Companion Planting Series: Part 2 – The Cabbage Family

 Today we’re going to move on from the Carrot Family to the Cabbage family which is scientifically known as Brassicaceae but in older publications you will find the family listed as the Cruciferae. The older name Cruciferae has quite a history, it stems from the Latin word ‘Crucifer’ which means cross-bearing. This has to specifically do with an old world species of Mustard which had its four flower petals arranged in a cross like shape. The new name Brassicaceae was proposed in the 1830’s and the slow shift to using the new name tool until the early 20^th century so 1901 to perhaps 1930. Older gardening books from the 1960’s or 1980’s may still refer to the family as the Crucifers or Cruciferae. It is also not uncommon to see members of the family called Cruciferous Vegetables or Cole crops. The term ‘Cole’ derives from the Latin word Caulis, which means ‘stem’ or ‘stalk’, which fits when you’re looking at Marrow stem Kale, or Brussels Sprouts and a few other cultivated varieties. Beyond this, the Cabbage family is very diverse; there are over three-hundred and fifty genera in the family meaning that you could have encountered one and not have known it.  Additionally, the family is so wide-spread that you can find a member of the family on almost every continent. The sole noted exception is of course Antarctica and certain areas of the tropics such as parts of Brazil, the Congo Basin and parts of Pacific Asia. Otherwise if you garden eventually you’re eventually going to grow a member of this very diverse family. It is generally held that most if not all members of the cabbage family are helped by proximity to herbs such as Hyssop, Thyme, Wormwood, Chamomile, Dill, Sage and, Rosemary. Also as noted with the last to postings they benefit from being near Celery, Onions and Potatoes. Most members of the cabbage family are heavy feeders so they will need compost or fertilizer added to the soil every year. Cabbage due to  its nature as a heavy feeder for example can deplete a soil of Nitrogen potassium and phosphorous in as little as 70 to 100 days. The depletion can be devastating if you grow this crop in the same spot year after year but don’t do anything for the soil. Typically this is where compost or large amounts of composted animal manure comes in. Natural mineral based fertilizers can help with this problem also while artificial (ew!) fertilizers that are water soluble can act as stopgaps during an active growing season.

 

Mature Arugula looks a bit different then store bought and tastes way better than store bought.

Arugula (Eruca sativa) – In addition to what is noted above, Arugula is specifically noted to do best in growing in the light shade of another plant. In the south east this means also that it cannot handle summer heat for long before bolting.

Until the flowers emerge Broccoli looks like Collards or any number of other similar Cabbage Family members, thankfully the leaves are tender and need no frost to 'sweeten'.

 

Broccoli (Brassica olceracea. variety italica) – Broccoli is essentially a Cabbage bred to produce a large flower head instead of leaves. Companions for Broccoli are the aromatic Herbs such as Rosemary, Camomile, Thyme, Sage or Dill. Garlic or any other member of the Onion family is a good companion and may help fend of pests. Annual Flowers such as Marigolds or Nasturtiums and short season crops like Lettuce, Carrots, Swiss Chard, Beets, Spinach and Radishes are good too.

 

Brussels Sprouts (B.o. var. gemmifera) – Since Brussels Sprouts are essentially just cabbage that has been selected to focus on large side buds. (See broccoli companions)

 

Cabbage (B.o. var. capitata) – Cabbage comes in a few forms such as the usual round Green, Red, crinkly Savoy, the Asian types and the pointed types such as Apex. Cabbage is a heavy feeder that can deplete the soil if crop rotation is not used and it is quite vulnerable to foliar disease and Cabbage Moth Larva.  (See broccoli companions)

 

Cauliflower (B.o. var. botrytis) – Cauliflower operates the same way as Broccoli, albeit Cauliflower has somehow obtained a college education.

I typically grow collards in lieu of traditional cabbage because they do not deplete the soil a badly.

 

Collards (B.o. var. viridis) – Collards are very interesting; they used to be called Colewort because they were a cabbage crop that did not form a head. In a nutshell a collard is a super-loose leaf cabbage, and you can really see it in the Cabbage-Collard cross. Thankfully Collards don’t rapidly deplete the soil like Cabbage does and it can easily survive defoliation by Cabbage Moth larva. Collards much like Kale are ancient primitive forms of Cabbage. Collards follow the same companion planting rules as with Broccoli, but I’ve found that they don’t mind Chicory being grown under and in between them.

