Welcome back to another episode of
Lost in the Farmers Market.
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| This was taken on Wednesday the 12th as the weather really started to change. |
To
say that September has been in interesting month is an understatement, At the
beginning of this month I had a topic in mind for the first article, wrote it
up and ended up disliking its tone and so it was scrapped. As I worked on its
replacement, the deadline passed and then Hurricane Florence decided to pay us
a visit. It was not until last Tuesday that life in Fayetteville got somewhat
close to normal and finally here we are with the two September articles combined
into one. As some of you avid gardeners out there may already know September
(weather permitting) is the time of the year in which you shift from warm
season crops to cold season crops. While I can’t speak for any other gardeners
out there the hurricane’s heavy winds battered all of my tomatoes into
submission so of course as soon as the post hurricane cleanup occurred they got
pulled out. If you want to try for a late crop of peas now is the time. Sowing
carrots, parsnips, and radishes are also viable options at this juncture. But of
course, if you don’t believe it’s fall, then the below picture should be your
sign.
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| I somehow think these large spiders would be more horrifying if they glowed. |
The
above is a particularly massive specimen of a Hentz Weaver ( Neoscona crucifera ) and it’s female due
to the extreme sexual dimorphism in the species. Males are tiny comparatively
because this allows them to approach a female without being eaten most likely.
The females of this species are mainly nocturnal but you encounter them in the
fall when they become at least partly diurnal. They will build webs that are
easily a foot or more across with attachment lines that can run for many feet
to fixed objects such as structures, trees, shrubs and patches of lawn. They
seem to set up their webs daily starting in the evening, then tear them down
some time in the dawn. Typically, if there is a population of these spiders in
an area they will set up webs within the same 30-foot area. In my case this one
and another two like it set up somewhere under the dogwoods and the driveway
every night starting about mid-September. The Hertz Weaver may bite if agitated
but is not known to have a bite that can harm you other than localized
swelling. Getting a good night time image of this specific spider was part of
the delay in getting this article posted. Weather and many errors in trying to
get a decent photo stalled the original post. At this time of the year if you
intend to walk in areas where trees and shrubs are within close proximity, carry
an LED flashlight and shine it in your walking path, spider’s webs light up even
at range so you don’t walk face first into one.
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| If I get only one that's still better than none. |
In
keeping with what I originally intended to post in both of this month’s episodes
there are some garden photos that needed to be shared. First is a casualty of
the Hurricane; For the first time since I planted it, my Persimmon tree ( Diospyros kaki ‘Fuyu’) was loaded with
fruit. Understandably I was excited by this because I thought after six years
of messing with the darn thing, finally something to show for it. Well, Hurricane
Florence showed up with her 50+ mph winds and said “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” and knocked all the fruit off the
tree except this one in the photo above. That might be karma, because I did
joke as the hurricane approached shore that ‘Aunt Flo is coming to town’ and
well maybe the hurricane heard me. There are two things you should know about
Persimmons; first never eat them on a completely empty stomach. Second, Persimmons
contain a soluble tannin shibuol which when it contacts stomach acids can
polymerize into a sticky goo, called a phytobexoar. This mass can cause
indigestion and is slow to pass into the intestine. Moderate consumption of
persimmons however if you eat to many Persimmons. Surgery may be required in
extreme cases, though it is said that you can drink Coca-Cola to dissolve this
mass and skip the doctor’s bill. It’s noted that horses can gain a taste for
the fruit and eat to many and get sick for the same reasons a human eating to
many would.
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| Apparently you plant Pomegranates and leave them alone to get fruit...who knew?! |
But the persimmons were not the only
thing worth noticing, you see the Pomegranates were also flowering hard too and
never before have I gotten on camera a really good picture of what pomegranate flowers
look like so for your viewing enjoyment here is one. Seriously, they do not
look like any other plant I’ve ever seen! The petals remind me of crape myrtle
and the unopened buds also look like that, but the waxy calyx in an open flower
stops resembling any other fruit, and that is what eventually forms the pomegranate.
The scientific name of the type of Pomegrante we see in stores and grow in our region
is Punica granatum and in the case of
the species I have on hand I also have Punica
granatum var. nana which is a
dwarf Pomegranate which is typically kept as an ornamental but also produces
fruit. Culturally, in several sources it is stated that until the introduction
of Tomatoes, Pomegranates were the most sought-after fruit and given that they
have a long shelf life and can ferment in their rinds making a low yield sort
of fruit wine it’s no surprise they were popular. Pomegranates are noted to
have been one of the first cultivated fruits with Figs being the oldest known
fruit to be cultivated.
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| Shiso so....nah I wont finish that joke! |
Next up are some random shots; at the
end of the season it just sort of figures that the Purple Shiso (Perilla frutescens var. crispa) out did the varied types of
basil. I mean look at it go where the basil scored and sputtered it’s still
growing and doesn’t seem to care if it’s flowering or not. I expect to have Perilla
all over the place next year.
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| Ginger is super-easy to grow in our climate. |
This is a first, it seems this first
year Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is going to bloom. I have no idea what it’s
flowers will look like or smell like but I do know that photos of that will be
up here for you folks to enjoy as soon as this plant starts blooming. I expect
a good harvest because if you look carefully, the pot that the ginger is in is
distorted from its round shape to almost an oval, there are a LOT of roots in
there for sure.
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| The blue berries of Virginia Creeper may look like tiny grapes, but they are highly toxic. |
As a final picture for this post, above
is a picture of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus
quinquefolia) with berries. This climbing vine is considered a weed of
moderate persistence because it is moderately difficult to eradicate. If you
only read the classifications of the herbicide companies it’s the base of all
garden existence with only Greenbriar (smilax
rotundifolia) being consider more difficult to kill. However, Virginia
creeper does have its advantages in that it can climb structures with adhesive
disks that don’t damage the structures it is climbing on unlike true ivy (Hedera helix). This feature is
advantageous because it can rapidly cover masonry allowing a cooling effect
because it’s leaves will shade the building in summer. Often though, Virginia
creeper is mistaken for Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) because Virginia Creeper
can have anywhere from three to six leaflets per petiole and those leaves can
outwardly resemble that of Posion Ivy.
The key identifying feature is that Poison ivy has leaflets that are
shaped like your hand if the thumb is not extended, also it has white berries
and its roots look hairy like true Ivy, because they are hairy looking and may
dissolve masonry and stone.
For note this is where the
advertising starts because it keeps the Test Garden’s supplied and running
tests so you don’t have to. 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. Barring bad weather, I’ll be there selling the
following summer offerings.
Plants Available Now:
Lemon Grass – $8.00
Sage, Common - $3.00
Santolina - $3.00
Ghost Pepper - $3.00
Tabasco Pepper - $3.00
Coneflower, Cayenne Red - $4.00
Coneflower, Pow Wow Mix - $4.00
Milkweed – $3.00
Milkweed, Whorled - $3.00
Flowering Maple - $4.00
Hops, 5” pot - $8.00
Dancing Bones Cactus - $3.00
Coming Soon:
[TBA]
These days I am generally at
Leclair’s General Store once a week, for the weekly Sustainable Neighbors
meeting at 5:30pm through 7:00 pm. If you have questions then I will be there
to answer your questions. Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t
need to sign up for anything or join anything, you can come on in ask for us
and join the meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this
blog or visit the farmer’s market or pay attention to what Sustainable
Neighbors is doing at the link below.
https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/
This brings to a close the Sixteenth
and Seventeenth LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which
should be posted on the 10th of October which is the Wednesday after next.
There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.
