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PLANTS

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Our greenhouse opens for the season in late April.

Spring Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9-6, Saturday + Sunday 9-5

In the spring, you'll find a wide variety of vegetable starts, annual flowers, medicinal & culinary herbs, and perennials for the home garden. We also grow beautiful hanging baskets and mixed planters for an instant pop of color. 

Annual & Perennial Flowers

 

We grow more than 250 varieties of flowers to choose from, from Ageratum to Zinnia. We have a wide selection of perennial flowers and ornamentals, and offer wholesale discounts for landscapers or larger installations (contact us to learn more). In more recent years, we have put a heavier focus on flowers that serve an ecological purpose in the garden. Many of them attract bees and butterflies, some are hosts for other beneficial insects, or provide food for birds in the winter. This gradual change comes from our values as stewards, but also from our customers and the plants that we have seen rise in popularity. It’s a great sign that the subject of protecting beneficial insects and the value of biodiversity has reached the mainstream, and we will continue to support it in our small way, offering more of these kinds of plants each year.

 

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We still grow many traditional garden flowers that are simply beautiful, and serve their purpose in that way. Many of our flowers are excellent choices for the cutting garden, can be dried for everlasting bouquets, used as dyes or as edible garnish.  

Vegetables & Herbs

 

Our first plant sales centered around vegetable and herb starts, because those were the plants we already knew how to grow for our plantings on the farm. They remain our favorite kinds of plants to grow for greenhouse sales, because they are so intrinsically tied to our background as farmers (and cooks!). While we don’t grow every kind of tomato or lettuce that we offer during plant sales on the farm, we do emphasize varieties that we’re familiar with so that we give you the best shot at success in your garden. Our selection of vegetable and herb varieties aims for a balance between well known reliable varieties and whimsical heirlooms. 

 

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Greenhouse Practices

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 Our potting soil is amended with an organic compost-based fertilizer made from turkey litter and feather meal. These stable nutrients give our plants everything they need to be healthy and vigorous, without the use of synthetic fertilizers. 

 

To control greenhouse pests we rely heavily on prevention. We start as many of our own seeds as possible, since many pests hitch a ride on purchased-in plants. Some plants are too slow growing, or are just plain difficult to start from seed, so we do purchase certain flower seedlings in and grow them up to a larger size.

 

Aphids are the most common greenhouse pest we encounter. Early in March, when we start growing our seedlings in the greenhouse, we also begin raising parasitic wasps, aphidius Colemani, which parasitizes aphids. Read more about this species of  wasp here. Occasionally we will order ladybugs for a quick clean up of an aphid outbreak, but their wild populations have been reduced by wildfires in recent years and we use them as a last resort.

 

To prevent leaf disease, we bottom water exclusively. Our propagation greenhouse is outfitted with flood benches that fill with water when the plants need a drink. This keeps the leaf canopy completely dry, and keeps the soil moisture very consistent . Our greenhouses are also well ventilated with circulation fans that keep air moving around the plants. 

 

These techniques - along with frequent, close inspection of our plants - have given us healthy, resilient plants year after year. We think you will see the difference in your gardens.

Parasitized aphids on barley grass

Our main propagation greenhouse & flood benches

Full Belly Farm | 686 Davis Rd, Hinesburg VT 05461 | 802-453-3793
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