Technical Difficulties and whatnot

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market.  As you will notice this post is late, and this is getting to become a habit. The work making the YouTube videos is eating up more time than I thought it would and it’s producing longer videos of improved quality that I hope you all are enjoying. I’m going to try and keep this blog to the twice per month schedule and align its content with the video content. The next post up here which is due next Friday will align with the 30^th video LITFM Garden Shorts video. Basically the written transcript of the video will be up here and you can see more details than were available in the video. This post although a week late, is going to focus on cool stuff going on in the test gardens.

Before I get into the lavish photographs of plants you have a mighty need for in your gardens there is one more thing. As a point of obligatory social responsibility I have to state here, that we are in the grips of a pandemic. While I will not dare speak of how the rest of the world is handling it, I can say that United States has not done so well. We haven’t even finished the first wave and now states that thought bravado would suffice, and bought into the falsehood that summer heat would defeat the virus and that once you had it you are immune are ironically now being hit with the virus. The problem with Covid-19 is that it kills 1% of those it infects which is still a little over three million people if you consider the United States population of 328.2 million as of 2019. That’s a lot of dead people, but that in a full nineteen percent of the people it infects they are left with permanent lung and heart damage, circulatory issues, the damage from strokes and other maladies that may take them out of the workforce and put them on some form of disability. That’s 20% of the entire potential and or existing workforce gone, that is why this pandemic is no laughing matter. The intention of this statement is to hammer home the point that has been made by so many health professionals across the world, if you are out and about limit your trips, avoid crowds, practice social distancing and wear a facial covering that securely covers the mouth and nose. This is as much for you as it is for everyone around you. I have personally already had three close calls with Covid-19 and two of them were because of a third party’s negligence. Being required to wear a mask is not an infringement of your first amendment rights, it is not going to kill you with C02, and anyone who prints out those fake ADA cards to get around doing the right thing should feel ashamed for being so selfish. If you want to make Covid-19 and this stupid Pandemic go away and get things back to normal, wear the damn mask!

Now, that was kind of dark but, as promised I have some garden highlights that will perk you up not unlike a thunder-shower perks up wilted plants in the afternoon. Firstly as some of you might know it is pepper season. Pepper season is that magical three or so month’s right on the tail end of the Blueberry season when my wide array of pepper varieties start ripening. For years I’ve had this crazy idea that at some point I should do a composite picture with the pepper varieties marked and noted so customers could tell them apart when they buy the pepper bags at the market. Well in 2020 that idea became a reality with the first big pepper harvest of the year. I’ll do another sheet like this when other varieties are ready to harvest.

Here we have a mixture of varied Coneflower varieties that are so tall they are practically mocking your garden books! They are over three feet tall, and what’s not to love about one of the most widely known medicinal daisies?

This is Beach Rose (Rosa rugosa) in bloom, and what a lovely shade of pink. Beach rose is one of the few rose family members that can handle salt spray, sandy soils and will spread by underground runners at a somewhat slow pace. It produces the largest rosehips of the entire rose family and those hips are packed with vitamin C.

 

Oh look it’s the coneheads…but a week later. Literally a week after I noted the heights of my coneflowers in the picture above, they produces taller flower stalks that were at eye level on me, that’s six feet high folks! Remember what I always say, plants are illiterate, they don’t care what your books say.

 

How about them Hibiscuses! This is a Swamp Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) and it is one of the more tropical looking hibiscus that are perennial in your garden here in North Carolina. These herbaceous perennials are hardy from USDA zones 5 through 8.  But the real reward is those giant 6” super-red flowers that look like they belong in the tropics! That these plants can get to six feet tall in a growing season is a double bonus.

 

Ah yes, some of you know what this is, some of you do not know. These are the flowers of the ‘Hairy Balls’ Milkweed (Gomphocarpus physocarpus), they hang upside down and the bumble bees seem to love them. Honestly I like the white and pink coloration as it’s completely random to what you expect from Mlikweed. Once the seed pods form you can bet there will be photographs posted here.

Now this is not normal, here we have the bloom of a domesticated carrot (Daucus carrota). Its bloom resembles several poisonous lookalikes in the wild. I know it is a Luna White carrot because I grew it from seed purchased from a reputable vendor. I should note that a wild carrot is commonly known as Queen Anne’s Lace and such a plant has the same scientific name as a domesticated carrot. There are several deadly lookalikes such as wild parsnip and poison hemlock.

