June Markets, New Web Resources, and More!

Hello, friends of RTG! We’re moving into June, and I wanted to update you on upcoming markets and new resources on the website.

Next Market(s)

Our next scheduled market is Saturday, June 15, 2024, from 9am - 2pm, at Montuori Fleamarket at 186 Massachusetts Ave.

Some of the plants we plan to have available there include:

• Yarrow (multi-hued cultivar) - Achillea millefolium - $5/plug
• Wild bergamot/bee-balm - Monarda fistulosa - $5 per plug; 10 for a quart
• Spotted bee-balm - Monarda punctata - $5/plug
• Swamp/rose milkweed - Asclepias incarnata - $5/plug
• Broad-leaved mountain mint - Pycnanthemum muticum - $5/plug

We also have starts of tomatoes (slicing, sauce, and cherry varieties), peppers (both hot and bell), and herbs. Come for the garden plants, stay for the natives!

Sadly it seems the Lunenburg Farmer’s Market is probably not happening this year. Instead, we have applied to both the Leominster and Fitchburg Farmer’s Markets for the 2024 season. These are held on the first and second Saturday of each month respectively, from June-October. If we are accepted, July 6th at the Leominster market would be our next market. More info as we know it.

(Incidentally, if you’re not on our newsletter – join that now! It’s the best way to stay up to date with our nursery).

How to Buy Plants

We added a “Buy Plants” page to the site.

This will give you full instructions on ordering or reserving plants with us. Since we are such a small nursery, and in our first year, the process is a bit different than other nurseries. This page also tracks our plant availability at any given time.

Plant Info Sheets

We are starting to publish our plant info sheets. These are the fact sheets we have on display at the markets for each plant we sell. Our first one is on partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), but we are hoping to add more soon. (There’s just some conversion work to do for each one).

These are intended to be less in depth than the blog posts we do on individual species (eg., Trillium erectum). Instead, the info sheets will focus primarily on the care instructions and benefits for each plant, and will be shorter and digestible. (Since for print, they have to fit on a single page!)

Maybe some day we’ll have stickers on our pots with a QR code you can scan and go straight to the page? We’ll see!

Pot Rebate Program

One of the things I hate about the nursery business – and my part in it – is the usage of plastics, primarily in the form of nursery pots and plug trays. As much as possible, I’ve avoided this by reusing (cleaned!) pots that were donated to me. Unfortunately, I’m running out of pots of the right size (1 pint, at the moment), and I’m also beginning to learn that the substitutes (eg. pulp pots) aren’t super great for transport or durability.

Hence, I’m doing something like what the local dairy does, and offering a rebate for returning usable pots or plug trays (i.e. no cracks or weak plastic spots). For each one you return at the time of your purchase, you’ll receive 10 cents off your purchase. They don’t have to be clean – we’ll clean them before re-use.

If you’re not able to turn in the pots for a rebate, then we encourage you to clean them and use them again, until the end of their natural life, and then recycle them.

Featured image: a “fairy grove” of moss, ferns, goldenseal, bishop’s cap, and wood anemone at Garden in the Woods, Framingham, MA, May 8, 2024. Photo by Lise Fracalossi.

• Updates