Gardening In Winter

     Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, where we were going to continue our discussion of pruning things in the winter. Unfortunately that post is delayed because as it turns out I have to order a piece of equipment online as it is out of stock in the store. Go figure that this happened and it seems to be the theme of the last few months complete with a sad “waa-waa” sound effect. Now this means I will have to cover something else for this slightly delayed post and that will be some garden photographs. I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again, just because it is winter does not mean no gardening can be done. The first day of spring this year is on March 20th. The last frost date for zone 8A which is most of Fayetteville is April 21st-30th, so with that in mind we know how much time we have for winter operations before the weather warms and the mosquito brigade starts being a problem again. The catch here is that our winter weather has been colder than prior years and there is no reason to suspect this will change for 2021 if all of January is any indicator. He have 95 nearly-guaranteed cold weather days left in the winter to early-spring season to work with and now is the time to do those effort-heavy labor projects.

The Winter garden at the test gardens is proof that you can have something going on in the winter.

    For today’s post there is a topic substitution while I wait for the new powered tool to arrive * Tim Allen Grunting noises intensify!*. If you planned your garden well then you should have something to harvest right now in the dead of winter. So let me show you what is in my garden at the headquarters right now.

    Those of you who hit up the market in fall of 2020 know that for the first time in several years I offered spinach plants for sale. They were not a good seller, which seems par for the course from prior experiences. I don’t know why folks don’t like spinach much but the surplus did not go to waste. These four plants were planted in a 14” pot and placed out with no expectations. They weathered frost and rain and all the cold temperatures and they are finally starting to get some size. I imagine with a bit of fertilizer in the next two months I might have something harvestable later. Maybe this is the big secret to growing spinach in zone 8A, plant in October, and let them be until late winter/early spring.

    Now this is a surprise, I never got any Rainbow Lacinato Kale to the market in 2020 and the undersized seedlings were thinned for the largest and best looking plants and stuck in the veggie garden in a big block. They look nothing like Dinosaur kale, the seed packets for them said they were variable in color and shape but, I didn’t see this coming. The picture does them no justice as they are this deep purple-green color that is quite fetching. A win for weird food plants for sure!

    The Swiss Chard I planted is showing some strange mutations as well. I planted the green type almost exclusively as a spinach substitute for when I make Henbit curry in the spring to add bulk greens to it. Well some look normal and some have these beautiful more spinach looking leaves and I am not upset about this at all. Could this be the next big variety or just a happy little accident in the seed packaging process of my supplier? Either way this just more healthy greens for me to harvest.

    Here is another biennial I sold at the market, ‘Ruby Perfection’ Cabbage. It wasn’t a great seller but then the seedlings were not very dramatically red. This more mature specimen and the other three in its row are fantastically red-purple, everything a red cabbage should be and also they indicate by color the soil is definitely acidic in pH. 

    Red Russian Kale is another variety I sold at the market; it is also known as ragged jack. It comes in a green form and some other variants but none get the extravagant purple color that this one does. It also seems to make for the best kale-bean soup base as the leaves have more chew and crunch despite cooking. Red Russian isn’t as crunchy as Dinosaur Kale but a delight nonetheless.

Accipiter cooperii

    Here is our last picture, this is a Cooper’s Hawk spotted just beyond the train tracks behind the Transportation Museum during the market on Saturday the 23rd of January. It isn’t the best picture I’ve ever taken, but still, everyone should know there are several species of Hawks in our region and they are beneficial in that they eliminate certain animal pests that might damage crops or livestock.


    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.


Fresh Produce:
Soup Kit: Parsnip: $6.00
Soup Kit: Turnip: $6.00
Garlic Bulbs: $1.00
Seasoning Packets: $2.00
Shallots: $2.00
Parsnips, 1lb: $4.00
Turnips, 1lb: $3.00
Onions, 1lb: $3.00


January House Plant Collection:
Haworthia 'Fat Albert': $8.00
Haworthia 'West Jogo': $7.00
Devil's Backbone: $7.00
Sausage Spurge: $4.00
Starfish Sansevaria: $7.00
Aloe 'Sunset': $8.00
Aloe 'Checkerboard': $8.00
Rhipsalis, Slender: $7.00
Rhipsalis 'Drunkards Dream': $7.00


House Plant Spotlight!



Aloe deltoideodonta ' Sparkler' - Checkerboard Aloe

    That scientific name is quite the mouthful of Latin!  These members of the Aloe family get their name from the almost square spots on the leaves which in contrast to the grey-green leaves. This unique aloe is fairly easy to grow and does not ask for much other than occasional water and mild fertilizer (monthly) during the growing months (May-Sept). It is unclear if this particular aloe yields any medicinal gel, but it certainly is a unique addition to your collection. The two things you should never do with a succulent or this aloe is to allow the plant to sit in a puddle of water or to keep its soil constantly wet. The second thing is to never expose this plant to temperatures below 35 degrees as it can suffer frost damage which may introduce disease and cause the aloe to decline. As a final note, Checker Board aloes do best when potted in clay pots and only require repotting every 2-5 years or as needed. Pot-bound aloes will produce offsets more frequently than aloes that have ample room for their roots.


