Lost in the Farmers Market

Welcome to the LITFM weekly blog. This blog is a text-based complement to the LITFM YouTube channel and covers the forage food side of gardening. It is my goal to make gardening and forage food accessible for all while promoting good land stewardship and sustainable practices by providing honest and balanced information backed by verifiable scientific fact. Since this blog now focuses on wild plants or ‘weeds’ we will be taking an objective look at them and their uses. Thank you for reading.

Friday, October 25, 2019

2019 Autumn Garden Tour

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. Today's episode has been delayed purposefully because of the need to get good photography for the virtual version of the Autumn Garden tour which occurred on Sunday the 20th. As some of you may know the Botanical test gardens are open to the public twice a year for an Autumn and a Spring tour. The idea of these two tours is to demonstrate the differences and developments that have occurred over the course of a single year. The spring tour which is usually after Mother’s Day allows for a demonstration of growing methods and plant varieties for warm-season crops. The Autumn tour, demonstrates means and methods for producing ample cold-season crops. Both tours show some ingenuitive mechanical processes that allow for success without the back-breaking labor. Ideally visitors should go on both tours to really see the gambit of methods, materials and changes to get a full feel for gardening in our region and our specific climate. There is one other net advantage to visiting the Botanical Test Gardens; the gardens were established in February of 2009, and since then I have personally tried all kinds of gardening theories and some were proven while others were debunked. You gain access to all of that when you visit and no reasonable question is off-limits during the tour. In case you are wondering, the gardens do occasionally receive plant donations, but it does not have a sponsorship or any such thing so we aren’t beholden to a business interest. The testing done at the gardens are of a free and independent nature on a shoestring budget, and this of course benefits all you readers out there.

With all of that said, the Tour this year almost did not happen as the forecast claimed heavy rain, but the prognostication changed the closer to the 20^th we got. It was somewhat cloudy but the rain held off for long enough to have a wonderful conversation, and a recap of the Spring tour for those whom could not make the earlier event. I thank you all for coming out and I hope all your questions got answered. Next up is the virtual tour, keep in mind the photos below are larger than normal and of higher resolution. Viewers with slower internet connections or older computers should be patient and allow the images to load.

The Spring 2019 virtual tour can be found here:

http://bl2-litfm.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-spring-2019-photo-tour.html

Garden Tour Highlights

Here we have North Carolina's tallest okra plant. The scientific name for this plant is Abelmoschus Manihot ‘Chief Kubo’s Prize’ and it is actually a tropical cousin of your traditional okra plant climate it is called a South Sea Salad tree. All parts of this plant are edible except the trunk which more likely than not can be dried and used as a walking stick if allowed to age.

Crescent Bed: From the left side.

Crescent Bed: As seen from the front to the left.

Crescent Bed: In front, dead-center.

Crescent Bed: From the front towards the right.

Crescent Bed: From the right side.

Here we have a panoramic set of pictures of the Crescent bed. This location has come a long way from its clear-cutting and reset in the spring. It was heavily overgrown by numerous weeds Vines and other noxious plants it was also full of small saplings. Perhaps ironically progress on this location has gone further than it did when this bed was established in 2014. In an upcoming post (before the year is over) I will share the photographs collected of it's development over the course of the last five years.

The Triangle Bed: nope still not a triangle!

The triangle bed is a definite story of resurrection as this bed too was at times overgrown with Jerusalem artichokes, and then clogged with asparagus (it didn't produce) and then the residual problems with passion vines and other weeds were a problem also. Once this bed was cleared and a new layer of Black kow composted manure was added it started to thrive again. Plants rescued from the reclaiming of the crescent bed were moved here and they did very well this year. The best part is if you look very closely in the lower left side of the bed, those big-leaf seedlings are where the Money plants (Lunaria annua ) have begun to naturalize. Next year is going to be great!

Reinforced Mound Bed: It needs some help.

