by Gail Falk, Staff Writer
Surround yourself with the colors and smells of spring with a visit to the Greenhouse!
For weeks, Michael Hoffman, Operations Manager, and Lisa Howard, Lead Grocery Buyer, have been preparing for this short, intense season when we plant our gardens and decorate our homes with flower baskets.
They have been ordering flower, herb and vegetable starts from Vermont growers — Blackbird Organics and Friends & Family Farm nearby, and Claussen’s and Paquette’s in Chittenden County. Asked what plants he is bringing, Kagan Dewey of Blackbird answers, “All your gardening favorites.”
There are seed potatoes and onion sets and bulk pea and corn seeds in bins, and a large selection of flower, herb, and vegetable seed packets. Ian Maas and Roseanne Scotta are returning with a variety of the unusual decorative, medicinal and edible perennials they raise at Great Brook Nursery in Plainfield. They are part-time Greenhouse staff, together with Co-op old-timer Kristin Brosky and floor staff from the main store.
The Greenhouse register can ring up purchases from anywhere in the store, and eligible customers can purchase veggie and herb starts with their EBT card.
There are gardening and landscaping tools and gloves, and locally made cedar raised beds. And, if someone in your family would rather sit and watch, there are Hillcrest Adirondack chairs made on Ducharme Road in Marshfield.
The Co-op is growing, and the plants are ready to grow. As Michael Hoffman says, “It’s the first year where the Co-op can put its roots in the ground.”
