OK forget the thermostat, who turned on the sauna?

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, we hope your garden endeavors are working out just as you planned them. There is a slight change in schedule regarding posts to this blog and posts on the youtube channel. It was found that producing the videos and the blog posts at the same time proved too often be a but heavy on time consumption. So posts up here on the blog will be every other week as planned but we moved over a week. Videos will alternate in the same way on the non-blog post weeks keeping conflict between the posts at a minimum. So for today we have another set of garden photos showing our progress in this strange summer.

Coleus amboinicus – Cuban Oregano, this is the Cervesa and Lime variety which was the first Cuban Oregano I was ever introduced to. It has a more citrus-twang to its flavor. This specimen is the mother plant from which all the cuttings sold at the market came from, she’s in a 10 or 15 gallon nursery pot which was an upgrade from a 14” pot. Cuban Oregano used to be known as Plectranthus amboinicus.

 

Coleus amboinicus – Cuban Oregano, this is a variety with a larger leaf and cream to white colored variegations. These plants can get huge over the course of a summer and have the expected basil-oregano sort of scent and flavor.

 

Ricinus communis ‘Zanzibar’ – Zanzibar Castor Bean. This giant castor bean can get up to twelve feet tall in a single warm growing season, it is not frost hardy. Thankfully one plant will produce a fair number of large easily processed seed to grow in later years. Folks at the market doubted the size and capabilities of this tropical looking annual, but this one just keeps getting bigger.

 

 

Ricinus communis ‘Zanzibar’ – Zanzibar Castor Bean. This is proof that my claim that the leaves can grow large enough to have a diameter similar to pizza pie pans. This leaf is at least twenty-two inches in diameter but in reality if it were to lie perfectly flat might be two feet in diameter. They will get bigger, this is just the beginning.

 

 

Ricinus communis ‘Impala’ – Impala Castor Bean. At the market while selling Castorbean Plants I often get asked what the flowers look like and the descriptions are certainly entertaining. It’s hard to really describe the flowers but this picture illustrates it easily. The flowers are the little pink and white things lower on the stalk. The spiky pink balls are the seed pods, thankfully the spikes look more dangerous than they actually are. These castor beans volunteered from seed that survived in the garden soil somehow, it might be that they are more cold hardy than your normal Impala types.

 

 

Abelmoschus esculentus ‘Jing Orange’ – Jing Orange Okra.  Strangely enough they aren’t very orange, but I am still happy with the red coloration. These have become a replacement for Red Burgundy Okra in the garden and seem to be more vigorous and productive. The pods are still tender at 3-5 inches in length and I’ve been slicing them and freezing them for later use in succotash or gumbo.

 

Nicotiana sylvestris – Evening Scented Flowering Tobacco. I sold these at the market last year and from seed they have volunteered in the garden in a few places and really I am not all that upset about this. The scent at night is nice and the long tube flowers stand out in comparison to the other flowering tobacco plants in the garden this year.

 

 

 Brassica oleracea var. medullosa – Marrowstem Kale. Just when I thought this plant could not do any more to amaze me, it said ‘hold my fertilizer’. The stem is even thicker and according to a caliper measurement it’s two inches thick which if this keeps up I think it’s trying to be a Kohlrabi. I’ll keep you all up to date on how this cold season specimen plant develops.

 

 

Echinacea purpurea ‘Purple Magnus’ – Purple Magnus Coneflower. It wouldn’t be a LITFM post without a coneflower and these purple magnus coneflowers are looking really good. Asters bring in the pollinators and on a sunny day there are tons of things hitting up these perennials for the nectar and the pollen.

 

Lastly, here is the Blueberry harvest, seriously thats a LOT of berries.

 

Here are the latest YouTube videos for your garden entertainment:

 

All about wonderberries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhyIqdE0sn0

 

The science of how Thunderstorms apply nitrogen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA-rXvazNPs

 

The origins and uses of Tomatoes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yEPZEFMlcw

 

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.

 

Fresh Food:

Blueberries, Pint ($4.00)

Figs, 1lb ($8.00)

 

Summer Veggies: ($3.00 each)

Pepper: Habanero, Golden Bell, Ghost ($4.00)

Pepper, 6” pot: Scotch Bonnet ($5.00), Cayenne ($5.00)

 

Herbs: ($3.00 each)

Basil, Emerald Tower, Dolche Fresca, Rutgers DMR Devotion

Cervesa & Lime Cuban Oregano

Oregano

Thyme

Shiso, Green 6” pot ($5.00)

 

Ornamental Stuff: ($3.00 each)

Cotton, Erlene's Green (Limited Quantity)

Flowering Tobacco 'Saratoga Purple', 'Saratoga Rose'

Marigold 'Antigua Yellow', 'Durango Red',  'Tangerine',  'Hero Bee'

Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'

 

Coming Soon:

Comfrey (Herb, late summer)

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 thirteenth LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on or around the 16^th of July. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.