Summer is that you?

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmer’s Market. So here we are on the first official LITFM episode of the summer of 2014. Imagine that, we’ve come through some very strange weather as there was that brief drought period, and now constant thunderstorms some of which featured very violent winds and hail. Personally I find this odd weather to be the result of climate change but then that’s just me. Never before have I seen such alternating flood/drought periods or for that matter hail as often as in 2014. Granted what I just said is personal opinion which isn’t science fact and thus we move on to some actual science fact; this week’s episode.

As we know it’s now summer and of course we had that bit of drought but fortunately the recent series of thunder storms finally made their way to the region of the Test gardens and the storm event on Monday delivered a 0.5” of rain with the storm on Thursday adding another 1.5” for a total of 2.0”.  Not bad for a post drought rainfall it’s certainly enough to replenish the rain barrel water supply. For this week’s post we’ve got some garden photographs that answer some of your questions at the farmer’s market booth.

Blue berries tomatoes developing note the nice purple shoulders but green underside.

A few days later the bottoms begin to turn and we have this reddish coloration.

So I had to post up two developing pictures of the same blue berries tomato plant to show to those who doubted a blue tomato exists that yes it does and it's incredibly glorious. I know it's only going to make cherry tomatoes but I still have plans to processes the little buggers and make something "purple-mato" out of it.  It's just plain fun to watch this plant develop and despite all the plants being tagged by roman numeral only to be able to pick this one out without trying because of fruit and foliage color. Will this tomato return next year more likely than not.

Chichorum intybus - Chicory

I don't precisely recall who asked me about it during the tour but chicory has wonderful blooms as you can see. They tend to last through summer and are a good feature to support pollinators in the area. Now that you see the blooms I'm sure you might think you've seen them along the highways somewhere. Typically chicory is indeed a nearly indestructible roadside weed. It's taproot is much like the one found on the dandelion it reaches deep for moisture and has no issue finding it.

Achillea millefolium - Yarrow (Medicinal)

Yarrow is one of those self-naturalizing herbs that has a lot of bloom color options and can handle heat, drought and other general environmental nastiness once established. It does also as you can see bloom and thus is good for the pollinators. However only white blooming yarrow with the scientific name above is considered medicinal. There are many yarrow varieties bred to have differing colored blooms but the white blooming types are the most durable.

Cosmos bipinnatus - Garden Cosmos

Admittedly these little cosmos were not even sprouted at the time of the tour and as soon as they emerged all these mushrooms emerged  did what they needed to do and disappeared a few days after leaving the cosmos unharmed. My best guess here is that the mycelium for these mushrooms came in with the soil I used to raise the soil level in the bed. Some would not approve of such happening however it told me that the soil was already inoculated and now there will be beneficial fungi in the soil that may aid in converting the soil I used into topsoil. This natural balance is a good thing actually you want stuff like this to happen. By the way the chicken wire screen over the seedlings was there to prevent squirrel damage.

Cucurbita ??? - Unknown volunteer squash plant

Visitors on the tour saw where I was actively training a squash plant that had volunteered up into a dogwood tree and here is a photo of it's first bloom. While not precisely the most showy bloom only squash seem to have that perfect yellow-gold mixture.

Monarda sp. "Lambada" - Lambada Bee Balm (old)

Monarda sp. "Lambada" - Lambada Bee Balm (new)

So some of the visitors to the booth had been asking what the bee balm I sold would look like in the landscape. and here are two pictures, the one up top is an older and somewhat unhappy cluster in the shady rock garden. Notice it's a tad paler and the leaves are larger while the plant is a bit shorter. The lower picture is a new cluster planted in the crescent garden it's colors are more vibrant, and it's much taller to the point I could not get the whole picture in frame. Needless to say Bee Balm is very versatile and for those of you who nabbed some of these plants your in for a treat.

The Horticultural Turret

For those who've had th chance to look through the test garden yearbook you might notice this is the second time I have constructed a circular raised bed on the property. The original was the "Figgy Turret" which contained the first fig on property a Celeste type. This time I went with making it a physical, feature that was noticeable day and night that served to grow food crops. Int his case you can see tricolor and molten fire amaranth growing within the bed. Amaranth is related to spinach for note and is cooked the same way.

Sanseveria trifaciata - Snake Plant

So in the last week or two I posted a picture of these strange stalks emerging from my snake plant. I could not tell what they were but the looked like flowers for sure. The stalks had little clear droplets of sweet nectar on them and it seemed that that was a wrap for a botanical oddity but I was wrong. I found my self walking through the lab smelling this ultra sweet hyacinth fragrance...and suddenly realized the snake plant had bloomed. the flowers are short lived wispy things that smell incredible. None of my manuals mention the bloom as if the authors have seen them so hey a first for LITFM.

