Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, where we talk about garden stuff and occasionally get on a really tiny soap box. So let’s open this post with a discussion about the sudden change in weather. As you all might have noticed things have gotten rainy and cooler overall. This isn’t actually the onset of autumn, this is a side effect of the massive number of fires on the west coast and the smoke they are generating having a cooling effect as the smoke adds haze to the skies. The rain is part of a series of hurricanes and tropical depressions altering the normal weather patterns to bring about more moisture. With these environmental factors combined they are Captain Planet! No, wait that’s not right…correction, these environmental factors are literal climate change at work. The wild fires are due to the fact that the west is tinder dry due to a long-standing shortfall in precipitation. Despite what a certain person might say, eighteen month old trees don’t normally suddenly explode like a grenade, and leaf cleanup while technically managed by controlled burns isn’t going to magically reverse changes in climate patterns. When you have a portion of a continent that isn’t getting precipitation over a long it undergoes what is called desertification. Basically the lack of rain to refill undergrounds aquifers and surface bodies of water causes the given region to become inhospitable to a multitude of life forms. If this persists the land and climate will slowly revert to something akin to an actual desert. Desertification is a process that can be reversed but it takes a big government-level investment and it may take generations worth of time to undo. Likewise as we see higher high temperatures across the globe the end result is more numerous storm activity events ranging from tornadoes, to derechos, tropical depressions and hurricanes. This is a harder process to reverse as it will take a global commitment, and potentially a century or two of major changes to our life styles and habits to make any meaningful change. Defeating climate change is a tall order but it is something you can help with by doing little things like recycling and making compost. Planting trees can help lock away some carbon while also feeding and improving the soil can create biodiversity and help in reducing C02. We all need to do a little bit to make sure that there is something left for future generations to enjoy.
But enough of that, in terms of differing gardening news the Autumn Botanical Test Garden tour is coming up. I am shooting for the 18th of October between the hours of 2pm and 5pm. It is hoped that by then we will have seen another reduction in the Covid-19 restrictions and the weather will cooperate. If not, expect to bring masks, and the Rain Date for the event will be the 25th of October, just before Halloween. By then I can assure you there will be plenty of fall delights for your gardening fancy and you get to see what’s going on in the test gardens. I can tell you this, 2020 despite politics and other crazy things that happened has been an amazing harvest year, so you can expect some impressive information and some ideas that flip the script when it comes to gardening. But let’s move on from the shameless promotions to talk some crazy-good garden stuff.
Southern Praying Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina)
-This is a male.
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
Two events tell me that summer is at it's end, Labor Day and the arrival of Monarch Butterflies. The monarchs come for the late summer milkweed blossoms and the nectar they produce as they migrate southwards towards South America. It is truthfully my humble contribution to the survival of such majestic insects that are endangered by habitat loss when I plant varied colors and types of milkweed.
Golden Northern Bumblebee ( Bombus fervidus)
I've said it before, but here's some proof; the test gardens does not focus on Honey Bees, it focuses on native pollinators for the sake of encouraging native bio-diversity. Golden Northern bumblebees were a pleasant surprise this year as they seemed to love hitting up the Blue African Basil and the Tithonia (pictured) hardcore.
Cicada (Neotibicen sp.)
This year was supposed to be among all that has happened this year; a mega cicada brook named brood XI emerged in 2020 and made their presence known. I also noticed an rise in the number of Cicada killers this year before the Cicadas emerged and this might be a biologically timed response or a fluke. I did not have a lot of cicadas in the test gardens because I have a large Cicada Killer Wasp population that comes to feed on nectar from my mint plants.
In case you've never seen it this is what an eggplant looks like when left on the plant long enough to produce seeds.
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. Also, as of the start of 2019, my booth can now process credit or debit cards thanks to the acquisition of s a Square reader so your payment options have doubled. With that said, if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic vegetables, herbs and fruiting shrubs come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
Food Plants: (3” Peat Pots)
Arugula: $3.00
Mustard, Red Giant: $3.00
Kale, Lace: $3.00
Kale, Lacinato: $3.00
Kale, Scotch Blue Curled: $3.00
Celery, Tango: $3.00
Herbs: (3” Peat Pots)
Black Fennel: $3.00
Coming Soon:
Cabbage, Ruby Perfection
Chicory, Curled Endive
Collards, Alabama Blue
Collards, Carolina
Lettuce, Cherokee Fire
Kale, Marrow Stem
Kale, Red Russian
Kale, Rainbow Lacinato
Swiss Chard, Red
Swiss Chard, Green
Spinach, Avon
Due to the current Covid-19 situation and the state’s requirement that all citizens are not to gather in groups of more than ten, the weekly Sustainable neighbors meeting is online. Please check the sustainable neighbors Meetup.com page for more info about how to attend our online meeting.
https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/
Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t need to sign up for anything or join anything, you can come on in and join the meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market. This brings to a close the eighteenth LITFM post of 2020; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 2nd of October. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.
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