 

Cress, Garden (Lepidium sativum) – Garden Cress is an annual that is fast growing and pairs well with the Onion Family and other leafy greens. It is considered a cool-season annual so plant in spring and fall.

 

Cress, Upland (Barbarea verna) – Upland Cress is also known as ‘Creasy Greens’, it’s typically used as a trap crop at the end of plantings of other Cabbage family plants to act as a trap crop for pests. It is perfectly edible on its own and makes for a respectable microgreen.

 

Cress, Water (Nasturtium officinale) – Water Cress is often confused with the flowering annual also called Nasturtiums but they are not related. This member of the cabbage family as its name suggests loves being near water or being moist. It pairs well with Lettuce, Parsley and Celery but is said to match up with Mint. It is considered invasive in most of the USA except for North Dakota, so keep it in a pot.

 

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) – Horseradish is known to repel Blister beetles and this makes it an excellent match for White Potatoes. There is some disagreement on if it repels Potato Beetles or not but it is clearly noted that it should be planted at the corners of the Potato plot and be dug yearly so the Horseradish does not spread and take over.

This type of Kale has a dozen common names but I prefer Dinosaur Kale, the specific variety is 'Black Magic'.

 

Kale (B.o. var. sabellica) – Kale is a generally a cool season annual crop despite being a biennial. It will survive our winters, maybe. (See broccoli companions)

 

Kohlrabi (B.o. Gongylodes Group) – Kohlrabi is basically a cabbage that makes moderate sized leaves but is valued for its swollen stem that can be as large as a softball. (See broccoli companions)

 

Moringa Tree (Moringa oleifera) – Moringa, is noted to be a top-tier companion plant because it has a deep taproot and has the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil. All parts of this plant are useful for food and medicinal/Herbal purposes so it’s one of the best things you can grow. It is not hardy in the ground in our zone but if it is grown a large pot and brought in for the winter you can have one. It pairs well with herbs, marigolds, smaller leaf greens and sweet potatoes.

The Mustard is in the upper right and on the upper left. (Upper left) Japanese Red Giant Mustard, (Upper right) Purple 'Miz America' Mizuna Mustard.

 

Mustard, Greens (Brassica juncea) – Mustard Greens are typically found at the supermarket in the form of bright green somewhat crinkly leaves. Mustard Greens pair well with carrots, Radishes and the same plants that Broccoli does. They are less susceptible to Cabbage Moths if any other member of the Cabbage family is present.

 

Mustard, Seed (Brassica nigra) – Mustard seed as a companion plant follows the same rules as a lot of the rest of the Cabbage family, but also does well next to the herb Yarrow. It also gains benefit from the shade cast by rows of corn.

 

Radish (Raphanus sativus) – Radish are one of the fastest crop plants possible; some varieties are mature and ready to harvest. Cherry Belle is so fast that it is ready in about 20 growing days from seed.  Radishes benefit from proximity to Mustard Greens and Nasturtiums and also seem to grow well around Red Root Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) which is edible. Radishes are said to repel Striped Cucumber Beetle so it is a good companion for Cucumbers Squash and melons.

 

Rapeseed/Canola (Brassica napus) – Rapeseed is a strange name; it has nothing to do with ‘S.A.’ however. In this case the name comes from the Latin word Rapa, which means Turnip so Rapeseed is just Turnip Seed. This seed crop plant needs ground covers such as clover, vetch or buckwheat to suppress weeds and feed the soil so it can grow to maturity. Its primary pest is the Pollen Beetle, though Flea beetles, Cabbage Seed Weevils, Brassica Pod Midge and Aphids are problems.  If you are determined to grow this one, you might have to use organic pesticides.

 

Rutabagas (Brassica napus Napobrassica Group) –

Silver Dollar Plant (Lunnaria annua) – Silver Dollar plant is a common sight in seed racks at garden centers this time of year. It is a biennial with edible leaves that produces foliage the first year then pretty purple flowers the second year followed by large silvery seed capsules that are flat and the size of a Silver Dollar. This biennial doesn’t have much in the way of information for companion plants, and most of that are just plants that grow in the same conditions such as Foxglove, Ferns and Lady’s Mantle.

