Autumn Draws near

This picture was snapped on Wednesday evening after the market.

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmer’s Market this week we have some rather good photos from the field. Before we really get into the images of the week, for note since the last episode the area of the test gardens has had approximately three precipitation events with 2.1”, 0.3” and 0.5”. The weekly total as of this writing is 2.9” With this extra rainfall we have had more fall-like temperatures and cool night time temperatures which is perfect for transitioning away from your warm season crops to your cold season crops. This means the summer flowers that are sputtering might get replaced with pansies, snapdragons, chrysanthemums or dusty miller. The vegetables that are really sputtering now could be replaced with Kale, Cabbage, Mustard, Lettuce, Radishes (very short season), carrots, beets and Swiss chard. The herbs are not immune to the changes either as now is the time to stick in the last of the parsley, while cilantro, cumin, dill and chamomile could replace basil and seasoning peppers in instances where the plants are not doing so well. But speaking of fall flowers the fall crowd is looking good in the test gardens. The show has just begun but with an early fall response like this…

You know it’s really fall when the chrysanthemums are in bloom.

Yellow Echibeckia

Orange Echibeckia – Summerina Orange

Rudbeckia laciniata – Cutleaf Coneflower

.

Bunia orientalis – Warty cabbage

The options remain open, as you can see maybe everything does not happen at once but then who said it ever had to? Fall is the season for a color change and preparations to move your gardens into a low-activity mode of sorts. The usual date for the first frost is October 20^th-28^th depending on weather with the first killing frost often appearing in late November or December.  Now is the best time to start thinking of your fall colors and consider where to place your chrysanthemums in the garden. As I’ve stated before few realize both Chrysanthemums and Dusty Miller are perennials and fewer still realize that snapdragons planted now will likely return in spring and may resow themselves.

But of course as you readers might know despite the change in the weather the Farmer’s Market goes on. The City/Farmer’s market in downtown Fayetteville is a year-round affair. The Wednesday market likely will continue into winter at its usual time between the hours of 2:00pm to 6:00pm. The Saturday Market will continue on in its time slot of 9:00 am through 1:00pm and with the Multicultural Festival coming up next weekend you can be sure that the Saturday market will be very lively. The market is located at 325 Franklin Street in downtown Fayetteville and is spread across the Fayetteville Transportation museum property. On Saturdays parking enforcement is off-duty so parking is unmetered and free.

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

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

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

6x Kale, Russian Red, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

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

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

4x Onion, Egyptian Red, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

ON SALE!

2x 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)

Perennial Flowering & Fruiting Vines:

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

Coming Soon:

Dino Kale

Stonehead Cabbage

Wakefeild Cabbage

Romaine Lettuce

Cilantro

Cumin

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.

Um, september got august's drought memo

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmer’s Market, and this week we have the results of the big product trial.  Bur before we look into that here is the photo of the week.

Peucetia viridans – Green Lynx Spider

I happened to see this one on the flowers of the red Globe Amaranth just the other day. For note this is a mature female green lynx spider and typically they’ll hang out near flowers to catch pollenating insects or in this case she’s caught a Cicada Killer Wasp. It’s rare I have the camera near when I spot these spiders and so this picture of one was worth posting. Now before any of you freak out this spider isn’t venomous or aggressive towards humans and is rarely found inside unless it came in on a plant. These spiders perform some beneficial tasks as they become rather voracious just about when paper wasps become aggressive in general and as you can see a wasp for them is no challenge. This also means moths are at risk for becoming lunch too so fewer chances for horn worms or cabbage moth caterpillars. But enough of that, onward to the trials.

As some of you know every year LITFM performs a long-term trial of a given horticultural product to determine if the product’s claims are valid. Often in the process we end up learning a few new things about the subtle interplay of environmental and biological factors versus a given product’s usefulness. The Smart Pot trial was actually suggested by the folks at Flow & Grow in town and we figured that it was as good as any idea to test because the product unlike the normal things we tested didn’t make incredible claims instead what was suggested by the packaging was reasonable and scientifically plausible.  We also took the suggestion posed over at Flow & Grow to offset the pots because apparently the Smart Pot #7 pot despite being larger than a 3-gallon nursery pot was equivalent. I think the idea of offsetting may have been in the sales information provided by the company as a means of making the watering needs of the #7 equal to that of the 3-gallon pot. But anyway below you will find the photographic evidence of the trial and the particulars of how it was done and at the end is a summary and from this trial you can draw your own conclusion.

Product & Materials Trial: #018

Concept:

A fiber-based growing container under the brand name Smart Pot claims on their packaging to encourage superior root formation because the fibrous walls of the pots allow superior airflow. As a result of this airflow yields are said to be greater with overall bigger plants. Additionally these pot due to their porous nature are said to have enhanced capillary action of moisture between the soil in the pot and the moisture in the ground if placed in contact with the ground.

The Trial:

A single #7 smart pot will be compared against an equivalent standard plastic nursery pot of the same color so that thermal efficiency is not an issue. The two plants will be placed with a facing so that each receives no less than eight hours of full sun and will receive identical fertilizer treatments.

The Plant Stock:

The plants selected for this trial are a pair of  Yankee Bell Peppers which were picked for the fact they were visually identical in number of leaves, height and initial vigor.

Soil Media:

Scotts Premium Topsoil – Scotts was picked because it is not enhanced with wetting agents, fertilizers or any other additives and is pine bark based making it resemble the standard growing mix of most nursery operations.

Fertilizer:

Alaska Fish Fertilizer – Used as a basic water-souluble liquid fertilizer.

