Oh October, well played you saucy month!

Welcome back to another episode of LITFM,  and we were planning a post about how to  plant a tree but unfortunately a material shortage put that planned event on hold while the property was prepared for the garden tour in two weeks. For note the Sustainable Neighbors Garden tour is on November 2^nd, so if you want to be a location on the tour or attend the tour please sign up at the sustainable neighbor’s site below.

http://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/events/212065332/

The container garden persists even in winter as this picture demonstrates. Lettuce, radicchio and Japanese red giant mustard all occupy spots in this winter container garden. The last of the peppers and eggplant are there just to squeeze a few more fruits out of the plants.

Striped Togo eggplant. As the fruit mature they eventually turn all-orange, which makes them kind of cool as a Halloween decoration. At his point they are super-bitter as the seeds inside are nearly mature and ready for harvesting.

A very large male Wolf Spider. I found this guy in the dining room barely moving because it was probably cold, so using a drinking glass and a piece of cardboard I got him back outside in the sun where he could warm up.

Amaranth 'Love Lies Bleeding' - Amaranth did super-good this year but this patch of love lies bleeding was from seed sown early on that finally germinated.

All those zinnias I planted in mid summer have paid off, as this Monarch butterfly visited and sat still long enough for me to snap this shot at close range.

             The weather looks gorgeous for the market this Saturday and possibly for the Wednesday beyond. The Fayetteville Farmers Market is a year-round event that runs from 9:00am to 1:00pm on Saturdays and 2:00 to 6:00 pm on Wednesdays. Also there are a few farmers who set up for fourth Friday and indeed we have really good market coverage if any of you are willing to come on down to the biggest farmers market in the region.

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.

Perennial:

1x Grape, Copper Muscadine - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Cold Season Crops

6x Romaine Lettuce, “Rouge d’Hiver” - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Romaine Lettuce, “Parris Island Cos” - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Bibb Lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

4x Radicchio, “Rossa di Verona” - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Mustard Greens, India - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Mustard Greens, Japanese Red Giant - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Cabbage, Copenhagen Market  - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Cabbage, Savoy – Perfection Drumhead  - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Collards, Georgia Southern Creole - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Kale, Redbor/Red Russian - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Snow pea, Snowbird - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

This brings to a close a somewhat short episode of LITFM, hopefully by next week we'll have something really cool for you to consider, and if not....FARM TOUR the week after!