Japanese Bush-Clover

 

Here we have a healthy bunch of Japanese Bush-Clover, note the flowers.

 

Common Name: Japanese Bush-Clover

 

Other Common Names: Japanese Clover, Common Lespedeza.

 

Botanical Family: Fabaceae (The Pea Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Kummerowia striata ( aka Lespedeza striata)

 

Description & Habitat:  Japanese Bush-Clover is a annual plant in the Fabaceae family, it is commonly found in fields open woods, by the roadside, and in other sides with disturbed soil. While it has some usage in pastures for forage and in hay its ability to fix nitrogen in the soil is useful as it prefers full sun sandy or fast draining soils and mesic conditions. This plant has a interesting history in the United States as it was noted to have started to appear near the close of the American Civil War in a number of southern states. It is thought that it arrived as a seed or grain contaminant, but was later imported intentionally and used to fill in pastures as livestock forage. This plant has also been used to ‘green’ or revegetate abandoned coal mine sites to prevent erosion and or landslides. There are specific cultivars available today. Despite its potential this plant can become invasive and should be applied with reasonable amounts of caution. Overall Japanese Bush-Clover can grow to be about 16” tall with an alternate leaf pattern. Its flowers can emerge in one of three colors on a single plant ranging from pink to purple to white making it a pretty plant

 

When & What to Harvest: The leaves and the seeds are both edible. Multiple sources note that it’s not the most highly recommended wild forage plant for food. It may be best to grind the seed into a meal and use it as a bulking or extending agent with cereal flours to make bread.

 

Poisonous Lookalikes: none

 

Related Edible Species: Other members of the Lespedeza family are edible.

 

Recipe:  I was unable to locate an actual recipe for this wild plant.

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/kummerowia-striata/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kummerowia_striata

 

 

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 my 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.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, 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.

 

 

Just as a note, I will be at the Wild Harvest tour. We are going to Clark Park which is located at 631 Sherman Drive, Fayetteville NC 28301. The tour will be led by two mycologists (Eric & Jesse of Sandhills Mushroom farm) and a horticulturist (me) and it runs from 9:00am to 12:00pm. The per-person entry fee is $30.00 per person. We suggest arriving a bit before 9am if possible there will be a wild life safety briefing before we start the tour. Just in case you are worried about the heat, we expect to be in wooded areas and Saturday is supposed to be gorgeous on the weather front.

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Common Jewelweed

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is July 27^th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.

Blue Passionflower

 [Warning, this will be a picture heavy post]

 

 

The young leaves can be kind of thin, but note the wrapping tendrils allowing it to climb.

This is a flower bud before the flower opens.

Sometimes Blue Passionflower leaves are more rounded.

The new leaves can also be teardrop shaped.

Here is an example of the lobed and teardrop shaped leaves on the same stem.

More mature vines will have upwards of five or six-lobed leaves.

The flower is what everyone loves, it's so pretty you almost forget this vine is invasive.

 

 

Common Name: Blue Passionflower

 

Other Common Names: Bluecrown Passionflower, Common Passionflower, Flower of the Five Wounds, Southern Beauty, Wild Apricot.

 

Botanical Family: Passifloraceae (The Passionflower Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Passiflora caerulea

 

Description & Habitat:  Just for note, this perennial plant was once sold through Burpee seeds as an annual. It is most certainly not an annual in zone 8A/8B and can become problematic if not outright invasive in a garden setting.  This species of Passionflower is native to South America. In our area you will find two species of Passion vine, the Purple Passionvine (Passiflora incarnata) and the Blue Passionvine (P. caerulea). In general both are aggressive vines that will climb up whatever is nearby be it blades of grass or your car that has sat in the yard for a bit. Typically you will find Blue Passion vine in gardens’ pastures, near rivers and in the woods and in all cases this is because it has escaped cultivation.

 

When & What to Harvest: The fruit are edible however most sources note they are a bit bland with a thin blackberry kind of flavor. The egg-shaped fruits are green when unripe and turn a yellow or deep orange color when ripe. The internal flesh of the fruit is a bright red color when ripe. The flowers of this plant are used to make passionflower tea which is noted to have health benefits. Do not eat the leaves or the unripe fruit as they contain cyanogenic glycosides which can convert to cyanide when eaten. The toxic part sof the plant are bitter tasting so avoid anything with that flavor.

 

Poisonous Lookalikes: none

 

Related Edible Species: Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata).

