Spring is for Harvesting

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, this episode comes to you early thanks to well good timing and the attack of the pollen! No seriously it’s early because as always Mother Nature provides and today we are going to talk about the agricultural practice of ‘Culling’.  It is at the end of every season that some of your crops will be ready to harvest, but we know there are generally two primary categories of crops, the cool season crops and the warm season crops both of which must be culled. Below is a list of the varied crops of fall/winter (cool season) and spring/summer (warm season).

Cool Season Crops – Cabbage, Turnips, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Mustard, Arugula, Radishes, Kale, Collards, Lettuce, Chicory, Celery, Cilantro/Coriander, Dill, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Kohlrabi, Beets, Peas Brussel Sprouts Strawberries and Endives.

Warm Season Crops – Tomatoes, Okra, Peppers, Eggplant, Ground Cherries, Tomatillos, Basil, Fennel, Tarragon, Stevia, Cowpeas, Cucumbers, Melons, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Rhubarb, Squash, Corn, Beans, Potatoes, Calaloo/Amaranth and, Blueberries.

 

            As some of you might notice certain crops aren’t listed because they might be started in one season and be harvested in a differing one. For instance sweet potatoes might be planted in spring, but might not be harvested until fall. Likewise the term warm and cool season isn’t exactly specific because it just refers to the temperature of most of the growing days in the time period. A warm season crop like tomatoes might be started while it’s still cool in the spring, and might not be ‘culled’ until the cool days start appearing in early fall. Tomatoes definitely do most of their producing in the warm days of summer though. So on to the term culling, it sounds terrible because most of you might be familiar with the usage of the phrase ‘Culling the Herd’ which means reducing the number of a given group of animals for a specific purpose. This term can be a very bad thing when you see it in some politician’s or serial killers manifesto, but it can be good thing if say a herd of cows has grown too numerous for their own health and safety. In a more controversial use, it can be used to describe reducing the number of wild animals of a specific type in a state park, such as culling the Wolves.

 

            In the specific context of plant-based agriculture culling as a twice-yearly process where crops that are not perennial are tilled under or otherwise sent to the compost pile at the end of their useful productive life. So, in late August the nightshades (Tomatoes, Peppers, ect) are all culled to make room for the cold season crops. Likewise in spring, the Cold season crops are culled to make room for the warm season ones. The cycle repeats yearly without fail and is only really governed by the gardener’s own initiative, and the weather. Now that plant matter that you are culling has a prettier name, Harvesting, which is essentially what you are doing but in this case it is the last harvest you can get from the plants in question.  Now speaking of  what I call Last Of Year harvests this leads into some photographs from the garden of my own end of winter harvests, the harvest numbers for 2021 are coming but not ready yet so stay tuned for that.

Starting off we have a picture of the size difference between Goose, Duck and Chicken eggs for those who were curious. The goose eggs are on the left, Duck eggs in the middle and chicken eggs on the right. This isn’t exactly harvest related but useful information to have.

 

 

Here is the big and final Mustard harvest of 2021; this is a total of ten heads of Japanese Red Giant Mustard (Brassica juncea). Red giant is a variety I grow for myself and sell at the market every year because of its very predictable habits and high yield for our climate.

 

 

This is the heaviest and physically largest individual Japanese Red Giant mustard plant (Brassica juncea) I've ever grown. By itself it weighed a few fractions of an ounce over two pounds.It's central stem was over 1" in diameter and it had dozens of side-shoots. It's given me some new ideas on how to grow mustard.

 

This specimen of JRG Mustard is one where it tried to bloom after planting, I nipped the flowers off and then it did all this side branching.

 

Here we have a nearly last of year harvest of Swiss Chard (Beta vulgare) which was a total of thirty-eight heads of chard. I even sold some of this at the market. the total weight of this harvest of chard was just shy of four and a half pounds.

