For its fourth annual spring-season kickoff party, Red Wagon Plants invites green thumbs and the greenhouse-curious on a sunset hoop-house wander. Peruse pansies, potted herbs and veggies while taking a backstage look at how the pros handle early-season planting. Since it’s Friday afternoon, sip a boozy beverage made with Red Wagon herbs and tipples by Caledonia Spirits. If the garden dreaming and greenhouse chatting keep you out past suppertime, fear not: Farmers & Foragers food truck will dish out Vermont beef cheesesteaks, veggie poutine, perch po’boys and avocado tacos. Spring bonus: According to the weatherman, temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-50s — and our dear old friend sunshine is scheduled to appear.

Opening Day Cocktail Party: Friday, April 14, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Red Wagon Plants, Hinesburg. Cocktails, $5. Info, redwagonplants.com.

More food events

Backyard Composting Basics: Tired of trashing banana peels and apple cores? Learn how, where and why to convert kitchen waste and other organic matter into food-growing fertilizer. Saturday, April 15, 10-11 a.m., Waterbury Public Library. Free; preregister. Info, 244-7036.

Pop-Up Easter Brunch: Middle Eastern and French flavors thread through a menu of biscuits, cured ham, coconut chicken and banana-fig tea cakes, presented by V Smiley of V Smiley Preserves. Sunday, April 16, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Tandem, Bristol. Cost of food and drink. Info, 734-4236.

Bill Mares & Todd Haire: Journey through the craft-beer revolution with the brewers’ book Making Beer: From Homebrew to the House of Fermentology. Tuesday, April 18, 7 p.m., Phoenix Books, Burlington. $3. Info, phoenixbooks.biz.

Hannah Palmer Egan was a Seven Days food writer from 2014-2019. She was a 2017 James Beard Journalism Award finalist for her coverage of Vermont's food and agriculture industries, and received food writing awards from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. She lives in northeast Pennsylvania with her family, where she works in the outdoor lifestyle and adventure tourism industry.