VICTOR, Idaho — Even seasoned gardeners can use a leg up with their planting efforts. Growing from seed is no easy feat when you call the Tetons home. The short and frost-prone growing season makes gleaning a harvest a challenge, and there’s the second challenge of where to set up a start tray with enough light and high enough temperature to encourage a seed to shake its shell for a sprout. But there is a shortcut. Buy a start.
Start sales are on the docket this month at Cosmic Apple Gardens, Easy Acres, Full Circle Farm, Canewater Farm and a Cut Flower Garden kit is available through Red House Flowers.
Not only are the varieties tried and true for the Zone 4-5 growing zone Jackson Hole and Teton Valley residents call home, but the sales are more than just transaction days. They’re a chance to celebrate the summer, see other gardening geeks who like to get their fingernails dirty and tend to vegetable beds. The plant sales are also a great opportunity to ask questions.
Dale Sharkey of Cosmic Apple Gardens (CAG) loves sharing her time-old phrase, “Tomatoes in the Tetons are possible!”
“We have grown these varieties in our own garden and know they will make it here. All of our plant varieties are selected and started from seed by us with care and love. These are not varieties propagated in Southern Utah nurseries and shipped all over the West,” she said.
2024 marks the 15th year of the plant sale, and is the start to CAG’s 28th season as a local CSA.
“We have varieties for inside greenhouses, outside and/or in container gardens or to be planted in the ground. Our staff is excited about growing vegetables and can help figure out which plants will work best for you,” she said.
At Full Circle Farm, Erika Eschholz and Ken Michael say there is nothing they like more than sharing their garden-growing wisdom with the local community.
“We love to see local families learn how to be self-sufficient and resilient by growing some of their own food and flowers,” Eschholz said.
“Our annual plant sale is a great time to visit with other gardeners and learn a few more tips for cultivating in the Tetons, such as go big on the easy stuff. Bok choy, head lettuce, scallions, peas and carrots are all very easy to grow and produce a lot in a small space. They are also summer staples in the kitchen,” she shared.
Other tips from the farmers over the hill include watering less frequently, but deeply.
“When crops are watered a little bit every day, they don’t develop strong, deep root systems. When they are watered to saturation once every five to seven days, their roots ‘chase’ the water deeper into the soil profile. These plants are hardier to cold, drought and wind,” Eschholz explained.
At Canewater and Easy Acres, the same rings true with tomatoes, squash, zucchini cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, basil, onions, cabbage and flower options that are preferred for their hardiness and short season.
Emily Sustick, co-founder of Red House Flowers, was also inspired this year to apply the same principles as the vegetable farmers to the cut flower garden with an offering that mixes colorful perennials and annuals with good odds for blooms.
The mix is made up of nigella, calendula, zinnia, snapdragon, marigold, cosmos, rudbeckia, sweet pea, larkspur, lisianthus, monarda and paper daisy.
“They’re small but they transplant well at this stage,” Sustick said. “We definitely have gardeners in mind for this and we send an info sheet home with the plants for pinching and other techniques for propagation,” she added. The DIY garden can fill a 4×10-foot raised bed.
“The majority of these flowers are cut and come again, which means the more you cut, the more they bloom!” she added.
In addition to vegetable varieties, herbs and flower starts available, Cosmic Apple Garden also sells compost and potting soil.
SALE SCHEDULE:
Cosmic Apple Gardens, Victor ID: May 18 and 25 , 10 to 2 p.m.
Full Circle Farm, Victor, ID: May 18 to 25, 10 to 2 p.m.
Canewater Farm, Victor, ID: May 25, 9 a.m. to noon
Easy Acres, Driggs, ID: Open Saturdays and Sundays, 11-4
Red House Flowers: Shop online