Capsicum anuum - Mixed peppers

Speaking of errors and omissions, what I originally thought was a pot of sangria peppers turns out to be a pot of sangria peppers and a single black pearl pepper. That's right the sangria when solid green and some how a black pearl pepper seed got into the mix. Honestly this is the sport of volunteer/seeding incident I can live with.

Although the weather looks a bit strange this weekend I do still suggest you come on out to the Fayetteville farmer's market. It's rather wise to bring along a umbrella just in case of a shower but beyond that the Fayetteville farmer’s market occurs Wednesdays between 2 and 6 pm, and on Saturdays between 9am and 1 pm. The market is located at 325 Franklin Street in the front parking lot of the Fayetteville Transportation museum. I’m now present at both market days so you now have two opportunities per week to hit up the booth for info or plants. As you can see int he plant list for Saturday the first of the summer plants are showing up at the booth with several selections from the black eye susan (rudbeckia) and the coneflower (echniacea) groups.

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, 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)

3x 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)

1x Tomato, Underground Railroad, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Cucumber, Armenian, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Cucumber, Poona Kheera, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Melon, Horned/Kiwano, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Fruits

2x Ground Cherry, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Herbs

2x Artemesia, Wormwood, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Basil, Sweet, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Basil, Thai, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Basil, Cinnamon, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Basil, Red Rubin, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Chives, Common, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Fennel, Black, 7” pot ($6.00)

2x Lavender, Hidcote, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

4x Oregano, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Parsley, Italian, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Rosemary, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Sage, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Thyme, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Ornamental:

2x Passion Vine, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Echinacea, White Swan, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Echinacea, Magnus, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Echinacea, Cheyenne Spirit, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Rudbeckia, Irish Eyes, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Rudbeckia, Golden, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Rudbeckia, Summer Sun, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon:

Black Hungarian Pepper

Potatoleaf Hillbilly Tomato

Japanese Black Trifele Tomato

Grape, Bronze Muscadine

This wraps up this somewhat late episode of LITFM, I hope to see some of you at the market and well lets look at the weather in a positive light. The drought is give or take over so at least that's not a problem, keeping up with mowing the grass however might be.

Much Ado About A Cold Frame

Oh Myyy! The Ladies of Sustainable Neighbors get their hardcore 'Rosie the Riveter' vibe on.

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmer’s Market, today‘s post is the last one of February and the first time this year I’ll say hey folks it’s not as bad as it looks. Please keep score, it’s supposed to be a record year for weather so let’s hope it’s the last time I say such a thing. The winter weather last week blanketed everything in roughly six inches of snow and ice and deposited perhaps two inches of precipitation, and then it started raining. Rain activity on Saturday, overnight on Tuesday and then the early morning thunderstorm on Wednesday sure set us right for water. A rough total of 3.3” were noted at the headquarters’ rain gauges and well we’re standing by it. But the weather isn’t today’s topic at all but rather the new three-tier cold frame recently installed at the headquarters so please read on to know more and at the end of this post as always is the plant list for Saturday. Be warned, the herbs with their house plant reinforcements have begun to invade the booth!

Speaking of garden endeavors I’ve got to talk about one of the new additions to our facilities over at LITFM head quarters. As some of you may have heard we recently as part of the 2014 winter budget put in an order for a three-tier wooden cold frame. Well the first picture of the genuine article in all it’s cedar wood and poly carbonate glazing glory can be had below.

Oh yes it is atop a raised set of construction blocks because putting our cold frames on a pedestal is how we roll!

So of course I have to talk about the lengthy process of building and placing this cold frame unit. First off it was ordered through Jung Seed due to the free shipping deal they were offering at the time. The unit cost about $180.00 and is made of a light weight red cedar wood. In fact the heavy aroma of cedar filled the headquarters dining room for a few days post construction. Overall the entire unit weighed in at about 27 pounds for the obvious reason that the large areas of poly carbonate glazing comprised most of the cold frames surface area.  I discovered that the unit needed some additional wood working skill because the instructions were not always helpful and in some cases the holes for mounting hardware and hinges were absent. More so the bottom-mounted cross braces seemed counter productive and the screws that went with them stripped so fast I have expected they came from some cheap hardware themed gentleman’s bar on Bragg Boulevard.  Once assembled though it became clear that the unit would need a little help to survive a few years of LITFM field service so the cold frame’s placement was incorporated into the drainage project’s Cistern. It took six ‘normal’ cinder blocks to make the footing for the cold frame which raised it at least two inches above ground level and this footing was placed over the cistern at the end of the drainage trench. This put the cold frame in a good east/north east facing under the roof overhang of the head quarters against a wall painted light which would maximize light hours in the cool sunshine of the morning.