    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 is the second LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned for our next post on or about the 5th of February. Don’t forget to check out of YouTube videos at LITFM-Garden Shorts.

September showers bring October...bah...doesn't rhyme.

Welcome back to a slightly rain-soaked edition of Lost In the Farmers Market or LITFM for short. As we’ve discovered by googling* our own name… that apparently our short hand acronym also means “Look In The F****** Manual”.  Don’t worry you won’t find that sort of impatient vulgarity here on LITFM, well unless we’re talking about Monsanto who deserves heaping piles of vulgarity just because. With that said as of this writing we have had several rain events since our last post.  We had a total of 1.85” last week after the last post spread across two precipitation incidents and now between Sunday and Monday, we have had a total of 0.00”.  In short making sure things are irrigated is not a problem right now. Compared to the weather last year we’re practically swimming in precipitation which for long term growth is a good thing and since larger landscape plants means irrigation and the cool temperatures and rain make the task easier.

The Harvest moon was visible on the 5^th and 6^th and again on the 9^th.

But precipitation aside, I get a lot of folks at the market who are form other places who want to know how to grow things in the North Carolina climate and often the discussion the booth can’t quite cover it all. So for this episode I in print will reiterate the five critical things to know about adapting to the North Carolina climate especially considering it’s almost time to plant the cold-season crops.

1. The Weather

The North Carolina is fairly regular, and usually by April you can figure out what the rest of the year will do within some fair margin. Usually the hard frosts happen between December and April and the drought period tends to start in Late july and range through August. High humidity is a normal thing year-round because of the geography of the state and the fact that we are just barely in the start of the Sub-tropical zone. This means our thunderstorms can be pretty violent, as can the hurricanes and there is always a risk of tornadoes. Due to this it’s always wise to have a rain catchment system and be very wary of erosion of your land.

2. The Soil

The soil in our state varies greatly but in the Fayetteville area we range from gray clay to red clay and sand soils. There are obviously places where you will find mixtures of the aforementioned types and occasionally you may find all three in the same spot.  Due to the swampy areas you may even find a soil type called ‘muck’ due to its high organic content and it being constantly wet. I might add that many underground rivers and surface riparian areas wind through the area making the land and its soil very diverse.

With all that said generally our soils suffer from nutrient deficiencies due to the fact that in the case of clay the soil particles compact and prevent the movement of water and nutrients. In the case of sand the soil particles are so large that water does not stick around for long and nutrient washes out into the subsoil putting it out of reach of the roots of most plants. So, what is one to do under this situation? The answer is simple, you add slow-decaying organic matter, compost and manure products to darken and enrich the soil in general while also increasing its nutrient capacity and water retention. I have to admit that unless your building raised beds or using containers it’s a slow process to make the soil acceptably fertile but it can be done.

3. The Bugs

Let’s face it, with the warm and humid climate you will encounter larger and more numerous critters in general. Because we have such a long warm season you can expect to encounter uglies such as palmetto bugs, several types of mosquitos, fleas and ticks almost year-round. Your crops will likely have to fight off attacks by varied types of caterpillars, and then there is dealing with the fire ants and for your furniture the possibility of termites. This means that for the average gardener you need to be proactive as opposed to reactive and maintain an environment that does not favor pests and try not to disturb natural predators. For some the knee-jerk reaction is to reach for the insecticide bottle and to those people I pose a thought to consider for the next time you’re tempted. “Is this pest causing serious damage to my crops or posing a significant risk to my health and safety?”  If the answer is no then you may be able to ignore the pest problem as it’s not a problem. If the answer is no, I recommend considering what you are to use and see if there is not an alternative that only targets the pest in specific or a physical method of control that refrains from altering the local ecology.

4. The Plants

It seems simple enough on paper, and I explain it plenty of times in lecture and at the table at the market but, plants come from specific regions and are adapted for those regions specifically. In of that plants have certain needs you must address in order for them to do well. I get a lot of customers at the market who ask for Mint, Cilantro, Dill and other cold-season plants in the dead heat of summer. It’s then I have to explain that they will not tolerate southern summers due to a mixture of heat, drought and humidity and in order to get them to produce that late a gardener has to go through a number of steps that are often more trouble than they are worth. While a lot of our favorite garden plants come from Mediterranean climates even more come from tropical or alpine climates and making sure to know the difference is critical to your success as a gardener.

