January, when the weather doesn’t even.

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. January has been strange hasn’t it? The weather fluctuations have made it hard to enjoy nature as it’s been cold wet and then suddenly summer-like. With a keen eye however you might notice that this has not stopped cold-season weeds from emerging and greening up sections of your lawn. At the test gardens there is already a sea of purple-green thanks to Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule)which is edible. Pale greens come from spots where Chickweed (Stellaria media) has emerged and the vibrant medium-greens are from Cat’s ear dandelions (Hypochaeris radicata). All of the aforementioned are either edible (henbit and chickweed) or have a medicinal use, and yet if you believed certain parts of big-agra you’d think these little plants were committing a war crime for existing. I urge all of you out there to go look at the little details and maybe you’ll realize that it is a myth that winter is a dead three months. But clearly no one told the wildlife as I saw this little critter scurry by at the test gardens.

 

Xystodemidae family subgroup, possible Apheloria - Millipede

I know some of you might be reaching for a can of Raid, but keep in mind, millipedes are decomposers, they tend to live in places that are damp frequently like piles of leaves, compost piles and in mulch. They actually for the most part are harmless and are a sign that an area is damp but also that decomposers are working on the excess organic matter present. These creatures work unseen much like worms throughout your garden. They’re part of the big picture and sometimes you can find groups of them by moving fallen leaves in the middle of winter. I makes one think for a moment about how many moving parts there must be in a cubic foot of soil that make the soil what it is. But onward to some indoor color to make winter less drab.

 

 January is also a good moth for Holiday Cactus, as they are in full bloom and you get a reminder of why you grow such a plain looking plant most of the year.

Of course what is a mention of Holiday Cactus without a representation of the impossible pink hues one can get from the species.

White is also an option, though I've yet to obtain a pure white specimen, and this off-white one is spectacular none-the less.

 Here is another off-white specimen with a noticeably darker pink blush. In case you are wondering why the flowers are curved down, it's probably because they in their native habitat, are pollinated by moths. Also given the fact these true cacti are epiphytes and would be dangling down from tree branches it protects the pollinator a bit.

 Ah yes a true red one, with a pink center. Now this  is definitely a show-stopper. The red blooming Holiday Cactus always sell faster, even if they are physically identical to all other colors except in bloom color. It's something about how dramatically visible they are in the dead of winter after the Poinsettias have faded.

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

Ginger, 4oz Packet: $2.00

Wormwood Packets: $2.00

Lavender Packets: $2.00

Pepper Packets: $2.00

Garlic, Whole Bulb: $1.00

Coming Soon:

TBA

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 second LITFM post of 2020, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 7^th of February. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

The something or others of March!

Welcome back to another wintery edition of Lost In the Farmer’s Market. Now as you know these episodes are posted a few days early of the normal Saturday posting date because of our involvement in the Fayetteville farmer’s Market. Today’s episode is the first one of March 2014. Due to some questions about plants we are selling at the Farmer’s Market, this episode is dedicated to providing details on the herbs currently available at ye olde booth.  So let’s get to the topic shall we? This year I decided to do something different with the plant selection, I phased in more perennial herbs and more food substitutes and switched out a lot of the annual plants. Now to be fair a number of plants are considered annuals but in truth are nothing of the sort but are grown that way.  But I think a discussion of what the term ‘technical annual’ means is a discussion for another day.

Angelica – Angelica archangelica (Biennial, Partial Shade)

Angelica is a member of the carrot or parsley family Apiaceae. As such it has a lot of the same features, a fleshy tap root, and finely dissected leaves and is the favored food of a number of butterfly species. For the average gardener it can serve as an ornamental as its foliage is quite nice as is its bloom. The seed is used as a seasoning, the foliage can be eaten, and the root dug up sliced and cooked as one might do with a celeriac. More so, this plant is a biennial which means when you see flowers you should do your best to save the seed.

Bloody Sorrel – Rumex Sanguineum (Perennial, Partial shade)

The sorrel family as a whole is edible but the wild cousins such as sheep, yellow and red sorrel often have side effects if eaten regularly and or in quantity. However if foraging between digestive upset and starvation the choice is quite clear. Now bloody sorrel or bloody dock as it sometimes is called is often sold as an ornamental perennial. Never mind that it is edible, and it’s general use is the same as spinach. The advantage is that green sorrel and bloody sorrel are both perennial unlike spinach which is a annual. There are some care differences such as the fact sorrels need regular water and some protection from southern sun.

