Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers
Market. Today we are going to forgo the loose garden photo format to talk a bit
about the events of the garden tour last week. Some of you could not make it to
see the sights and pose your questions so I thought it would be a good idea to
post the most frequently asked questions so that until the next Sustainable
Neighbors garden tour in October you could at least get some of what you wanted
to know answered. You can bet there will be garden photos but they’re last in
line and come before the market listings. So without further delay I’m happy to
present the most frequently asked questions regarding the test gardens.
- “What are the Test
Gardens?
The test gardens are an extended study of the feasibility,
productivity and economic viability of organic gardening and agricultural
practices for use in urban or semi-urban environments that can be expanded for
use in rural environments with limited space. To put that more simply the idea
is to see if organic growing can work in places with limited space for the
least amount of cost and the most productivity. Thus far there have been
several versions of the test garden over the years with the smallest being the
original fire escape garden and the largest being the current version in
Fayetteville.
My vision for the test gardens is to use it as a functional
example and template for others to see how it can be done and foment their own
ideas and implement their own plans for urban agriculture and sustainable
organic practices.
- “How big are the Test
Gardens?
The overall area of the property is a half –acre. From an
inner-city perspective this is a lot of area, and from a rural angle it’s tiny.
However as I’ve said before the front half of the property looks perfectly
normal and suburban while the rear of the property is where the sustainable
activity tends to be. Officially speaking there is a little over a thousand square
feet of cultivated area, out of which approximately 1177.83 square feet are
used to grow food crops in raised beds. In addition to the ‘in-ground’ beds,
there is a large number of potted crops growing as well. As of this writing of this article, the container
garden section of the test gardens includes, two 10.5” buckets, twenty-five
3-gallon nursery pots, four 6.5” pots, six 7.75” pots, two 7.5” pots, six 12”
pots, one 15” fabric pot and a single 13” pot. This adds up to a grand total of
62.47 square feet of additional growing area.
I’d say it’s not bad for a study in sustainability to be
able to produce food with 1240.3 square feet of growing area. For fair
reference, 1240.3 square feet is about 2.8% of an acreor in short…. If I had a
farm sibsity like most farmers do my cost per pound of food would be equal or
less than what you pay at the supermarket even with labor added in.
- “Is it worth it? /How much
do you really produce?”
In the case of the first part of the question the answer is
an undoubting yes. Like any other project there are moments of doubt and so on
in regards to if the message is being understood and if the things under trial
will work. In the end however it is utterly worth it when I hear gardeners out
there are trying their first attempts at a new idea or are trying some of what
the test gardens are currently doing. To answer the second question we produce
more than you might think. Armed with a kitchen produce scale I started
weighing the literal fruits of the test garden’s labors in 2009. So far the
following yearly information has come from the study of productivity.
2009 – Negligible
2010 – 25.25 pounds (first year of aggressive soil
enrichment)
2011 – 111.55 pounds
2012 – 71.03 pounds
(Drought and whitefly infestation caused crop losses)
2013 – 54.04 pounds (prolonged rain season caused summer
crop losses)
2014 – 2.96 pounds (this total is in progress, a bad winter
killed most of the winter crops.)
- “I live in an
Apartment/Condo, how can I garden?”
That should not be a problem,
as you can see with the above area information, the test gardens incorporate 46
container crops as of this writing and I fully expect that to be fifty or more
in the coming days. But if you do not have the space for big 14” or larger
diameter containers there is the option of window boxes or herbs grown in
smaller pots to sate your inner gardener. In fact some of the pots in the test
gardens are in the 6” diameter range and ornamental potted plants often can
make due with 4-6” diameter pots.
There is also a wide range of
edible house plants such as Okinawa spinach or even the medicinal house plants
such as the aloe family to fit your need. Space is honestly the least of your
worries.
- “What about this ‘Organic’
stuff I hear it’s a hoax!”
That’s both true and false. On one had you have major
corporations that want to slap the term organic on things whether they actually
are organic as per standards outlined by groups such as the Oregon Tithe or are
“organic” because some corporate entity says so. On the other hand you have the
lawyers who are paid to create intentionally ambiguous and confusing language to
make identification of truly organic materials harder. Somewhere in the middle
is the consumer who half the time cannot even get a real honest answer from the
other two and has to rely on interpersonal networks and their good judgment.
The concept of growing organic crops or raising live stock
in an organic fashion is not a hoax any more then rain catchment systems are a
fraud. In fact it is a very legitimate means to increase the longevity the
land. Whether you agree or not the land itself is alive, every single blade of
grass is covered in organisms, and the same can be said for every speck of
dirt. Although it has not been studied in a multi-decade long study to
determine side effects of agricultural chemical pollution there is some short
term and median information to suggest that practices such as mono-cropping,
GMO crop proliferation and mass application of pesticide and insecticides is
not positive. But for you at the very least, if you grow your crops
organically, you know that they have no funny business going on. Keep in mind
the average head of lettuce travels at least a few hundred to a few thousand
miles to get to you there is no telling what happened before during or just
before you bought it. The head of lettuce growing outside in your back yard?
You can be sure you know what went on there. And that is the point, organic
growing practices are food security.
- “What is the point?!