The RFMB needs some help, parts of it are doing great, and other parts well, not so good. But this is really how the process goes, the objective of the test gardens is to see what works and what does not. I suspect the soil in this bed is starting to get depleted, and certain areas may need a compost and/or composted cow manure bombing as well replacement of certain perennials that show no signs of vigor.

The New Bed: As seen during the tour.

This bed was established using a combination of grass clippings, spent potting soil and soft plant debris. Because I knew that the bed sat upon plant materials that had not fully decomposed you can see that I planted (it's bright green and in the middle) a previously pot-bound Comfrey (Symphytum officinale 'Bocking 14') in there to accelerate the process.

The New Bed: Being expanded right after the tour.

Right after the tour a number of warm-season plants that were not productive were turned under and their potting soil was recycled to effectively double the size of the new bed.

The New Bed: now with 50% more vegetable action!

I do have plans to add more to this bed soon, but at the moment it is 6.5 feet wide by 13 feet long. this bed is likely to produce heavily over the cold months and next year's crops will be off the charts.

Potted Crops: Left to right, Celery (2), Snow Peas (2), Swiss Chard (2).

Potted Crops: Four differing varieties of Carrots, lunar white, Amarillo, Cosmic Red, Black Nebula.

Minty Turret: Pineapple mint.

Since the raised beds featuring the chocolate mint, Kentucky Colonel Spearmint and Mountain mint did so well I figured I should just go ahead and plant the Pineapple Mint. It's planted over a layer of spent potting soil with a ring of black kow around it.

F3 Bed: Left to right, Toad lily (trycyrtis formosa), Oregano (Origanum vulgare), Heart Throb Violet (Viola odorata).

F3 for note stands for Flowers, Food, Foliage, and this bed does espouse the idea in a unique way.

The mega pepper, simply the largest pepper plant I have ever grown in one single season.

A single cotton plant, with a ton of white icicle radish seedlings coming up below it.

The Magnolia Fig, after being pruned for shape.

Lamb's Ear - Stachys byzantina

In our climate lambs ear plants are fairly delicate as they dont like our dry spells and definitely dont much appreciate sandy soil. If you treat them a bit more like a basil they will do better.

Unknown species of frog or toad I accidentally disturbed while digging.

Collards 'Alabama Blue' The most beautiful species of collards known.

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.

Plants & Stuff Available Now:

All The Stuff:

Soup Kits: $6.00

Seasoning Packets: $2.00

Vegetables:

Collards, Green Glaze: 3” - $3.00

Mustard, Japanese Red Giant: 3” - $3.00

Kale, Scotch Blue Curled: 3” - $3.00

Kale, Dinosaur: 3” - $3.00

Kale, Russian: 3” - $3.00

Swiss Chard: 3” - $3.00

Herbs:

Rue, Marbled: 3” - $3.00

Sage, Common: 3” - $3.00

Flowers:

Coral Bells, ‘Marvelous Marble’: 4.5” - $4.00

Houseplants & Annuals:

Polka-Dot Plants: 6” - $4.00

Coming Soon:

Whole Garlic

Ginger roots

More House Plants

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 twenty-first LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 1^st of November. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

A few days late but worth the wait

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. This episode has been delayed by several days because finally the temperatures are starting to drop and I am cycling out all my warm season crops for cool season ones. I am sorry for the delay but you have an interesting episode ahead of you. For today’s topic I will be debunking, or at least explaining some common garden myths and bringing to light what truths are behind them if there are any at all.

1. Always transplant a plant into a new pot no larger than 1” bigger than the old one as it will cause your plant to have a longer shock period.

This is something they actually teach at the college level in horticulture and they really should not perpetuate this false-confirmation type of lie. You see, as long as you loosen up your plant’s roots when repotting, it does not matter what new size pot you use as long as it is bigger. The longer period of transplant shock part is a complete myth as it only seems to take longer for your plant to adapt to a much larger new pot filled with more potting soil because it visually appears much smaller and any new growth seems lacking. Essentially you can within reason ignore this myth.

