The Chatelaine's Keys

admin December 23rd, 2010

What on Earth is a Plant CSA?

It can be tough to pull it all together in springtime to get garden-ready, so we do some of it for you!  We produce healthy vegetable starts for all-season gardenings, from the earliest spring plantings of greens, brassicas and other early vegetables in April to the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants of summer and plants for your fall garden to make sure you have fresh vegetables into winter.  In addition we produce herb plants both medicinal and culinary, many rare and unusual plants, native and wetland plants for restorations and rain gardens, and beautiful flowers for pollination and enjoyment.  Our emphasis is on open-pollinated plants and heirlooms, but we also include the best of the hybrids.  We focus on varieties especially well adapted to upstate New York and the surrounding areas that do well here in the wide variety of conditions that constitute our norm.

Why A CSA?  Why Not a Nursery?

For two important reasons.  First, because we believe really strongly in the CSA model - Community Supported Agriculture is important - I don’t want to just raise plants, I want to connect our farm to your garden. I want to know what worked for you and what didn’t and how the garden grew.  I want you to be invested in the place where your plants grow, and the land and space surrounding us.  We are happy to sell extra seedlings to anyone, but our first and best goes to the CSA customers that support us!  You can see how to join the CSA right here!

How are These Plants Different than All other Plants? (Yes, you can sing it if you want! )

All seeds are started in as low-input a manner as possible, using homemade compost and organic materials whenever possible.  Although we are not certified organic we never use any pesticides, fungicides or herbicides and we strive to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.  Whenever possible we use organic seed, and when possible we buy our seed from companies that both support our broader goals and also from producers that grow the seed locally.   All seedlings are guaranteed to be healthy and sturdy and disease free - no risk of spreading contamination the way big box stores sometimes do!  Fertility is provided by homemade compost, compost and manure teas from our goats and rabbits and natural materials like greensand.

We are presently experimenting with the viability of transporting soil blocks - we may have to use plastic at first, but our larger goal is to use only renewable and biodegradable materials eventually.  Whenever possible, we use recycled plastic - including the seed flats other nurseries throw away (cleaned and sterilized, of course).

Most of all, these are the varieties we’ve selected as most productive, prolific, useful or valuable in our region.  We really want to help people in our immediate area get the most out of their gardens.  Because of this we also donate seedlings to local food pantries and to community gardens.  If you’d like plants for your community garden, please let us know!

How Do I Get My Seedlings When I’m Ready to Plant?

We will schedule several “Open Farm Days” in April, May and June for pickup, as well as offering drop off sites around the Capital District.  Dates to be revealed as we go! We do not mail CSA plants, that’s just too fossil energy intensive for us.  We do welcome visits to the farm, but please call first!

How Do I Join?

Here’s how you can buy plants from us.  First, you can come to the farm or one of our drop off spots and buy plants individually at full price. Or, if you’d like to join the CSA, you can sign up now, and join at whatever dollar amount you want above $40.  Half is due upfront to support the nursery enterprise.  What you get for your upfront investment is this - you get 20% more plant dollars to spend - so if you guess you will spend $100, you send me a check or paypal for $50, and you get $120 worth of plants from us, with the other $50 due on delivery.  If you have a small garden and want to spend $40, mix and match, terrific, send me a check or paypal for $20, and you’ll get $48 of plants from us.

If you want specific varieties from our seed list, please email me at [email protected] and I will reserve them - otherwise, plants are first come first served.  CSA members get first choice.  I will also send out email notifications when we update our lists, so you can pick more stuff.  You can also advance order one of the gardens below, and you’ll get the best selection of big, healthy plants.

Prices are noted.  We accept checks, paypal and cash.  Email me at [email protected] with your seed list, for payment info, or with any questions.

When Should I Order?

For the best selection, reserve specific varieties  sooner rather than later!  The sooner you make your reservation , the more likely you are to get what you want.  For custom orders, you must order by the time I need to start the seeds - ie, tomatoes and early broccoli in March, fall kale by July 1.

What If I Didn’t Pull it Together to Order in Time?

I will still have plants available for reservation after the start deadlines, but you’ll have slightly smaller range of choices - you can choose individual plants at the prices listed, or you can choose one of our garden packages listed here.  Again, if you *can* order in advance, you’ll have a better selection.

Garden Packages: You can choose the varieties of annual vegetables when there’s a choice and mix and match - ie, you could choose 3 Jubilee tomatoes, 3 Brandywines, 3 Black Cherry and a Principe Borghese for your 10 Tomatoes in the Medium Vegetable Garden.  The sooner you reserve specific varieties, the better your chances of getting what you want.  If you want something not listed, drop me an email.

