Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmers
Market or LITFM to all you internet abbreviation fans out there. This episode
is one of the more important ones of the year because we have a major
announcement and some good photographs from the garden. So let’s start with the
announcements since that part is time sensitive. In case you have not been to the Sustainable
Neighbors page lately this weekend, specifically on Sunday the 8th
between the hours of 1 and 4pm there is a garden tour. There are two Locations
and this is an unstructured tour, you can go to one location or both and visit
in any order you choose. The two locations are Melissa’s Celtic Gardens and My
own Test Gardens. The full information including driving directions on both is
posted on the Sustainable Neighbors site.
For the record I have to say that visitors to the test
gardens will get to see what’s on the growing rack before anyone else,
including a few items not due for sale for a few months. Visitors are welcome
to purchase stuff off the racks and as per tradition if it’s outside and on the
racks it’s available for sale. But of course today’s main topic covers some
good garden photographs and a little bit of advice concerning our strange
weather.
First off, we know the weather is hot and miserable, rain
has been so unreliable that for the first time in test garden history in North
Carolina I ran a rain barrel empty irrigating the plants in the month of May.
For record I expect to brain a barrel dry in August or July but may is
typically unheard of. We’ve received no precipitation of any note (less than
0.05”) and supposedly there is a band of thunder storms headed our way. So
maybe we have some relief in the cards but honestly I’ll believe it when I see
it. Now keep in mind, as a rule of thumb most new plantings need daily or
nearly daily watering for roughly two weeks to get the transplants established.
Larger transplants such as trees or shrubs may need longer care to reduce the
effects of transplant shock.
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| Solanum quitoense – Bed of Nails/ Naranjilla |
Here are True Facts about the Bed of Nails Plont. If you
asked a gardener who spends too much time in the sun to suggest the perfect
plont to define sexual deviancy he might just select the Bed of Nails..... and then open his trench coat to flash you. Being a
part of the nightshade family pretty much guarantees some shady business is
going on. That’s right belladonna I’m looking at you with your saucy murderous haucinogenic mayhem. The bed of nails plont is named
for its spine covered leaves and stems which might just be the fantasy of one
Marquis De Sade. That’s right kids…ask your parents if you can Google that.
Enjoy the nightmare fuel....just doin' my part. Bed of nails is best known for being painful…and
being painful and…well it’s a tropical depression of pain. The spines make
handling it, harvesting its fruit or attempting to get the money you loaned it it
back a pain. In fact even after it dies its dead spines are still dangerous
making it well…you get the idea.For those of you not excited by this, some have suggested it as a barrier plont beneath a teenage daughters window. It's like a total C*** block and cold shower all in one just thinking about it. In fact some theorize that the only reason bed
of nails has fruit is to lure people into its thorns making it the sociopath of
the garden.*
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| Centaurrea cyanus - Bachelors Buttons |
I’ve had pictures of this up before but not while it is in
full bloom. This plant is a result of the same seed mix that introduced the
evening primroses, Larkspur, small pink poppies, several cosmos and the
tickseed plant pictured below. Honestly I don’t know why the plant is called
what it is as buttons in that shape must’ve been a pain to get undone but the
blue color of the flowers is quite striking.
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| Coreopsis tinctoria –Plains Coreopsis |
I admit the angle on this one is a little funny because this
little tickseed was growing under a much larger evening primrose. There are a
few of these guys in the crescent bed and they came in with the wildflower seed
mix and hopefully will naturalize.
 |
| Hemerocallis fulva – Tawny Daylily |
These daylilies finally bloomed in a corner of the yard and
much to surprise they are the breed of day lily often indicated as entirely
edible and one of the better ones for foraging. The pretty orange blooms are a
double bonus however as they do brighten an area under a Crape Myrtle.
 |
| Lampranthus sp. – Ice Plant |
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| Plectrantus amboinicus – Cuban Oregano |
That’s right; it’s a member of the Swedish Ivy family and
yet is edible and in taste and scent sort of resembles a mix between basil and
oregano. The normal ones you might see at the store have smaller solid green
leaves but as of late varieties have appeared that look like this or that also
have splashes of pink on the leaves.Ironically it makes for a fantastic house plant so you have a supply of herbal goodness year-round.
This covers the garden topics and we must move on to a
discussion of the farmers market this weekend. The weather has said there is a
50% chance of showers that’s the same for Thursday and Friday so hopefully the
weather system isn’t going to mess with Saturday. The weather for Sunday is
supposed to be clear and sunny and hopefully what storms we get will cool off
the temperatures a bit. The Fayetteville Farmer’s Market runs from 9:00 am
through 1:00 pm and may go later if there is enough foot traffic. The market is
located at 325 Franklin Street in the Transportation Museum’s parking lots and
is a rain or shine event. I might add the Sustainable neighbors Garden tour is
on Sunday between 1:00 and 4:00pm information about the tour can be found in
the link at the beginning of this article. But enough of the event information
below is this week’s plant list.
Southward Skies: A
northern guide to southern Gardening
This is the second
edition of my book, which was published using data compiled from several years
of test garden operations. It’s written to aid gardeners of all skill levels in
successful garden methods that are targeted for the south east but had proven
to be a valued resource for gardens across the eastern coast. It’s certainly a
good gift for that gardener you know or for yourself if you’d like to have a
reliable field guide. The book costs $25.00
and we do take checks for this item, you can even have it signed.
Vegetables
2x Eggplant, Casper , 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Eggplant, Early Black Egg, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Eggplant, Louisiana Long Green, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Pepper, Jalapeno, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Pepper, Habenero, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Pepper, Sweet Banana , 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Pepper, Pimento, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Pepper, Carolina Wonder, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Tomato, Brown Berry, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Tomato, Cherokee Purple, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Tomato, Martino’s Roma, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Tomato, Rainbow Cherry Mix, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Tomato, Red & Yellow Currant, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Tomato, Reisotomate, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Tomato, Underground Railroad, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
Fruits
8x Strawberry- Ozark Beauty, 3.5” pot ($3.00) (On sale!)
Herbs
2x Artemesia, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
4x Basil, Sweet, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Basil, Thai, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Basil, Cinnamon, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Basil, Red Rubin, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Bee Balm, Lambada, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Chives, Common, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Fennel, Black, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
1x Lavender, Munstead, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
1x Mint, Chocolate, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Marjoram, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
4x Oregano, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Parsley, Italian, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
1x Rosemary, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Sage, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Thyme, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
Coming Soon:
Black Hungarian Pepper
Potatoleaf Hillbilly Tomato
Japanese Black Trifele Tomato
Angel’s Trumpet “Bloomfield”
Passion Vine
Cucumber, Poona Kheera
Cucumber, Armenian
Melon, Vine Peach
Melon, Horned
This wraps up another episode of LITFM, I hope you all
didn’t mind the jokes about the bed of nails plant; those jokes just had to be
made. Feel free to let LITFM know if you want that to be a recurring spoof or
if I should quit while I am ahead. Barring that remember to keep an eye on your
hanging baskets and small pots during this type of weather as they may dry out
faster than you expect. Thank you for reading
*P.S. All of the above
is a joke, if you do not get the reference, look here and be prepared for
hilarity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-BbpaNXbxg
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