April in Truckee and Tahoe teases us. While it is a GREAT time to plant wildflowers, hardy vegetables and herbs, over-wintered dormant plants from the nursery, it is too cold to bring in trees and shrubs from warmer climes that have leaves. April’s average daytime temps start near 50°F and begin May near 60°F but nighttime temperatures start near 20° and finish the month, still, well below freezing. Any day can be as high as 70º and lows can reach the single digits. We do plant HARDY veggies and color, tough-as-nails perennials and dormant woody plants to give them strong early-season root growth.
In early April we open Wed-Sat 10-4 *(weather dependent = if the weather is super nice and spring-like in late winter or early spring, we’ll open the gate.) Closed Sun-Tue
After long reflection, deliberation and research and how we can best follow standard COVID19 safety protocols, we decided to very cautiously open the nursery. We have seed potatoes arriving with our usual and new selection of cold-hardy, short-season herbs and vegetable seeds (not just a random mix). Please sign-up for our VERY occasional newsletter if you are interested and/ or check our Instagram, Twitter or Facebook pages (villagernursery). Garden Centers and Nurseries are considered “essential” part of our food distribution and agricultural food production system as well as under the hardware designation. We will do our best to offer our services safely, for as long as possible.
Gardening gets us outside in the mountain sun and air, it promotes healthy bodies and soil has been shown to improve well being and mental health, in many ways! We feel genuinely obligated to continue providing an “essential” service, perhaps, even more essential than usual. Our mountain community of healthy, outdoor enthusiasts depends on us for veggie starts, herbs, fruiting plants, and beautiful greenery and flowers that help support our physical and spiritual well-being. Plants, humans, animals, soil, sunshine, fresh air and even a little exercise are what we enjoy in our gardens. One colleague recently sent out a post that said “Plant an extra row this spring to share with your neighborhood”. Gardening is, requires, and promotes community. We are actually in the shop Mon-Sat and if you have any mountain gardening questions, you are always welcome to e-mail or call us (better not to Facebook or Instagram message as we don’t often look there). Cold Climate Vegetable Gardening Brief, Mountain Fruits and Berries
We have received our first deliveries of soils, fertilizers and composts for preparing beds and promoting awakening perennial plants. We’ve received a couple of small deliveries of hardy fresh vegetable and flower starts with many more due in the coming weeks as weather allows. We have bulk wildflower and garden flower seeds available by the ounce or pound and we have packets of flowers, herbs, sprouts and vegetables in limited quantities with many more on the way. Seed packet companies are overwhelmed this spring, some our sold-out, and our restocking orders were delayed. Our seed potatoes should be here at the same time as the seeds and while it is early for them in the ground, it is time to chit potatoes (sprout them) to ready for planting in a couple of weeks (mid to late April).
We are committed to keeping our staff and community safe.
Safety when you visit:
•Keep a distance of AT LEAST 6ft between other shoppers and staff, even when waiting to check out.
•We encourage ordering ahead by phone or email to reduce foot traffic. Pay ahead of time, and pick up your items without leaving your car.
◦530-587-0771
•In person order options: Drive up, place an order, we will get your items for you!
•Minimal indoor shopping. We’re limiting the number of customers in the store to 2 with the same recommendations for the greenhouse. Please call us to place an order if you need items from inside, including
◦Specific house plants or cacti
◦Smaller bags of soil, fertilizer, amendments, pest or disease control
◦Tools or gloves
•Seeds, seed potatoes, and onion sets will be moved outdoors as much as possible when weather allows.
Thank you for your support and cooperation during this challenging time. We truly appreciate your support of “our locally owned and locally grown business”.
Hours: Wednesday through Saturday 10-4
As of March 21, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all residents to stay home during the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis. Among the essential businesses allowed to operate as normal under the order are the state’s agricultural industries, including growers of nursery plants and garden centers, green grocers, farming operations, urban gardens and landscaping business that observe local social distancing and other CDC guidelines for their employees and customers. Garden centers fall under the same distinction as hardware stores, which are also allowed to remain open.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an evolving situation that makes no clear path forward.
Horticulture benefits the health and happiness of every citizen and every community.
Americans are resilient and resourceful in the face of adversity provided the opportunity to produce their own food and manage any shortage in the supply chain. Millions of Americans engage in food production at home, and more are sure to follow as the COVID-19 crisis unfolds.
With thousands of garden retailers serving communities across North America, these stores provide much-needed services. Whether helping Americans produce home-grown fruits and vegetables, as Americans did during WWII as Victory Gardens, as a mental and physical health relief or providing wholesome activities for children, garden centers offer products and support that individuals and communities can utilize during these stressful times.
Many of the products carried by garden retailers are agricultural, like seeds and edible plants. Others are necessary tools and supplies. Together they are essential to maintaining a healthy living environment. In many communities, the garden retailer may be the only outlet where consumers have access to essential supplies for growing, gardening, maintaining or repairing their residences.
Villager Nursery supports local, state, and federal policymakers who consider garden centers and nurseries among those operations determined to be “essential” retail outlets that may have an obligation to remain open in support of their communities during these trying times.
Sincerely,
Eric Larusson and Robert Van Dyke
Growing and Retail Establishments, are considered part of the agriculture production and processing system and the functions therein are “essential”. Garden Centers also fall under several sections of essential industry, if the garden center is selling edible products and products that aid in the cultivation of food products.
The National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets , consistent with the National Strategy for Homeland Security defines:
The Agriculture and Food Sectors include:
• The supply chains for feed, animals, and animal products;
• Crop production and the supply chains of seed, fertilizer, and other necessary related materials; and
• The post-harvesting components of the food supply chain, from processing, production, and packaging through storage and distribution to retail sales, institutional food services, and restaurant or home consumption.
Changes in the ways that food is produced, distributed, and consumed present new challenges for ensuring its safety and security.