This is the last of the Winterbor (top), Red Russian (middle) and Marrow Stem (bottom) Kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) for the year. At this point the freezer officially reached capacity.

 

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.

 

This Week's Market List:

 

Spring Veggies: ($2.00 each on SALE!)

Parris Island Romaine Lettuce

Cherokee Lettuce

Cimarron Lettuce

Lollo Rosso Lettuce

Black Magic Dinosaur Kale

Red Russian Kale

 

Summer Veggies & Herbs: ($3.00 each)

Sungold Cherry Tomato

Chocolate Cherry Tomato

Glacier Cherry Tomato (Bush type)

San Marzano Improved Paste Tomato

Cherokee Purple Tomato

Tango Celery

Delizz Everbearing Strawberry

Toscana Everbearing Strawberry

Canary Island Sage

 

Coming Soon:

Walla Walla Sweet Onion (Plants)

Cotton

Okra

Zanzibar Castor Beans

 

 

We have a new place to share information and work on groovy sustainable stuff!  You can look for Sustainable Neighbors in our own Nextdoor.com group under the name “Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville”. You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join but it is a private group so feel free to request to join us if you are signed up on the Nextdoor.com site.

 

https://nextdoor.com/g/ybvdm226x/?is=nav_bar

 

Unfortunately, Covid-19 is still mucking up the works in terms of meeting in person. The good news is that Sustainable Neighbors does have a Discord Server. You can request access through our Meetup.com page or you can request access via our Nextdoor.com group. The meetup.com page is below for anyone looking to join us.

 

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/

 

Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t need to buy anything or maintain any sort of attendance standard, you can come on in and join the meetings. When this Covid-19 mess calms down we may be able to resume normal in-person meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market. This brings to a close the seventh LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 16^th of April. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

Severe Weather, DST and, Spring

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, this episode comes in the aftermath of Daylight Savings Time and a strangely powerful storm front that has rolled through the Southern United States. Hopefully all you readers out there heeded the weather information and took appropriate precautions to protect yourself and your property from damage. That isn’t counting the mental chaos that DST tends to cause by artificially getting you out of bed an hour early than is normal. According to numerous weather-related sources, we know that the longest day light period in Raleigh is Fourteen hours and Twenty-six minutes during the Summer Solstice. The Shortest day by comparison is just Nine Hours and Thirty-Three hours long during the Winter Solstice. This means that DST isn’t actually doing anything that wasn’t going on before the invention of the clock. This year’s summer Solstice is on June 20^th, and out Winter Solstice is December 21^st which is only really useful in Agriculture, because it allows growers to predict when certain plants that bloom based on increasing or decreasing photo-periods will do so. It helps us gardeners because we know there will be a little bit more daylight when we get home from work to handle a few short chores. How you use it is up to you but for me, I say we need to abolish the pretense of DST. According to Healtheuropa.eu, and a few other sources, your body’s internal clock isn’t based on DST. It functions based on the normal cycles of night and day that our planet does, and indeed we somewhere, somehow, always know what the natural time is…unless something screws it all up. The loss of an average of 15-30 minutes of sleep is enough to throw our internal timekeeping into disorder which increases the chances of a stroke or heart attack and may cause an increase of distracted or drowsy driving which can lead to a fatal vehicle accident. Some states in the USA have abolished DST, Hawaii and Arizona specifically. Also territories such as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands do not observe DST. It figures that the most chill tropical places don’t do it and even the one state that’s often referred to as the ‘Nursing home’ state doesn’t either.  But then, who really profits from DST anyway other than those who make timepieces, and maybe cellphone makers?

 

 

In acknowledgement of the First day of spring which is the 20^th or this Saturday, I have some spring blooms from the test gardens for your viewing pleasure. First off are these lovely Camellias (Camellia sassanqua), I do not know the specific variety, but they are always lovely and a sure sign that winter is nearing its end.