2. Buried Banana peels give a potassium boost to your plants.

Much like with a mass of cellulose (green wood) the decomposition process of banana peels will attract microorganisms that will make nitrogen less available in the soil during decomposition. This can obviously be a problem as most plants do need some nitrogen to grow and maintain their green color and vigor. It is wiser to just compost these scraps and use the resultant potassium fortified compost later.

3. Coffee grounds/ pine straw lowers the soil’s pH.

This is a half-truth; coffee grounds are mildly acidic as is pine straw. However, neither really lowers the soil’s pH in any meaningful amount over a noticeable amount of time. Coffee grounds much like Banana peels can in fair amounts tie up nitrogen in the soil as they decompose. Pine straw on the other hand is very mildly acidic to a point that the effect on the pH is less than a fraction of a tenth of a percent per square foot. Green pine needles are the most acidic but that’s also a miniscule amount and they too can tie up nitrogen if applied in bulk. It is easier to just use a sulfur-based soil acidifier to see noticeable effects. There is good news, coffee grounds and pine straw both decompose and add organic matter to the soil with is always a net bonus to your topsoil layer.

4. Transplant Fertilizers help establish plants faster.

The problem with transplant fertilizers and rooting stimulators is that they are not all made equal. The labels claim great things but the buyer should be wary, if a transplant fertilizer lacks any sort of hormonal compound such as “indole-3-butyric acid” it is merely a fertilizer and is no different than any other basic fertilizer on the market. For the record indole-3-butyric acid is a specific plant hormone in the auxin group that specifically promotes root growth. It is a compound that is used in micro-propagation where the cloned plant may be a barely differentiated tissue culture.

5. Add sand to clay soils to improve drainage.

This myth is wrong for one major reason, clay is the finest of the three mineral components of soil where as sand is the most coarse. When you add the two together the sand does not stop the clay particles from sticking to each other and the sand itself. The combination effectively can create a form of concrete especially if compaction occurs. The product you want to fix clay is called Green Sand. Green sand is a coastal form of sandstone that breaks up the ability of clay particles to cling to each other.I know what you are thinking, 'but isn't adding green sand essentially still adding sand?' Technically yes, but structurally no, as noted Green Sand is a form of coastal sandstone that has rounded porous particles that aid in water retention in sandy soils but also break up clay in clay soils. Literally green sand can fix two out of three soil particle issues for little to no cost.

6. Do not get the leaves wet when watering it can cause disease!

This is a half-truth; it can be true in the case of hairy, fuzzy or textured leaves where the shape or texture of the leaf may hold on to water or trap it. In most cases unless the foliage is kept constantly wet daily for weeks on end this garden myth is largely false. After all, when was the last time you saw a plant fall apart because it rained for a few days? Now, there is a minor detail to consider, this myth probably only applies when watering with municipal tap water. If your water comes from a well or a rain catchment system such as a rain barrel then you are safe. Tap water is typically treated with certain compounds to reduce harmful bacteria and other dangerous organisms as well as to neutralize odd tastes and prevent stagnation in the pipes. These compounds are not found in rain water, and so they may have additional negative effects on a plant’s foliage that rain water does not.

7. Add a layer of gravel or sand to the bottom of a pot for drainage.

This one is a long-standing problem as it does little for drainage, and can be a vector for inviting pests such as fire ants to move into your patio planters. A layer of gravel at the bottom of your pots and planters doesn’t really help drainage as it prevents the normal capillary action of soil from doing what it’s supposed to do. If the soil column extends to the drainage holes of a pot then normal and complete drainage can occur assuming the soil mix is not excessively hydrophilic. Adding the gravel creates a break in the capillary action and a possible unnatural wet spot that can potentially prompt root diseases. There is one use for gravel or coarse rocks at the bottom of a planter however; in the case of top-heavy pots or planters that may be toppled by wind. In this specific case the gravel or coarse rock can provide just enough ballast to keep your prized specimen upright.