A first Perennial Vegetable Bed:

Do you want some veggies (ok, rhubarb we treat like a fruit) that come back year after year, but you don’t know where to get started?  How about right here - this should fill one normal-sized garden bed (although you’ll need to keep weeding down the Jerusalem artichokes so they don’t take over) with good rich soil. I bet you didn’t know you could grow asparagus and rhubarb from seed?

Seed Grown Rhubarb, Seed grown Asparagus, “Profusion” Sorrel, Good King Henry, Jerusalem artichokes $24

A Very Small Salad Garden: 1 Tomato, 2 Peppers, 4 Chard, 4 Kale, 8 mixed lettuce, 2 Basil, 1 Chives, 1 Nasturtium. 2 johnny jump ups.  $19

Small Vegetable Garden:

This is for someone with a few small beds who wants to get the most annual summer vegetables out of the garden.  Don’t forget to leave room for seed-grown plants like beans, cucumbers and asian greens!

4 Tomatoes, 2 Hot Peppers. 2 Sweet Peppers, 2 Eggplant, 6 Broccoli. 4 Chard, 4 Kale, 4 Brussels Sprouts, 1 Winter Squash (or substitute summer squash) , 12 mixed-lettuce, 1 Nasturtium, 4 Basil,. $35

Medium Vegetable Garden:

This is for the serious gardener planning on producing enough for a larger family or some to preserve.  Don’t forget to leave space for plants grown from seed, such as beans, cucumbers, root crops and asian greens.  And intersperse plantings with dill and cilantro, that provide tasty herbs, seeds and flower that attract beneficial insects.

10 Tomatoes, 4 hot peppers, 8 sweet peppers, 4 tomatillos, 12 Broccoli, 6 Cabbage, 6 Kale, 6 Chard, 2 Winter Squash, Zucchini (or Sub summer squash), 1 Melon, 8 Brussels Sprouts, 16 lettuce,  $ 49

A Culinary Herb Garden:

This garden is designed to keep you in fresh herbs all summer long, with some for drying.  Add dill and coriander from seed!

6  Genovese Basil, 4  Thai Basil, 2 Lemon Basil, 2 Garden Sage, 2 Lemon Thyme, 2 Common Thyme, 4 French Tarragon, 1 Winter Savory, 2 Chives, 2 Oregano,  2 Garlic Chives, 2 Caraway, 1 Bronze Fennel, 4 Flat Leaf Parsley, 2 Curly Parsley, 2 Rosemary, 1 Peppermint, 1 Chocolate Mint:  $39

New Tastes: a Diverse Culinary Herb Garden:

This the culinary herb garden to end all culinary herb gardens, with unusual plants you won’t find in everyone’s yard.

All of the above plus: 2 lemongrass, 2 Hyssop, 2 Mexican Tarragon, 2 Holy Basil, 1 Sweet Cicely, 2 Lovage, 2 Marjoram, 2 Vietnamese Coriander, $49

An Herbal Tea Garden:

All tasty tea plants - yum!

2 Peppermint, 1 Apple Mint, 1 Spearmint, 2 Oswego Tea (Wild Bergamot), 2 Holy Basil, 2 Lemon Balm, 2 Lemon Verbena, 2 Cinnamon Basil, 3 Anise Hyssop, 1 Chocolate Mint. $29

Beginner’s Medicinal Herb Garden:

(Nothing Dangerous or overwhelming, makes a pretty border.  None of the plants are toxic, but do make sure you learn how to use them.  Add California Poppy, Chamomile and Dill from seed!)

2 Echinacea (Purpurea), 1 Marshmallow, 2 Thyme, 2  Sage, 6 Calendula, 1 Lemon Balm, 1  Catnip, 1 Horehound, 1 Valerian, 2 Feverfew, 1  Yarrow,2  Wood Betony, 1 Comfrey, 1 Meadowsweet, 1 Motherwort $37

A Women’s Medicinal Garden:

This focuses on herbs that serve women through their lifecycle, including menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and nursing, and menopause.  Many herbs that support these cycles are woodland natives including Blue and Black Cohosh, Partridgeberry, False Unicorn 1  and others, and shrubs like Guelder Rose (Crampbark), Red Root and Hawthorn - we hope to be able to offer these plants as well soon.  Please make sure you educate yourselves on the appropriate use of these herbs - not all are safe in every cycle or for every purpose.  For example, Sage will dry up breast milk and should not be used by lactating women, but eases hot flashes and premenstrual tension and Pennyroyal can cause miscarriage and should not be used by pregnant women - but makes a safe tea to ease menstrual pain.  Don’t forget seed-grown additions like Evening Primrose, Milky Oats and Stinging Nettle.

3 Sage, 1 Motherwort, 3 Blue Vervain, 2 Lady’s Mantle, 1 Red Raspberry, 1 Goat’s Rue, 2 Dong Quai, 2  Holy Basil, 1 Pennyroyal, $26

This page has the following sub pages.

• Garden Annual Seed List

• Comments(3)