 

Recipe:  There are a surprising number of options online for using the fruit but in general they fall into five categories; smoothies, fruit salads, jams/jellies/preserves, in baked goods or in cocktails. The most interesting one is to simply make juice out of it as that can help lower blood pressure. Firstly you get out as many of the seeds as possible, run it through a blender, and then strain out the chunks. Add a sweetener and as much water as you had strained juice and then store cold and drink as needed.

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/passiflora-caerulea/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_caerulea

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=284901&isprofile=0&bt=4

 

 

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 my 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.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, 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.

 

 

For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.

 

 

Fresh Foods:

Blueberries, Rabbiteye – 12 ounces

Blueberries, Rabbiteye – 8 ounces

Figs, Mixed* – 16 ounces

Figs, Mixed* – 8 ounces

Tomatoes, Cherry Blend – 12 ounces

 

*Figs will be a mix of what is currently ripe; they might be White Ischia, Chicago Hardy, Celeste, Magnolia, Kadota, Brown Turkey or Petit Nigra.

 

 

Soil Amendment Products (New!)

Live Mushroom Compost – 3 Gallon Bag

Live Mushroom Compost – 1 Gallon Bag

 

Garden Plants, Perennial

Cutleaf Coneflower

Spineless Prickly Pear

Spanish Bayonet

 

Garden Plants, Annual

Marigold, Naughty Marietta – Yellow

Marigold, Naughty Marietta – Orange

Madagascar Periwinkle, Blackberry

Madagascar Periwinkle, Cranberry

Zinnia, All American Mix

 

Coming Soon:

American Aloe

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Little Brown Jugs

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is July 20^th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.

 

Creeping Cucumber

 

 

Creeping Cucumber as seen growing across pine straw is pretty and can in theory be used as a ground cover.

The ripe fruits as you can see are so dark green they appear pretty much black. You don't want to eat these unless you're backed up or something. Reports of them being flat poisonous aren't fully verified.

Note how the unripe fruit kind of resemble little watermelons, these are the ones you want to harvest for eating.

 

Common Name: Creeping Cucumber

 

Other Common Names: Guadeloupe Cucumber, Meloncito, Speckled Gourd

 

Botanical Family: Cucurbitaceae (The Cucumber Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Melothria pendula

 

Description & Habitat:  The Creeping Cucumber is a native perennial vine that is commonly found on the edges of marshes, by the roadside where sandy soil is present, in low woodlands, near parking lot bushes and of course in some gardens. The specimen photographed was found within the PWC facility in Fayetteville NC doing exactly what one might expect it to do; growing up a Cypress bush near a parking area. You can expect to encounter these vines in places with some soil disturbance and they may even be accidentally brought in with potted shrubs.

 

When & What to Harvest: The fruit of this native species of cucurbit is edible however you want to harvest the tiny fruits when they are green and not once they have ripened and turned dark green. The ripe fruit are so dark green they appear to be black and at that stage may have a strong laxative effect which might be useful as a medicine. In the green unripe form the fruits have a patterning that makes them almost resemble miniature watermelons; they have a tart cucumber kind of flavor.

 

Poisonous Lookalikes: none

 

Related Edible Species: Cucumber (Cucumis sativus), Mexican Sour Gherkin (Melothria scabra).

 

Recipe: All credible references point to using the green fruit as a snack or putting them in salads raw like one might do with cherry tomatoes.

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/melothria-pendula/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melothria_pendula

https://www.eattheweeds.com/creeping-cucumber-melothria-pendula/

 

 

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 my 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.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, 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.

 

 

For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.

 

 

Fresh Foods:

Blueberries, Rabbiteye – 12 ounces

Blueberries, Rabbiteye – 8 ounces

Figs, Mixed* – 16 ounces

Figs, Mixed* – 8 ounces

Tomatoes, Cherry Blend – 12 ounces

 

*Figs will be a mix of what is currently ripe; they might be White Ischia, Chicago Hardy, Celeste, Magnolia, Kadota, Brown Turkey or Petit Nigra.

 

 

Soil Amendment Products (New!)

Live Mushroom Compost – 3 Gallon Bag

Live Mushroom Compost – 1 Gallon Bag

 

Garden Plants, Perennial

Cutleaf Coneflower

Spineless Prickly Pear

Spanish Bayonet

 

Garden Plants, Annual

Marigold, Naughty Marietta – Yellow

Marigold, Naughty Marietta – Orange

Madagascar Periwinkle, Blackberry

Madagascar Periwinkle, Cranberry

Zinnia, All American Mix

 

Coming Soon:

American Aloe

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Little Brown Jugs

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is July 20^th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.