[Insert reason not to garden]”
I do get this sort of question every so often, typically
it’s worded in a confrontational way and as always I answer it anyway. The reason I
encourage urban farming, sustainability and gardening in general is that it’s
flat out good for you. The act of gardening is formally recognized as exercise,
more so whatever you grow has a positive effect on your outlook. Consider how
rewarding it is to see that tiny seed go from a crusty dry thing to a gorgeous
adult plant over a period of weeks or years. Some will say negative things
about the bugs, or chemicals in the rain or jet contrails making it cloudy or
whatever and you know what? I keep on gardening because in the end, anyone who
opens with a negative assessment telling you not even to try has their own
problems that need work, not you. The best part is that as they try and
dissuade you from gardening, you can drown them out with the crunch of that
salad composed of lettuce, spinach, amaranth, tomatoes and cucumbers that you
grew on premises and smile knowing that you’ve just proved the doubters wrong.
So those are the six most common questions I get both on
garden tours and at the farmer’s market table. I got a little wordy with some
but that’s just what it takes to explain. We have a brief weekly photo section
and then the market information.
 |
| Oenothera biennis
– Sundrop/ Common Evening Primrose |
I’ve talked about it a bit before but here is a night time
picture of the evening primroses in bloom at about 8 pm at night. True evening
primroses bloom right after dusk to attract moths and some species of pollinators.
Despite having very pretty flowers they are not aromatic in a good way. For note this traditional form of primrose is a biennial.
 |
| Sanseveria trifaciata
– Snake Plant / Mother In law’s Tongue |
Now here’s something I’ve yet to see, a snake plant in
bloom, um, yeah it’s not quite the prettiest of blooms but as far as these
plants being willing to bloom I think the flowers are kind of cool. The sanseveria group rarely bloom and for
note in this picture both the birds nest dwarf type and the true tall type are
growing in the same pot.
 |
| Solanum sp. – Cape
Gooseberry or Ground cherry |
Yet another member of the ground cherry or gooseberry clan
appears as a volunteer. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s some trick at work
here, they do not germinate when I sow the seed but will germinate once the seed starting pellet is tossed out in the garden. Maybe I ought just throw about
fistfuls of ground cherry seed and see if I get a delicious forest
 |
| Salvia guaranitica ‘Black
and Blue’ – Black & Blue Sage |
Black and blue sage in bloom is something to behold. The
humming birds love it and while it has no herbal uses I know of the striking
combination of the black stems and electric indigo flowers is enough to throw
some extra sparkle to any garden bed.
 |
| Rudbeckia maxima –
Giant Coneflower |
Giant cone flower is a rudbeckia that can get up to six feet
tall, and are best pet as the tallest ornamental in a bed for the obvious
reason that they get very huge. Much like cut leaf coneflower
R. laciniata, giant cone flower is a
experience unto its own. They are essentially wild species that the industry
has not tampered with so, the giant cone flower is a rudbeckia for part shade
while the cut leaf coneflower likes moist stream banks. Bot can be used to
expand the range of your garden’s options.
 |
| Lampranthus sp –
Variegated Ice plant |
I know this was on last week’s post, but finally I snapped a
photo of the plant with its flowers open. The normal skinny leaf ice plant has
bigger flowers but I still like this one the bright pink contrasts nicely with
the foliage.
 |
| Bufo fowleri – Fowler’s Toad |
So after the Wednesday market was rained out I returned home
to find this little guy hopping about inside the enclosed patio. I still can’t
for the life of me figure how he got in there as he could not have hibernated
in a plant, none on the deck had been outside, nor could he have come in under
the door, the gap is too small. My nearest guess is this tad burred in under
the foundation and got onto the deck through the crawlspace entry but either
way this critter had to be put back outside or he’d die. So it took some doing
but I finally caught him and placed him in the block bed. Moments later the
toad burrowed into the soil doing this crazy spinning move to dig and then
unburied himself once night fell. Such is the way things are at the test
gardens, critters aplenty. I might add that in the neighborhood of the test
gardens there are the toads, and the resident frogs. The frogs are Hyla andersonii or Pine Barrens Tree
frog. I photo graphed one of these guys hanging out in the fig bushes last
year.
This weekend there is a chance of a thunder shower so I’d
advice considering bringing a umbrella. The chances are not high but it is
better to be prepared than soaked. For reference 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
and let me tell you, flower season is upon us. Some of the rare plants and
exotics will be appearing this weekend so get ready for horticultural mayhem.
This weekend’s plant list is as follows.
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
3x Eggplant, Casper , 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x 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)
1x Tomato, Cherokee Purple, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x 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)
3x Tomato, Reisotomate, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x 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)
Fruits
6x Strawberry- Ozark Beauty, 3.5” pot ($3.00) (On sale!)
2x Ground Cherry, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
Herbs
4x 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)
1x Lavender, Munstead, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Marjoram
4x Oregano, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Parsley, Italian, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
4x Sage, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
4x Thyme, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
Ornamental:
2x Passion Vine, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
Coming Soon:
Black Hungarian Pepper
Artemesia
Rosemary
Lavender ‘Hidcote’
Potatoleaf Hillbilly Tomato
Japanese Black Trifele Tomato
Melon, Vine Peach
Melon, Horned
Well this has been a rather long episode hasn’t it, and here
we are at its end with the precipitation report. Surprisingly up until the
shower on Wednesday we had virtually no noticeable precipitation despite
several showers that deposited less than 0.10” of rain. This later rain event
was far more generous lasting about a half hour and leaving with an average of
0.375”. a bit over a quarter inch isn’t much but it’s better than the humidity
soaked nothing we were getting before.
