If June is this hot, I dont want to think of August

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. Despite our alternating wet and bone-dry weather, the normal duties of a gardener continue onwards with our reward being the usual bragging rights and the harvest and or photographs we take of the beautiful splendor laid out in our yards. For this post I will answer some questions posed during the garden tour and you will be to see some garden photos of stuff that might just blow your mind!  During the tour someone didn’t understand why I use a sifter to sift my compost. The visitor in question stated that she simply just applied her finished compost as is and didn’t see the value of sifting it. I suppose this is a relative thing but, sifting does increase the quality of the finished product and it does remove undesirable materials from the mix. The following photographs will show you what I mean.

This is the final product.

 Sifted Compost is far finer, has no coarse particles and almost resembles potting soil while losing no nutrient density. Inevitably because a lot of dead plants end up in my compost as a result of my growing business my compost has a LOT of perlite, vermiculite, coco fiber and peat moss in it. These ingredients make my compost kind of spongy and almost light enough to be used as a potting soil outright.

Chunks & Lumps #1

The sifting process keeps stuff like the above out of the final product, because who wants rubber bands and twist ties poking out of the soil in a garden bed?

Chunks & Lumps #2

The sifter also keeps pebbles, sticks and other heavier debris out of the final product. Some might say this isn't a good thing, except where I am I already have very sandy soil, I dont need or want the drainage and the sticks and such can pose problems in maintaining soil quality. Fortunately this stuff gets recycled as a bottom layer in the composter for drainage purposes.

Chunks & Lumps #3

This is the main reason to sift, all of what you see in the picture inside that plastic bin is roots, stuff that wont break down, bits of plastic, larger rocks, slow composting leaves and other stuff that can mess with the pH of the finalized compost or create unwanted air pockets that can damage plant growth where the compost is applied. out of every 20 or so gallons of raw compost about 4 gallons will be stuff that I really dont want in the finalized compost. So this is why I sift my compost, I end up with a much safer final product that can be added to the garden soils with a minimum of further modification. The one thing sifting doesn't change is the amount of weed seeds in the soil, but of course as that old Rolling Stones song goes, "You cant always get what you want, but if you try some times you get what you need." When it comes to compost no truer words have ever been spoken.

Despite what you hear on garden shows honey bees aren't the only pollinators.

The above picture also relates to a question asked on the tour, if the test gardens got a lot of honey bees at the test garden and this might be garden blasphemy but I cant say that I do. I get a fair amount of carpenter bees, bumble bees, moths and butterflies but not honey bees. Instead I get what you see in the picture. dead center in the picture if you look closely, that is a Mason Bee (Osmia sp.) which could be any one of up to two-hundred individual species. Mason bees are short ranged, never foraging more than about three hundred feet from wherever they've built their nest, are not aggressive and are solitary, each one pretty much acts like it's own hive. They do tend to build nests together, but will not use each other's nests. Much like Cicada Killer Wasps ( Sphecius speciosus ) They pretty much keep to themselves, though you can encourage their behavior by providing the right habitat. In my case I make sure there are plenty of easy to access nectar producing flowers, and there is access to natural clay in the yard. In return they pollinate reliably and with a minimum of fuss. It's a good arrangement, I do what I was already going to do, and they move the pollen around, no one gets stung or swatted and everyone's happy.

Datura metel 'Canary' in full bloom

Technically I'm showing off this plant twice, but in this picture the flower is in full bloom, and it has a feature I've never seen before on a tube flower, Canary has four separate petals making it a quad-tube and technically it verges on five due to the deformed petals inside the flower. Much to my surprise it seems to get pollinated just fine by ants (at night) and mason bees during the day. The scent is nice and the color is well the gorgeous cream you see, though the flowers before opening are more yellow which is probably where the name comes from.

Lantana, proven butterfly crack since forever!

Yeah that's right, that lantana in the picture was a volunteer that does wonders for attracting pollinators. It's flowers are pretty and after a few years it started attracting these "hefty bois". Seriously look at the size of that one, he's very healthy which is a good sign. For note that is a male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly ( Papilio glaucus ) which is endemic to most of the eastern half of the united states. These butterflies show up in early-mid summer and that they stop in the yard is a very good sign that things are going well.

Pasta sauce made with Sungold Cherry Tomatoes.

This is the last photo for this post and it answers a ton of questions I get at the farmer's market about the low to No-acid tomato varieties I sell there. Yes you can make a tasty tomato sauce out of cherry tomatoes and it will be quite flavorful, but chances are it will end up a yellow or orange color which isn't a big deal, at least the way I see it anyway. Sungold tomatoes ripen to a rich apricot-orange color so the sauce is the same albeit darkened by cooking ad the effects of adding other ingredients. This pot of Sauce was made using mainly stuff harvested from the garden with the exception being the olive oil used in it. If you all are interested I can post the recipe, just comment and let me know.

