Of Peppers & Men

 

Monsoon season in Fayetteville

    Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market, this is our fourteenth episode and the first of two episodes for the month of August. Today we will be covering some status updates on various topics but first, here is a picture of the hydroponic system I’ve had in my kitchen for almost a year now.

Sweet Basil is the best herb for indoor growing because it is adaptable.

At the current time it’s growing only Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum) but the variety is Genovese which is still the winner for flavor and aroma as well as vigor. Last year I grew Dill, Basil and, Cilantro in this hydroponic setup but the results were not so good. I suspect the results had more to do with operator error than any real problem with the system. This year I’m keeping up with the trimming of the Basil to extend the growing period and maintain regular productivity. This means I won’t have enough to make pesto, but I can put fresh Basil in every meal as a finishing touch. One of the lessons I learned early on is that fresh basil sprigs do not like being stored in the refrigerator, they suffer cold damage very rapidly. So, store the fresh basil outside of the fridge and use as soon as you can to get maximum flavor.

Round squash range in size from roughly baseball to softball size.

Speaking of good food, at the Fayetteville City Market this weekend I got a box of these guys. Now these are not strangely deformed Zucchini they are round Zucchini and they are a great stand-in for yellow crookneck squash because they hold up better to cooking and tend not to disintegrate in stews and soups. The downside is that their season is incredibly short in the south and when you see them you should get as many as you can because you might not see them until next year. Surprisingly there is an even harder to get form of squash called a patty pan squash which is pictured below.

Patty Pan squash are somewhat of an agricultural delicacy due to their short growing season.

Patty pan squash are sometimes called ‘UFO Squash’ and the name isn’t that far off, their unique color and shape makes you wonder if you should expect a visit from Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. Many market goers do not realize pattypan squash are not purely ornamental they are completely edible and I personally prize them because they withstand cooking even better than round Zucchini. They are my squash of choice when making Tuscan stew which calls for other more unique ingredients such as Tuscan Kale, Dutch Yellow Potatoes and Cannellini beans (actually a white form of kidney bean). If you see Patty Pan squash at a market in fair sized numbers you can use them sliced the long way at about 1/8th thickness as a substitute for pasta in a Lasagna which is literally the first step towards making the dish both gluten-free and vegan friendly. As per tradition here at LITFM I’ve saved the best for last!  Below you will see a selection of the peppers I am growing for Fowler’s restaurant.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

            Fowler’s restaurant is best known for their food truck ‘The Blind Pig’ which is how they started their business. Their restaurant is located on 723 W Rowan St, Fayetteville, NC 28301. But, before this blows up into a full out advertisement let me talk about the peppers you see. In the upper right are my own hybrid peppers which I am calling ‘Fayetteville Inferno’, on the bottom left are Naga peppers, in the middle is a big pile of Red Peter Peppers (oh Myyy!), on the lower left are Aji Pineapple peppers, and in the upper right are Furious Sunset peppers. The only thing missing are the hot Pepperoncini peppers which are taking their own sweet hot time. I joked while in Fowlers about a week or two ago that the Red Peters should be used to enhance the ’Just the Tip’ steak tip sandwich via some hilariously named sauce. I know that the ‘Fayetteville Inferno’ peppers are one of the ingredients in Fowler’s ‘X-Man’ sauce which is so strong you need to have superpowers to survive it. Yes, I’ve tried it and I apparently have superpowers because my tongue was burning for about 48 minutes straight and I found the sauce delightful. I will say that no other hot sauce I’ve tried has burned for that long so it’s not for the faint of heart.  As the last part of this fine garden discussion, I have some pictures of the Memorial Garden. I have to admit that I was concerned that the lilies might not bloom due to the cold winter and other environmental factors but eventually they did, I just wish I could get them to grow straight. Then again you can’t win at everything so here is the Memorial Garden in part and full bloom crooked lilies and all.

   

This is the first lily to bloom in the garden.

This was taken before the garden really popped, I would have taken another but the weather switched to the T-storm several times a day format.

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:
Peppers, Naga – $6.00 (VERY limited supply!)
Basil, Sweet – $3.00
Sage, Common - $3.00
Stevia - $3.00
Santolina - $3.00
Tarragon, Texas - $3.00
Toothache Plant - $3.00

Coneflower, Pow Wow Mix - $4.00
Milkweed – $3.00
Milkweed, Whorled - $3.00

Hops, Zeus 6” pot - $10.00

Aloe Vera, Large - $7.00
Dancing Bones Cactus - $3.00
Polka Dot Plant - $4.00

Coming Soon:
Flowering Maple
Ornamental – Coneflower, Cheyenne Spirit

More To Be Announced

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 the Fourteenth LITFM post of the new year to its end, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 15th of August which is next Wednesday. You can expect some cool garden info and possibly a few seasonal recipe ideas so check back on the 15th for LITFM.