 

 

Next we have these Daffodils (Narcissus triandrus ‘Thalia’), they open sort of butter-cream colored and turn solid white. You can see all three color states in this photo.

 

 

What is a discussion of spring without a traditional yellow Daffodil (Narcissus sp)? Ths cluster of specimens punch through a ground cover of Chocolate Chip Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chip’)in late winter, they are the first  to bloom usually and have multiplied and done well.

 

Here we have a bunch of ‘sorbet’ series Johnny-Jump-Ups (Viola tricolor ‘Sorbet Fire’) in a pot with a Lace Kale  (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) plant. The color contrast was intended to brighten the winter and it’s still doing that…even as we approach spring.

 

 

 

This is a common Dandelion (Taraxicum officinale) which was intentionally planted. I keep a few of these plants around to bring in the pollinators since they bloom on and off year-round.

 

More Johnny-Jump-Ups (Viola tricolor) of the sorbet series, with a Lace Kale, that is bolting. Remember how I mentioned bolting is usually bad thing? Well in this case I’m letting it happen to provide pollen and nectar for various early pollinators.

 

Yeah, I make a LOT of use of Violas, I don’t recall what variety this is but the red was so striking that I had to work it into the garden plan.

This lovely but spiny plant is Wintergreen Barberry (Berberis julinae). It is known for its very pretty yellow flowers in late winter but also for its spiny leaves and rigid and sharp spines on the stems. If you need an area blocked off by a living wall this is your plant!

 

My lone specimen of Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium). This plant has somewhat spiny leathery leaves and is kind of slow-growing. When this Mahonia is in bloom though, the flowers which appear in late winter smell sort of like lemon dish soap. One plant can scent up large areas which is really nice and can help fight off the winter doldrums.

 

 

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.

 

This Week's Market List:

Soup Kit - Parsnip ($6.00)  

Soup Kit - Turnip ($6.00)

Just Onions ($3.00, 1lb)

Just Parsnips ($4.00 1lb) 

 

 

Spring Veggies: ($3.00 each)

Parris Island Romaine Lettuce

Cherokee Lettuce

Cimarron Lettuce

Lollo Rosso Lettuce

Black Magic Dinosaur Kale

Red Russian Kale

 

 March House Plant Collection (ON SALE!)
Starfish Sansevieria
Aloe 'Checkerboard'
Aloe 'Walmsley's Bronze'
Haworthia tesselata
Haworthia 'West Jogo'

The plant sale’s last week is this week.

                                          

We have a new place to share information and work on groovy sustainable stuff!  You can look for Sustainable Neighbors in our own Nextdoor.com group under the name “Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville”. You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join but it is a private group so feel free to request to join us if you are signed up on the Nextdoor.com site.

 

https://nextdoor.com/g/ybvdm226x/?is=nav_bar

 

Unfortunately, Covid-19 is still mucking up the works in terms of meeting in person. The good news is that Sustainable Neighbors does have a Discord Server. You can request access through our Meetup.com page or you can request access via our Nextdoor.com group. The meetup.com page is below for anyone looking to join us.

 

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/

 

Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t need to buy anything or maintain any sort of attendance standard, you can come on in and join the meetings. When this Covid-19 mess calms down we may be able to resume normal in-person meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market. This brings to a close the sixth LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 2^nd of April. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

Daylight Suffering Time is more like it!

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, this episode was delayed due to weather and schedules. The pollen is starting up and this kills the man. Daylight savings is upon us and the clocks annoyingly are set to roll one hour forward at 2am on Sunday March the 14^th. Beyond that I had the hardest time finding a good topic for all you garden folks out there and then as with anything else Mother Nature slapped me in the face with an answer. There will be a fair number of garden photographs in this post so bear with me while we discuss the horticultural term known as Bolting.