Thompsons Water Seal? Oh hell no Cabot all up in here!

The next step was protecting the investment, with the cold frame mounted above ground level to avoid soil contact as per the unit’s instructions the next step was to apply outdoor polyurethane to all wooden structural components. It took about seven working days to complete the polyurethane application to the unit both inside and out. Special attention was paid to the points at which the wood held the polycarbonate glazing in and a double application was made to the top panels and front doors to ensure proper water resistance of all wooden parts where possible. Even the interior and the two removable shelves got a heavy coating of polyurethane just to be certain of the longevity of the wooden parts of the cold frame. Keep in mind during certain parts of this project I had to set up a special table covered in paper inside the headquarters to keep the project going during that last cold snap. The main body of the cold frame was completed in stages and during our latest warm spell I was often out painting the unit on the back bed of the truck. None the less the project was completed in good time. Now I know what your thinking here; “But you said it was cedar that stuff doesn’t rot.” Indeed cedar is rot-resistant however cut limber isn’t the same as natural logs, cedar lumber still resists rot but is also vulnerable anywhere it is constantly wet, or where there is an angle or end because of the exposed wood fibers. As you can figure a roughly rectangular cold frame made of wood with window panels is basically one big angle so special attention to sealing the wood  was critical.

Caulking, not just for innuendo anymore!

Sealing the wood is in reality half the battle in a way because there are areas that I cannot apply polyurethane to. Those areas also tend to allow drafts and water into the unit as well so of course they were the next point of attention. Anywhere there is glazing, be it glass, plexiglas or polycarbonate the point where the glazing meets the frame is a weak spot in the design from the perspective of keeping heat in or water out. So once the polyurethane coating was applied it became time to apply clear outdoor use caulk. Thus all external surfaces were caulked on one day while the internal ones were caulked the next. This caulking actually serves to settle the glazing in place and adds the final layer of waterproofing and some additional structural integrity to the unit.

The original corner braces and their screws left a lot to be desired.

Ain’t no stopping us now, we replaced the screws.

But wait there is one more step that went into completing this project. Remember those crappy screws I told you about? Those small screws went to a set of black cross braces that went below the front of the unit. Four screws per brace and the brace was anchored under the bottom of the side panel and under the front structural bar which sits under the two front doors. Being so unimpressed with the quality of the screws and finding that the braces lifted the unit up enough to allow drafts into the unit I discarded both and substituted four smaller zinc-steel L-braces inside the unit at the top support bar and bottom support bar. With the caulk cured properly and the braces in place the last step was to place the unit on its footing and see if any herbaceous tenants would move in.

Hmmm maybe if the for rent sign didn’t look like a serial killer did it…

Oop! Whats this?!

Hey now!

This brings to a close today’s episode of ‘As the Cold Frame Turns’ but tune in next week when there is conflict in the cold frame as Mr. Prickly pear confronts Mrs. Garlic Chives about her body odor. 

Alright so that last bit was a whole lot of silly on my part, All Winter No Spring makes the author of LITFM a crazy gardener!  You can see the crazy in person at this weekend’s Fayetteville City/Farmer’s Market. The market is a 365 day a year event that occurs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I’m there on Saturdays between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM and the market is located on 325 Franklin Street in the parking lot of the Fayetteville Transportation Museum. But enough of the plugging lets get to the plant and material list for this weekend.

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.

Black Magic Fertilizer

That’s right you’ve heard about it in trials all summer. This specially formulated liquid fertilizer was made and tested at the test gardens using natural ingredients and no chemicals. The result explosive growth, great harvests and of course no environmental side effects! We’re making batches of this stuff to order, at $6.00 per gallon of fertilizer. You can either order it at the market and pick it up the next week or have it delivered to your home in the Fayetteville area for a delivery charge of an additional $2.00.

Fresh Cut Herbs

Bundles of Fresh Rosemary, short stem ($1.00)

House Plants

5x Holiday Cactus ($3.00)

3x Desert Privet ($3.00)

4x Dancing Bones Cactus ($3.00)

Garden Plants

1x Stone Head Cabbage Plant 0.5 gal pot ($3.00)

1x Savoy Cabbage Plant 0.5 gal pot ($3.00)

Herbs

2x Green Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Black Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Bloody Sorrel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Lamb’s Ear, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Green Lavender-Cotton, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Tansy, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Angelica, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Rosemary, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

So this wraps up the month of February and boy what a month, what a winter it has been.  We went from cold and wet, to warm to freezing to cold to wet and back to freezing again. I believe they say March is in like a lion and out like a lamb. Apparently February did not get the note it’s not supposed to act like March.

P.S.

Call me what you will but I was out at 4 AM on Wednesday checking the drainage system during the thunderstorms. There are three words for that: Gardener – Hard Core.