8. Oyster shells / eggshells make the soil sweeter / more alkaline.

I hear this a lot, it has an almost religious following and much like with pine straw, coffee grounds and banana peels, it too is effectively false due to a large level of inefficiency. Oyster shells and egg shells are made of calcium and as they weather, they then alter the soil pH in fractions of a tenth of a percent. Thankfully both are incredibly inexpensive and if smashed up they do help soil structure by acting as a porous aggregate. The most effective way to improve the soil’s alkalinity is to add one of three forms of limestone. Hydrated Lime, is the white powdery stuff folks often put on their lawns and goes into effect in as little as 30 days, but has a risk to burn if overapplied. Dolomitic lime, is typically in pellet form, takes 60 days to change pH and is easily handled with little risk of burning. Agricultural lime is essentially crushed lime stone and has the consistency of coarse sand with a bunch of gravel in it. Ag-lime takes 90 days to change the soil’s pH, but is the least expensive per pound of the three.

9. There is no such thing as too much organic matter.

Whoa now, put down that shovel; this is a complete and utter falsehood, and here is why. Organic matter is great stuff: it can change soil pH, it feeds your plants so you need to use less fertilizer and it helps counter erosion, and water evaporation. When you have a soil that is 30% or more organic matter by volume. Soils of this type are called ‘muck’ or sapric soils because they resemble or are essentially swampland of some kind or another. While this does work for some crops such as onions, carrots, celery and potatoes as long as the soil is prevented from becoming inundated with moisture. There is no practical reason you would want to create a muck soil, and as such it is better to aim for loam which is 35-35-20-10% sand-silt-clay-organic matter composition as with that you get the right blend of soil particle traits to ensure good harvests and nutrient retention.

10. There is only one way to compost.

This is false as many environmental, soil and space-related conditions exist and what works for me may not work for you. There are only a handful of rules for composting and they are very easy to follow, all the rest is a matter of local preference. Composting regardless of what container you use follows a basic set of rules; use only vegetable kitchen scraps, make sure to add fallen leaves, and inoculate the pile with soil. Typically some form of turning is useful to accelerating the process of turning the ingredients into compost but that also varies on your time frame.

Remember how I was unsure of the mystery plant earlier in the year? Well it bloomed and here's the fruit it is American Beautyberry or Callicarpa americana. Two more have sprouted in other locations and I call that incredibly good fortune.


Cotton that develops properly has beautiful symmetry, four perfect lobes which exist to protect the seed within. A full-size cotton boll can have up to thirty two seeds in it on average.

They look like different types of cotton but both are from Mississippi Brown Lint cotton plants grown mere feet apart.

Check out the Mustard leaf on the left versus the one on the right which is normal.

Talk about crazy veins, when I saw this and several other leaves like it in a batch of mustard greens I was planning to cook last Sunday, I thought it was pretty weird. Apparently for some reason leaves that get hyper-veins like this are actively trapping more CO2 and carbon in general for some reason. The tougher cells needed to make the veins some how use the carbon in CO2 to enhance cell wall rigidity supposedly. I am not sure what this tells me about the environment but it is interesting and weird.

Before we move on to the bit where I talk about what I have available at the market and what garden goodies you can snag for your self at the market I would like to take a moment to talk about the Fall Garden Tour. This year I decided to return to an old tradition where I run a late garden tour in October so that those who missed the spring one get a second chance to see where the magic happens. The fall tour is on October 20^th, 2019, between 2 and 5 pm and you can RSVP at the link below.

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/events/265074204/

If you haven't RSVP'd try to come to the Market to ask about the tour or come to the Sustainable neighbors weekly meeting to get more info.

Soup Kits, the perfect thing to warm the cold nights!