Severe Weather, DST and, Spring

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, this episode comes in the aftermath of Daylight Savings Time and a strangely powerful storm front that has rolled through the Southern United States. Hopefully all you readers out there heeded the weather information and took appropriate precautions to protect yourself and your property from damage. That isn’t counting the mental chaos that DST tends to cause by artificially getting you out of bed an hour early than is normal. According to numerous weather-related sources, we know that the longest day light period in Raleigh is Fourteen hours and Twenty-six minutes during the Summer Solstice. The Shortest day by comparison is just Nine Hours and Thirty-Three hours long during the Winter Solstice. This means that DST isn’t actually doing anything that wasn’t going on before the invention of the clock. This year’s summer Solstice is on June 20^th, and out Winter Solstice is December 21^st which is only really useful in Agriculture, because it allows growers to predict when certain plants that bloom based on increasing or decreasing photo-periods will do so. It helps us gardeners because we know there will be a little bit more daylight when we get home from work to handle a few short chores. How you use it is up to you but for me, I say we need to abolish the pretense of DST. According to Healtheuropa.eu, and a few other sources, your body’s internal clock isn’t based on DST. It functions based on the normal cycles of night and day that our planet does, and indeed we somewhere, somehow, always know what the natural time is…unless something screws it all up. The loss of an average of 15-30 minutes of sleep is enough to throw our internal timekeeping into disorder which increases the chances of a stroke or heart attack and may cause an increase of distracted or drowsy driving which can lead to a fatal vehicle accident. Some states in the USA have abolished DST, Hawaii and Arizona specifically. Also territories such as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands do not observe DST. It figures that the most chill tropical places don’t do it and even the one state that’s often referred to as the ‘Nursing home’ state doesn’t either.  But then, who really profits from DST anyway other than those who make timepieces, and maybe cellphone makers?

 

 

In acknowledgement of the First day of spring which is the 20^th or this Saturday, I have some spring blooms from the test gardens for your viewing pleasure. First off are these lovely Camellias (Camellia sassanqua), I do not know the specific variety, but they are always lovely and a sure sign that winter is nearing its end.

 

 

Next we have these Daffodils (Narcissus triandrus ‘Thalia’), they open sort of butter-cream colored and turn solid white. You can see all three color states in this photo.

 

 

What is a discussion of spring without a traditional yellow Daffodil (Narcissus sp)? Ths cluster of specimens punch through a ground cover of Chocolate Chip Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chip’)in late winter, they are the first  to bloom usually and have multiplied and done well.

 

Here we have a bunch of ‘sorbet’ series Johnny-Jump-Ups (Viola tricolor ‘Sorbet Fire’) in a pot with a Lace Kale  (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) plant. The color contrast was intended to brighten the winter and it’s still doing that…even as we approach spring.

 

 

 

This is a common Dandelion (Taraxicum officinale) which was intentionally planted. I keep a few of these plants around to bring in the pollinators since they bloom on and off year-round.

 

More Johnny-Jump-Ups (Viola tricolor) of the sorbet series, with a Lace Kale, that is bolting. Remember how I mentioned bolting is usually bad thing? Well in this case I’m letting it happen to provide pollen and nectar for various early pollinators.

 

Yeah, I make a LOT of use of Violas, I don’t recall what variety this is but the red was so striking that I had to work it into the garden plan.

This lovely but spiny plant is Wintergreen Barberry (Berberis julinae). It is known for its very pretty yellow flowers in late winter but also for its spiny leaves and rigid and sharp spines on the stems. If you need an area blocked off by a living wall this is your plant!

 

My lone specimen of Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium). This plant has somewhat spiny leathery leaves and is kind of slow-growing. When this Mahonia is in bloom though, the flowers which appear in late winter smell sort of like lemon dish soap. One plant can scent up large areas which is really nice and can help fight off the winter doldrums.

 

 

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.

 

This Week's Market List:

Soup Kit - Parsnip ($6.00)  

Soup Kit - Turnip ($6.00)

Just Onions ($3.00, 1lb)

Just Parsnips ($4.00 1lb) 

 

 

Spring Veggies: ($3.00 each)

Parris Island Romaine Lettuce

Cherokee Lettuce

Cimarron Lettuce

Lollo Rosso Lettuce

Black Magic Dinosaur Kale

Red Russian Kale

 

 March House Plant Collection (ON SALE!)
Starfish Sansevieria
Aloe 'Checkerboard'
Aloe 'Walmsley's Bronze'
Haworthia tesselata
Haworthia 'West Jogo'

The plant sale’s last week is this week.

                                          

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 sixth LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 2^nd of April. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

As February winds down, March may be a repeat

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market.  This post which was supposed to appear on the 22^nd of February was stalled by bad weather which prevented me from taking pictures in the field. This weird rainy cycle we’re having seems like something that belongs in April, not February, but I suppose this is what climate change looks like at it’s simplest. So, to start off I have some pictures from the test gardens that will get you in a mood to prepare for spring and of course garden preparations is the topic for this post and MARCH in general.

This daffodil cluster needs to be divided, but is doing ok under the Persimmon tree.