 

Turnips (Brassica rapa subspecies rapa) – As a general rule, you for the most part should not plant cabbage family members near legumes. Turnips are the exception to the rule as they benefit from that and the presence of the aromatic herbs such as Rosemary, Garlic, Thyme and Sage.

 

Wasabi (Eurema japonicum) – Wasabi is one of those plants where the companion matchups aren’t about plants providing mutual aid and are about other plants that share it’s growing preferences. The three most common suggestions are Hostas, Ginger and Ferns.

In regards to the cabbage family it would be a terrible oversight not to talk in more detail about the pests that can wreck your crops. Due to our climate and long growing season, there are at least five species of Butterfly/Moth whose caterpillars can make your crop unsaleable. The first species is just called a Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicae). But also there is the Large White Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris brassicae) which  closely related to the Small White Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris rapae), also The Cabbage Looper (Trichoplusia ni) and last the one I haven’t seen the Cross-Striped Cabbage worm (Evergestis rimosalis). There are three ways to deal with these critters; the first is hand picking once you start seeing the adults fluttering about because the adults home in on the chemical compounds exhaled by your crop when they exchange gasses. Companion planting can help mask this but inevitably as Steve Goldblum’s character said in Jurassic Park ‘Nature..uh, finds a way.’ Adults flying about mean that there are probably eggs and as such, hungry caterpillars will follow soon after. Handpicking the caterpillars is easy when you have a few plants but fifty foot rows of crinkly kale makes that kind of difficult. So that’s where the organic pesticides come in, you could make one out of tobacco or a few other plants or use Neem Oil. The catch is that all of these are contact based and wash off in the rain. So you have to coat every possible surface to ensure that the batch of wrigglers is knocked down and kept in check. Alternately, and I do not prefer this method you can treat your crop with a 30-60 day systemic pesticide, but you need to be careful of which one you use, it’s residual action and be careful that there are no unintended effects. Lastly and this is my least favorite option; conventional Insecticide. Of the insecticides out there, I prefer pyrethrum-based insecticidal soap because it’s effective, has no real residual action and is inexpensive. However there are others that get stronger and have longer action but, those too have problems because they may be restricted to purchase, require personal protective gear and some damage native and honey bee populations (ie Malathion). Either way, I’d rather be with good options than without so plan carefully and see you next time for the Onion Family.

Questions From The Neighbors; Part II

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, and here we are with part two of a brief discussion covering questions sent in by the Sustainable neighbors crew regarding the how’s and why’s of growing things. This is the second part of a two-part series which answers the other five questions. This post is early by one week so that the readers can get all their information sooner rather than later.

 

“When are my radishes ready to harvest?”

 

This depends on the variety you are using, the fastest maturing Radish I’ve ever seen takes just 21 days (Rover and D’Avignon). So the ready to harvest part firstly relies on when you planted them, when the seed visibly emerged and if or if not you thinned the seedlings or properly spaced them in the first place. Another factor is what you intended to grow the radish for, since there are types where you eat the leaves, the seed pods and of course the root. On a standard Icicle Radish you can eat the leaves and the root, though you’re really in it for that root. Since most people only really grow radishes for the root it’s typically pretty visually obvious when a radish is desirable for eating because you can see the swollen part of the root. I should note that home grown radishes normally are not as perfectly round as store-bought ones and won’t often have a uniform a size either, but they will have more flavor and some varieties retain the peppery bite that radishes used to be known for. So this question summarizes to ‘It depends’.

 

“When is garlic ready to harvest?”

Garlic is crop that requires more than one season to mature. Typically you would plant viable individual cloves in September or Late August and mark where you planted them since they won’t immediately show any signs of activity. As the green parts emerge, and those are called ‘Scapes’ you let them grow, mature and they can get up to a foot or more tall. If your garlic tries to bloom and you will be able to tell what the flower stalk looks like since Garlic is in the Allium (Onion) family and most onion blooms look alike. You snap off the flowering stalk which forces the garlic to try to go to seed via producing cloves. Basically without the flower stalk the garlic can’t try to reproduce sexually so it tries to do it asexually via the cloves. Typically your garlic will be ready for harvest in the second year roughly in April or May, but this may vary based on growing conditions and the specific variety. For instance, Georgia Crystal is a hardneck procelain type of garlic, it takes a bare minimum of 240 days from planting to produce a full garlic bulb. Softneck garlic such as Silver Rose takes as long as hardneck the difference being that it’s stems can be braided to make those neat garlic braids. Also as an added note here because I am growing this, Elephant Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum) has two options, it can be grown as a fast spring herb and in 90 days you can harvest a single large bulb, or, you can grow it for a bit longer and get something resembling garlic by the second growing year.