 

Lastly we have one hell of a prize, here is the flower of ‘Giant Mission’ Marigolds (Tagetes erecta). The seed for these annuals is only available through Burpee seeds and these marigolds can get up to three feet tall. Their flowers have a chrysanthemum style of petals and shape and if I am lucky the seed harvested will be viable enough to grow a crop next year. Even if not, just for truly giant Marigolds it was all worth it.

 

Lastly here are several of my last LITFM Videos, we're nearing 30 videos and the possibility of releasing a full-on playlist.

One about Lemon Verbena.

This one is about Lemon Grass.

Lemon Balm is in the mix too.

Of course Lemon Thyme had to be in here.

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:

 

Food Plants:

Okra, Baby Bubba: $3.00

Peanuts, African Runner: $3.00

Herbs:

Herb, Basil – Eritrean: $3.00

Herb, Basil – Holy: $3.00

Herb, Cuban Oregano – Cerveza & Lime: $3.00

Herb, Horehound: $3.00

Herb, Oregano, Italian: $3.00

Herb, Roselle – Thai Red: $3.00

Herb, Thyme – English: $3.00

Herb, Horehound, 5" pot: $4.00

Herb, Oregano, 6” pot: $5.00

Herb, Italian Oregano, 5” pot: $4.00

Herb, Bristol Cross Oregano –  6” Pot: $5.00

Herb, Sage,  5" pot: $4.00

Herb, Shiso, 5" pot $5.00

Herb, English Thyme, 5" pot:$4.00

Ornamental Plants:

Cotton, Erlene’s Green: $3.00

Cotton,  Mississippi Brown Lint: $3.00

Cotton , Red Foliated White: $3.00

Marigold, Pineapple Crush: $3.00

Marigold, Signet Red: $3.00

Zinnia, Golden Star: $3.00

Milkweed, Hairy Balls: $4.00

Rudbeckia, Prarie Glow: $4.00

Coming Soon:

[TBA]

Due to the current Covid-19 situation and the state’s requirement that all citizens are not to gather in groups of more than ten, the weekly Sustainable neighbors meeting is online. Please check the sustainable neighbors Meetup.com page for more info about how to attend our online meeting.

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/

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 and join the 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 2020; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 24^th of July. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

Soooo Spring, you mad?

Welcome back to Lost in the Farmer’s Market where we apparently longed for more stable spring temperatures and Mother Nature took offense and instead gave us stable summer temperatures.  Seriously, it went from torrential thunderstorm downpours with hail and flooding and sideways rain to 90 degree weather and humidity so heavy that you thought the air was composed of a thick soup broth. But despite these difficulties the noble and tireless gardeners of the world must continue on maintaining those dreams of having positively incredible gardens and bountiful harvests. For today’s topic we continue the photographic extravaganza because we can and that’s the excuse we are sticking with dangnabbit!

So first we have the redo pictures of stuff that wasn’t being cooperative for whatever reason the last time I snapped the pictures. Some of you will remember that at the end of April One of my black petunia pictures didn’t quite turn out. Here is the replacement image.

You can see the real purple of the flowers near the centers.

Next we had those yellow irises that also refused to be photographed.

Is that a yellow Iris in bloom or are you just….oh…it’s an iris…

Petunia spp. And Tagetes erecta – Common Petunia and African Marigold

But what is this? Not redo at all but an update, for those of you who have been to the ranch lately you’ve seen this old barbeque grill thing lying about not in use. I salvaged it last summer while at a jobsite with the intentions of making it the fire pit but then actually got a real fire pit and discarded the original idea. So finally as the failed plant count piled up I piled the dead plant bits and the associated soil into this thing and capped it with some fresh soil then planted annuals in it. Blue Petunias and yellow African marigolds. For note the white PVC pipe goes all the way to the bottom of the ‘planter’ and is used to deep water that entire section of the garden. For note, in the 80’s and 90’s this form of marigold was called African marigolds, somehow ad of late they are now called American Marigolds, I still don’t get why the new name came about but they are surely some underused plants in the garden. In this case the marigolds should get rather tall and the petunias should trail down the sides of the planter. Opposing colors against the black planter should make for one hell of a display.

Asclepias tuberosum – Milkweed, Pleurisy Root

This is my perennial stand of Milkweed which was started form seed some five years ago and despite changes to the garden has remained right where it is ever since. As some of you might know, Milkweed due to its very long taproot tends to respond terribly to transplanting. So, the original bed included this plant, then when the bed was reduced and changed from a triangle shape to a rectangle shape this plant was dormant and forgotten and well it seems to do better right where it is anyway. I’ll have pictures of the blooms when it happens.

Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Barlow Double’ – Barlow Double Columbine

Looking good! That’s right the next time someone says you can’t grow columbines in the south…print out the above picture and tape it to their face! I grew this little one from seed purchased at w whim from the burpee rack at bLowes in year two. Much like the milkweed it took some time to establish but now this perennial has adapted and blooms like this yearly. The trick is really good soil and filtered shade with preference for little direct sun.

Tradescantia virginiana – Widow’s Tears

Tradescantia virginiana – Widow’s Tears

You probably see these guys all over the place and never bothered to worry for what they were. They’re more common than dandelions a true perennial and are quite prolific while forming dense colonies that can be quite attractive. They are somewhat persistent and thus hard to eradicate but then they aren’t all that poorly behaved as far as wild perennials go. The most common wild flower color is that impressive blue you see above but every now and again you see the occasional bicolor mutation as shown in the second picture.

Santolina virens – Green Santolina or, Green Lavender Cotton

These three plants were planted about two months ago and have put on all this growth you see in that time. Each were no bigger than the santolina plants I sell and they have already doubled in size at least and show no signs of slowing down. As I say at the market Santolina loves hot dry locations. Hopefully by the end of the summer these little perennial dynamos will have filled this edge of the garden making for an incredible scented border.

Lycopersicon esculentum ‘Mexico Midget’ – Mexico Midget Cherry Tomato

This is what a mature Mexico midget tomato actually looks like. Ton one side is a Black Krim and to the other is a Cherokee Purple. The Mexico Midget was grown from a volunteer seedling that emerged in the mother plant’s pot at the end of last year and was overwintered in front of the kitchen window then planted out on April 11^th. What you see is just the beginning, as I’ve said before the Mexico midget is indeterminate, will produce an insane number of vines and then produce copious amounts of cherry tomatoes. It was the winner for productivity in last year’s trials and so it’s already making some records for insane growth. It is possible that the resulting fruit may be quite unique this year as this plant may be a biological cross between Mexico Midget, Underground Railroad and Paul Robeson which may explain the crazy-vigor. I will not know for sure until the first ripe fruit are off the vine. As a closing note to the garden topics the rain barrel challenge is still on and my planter sacks survived the super rain we had so now it’s a matter of watching the plants grow.

            As some of you may already know the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market is going on this weekend as it does every Saturday 365 days a year. The weather is supposed to be near 90 degrees with about 70% humidity but otherwise sunny but because of the roughly 30% chance risk of rain we may find some respite from the heat due to cloud cover even if it does not actually rain. I might add there has been no measurable precipitation since the turbo-downpour last week so there will be no precipitation info this week.  The market is located at 325 Franklin Street in downtown Fayetteville and there’s no shortage of parking in the area. But of course here is this week’s plant and materials list for Saturday the 10^th.

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.

Vegetables

2x Asparagus, Gallon pot ($6.00)

2x Bloody Dock, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Borage, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Eggplant, Casper , 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Pepper, Sweet Banana , 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Pepper, Pimento, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Pepper, Carolina Wonder, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Tomato, Amana Orange, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Tomato, Brown Berry, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

1x Tomato, Cherokee Purple, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

1x Tomato, Tlacolula, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Tomato, Black Krim, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

1x Tomato, Martino’s Roma, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Tomato, Mexico Midget, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Tomato, Paul Robeson, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Tomato, Rainbow Cherry Mix, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Tomato, Red & Yellow Currant, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Tomato, Reisotomate, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Tomato, San Marzano, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Tomato, Underground Rail Road, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Fruits

6x Strawberry- Ozark Beauty, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Herbs

4x Basil, Sweet, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Basil, Thai, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Basil, Cinnamon, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Basil, Red Rubin

2x Bee Balm, Lambada, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Chives, Common, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Fennel, Black, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Mint, Chocolate, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Lamb’s Ear, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Lavender-Cotton-Green, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Marjoram, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Oregano, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Parsley, Italian, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Sage, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

2x Tansy, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon:

Genovese Basil

Black Hungarian Pepper

Striped Togo Eggplant

Louisiana Long Green Eggplant

Early Black Egg Eggplant

Triple Crop Tomato

With the posting of the plant list this brings to a close another episode of lost in the Farmer’s Market. I hope to see some of you on Saturday as the tomato mayhem moves intoa n interesting new phase consisting of the really wild and crazy varieties.