 

Bolting is an odd term because depending on context it could mean you ran from something quickly, it could refer to bolting a door, it also is the act of driving metal pins into the rock face while rock climbing. In agriculture it has a specific meaning; Bolting is when an agricultural crop has matured and puts all of its energy into producing a flower so that it can then produce seed. In the case of non-perennial plants after flowering usually the plant loses its vigor and dies after its seed is matured. Bolting brings about some internal changes to most crops as all sugars and nutrients are diverted to flower and then seed production. In lettuce this makes the leaves bitter, and they become quite unpleasant. In cabbages it’s similar but this varies on the individual specimen and other factors. It is known that bolting is triggered by plant hormones in the Gibberellin family, but which specific one varies by the species of plant, and other triggers such as temperature changes, stress, the number photoperiods in a given day, and even if you mess with a plant too much. In short when we grow leaf crops for food we are always operating under the assumption that the stress of a sudden temperature change or a failure to maintain moisture and nutrient levels will cause a bolt and potentially ruin or reduce our crops. There is thankfully a niche market for the blooms of some crops that have attempted to go to seed, and so there is that recourse if your crop decides to call it a season.

 

The test gardens are no different than any other garden in regards to bolting my late summer crops typically attempt to bolt about now and that leaves me with several options. I typically will harvest what I can and freeze what is compatible with freezing but the rest are harvested processed and made into a late winter meal or three over the course of a week or two. This year I fully intend to make a fresh veggie heavy chicken soup and a few very fresh salads. This harvest technically isn’t the end of it, if I catch the plants attempting to bloom at the right point they might resprout and produce yet more leaves. But it is all diminishing returns because the warm season crops need to be planted in less than a month from now. How you handle this is up to you, but bolting can be used to your benefit if you time your harvests right and trick your crops into thinking they did not bolt at all.

 

 

This Mizuna Mustard has gone for it, full on flowering!



Oh no, not you Winterbor Kale!

 

 

 What's this, even my Collards have decided to call it a season!

 

 

 These are Dinosaur Kale plants that are just starting to flower.

 

 

 Here we have a bunch of radishes bolting. Honestly their flowers are kind of pretty.

 

 

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.

 

This Week's Market List:

Soup Kit - Parsnip ($6.00)  

Soup Kit - Turnip ($6.00)

Just Onions ($3.00, 1lb)

Just Parsnips ($4.00 1lb) 

 

 

Spring Veggies: ($3.00 each)

Parris Island Romaine Lettuce

Cherokee Lettuce

Cimarron Lettuce

Lollo Rosso Lettuce

Black Magic Dinosaur Kale

Red Russian Kale

March House Plant Collection (ON SALE!)
Starfish Sansevieria
Aloe 'Checkerboard'
Aloe 'Walmsley's Bronze'
Gasteria fusopunctata - Ox-tongue
Haworthia tesselata
Haworthia Savannah
Haworthia 'West Jogo'
Mistletoe Cactus, 'Drunkards Dream'

 

There is no plant spotlight this week because all houseplants are on sale. I have to make room for the crops on the growing trays and prices have been cut even on the stuff that was $4.00.  So, there will be deals and steals but I will not be listing the prices online, you're going to have to come on down and get the goods.

                                          

We have a new place to share information and work on groovy sustainable stuff!  You can look for Sustainable Neighbors in our own Nextdoor.com group under the name “Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville”. You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join but it is a private group so feel free to request to join us if you are signed up on the Nextdoor.com site.

 

https://nextdoor.com/g/ybvdm226x/?is=nav_bar

 

Unfortunately, Covid-19 is still mucking up the works in terms of meeting in person. The good news is that Sustainable Neighbors does have a Discord Server. You can request access through our Meetup.com page or you can request access via our Nextdoor.com group. The meetup.com page is below for anyone looking to join us.

 

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/

 

Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t need to buy anything or maintain any sort of attendance standard, you can come on in and join the meetings. When this Covid-19 mess calms down we may be able to resume normal in-person meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market. This brings to a close the fifth LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 19^th of March. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.