For instance, Lavender prefers colder temperatures, is not fond of humidity, and will not tolerate poor soils. Well we have poor soils excess humidity and a long warm growing season so it would seem that growing lavender is a loss right? Wrong, the trick there is to find some way to handle most of what your lavender plants need; so we know lavender doesn’t like excessive heat. Well the solution there is to ignore the labels that came with the plant and plant it in a spot that has afternoon shade. We know that lavender needs decent soil so perhaps the cure is to excavate the native soil where the lavender is to be planted and backfill with composted manure and spent potting soil to create an oasis of plant nutrition and improve overall water retention. The humidity issue in the case of lavender can only be reduced, this is as simple as avoiding overcrowding and keeping all other plants at least six inches away from your lavender so there is adequate airflow about the plant. Obviously this won’t lower the atmospheric humidity any but it will reduce the local humidity by preventing continuously wet mulch and leaf surfaces which can contribute to foliar disease.

5. Timing

The pace of a garden is relative to the season and weather. We know that generally there are two primary seasons in relation to the plants you can grow. Basically you have the cool-season and warm-season crops/plants that summarize our gardens in this region. With the plants being divided you have to consider plant life cycles (annual, biennial, perennial), and how much time these plants take to mature and provide what you are expecting. As a general rule of thumb, if you are starting seed for use in the next temperature-period you want it sown at least three months before you intend to plant it in the field. If you are taking cuttings, often you can chop a month or more off the startup time depending on the type of cutting (Non-woody cuttings are the fastest.). So for instance when it comes to timing, you might sow your warm-season crop’s seed in late January-February, and be preparing it for planting out by Easter in April. Your cold-season crops for long term use might be sown in late-August to September and planted out between Late October and November depending on the variety of plant in question. In the meanwhile while you’re doing this soil enrichment and preparations might be made out in the fields to receive the crops. Final harvests of plants at the end of their season and the composting of their uprooted materials might also be a way to seasonally build your composting operation. I might add that with every crop shift you may want to consider adding mulch also to generally improve your topsoil over time.

As I said before this is just a generalized guide to the five aspects of urban farming in general. Each yard and the situations it will present will vary and for that you must find your own variant methods and practices that work in your area. But the time has come to shift the topic.

Late Summer Veggie Delight!

 

That’s right this Wednesday (2:00-6:00 pm) and Saturday (9:00AM – 1:00 PM) I will be at the Fayetteville Farmers market selling aloes galore for the last week of Sparklitis month. This is your last chance to lay hands on the rare and unusual aloes before they are taken off the sale racks for a few months. Some of the plants may return during the holiday months but I wouldn’t bet money on that one!  The Fayetteville Farmer’s Market is located in downtown Fayetteville in the Fayetteville Transportation Museum Property on 326 Franklin Street.  Without further delay here is this week’s plant list which polishes off this week’s LITFM post, I hope to see you at the Market.

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.

Cold-Season Crops (Available on Saturday)

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

6x Collard Greens, Georgia, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Lettuce, Black seeded Simpson, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Onion, Egyptian Red, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

ON SALE!

3x Artemesia, 3.5” pot ($2.00)

6x Baloon Flower, White 3.5” pot ($2.00)

6x Nicotina, Flowering Tobacco, 3.5” pot ($2.00)

6x Rudbeckia, Irish Eyes, 3.5” pot ($2.00)

House Plants: (By Price, Wendnesday only.)

1x Aloe x hybrid ‘Fauxgave’, 6.0” pot ($12.00)

2x Peperomia orba, Teardrop Peperomia - Gift pot ($9.00)

2x Aloe glauca, Cosmetic Aloe - Gift pot ($9.00)

3x Adenium obesum, Desert Rose – 6” Pot ($8.00)  < Limited Supply!>

1x Aloe hybrid, Blizzard Aloe - 4.0" pot ($6.00)

2x Aloe x Gasteria, 'Night Sky' Aloe - 6.0" pot ($6.00)

3x Aloe dorotheae, Sunset Aloe - 4.0" pot ($6.00)
3x Aloe deltoideodantes, Checkerboard Aloe - 4.0" pot ($6.00)

2x Peperomia orba, Teardrop Peperomia, 3.5” pot ($5.00)
3x Aloe nobilis ‘Gator’, 3.5” pot ($5.00)

Perennial Flowering & Fruiting Vines:

2x Passiflora incarnata, Passion Vine – 3.5” pot ($3.00)

1x Muscadinia rotundifolia, Muscadine Grape Vine (Copper) – 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon: (September 13^th)

Cabbage

Kale

Just as a clarification, if the weather does not cooperate on Wednesday sparklitis month may extend to Saturday and then the new cold season plants and the rare houseplants will be at the booth at the same time!

*Googling yourself honestly sounds dirty…it’s not though.

** For those who don’t know, Food Lion is the same as Pathmark in the north literally the same company.