I dont know about all you gardeners who read this blog but my surefire sign that spring is close comes in four forms, the bloom of Daffodils (Narcissus sp.), Forsythia (Forsythia suspensa), three-spine Barberry (Berberis wisleyensis) and, Leather Leaf Mahonia (Mahonia bealei). All three plants bloom in a bright cheery yellow when nothing that colorful is blooming and all of them are aromatic. The Daffodils will bloom without complication in the middle of February and since they now come in a wide variety of colors, you can find a daffodil to suit your fancy. It should be noted that Narcissus are highly poisonous and they are utterly unpalatable to deer and rodents which makes them the ideal protector for non-poisonous bulbs such as tulips. I they are inter-planted the daffodils will protect the tulips from being dug up.

These are the color changing daffodils in the Memorial bed.

 Some daffodils like the one above start yellow, and fade to another color. The daffodil pictured is the 'Thalia' variety and it starts golden-butter yellow and fades to pure white making for a show in spring that cannot be beat.

Three-spine Barberries are a prickly obstacle, but the blooms are worth it.

Three-spine Barberry (Berberis wisleyensis) isn't seen in the landscape much because of most gardener's aversion to the plant's spines which can be up to two inches long. In late February however the plant as seen in the picture is covered in little yellow blooms that smell somewhat like lemons  once they open. This is also a trait of the Leather-Leaf Mahonia I mentioned earlier. The reason the scent is important is that a good garden should not just focus on bright colors, texture and scents are just as important. 

Rabbiteye Blueberries are a southern tradition.

 In the late winter I do get a lot of folks asking if they should cover their blueberries because they are concerned about a frost damaging the flowers and foliage. I always say no because blueberries are very adaptable and if sited well in the landscape can survive things that very few other fruiting shrubs can. Blueberries as a whole are very forgiving and are perhaps the easiest plant you can grow that produces a yearly crop of fruit. I also always recommend Rabbit Eye Blueberries (
Vaccinium virgatum) for our area because they are the native variety. In comparison to something like a Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) which is better adapted for northern climates and Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifulium) which is even more northern and more native farther west by comparison. Problems often arise when nurseries do not clearly label their plants or dont care to sell the right variety for the region. Always ask for the variety you want by it's specific name and check to make sure the scientific name on the tag matches what you want. There is no one-size fits all growing standard for blueberries because each of the three varieties I've listed need something a little different to yield an optimal harvest. 

With all that said, Rabbiteye blueberries are the best type for our region, they can withstand our weird winters, they can handle our flood/drought cycles and they will produce quite well with minimal maintenance and management. In case you are wondering, Rabbit eye blueberries got their name because they produce of the largest blueberries possible, roughly the size of a rabbit's eye.

 

Visitors at the farmer's market have been asking me to post this for a while.

 The above picture is what the greenery of Garlic looks like. It looks oddly like a Leek doesn't it? Well this i because Garlic (Allium sativum)  and Leeks (Allium ampelopasm 'Leek Group') are both in the Onion family, so are Chives (A. schoenoprasm), Shallots (A. cepa var. aggregatum), Scallions (A. cepa), Egyptian Onions (A. x proliferum) and, Ramps (A. tricocum).  The onion family has a lot of members and there is pretty much a species native to every continent except perhaps Antarctica and the extreme north.  Garlic is fairly easy to grow because it's not space intensive and can be planted around faster crops with virtually no competition. Typically you grow a crop of garlic by amending the planned planting site with bonemeal or something like Azomite and then  planting individual garlic cloves spaced about 4-6" in a row. You should increase or decrease the amount of space away from other row crops based on their crowing habits accordingly to increase your overall success rate with garlic. Planting should occur at the beginning of September with garlic cloves that have begun to sprout if weather permits, otherwise un-sprouted garlic cloves can be planted at any time during September. Beyond keeping the weeds down no other maintenance is needed. Harvesting time is typically the following April, though if the garlic bulbs attempt to bloom you have to remove the flower before it blooms. The good news is the flower and it's stalk are 100% edible and are a great ingredient to add to a pot of broccoli rabe.

This is not at all garden related but silly non-the-less.

 Ok, this is a catalog I get and the image on the cover was too silly not to share. Duluth trading has some good stuff, but their cover art is always wacky. So apparently I've been doing it wrong for decades, I should stop planning around bad weather. Yup, to stop all this rain we're having I just need to go out and grab a storm cloud by the 'swinging johnson' so the rain stops. Oh and look mildly angry and wear a blue rain jacket thingy.  Yup take that mother nature!

 

This image was snapped during the brief period on Wednesday when the rain had stopped.

 This is the photo of the week, the afternoon skies after the rain stopped for a day or so, what really caught my eye here is how in the lower right the sky is almost green-yellow in contrast to the rest.

When I say we're under the arches and 'rain or shine' I mean it

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. 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:

Soup Kit, Parsnip - $6.00

Soup Kit, Turnip - $6.00

Ginger, 6.0 oz - $2.00

Garlic, Whole bulb - $1.00

Seasoning Pack - $2.00

Lavender Pack - $2.00

Miniature Peace Lily, 4” - $4.00

Gold Dust Bamboo, 4” - $6.00

Flowering Maple, 4” - $3.00

Flowering Maple, 6” - $5.00

Polka-Dot Plant, 4” – $3.00

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 fourth LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 8^th of March. The next post will cover late winter garden planning and is the official start of the pre-spring preparation planning series.