 

“Something ate the root of my carrots, what did it and how do I stop it?” 

Despite what you might think, the culprit here isn’t Rabbits or Squirrels, since squirrels would have dug up the entire plant and either left it to die or dragged it off or left partial remains. Wild rabbits don’t really bother carrot roots and only eat the greens if really hungry and there is nothing better around. It’s kind of a weird storybook myth that rabbits go after carrots in general, and yet they are blamed for the real critter that does. What ate the root is probably a Vole, Voles are effectively herbivores and they will eat the sweet root of a carrot if they encounter it. Voles are not to be confused with Moles which are carnivores specializing in eating worms and insects. If your carrots aren’t too damaged what is left of the taproot will actually keep growing and just be weird shaped. If the voles are doing significant damage you can apply a product called VoleBloc or Permatill, which you add to the soil to make it less pleasant for them to burrow in and thus they go looking for easier places to make tunnels and burrows.

 

“How long can I keep frozen harvests in the freezer?”

The average amount of time to maintain frozen vegetables is 8-12 months assuming no freezer burn happens. Now freezer burn is basically when frozen food suffers the effects of dehydration and oxidation which creates dry areas in the frozen foot that lose pigmentation and may be tougher. Freezer burn can change the flavor of frozen food in general which can be a problem for vegetable storage. You can prevent freezer burn by vacuum sealing things or using quality freezer bags with as much of the air pressed out as is possible. In general I keep fresh harvests in the freezer for no longer than 12 months, though for extremely seasonal things like Alabama Blue Collards, these greens are only eaten on New Year’s so twelve months or longer might be possible but these greens do get double-wrapped.

 

 

“How do I save seed?”

 

Sesame Seeds are of that 'let them fall out of their pods after they dry' type and as you can see here from last year, a lot of pods but the seed is small and needs a glass dish with sloped sides to catch what comes out.

            This is a very open question. The issue is that for every single plant there is a differing way to go about collecting seed and a different set of methods for determining when to harvest seed for drying and storage. For instance, with Cow Peas, you want the pod to be completely dry and then you open it and extract the beans that are undamaged and set them out on a tray to dry for about a week after which you inspect them for insect damage or deformities and pick the best ones to go in storage under plastic. This is not the same process as harvesting tobacco seed where you tip over the little seed capsules and let the black powder-like seed pour into whatever container you have. After this you then let that Tobacco seed sit a week making sure to stir it a bit to ensure even drying and then put it under plastic when the seed is a grayish-black color. The topic of saving seed is VERY nuanced and as I said before varies per plant, in some cases it’s straight forward, and in others like with tomatoes, it involves letting the fruit ferment which is incredibly ‘aromatic’ bordering on the neighbors wondering if you’re hiding a decomposing corpse.

Castor bean seeds are easy to harvest if you can get through the spiky pods and air try them properly for storage.

 

 

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:

Summer Veggies & Herbs: ($3.00 each)

Sungold Cherry Tomato

Chocolate Cherry Tomato

Sweet Hundreds Cherry Tomato

San Marzano Improved Paste Tomato

Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad

Paul Robeson Tomato

Cherokee Purple Tomato

Ghost Pepper ($4.00)

Canary Island Sage (Larger Size, $4.00)

 

Ornamental Stuff:

Zanzibar Castor Beans ($3.00)

Special Perennials

Spearmint 5" pot ($5.00)

Bristol Cross Oregano 6" pot ($6.00)

 

Coming Soon:

Comfrey (Mid summer)

Pepper Assortment (More to come as they mature)

Mountain Mint

Oregano

Walla Walla Sweet Onion (Plants)

Lemon Drop Tomato

Wonderberry

Ground Cherry

Chia

Cotton, Erlene's Green

Okra, Jing

 

 

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 ninth LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 14^th of May. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

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.