Sunleaves Seabird Guano Pellets – Used as a long-term fertilizer and applied in pellet form to soil surface.

Black Hen Composted Poultry Manure – Added to soil when pots where half full to act as root stimulator.

Black Magic – Home brew Fertilizer, used in the early trial to offset transplant shock.

Duration of Trial:

The trial officially runs for 12 weeks ranging from June 13^th through August 29^th 2014.

Method of Recording:

Results will be recorded using plant height measurements combined with a weekly photograph of the subject plant’s progress over the course of the primary trial period. A follow up comparison of root development and fruit yield will be performed after the primary information is collected.

 Week Zero: 6-06-2014

Smart Pot:  10 ¼”

Conventional Pot: 10 ¼”

Note: The image was taken just after planting in trial pots. Both plants had their root ball split and were planted just below level ( ½”).

Week One: 6-13-2014

Smart Pot:  10 ¼”

Conventional Pot: 11 ½”

Notes: Plants in trial pots for 1 week at this point, 0.05” precipitation.

Week Two: 6-20-2014

Smart Pot: 11”

Conventional Pot: 13”

Notes: Fertilized with black magic, 0.375” precipitation.

Week Three: 6-27-2014

Smart Pot: 12”

Conventional Pot: 13”

Note: Fertilized with fish fertilizer, 2.0” precipitation.

Week Four: 7-04-2014

Smart Pot: 12”

Conventional Pot: 13 ¼”

Notes: Fertilized with Seabird Guano pellets, 1.1” precipitation.

Week Five: 7-11-2014

Smart Pot: 12”

Conventional Pot: 13 ¼”

Note: Heavy thunderstorms, possible atmospheric nitrogen in effect. 0.8” total precipication.

Week Six: 7-18-2014

Smart Pot: 12 ½”

Conventional Pot: 13 ¼”

Note: Conventional plant is producing flower buds and branching more than smart pot plant.

Week Seven: 7-25-2014

Smart Pot: 14 ½”

Conventional Pot: 16 ½”

Note: High temperatures and 1.2” of rain this week may have contributed to growth spurt.

Week Eight: 8-1-2014

Smart Pot: 16 ¼”

Conventional Pot: 18”

Note: Unusual rainy weather.

Week Nine: 8-8-2014

Smart Pot: 18 ½”

Conventional Pot: 20”

Note:

Week Ten: 8-15-2014

Smart Pot: 21 ½”

Conventional Pot: 23 ½”

Note: 4.51” average inches of rain this week spread across numerous types of precipitation events

Week Eleven: 8-22-2014

Smart Pot: 24 ½”

Conventional Pot: 25 ½”

Note: 0.8” of rain this week from a mix of thunder showers and regular rain showers.

Week Twelve: 8-29-2014

Smart Pot: 25 ½”

Conventional Pot: 26 ¼”

Note: 0.2” of rain this week from rain showers.

Summary:

When one considers the factors of the unusually wet weather, the lack of an August drought and the fact that at points the temperature was for days in a row well below seasonal averages the trial paints a picture of possible performance issues. While it is true that the pictures tell the progress of the story the lack of hot sunny days proportionately speaking did likely hamper the normal progress of the plants in the trial. The final three images in the series do indicate however that the conventional nursery pot produced a more vigorous plant. Over the course of the trial the conventional plant had a standing lead of at least an inch of height at all times and in some points far more. To that one could say that the smart pot plant had a more steady growth pattern while the Conventional grew matured and set fruit sooner. The rapid growth may have presented a new form of problem in that the Conventional Pepper suffered a calcium deficiency whereas the Smart Pot plant did not. This calcium issue resulted in blossom end rot on the conventional pepper which has made fruit size comparison not possible in the time frame of the trial. It could be that due to greater amount of soil in the Smart pot the calcium content in the soil is not yet depleted. Due to this unofficially the trial continues until the end of the warm season as a whole so that the fruiting factors can be compared.

In summary it seems as though the conventional plant has won the trial by successfully doing what one might ask of it faster and earlier than the comparable Smart Pot plant. The additional Costs of growing a plant in a smart pot* is a factor that cannot be ignored for the purposes of the trial. From a production perspective there isn’t a justification for the smart pot economically or for efficiency purposes. If Smart Pots were available in directly matching sizes to their nursery pot competition at a price that was competitive the two greatest factors in keeping solid-wall nursery pots in production would be rendered null. The results of the productivity aspect of the trial is still pending and in both plant’s cases their most developed fruit has been removed so that two new fruit can grow side by side to see which produces the largest. For now the smart pot isn’t the smart investment but this study will be revisited before the end of the year.

*Smart Pots cost an average of $10.00 to prepare for growing crops whereas nursery pots are at best $3.00 -$5.00.

With the 2014 primary Garden trial discussed thoroughly it’s time to talk Market! 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.

ON SALE!

3x Artemesia, 3.5” pot ($2.00)

1x Sage, 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)

2x 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, Hydra Aloe – 6.0” pot ($8.00) <NEW>

1x Aloe glauca, Cosmetic Aloe - 6.0" pot ($8.00)

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)

2x Muscadinia rotundifolia, Muscadine Grape Vine (Copper) – 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon: (September 13^th)

Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce

India Mustard Greens

Georgia Collards

Hopefully I’ll see you at the market on Saturday or next Wednesday.  The weather may have some rain in the forecast but I always suggest you check the local forecast the night before or the day of for the most accurate readings so you can plan accordingly.