Fennel – Foeniculum vulgare (Tough Perennial, full sun- morning shade)

Fennel is a common seasoning herb in true Italian seasoning blends and foods. Unlike dill it is a tough perennial and much like most members of the parsley/carrot family can be a host to swallowtail butterfly larva. The two types of Fennel, green and or black/bronze fennel taste identical and literally only look different. Both are tough xeriscaping and permaculture plants and both can be added to salads, and any other cooked dish. Both types are edible from root to seed and neither has a poisonous lookalike. All and all you can’t hope for a better behaved garden perennial with more uses.

Lamb’s Ear - Stachys byzantine (Perennial, Shade- Afternoon shade)

Lamb’s Ear is a classy sort of cottage garden plant that has more or less a nostalgic use in the garden and a minor medical use. In the medieval ages the plant was called woundwort because the fuzzy leaves were used as bandages, and this tradition reportedly persisted up through the American Revolution. As a whole the plant is somewhat mound forming, may need a little shade and benefits from a rich soil or regular fertilization.

Lovage – Levisticum officinale (Perennial, Partial Shade)

Lovage is another rarely seen Carrot/Parsley family member who does not get the kind of press it deserves. In general use the leaves and stems are used as a replacement for celery, where as it has reputed medical use in treating indigestion, kidney stones, colic and cystitis. The hollow stems on mature specimens can be used as ‘green’ drinking straws with vegetable or tomato juice. I might also add unlike celery Lovage is a true perennial, but it does need partial shade to do its best.

Lavender Cotton – Santolina virens (Tough Perennial, Full Sun)

Lavender Cotton is typically a name reserved for the gray form of Santolina, which is S. chamaecyparissus for note. We are carrying the green version because it comparatively grows faster but has all the same trademark durability and can also be used medically for poor digestion, worms and jaundice, while in crafts it’s aromatic properties aid in repelling insects. Overall the plant is most often used as an ornamental in knot gardens because of its low maintenance habits.

Rosemary – Rosemarinus officinalis (Tough Perennial, Full Sun)

Ah, rosemary, the herb everyone loves. Seriously rosemary is one of the most desired aromatic herbs, and probably the toughest herb for our region. As a garden plant rosemary is drought immune once established and can get incredibly huge over time despite being a very slow grower. As some of you may already know rosemary is used mainly in culinary dishes for scent and or seasoning and it’s most common use is in concert with tomatoes or potatoes.

Tansy – Tanacetum vulgare (Perennial, Part Shade to Full sun)

Tansy is one of the other great insect repelling herbs; its foliage is also used to make a green-gold dye base that can be used in a variety of crafts. As a garden plant it is a perennial that can get to a height of three feet, and bears finely dissected foliage and in summer is covered in small daisy flowers that attract pollinators.

I believe that covers at least the herb section of this discussion, now we will have more herbs later on so check back to see what has changed. As you may know I will be at the Fayetteville farmer’s market this weekend armed with a shipment of super-delicious plants to fill your garden with so you can get your organic plant fix. The market is a 365 day a year event that occurs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I’m there on Saturdays between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM and the market is located on 325 Franklin Street in the parking lot of the Fayetteville Transportation Museum. But enough of the plugging let’s get to the plant and material list for this weekend.

Southward Skies: A northern guide to southern Gardening

This is the second edition of my book, which was published using data compiled from several years of test garden operations. It’s written to aid gardeners of all skill levels in successful garden methods that are targeted for the south east but had proven to be a valued resource for gardens across the eastern coast. It’s certainly a good gift for that gardener you know or for yourself if you’d like to have a reliable field guide. The book costs $25.00 and we do take checks for this item, you can even have it signed.

Black Magic Fertilizer

That’s right you’ve heard about it in trials all summer. This specially formulated liquid fertilizer was made and tested at the test gardens using natural ingredients and no chemicals. The result explosive growth, great harvests and of course no environmental side effects! We’re making batches of this stuff to order, at $6.00 per gallon of fertilizer. You can either order it at the market and pick it up the next week or have it delivered to your home in the Fayetteville area for a delivery charge of an additional $2.00.

House Plants

4x Holiday Cactus ($3.00)

2x Desert Privet ($3.00)

2x Rotary Privet ($3.00)

3x Dancing Bones Cactus ($3.00)

Garden Plants

1x Savoy Cabbage Plant 0.5 gal pot ($3.00)

8x Dinosaur Kale, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Herbs

2x Green Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Black Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

4x Bloody Sorrel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Lamb’s Ear, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

4x Green Lavender-Cotton, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

4x Tansy, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Angelica, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Rosemary, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon:

Ozard Beauty Strawberry

Martha Washington Asparagus

Dark Red Norland Potato

So, with all that said we enter into March hoping the weather will improve but considering our options should it not. With any luck we’ve seen the last of bad weather and can well ‘Get on with it’ in regards to spring.