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:

Herbs:

Agastache, Golden Jubilee: 3” - $3.00

Aloe, Vera: 4” - $4.00

Basil, Sweet: 3” - $3.00

Basil, Thai: 3” - $3.00

Basil, Mirihani: 3” - $3.00

Etruscan Santolina: 3” - $4.00

Sage, Common: 3” - $3.00

Valerian: 3” - $3.00

Flowers:

Balloon Flower, Astra Mix: 3” - $4.00

Coneflower, Feeling Pink: 3” - $4.00

Coneflower, Pow Wow White: 3” – $4.00

Datura, White Ballerina: 3” - $4.00

Lily, Formosa: 3” - $4.00

Lupine, Carolina: 3” - $4.00

Mexican Sunflower: 4” - $4.00

Salvia, New Dimension Blue: 3” - $3.00

Salvia, Silver: 3” - $4.00

Tobacco, Flowering: 3” - $3.00

Fruits & Vegetables:

Cotton, Mississippi Brown: 3” - $4.00

Okra, Red-Burgundy: 3” - $3.00

Peppers, Special: 3” – $4.00

Peppers, Assorted: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Assorted: 3” - $1.00

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 thirteenth LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 12th of July. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

Beating the heat? Nah it's beating me!

And here we are and it is undoubtedly summer but don’t worry here comes another episode of Lost in the Farmer’s Market! Today we have some cool test garden pictures and the start of a brief series on how to prepare your gardens for the coming spike in temperatures. We all know the drought days of august are coming soon so while the weather is currently tolerable it makes sense to  prepare as best we can for the heat now as opposed to compounding our labors later.

Lets face the facts folks as gardeners we all know it’s going to get warm in summer and for those of us in the south east that means a delicate balance between watering our beloved plants or letting nature do it’s worst and pick up the pieces later. Obviously it doesn’t have to be this way, but this is often what it appears to be a narrow spectrum of choice. The truth however could not be more different in several differing ways. Take for instance the average garden plot, we know that the addition of much can help conserve soil moisture and keep down weeds but then it gets into the differences between the types of mulch. Whether you realize it or not mulch is as different as the people who choose to apply it so here is a fast rundown on the types.

Stone – example granite, pea gravel marble chips bluestone gravel ect.

            Stone is nice and fairly permanent but it suffers from the issue of being both expensive per square foot, heavy and it contributes nothing to the soil. For that matter stone really only works well when combined with landscape fabric and thus by itself won’t block weeds very well unless several inches are applied. I might add stone does have to useful features as it tends to help retain soil warmth and in the case of certain crushed stone products may add trace nutrients to the soil as it weathers.

Pine Straw – longleaf and short needle types such as loblolly and white pine.

            Well out in Fayetteville this stuff is everywhere so it’s no surprise it stays in use, and good clean pine straw isn’t bad stuff. On application pine straw is nice and fluffy but settles down somewhat flat. With age (1-3 years depending on species) pine straw will decay into a sort of pine straw loam. Pine straw also has use as an anti-erosion material as the numerous surfaces it creates tends to slow down water runoff and wind keeping the soil beneath it where it is. The downside of pine straw is the cost, irregularity of the bales if purchased and its high flammability. Pine straw tends to weather to a light brown or a pale gray depending on sunlight exposure and moisture.

Pine Bark

            Pine bark is more a southern thing then a northern thing, and as a byproduct of the timber industry it makes sense to recycle this waste product into something useful. Fortunately you can get pine bark both by the bag and by bulk which makes it rather economical. The quality of pine bark does vary so most of you out there are advised to get a good look at what your local garden centers sell and determine what is best for you on a case by case basis. A major advantage to pine bark is that it forms a dense cover that most weeds have trouble getting through especially when an inch or more is applied. More so pine bark has all the useful qualities of pine straw with one difference. New applications of pine bark may float off during heavy rains and washout is a problem also. Good pine bark after weathering tends to be a golden-brown color.

Hardwood/Cedar Bark

 The hardwood and cedar group are more found up north, and tend to cost more but also last longer, and have anti-insect and decay properties. Cedar and cypress mulch are notorious for this effect which is good if termites are a concern and you can get cypress or cedar in bulk. Hardwood much tends to be maple or more commonly oak, and has the advantage of lasting at least as long as pine straw but is heavy enough to resist all but heavy rain induced washout. Cedar and Cypress both last the longest of the organic mulches and tend to weather to a light brown-gray where as hardwood much is often a light gray.

