next post!

Here's some exciting news: This year we will be offering starter plants in this spring! Please check with us early in the season to get your lettuce, tomato, eggplant, kale, squash, onion, and many many more starts! We will also be offering Salsa Six-Packs (tomato, onion, hot pepper starts with a packet of cilantro seeds) and Pizza Six-Packs (paste tomatoes, sweet peppers, sweet onions) for fun and variety! More about this soon!

Don't let this snow fool you - spring is right around the corner!!! And we can't wait!

LETTERS TO SCHOOL

Thanks to NOFA-VT's Farm to School Correspondence Project, Radical Roots Farm is now the official farmer-pen pal of Ms. Muzzy's 5th and 6th grade science classes at Vergennes Elementary School! We just sent the class our first letter and can't wait to hear back from the students about what they want to know about organic vegetable farming!
Thanks NOFA for giving us this opportunity to share our passion with young people!