So a Cactus, Succulent and an Epiphyte walk into a bar....

Merry Festivus!  for the *ahem* never mind…

Welcome back to another holiday episode of Lost in the Farmer’s Market, today we have some holiday delights but because of the upcoming holiday this episode is a tad condensed. Our next episode will cover the harvest records of the year and a little bit about 2014’s objectives. But that aside as you may well know the test gardens are a 365 sort of operation, and so something inside or outside is delighting and has to be covered here in the blog.

Cactus flowers are literally comparable to roses if not better then roses.

Now I hear a lot of folks say that they can’t get their (insert plant) to bloom but the most common is that they can’t get their Holiday cactus to bloom. Keep in mind I call (Easter or Christmas) them Holiday cactus not so much to satisfy cultural sensitivity, but more so to acknowledge that most of the cultures that grow these plants have some sort of holiday in the seasons when these plants tend to bloom. More so holiday cactus just sounds more festive. That said our specimen at the test gardens has both species of holiday cactus growing in one pot along with a similar relative. So let’s start by noting the differences between the three.

Crab/Claw/Thanksgiving Cactus– Schlumbergera truncata

This is the most commonly sold of the holiday cactus and one of the plants I dragged along with me when I packed up and left New Jersey. After a year or so of adapting it began to bloom every December about three years back. Originally the bloom was solid pink but it has changed to what you see in the picture, shimmering white with pink margins and pink throat. This plant becomes the center piece of the dinner table every December.

Christmas Cactus – Schlumergera russelliana

The specimen in this case is small, and very slow growing compared to its bigger cousin however the contrast in foliage is quite pronounced and I for one enjoy the color difference. Care requirements are identical, and I can’t say if or when this little guy will bloom it’s a few years old and I would guess not entirely big enough to do so.

Easter Cactus – Hatiora salicornoides ‘Drunkards Dream’

I don’t think I have to tell you all that this guy gets around! I sold small pots of this guy during the spring and summer, and it’s truly prolific, easily growing twice as fast as the other two cacti but requiring the same conditions. Though not yet in bloom (usually March-February) the flowers are bright yellow and before they open they resemble little Christmas lights. You can bet there will be more of these for sale next year.

With that said, I must point out, that the two common forms of holiday cactus are only named thus because in the industry they are often forced to bloom at certain times of the year which matches two specific holidays.  The act of ‘forcing’ which is also done with blubs such as paper whites is actually a manipulation of the plant’s normal biological processes. In the case of bulbs, typically the forcing is temperature based, they are kept cold to mimic winter for a set number of weeks and then warmed and exposed to some light to encourage sprouting. Plants such as Chrysanthemums, Holiday Cactus and Poinsettias are given or denied exposure to light to mimic the changing of the seasons which encourages blooming. The agri-business has worked out the exact number of hours needed to get a bloom at a desired time and the plants don’t know the difference.

For those of you who don’t like the scientific details and technicality skip the following paragraph, because I’m going to dive all up in the lurid details of cactus paternity and what not. First off none of the three plants I have spoken of are actually cactus. All of them are succulents and epiphytes. Now the rule is that all cacti are biologically succulents, but not all succulents are biologically cacti. The difference lay in the critical adaptations individual species have made to survive their environments. So here are a few things that are true cactus.

-Opuntia (Prickly pears)

-Mammilaria (Pincushin or Nipple Cactus)*

-Maihuenia (a primitive species of cactus, possibly prehistoric.)

-Pereskia (Lemon vine, Rose Cacti, Leaf Cacti)