If you will notice I skipped two much products in this list, the first is rubber much and the second is any form of colored mulch. I skipped the former because of its habit of leaching zinc into the soil. Rubber much is often made of spent auto tires with the internal wires removed and thus due to vulcanization exudes zinc and in cheaper tires sulfur residue. Rubber mulch is however ok for use in kid’s playgrounds but not so good in an actual garden. The colored mulches were skipped because they are essentially the industries biggest scam. I might also add the red much is incredibly tacky looking unless you live in a McDonald’s restaurant. The real scam here is that when you buy a bag of dyed mulch not only are you paying for the cost of labeling and advertisement but also you are often buying a lower quality product. Depending on whom you buy colored mulch from at the worst the actual mulch may have ground up reject lumber and crushed wooden pallets instead of true timber materials. What they might call bark may not even actually be tree bark but the remains of the timber process after logs are turned into boards. There is the lack of permanence in the dyes used, as red much tends to turn pink, and black mulch takes on a gray color after a few weeks to a month or so. At a worst case scenario the dye leaches out and stains other surfaces. In short friends don’t let friends buy dyed mulch!

Considering the options of what mulch you use is as important as where you apply the material. As we all know mulch can act as a weed barrier because it prevents light from reaching the weed seeds that may lay dormant in the soil. More so the few weeds that do germinate then have to push their way though that extra layer of material just to get to light and but the time they do they’ve burned off a lot of energy. By this point the weeds are very visible and that’s where you come in. Needless to say mulch is quite important for your beds in numerous ways but did you know you can use mulch in your large pots for the same purposes? Indeed the test gardens insulate our 14” planters with a ½” layer of pine bark mulch to reduce watering needs and it seems to work. The squirrels also seem to want to mess with the planters less and fire ant mounts if they ever appear are very visible which makes it a triple bonus. We also use mulch in our raised and non-raised beds equally to promote better moisture retention and an improved topsoil quality as the bark does break down over time. But enough on this topic, next week we will cover watering, and after that plant selection. As promised earlier here are the week’s best test garden photographs.

This is what a maturing Kiwano or Horned Melon vine looks like, at the time of this photo the vines had reached the top of the 5' climbing support and were still aggressively growing despite that. If the growth is an indicator of the potential for fruit I may be buried in horned melons! I sold young kiwano plants this year and this folks is what you ought be prepared for.

Here Is that rascaly rabbit I was telling folks about. He or she posed right behind the tailgate of the truck long enough for me to snap two pictures. As it turns out this rabbit was no doubt attracted to the yard by the number of dandelions I grow which is a food staple for conttontail rabbits.

Ascepias tuberosum also known as Milkweed or Pleurisy Root in full bloom. This pure orange variety is one I brought to Fayetteville from new jersey and is the only perennial on premises that made it through year one. It's not well known but Asclepias of this type have a LONG taproot so they loathe to be transplanted. When grown from seed it takes two or three years for the seedlings to mature. Also the plants appear from nothing in late spring bloom and then slowly appear to decline and die going dormant until next year.

Yucca filimentosa also known as Adam's Needle or Spanish Bayonet, this tough perennial is best known for it's foliage but mature clumps flower in early summer. The flower stalks can be upwards of 6' tall and are covered with these bell shaped flowers. No scent but then not such a big deal for a plant often deemed unapproachable.

I snapped a shot of this butterfly on a particularly windy day as it settled in the pine straw no doubt to take a brief rest. After a little research it seems to be a black swallowtail type. According to some aspects of African lore butterflies carry the souls of those recently deceased. Personally I just consider the presence of this butterfly as a sign that the work completed int eh gardens is worth it.

A Silver Fir Tree tomato showing off it's 'fir' which sparkles a little in the light and it's mature form lacy foliage. This is one of the tomato varieties sold this year. Overall the fir tree tomato is turning out to be rather durable and is growing quite well in the test garden.

Oxalis articulata or Pink Sorrel this common garden plant is often considered a weed. As a relative of the sorrels it is a perennial with a reasonably good drought resistance. This little plant spreads both by seed and it's tuberous roots. It will tolerate poor soil drought and has few if any insect problems but may succumb to a fungal infection of Rust. Generally a cheery plant in the spring and fall very easy to propagate and it also makes for a reliable perennial addition to any garden.

Physalis, Cossack Pineapple Ground cherries in a 15" pot out in the test gardens. For note all pots in the test garden this year received a 1/" layer of much to conserve moisture. This variety was sold this year and this is what a established but not quite mature plant looks like. For those who don't know the ground cherry is a semi-native that is disease resistance and drought tolerant. There are few issues with this plant in general and the best part is most casual visitors will never know this is anything other then an ornamental. The fruit is fantastic though, they taste like little candies.

Penstemon gloxinoides, or Gloxinia-flowered beardtongue. This variety of penstemon has all the durability traits of the other varieties but also bears large two-tone flowers throughout summer. as you can see the variety above called Hot coral is very striking. These plants are drought tolerant but to do their best need a decent soil.

With that last picture this brings to a close another episode of Lost int he farmer's Market. I know this episode didn't quite make it online at the time it was planned with a plant list but, never fear, next week's episode should be posted on Thursday evening if not Friday proper.  In the next episode I'll continue the topic with a bit about soil amendments and quality and it's effect on how efficiently you water your garden.  As always folks be wary of heatstroke and hydration  and also keep 'em growing!