The above are about all the plant taxonomy crowd can really agree on. It is and has been for some time a standing debate as to the precise definition of what a cactus is. To the point plants such as the Cardoon (artichoke relative) were once considered cactus. The origin of the word cactus comes from ancient Greek (Kaktos) and even the name Opuntia is also Greek, named for the nearby town where prickly pears were first identified. For our purposes, however we can agree that there are a lot of succulents out there. It’s clear that the plants store water in modified stems, leaves in a lot of species are absent or replaced by spines that perform some of the same functions. These plants cannot tolerate being constantly wet and get root rot readily in damp conditions. Some require poor sandy soil (opuntia, mammilaria) while others do best in soils that have a lot of organic matter mimicking their natural environments (all holiday cactus). With that said, I have to explain that epiphytes are plants that live on or in another plant. In the case of the easter cactus, it would likely be found growing in the crotch of a branch high up in a tree. I’ts succulent adaptation is that it stores what water it gets to counter the limits of its own soil space. The trailing habit of the Holiday cacti is both for getting more light but also so the stems can droop down over the edge of the branch and when conditions are right, the pads can snap loose and possibly sprout in some other place. In short it’s a means of asexual reproduction, which augments that the plant already produces beautiful flowers when mature. The flowers if pollenated produce brightly colored fruits and seeds. In short the entire plant is a lesson in adaptation and survival.

Ok those of you who ducked out of the biology lesson can return. Caring for a holiday cactus is relatively easy, first off use normal potting soil, you don’t need that cactus soil because you’re not growing true cacti. These epiphytes do best in light soil rich in organic matter, the soil also must drain well. Regular applications of liquid fertilizer during the summer months will produce the best growth; I might add growing these kinds of plant in clay pots seems to aid them in some way. It may be radiant heat or the air and water exchange granted by the porous clay of the pots. You can and should give these plants full sun during the summer and maintain reasonable summer moisture. Obviously Holiday cacti are frost sensitive so leaving them out beyond the end of September is not a good idea. Ideally a good sunny window where the cactus gets six or more hours of light will suffice for getting a good winter bloom. Now lastly, if the plant begins to drop pads (those are what the segments are called) it means your cactus may be stressed by something. Make sure you are not overwatering, that it’s getting the right amount of light and that you’re not fertilizing during the wrong time of year. As a final note on this topic, you can root dropped segments of a sick holiday cacti to clone a parent, but know that it will take a few years for the clones to bloom. This cloning process is often how one gets around a case of root rot before an entire plant is destroyed. In a way the holiday cactus are probably the most forgiving succulents known to agriculture.

Check it out definite color change!

Two weeks into the process and as you can see the ground cherry wine has an almost butter-like color. It’s not uncommon for batches of brew to change color in the process however this one went from yellow-orange to butter yellow which means it might wind up as a white sort of color when done. Time will tell the prickly pear wine was started in May and it’s first serve was October so there’s a lot of time between now and then in theory. But enough brewing shenanigans,  the weather this weekend is going to be beautiful with a high of 78 no chance of rain and a decent wind. This is in contrast to how the week started with cold and rain which goes with the precipitation for the week being 1.7”. That said it’s great Farmer’s market weather and I’ll be there, and if you want to stop by the farmers market is between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM at 325 Franklin Street in downtown Fayetteville. But enough of that stuff onward to the market materials list.

Southward Skies: A northern guide to southern Gardening

This is the second edition of my book, which was published using data compiled from several years of test garden operations. It’s written to aid gardeners of all skill levels in successful garden methods that are targeted for the south east but had proven to be a valued resource for gardens across the weather coast. It’s certainly a good gift for that gardener you know or for yourself if you’d like to have a reliable field guide. The book costs $25.00 and we do take checks for this item, you can even have it signed. I forgot to mention that the book is also available online through amazon.com for $10.00 in electronic format!

Black Magic Fertilizer

That’s right you’ve heard about it in trials all summer. This specially formulated liquid fertilizer was made and tested at the test gardens using natural ingredients and no chemicals. The result explosive growth, great harvests and of course no environmental side effects! We’re making batches of this stuff to order, at $6.00 per gallon of fertilizer. You can either order it at the market and pick it up the next week or have it delivered to your home in the Fayetteville area for a delivery charge of an additional $2.00.

Fresh Cut Herbs

Bundles of Fresh Rosemary, short stem

Bundles of Fresh Rosemary, Long Stem

Bagged Fresh Rosemary No stems

Rosemary Holiday Wreaths.

Plants

4x Spineless Prickly Pear

6x Morris-Heading Cabbage Collards

3x Georgia Collards

1x Stonehead Cabbage

2x Savoy Cabbage

You all out there know the drill, the plant list signals the end of another episode of Lost in the farmer’s market. One more episode remains to be posted and Christmas is on Wednesday of this upcoming week. With that said Merry Christmas and thank you all for reading this blog and hitting up the booth at the Farmer’s Market. The next post will be the yearly numbers so stay tuned and as ways keep ‘em growing!

P.S.

They say it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Personally I say the fun and games ends when the hooch runs out.

*Oh Myyy!