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.

June so soon?

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmer’s market. This is the first episode of the summer season where it actually is acting like summer should. We ended a week or two of virtually no precipitation with rising temperatures and humidity. Fortunately we had at least 1.5” of rain to counteract the mini-drought and should be back on schedule for all things agricultural and garden. In the middle of this some great snapshots from the garden were taken and we’ll start the first real post of the summer with those.

Hemerocallis fulva - Tawny Daylily

The true common day lily if there is one has to be this guy right here. They popup in the late spring and persist as foliage all summer. The happy orange flowers of these guys can stand at 2-3 feet tall which makes them ideal for enjoying in a natural setting and for photographing.

Hemerocallis sp. ' Stella' - Stella Day Lily

The day lily is a food forager's ideal plant; it is completely edible but can cause frequent bathroom visits if too much is eaten. Day lilies are named for the fact each bloom unless the temperatures remain cool last for about one full day. Thes are not to be confused with Oriental/ Asiatic lilies which are true lilies (Lilium). Daylilies are actually grouped botanically with leaf-succulents such as aloes and the members of the Red Hot Poker's family (Kniphofia) . Stella is an important variety because it is the daylily that keeps blooming where as traditionally one might get a short bloom season and that was it for the year. As a side note, Daylilies and Oriental Lilies are BOTH poisonous to cats even the pollen can cause acute renal failure so if you have pets be wary.

Delphinum sp. - Larkspur

Good old Larkspur, a plant with a flower almost as complicated in shape as the most exotic orchids. Larkspurs are the late summer blues of the garden and are very adaptable. Common Wildflower seed mixes will have these.

Delphinum sp. - Larkspur

 What's this now? That is a pure white Larkspur who's origins are currently unclear as I only had blue. Not that it's a bad thing to see some random wildflower genes asserting themselves but this single plant was and is quite impressive compared to the one above.

Asclepias curassavica - Scarlet / Swamp/ Tropical Milkweed

I snapped a shot of the scarlet milkweed in the last post, but right after the flowers opened and as you can see they are an epic shade of flamboyant orange and red.

Hypericum sp. - Saint Johns Wort

Saint John's Wort is a herbaceous perennials that  bears incredibly bright yellow blooms followed by what you see above, pearl-like seed capsules which are colorful and almost good enough to be considered a second bloom. However, it should be noted that St. Johns wort is a useful medicinal herb as tinctures and salves made of it's leaves reduce the healing time of bruises and lacerations. Paired with betony which is known as wound wort, the two can be used to accelerate healing.

Lavendula angustifolia ' Lady Anne' - Lady Anne Dwarf Lavender.

Lady Anne was a dwarf variety of lavender I decided to offer this year because of it's tolerance of humidity and it's petite (up to 12") size. This form of English lavender is a better neighbor as it sprawls less and blooms the first year as you can see above.

The bloom of a betony plant.

 The betony family comprises of a large number of herbaceous plants often with the botanical Latin first name of Stachys. You might know it's most famous relative, Lambs Ear, or it's 'weedy' relative Rattlesnake Weed. But as more things bloom you'll see them up here with little tidbits of information and there will be a lot of stuff to talk about as the summer progresses. But I move onward to the market information for this weekend.

For those not in the know; the Fayetteville City Market is open on Wednesdays between the hours of 12:00 to 5:00pm and on Saturdays between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. The market is located at 325 Franklin Street in downtown Fayetteville. We are located on the grounds of the Fayetteville Transportation Museum. The market is a rain or shine event that persists in all but the worst weather. For note I have resumed service on Wednesday markets so you can come on down and not only get the best local foods, but you can now get your garden plants too. Fortunately June has begun with heat humidity and rain and I am responding by turning up the heat. This month you can expect to see some of the world’s hottest pepper plants and if that doesn’t suit your fancy, June is the first month I am offering for the first time fig bushes. Bordeaux Regional Nursery is proud to present three types of figs for your culinary delight.

LSU Gold

-          Fruit is green-yellow when ripe and they have pale red flesh inside.

-          Bred for our region by Louisiana State University, LSU handles heat and humidity very well.

-          Good general use fig for all purposes.

Negronne

-          Sometimes called Violette du Bordeuax.

-          Fruit is ripe when they are a deep purple-black and have red flesh inside.

-          Comparable to Black Mission in sweetness, and is good for cooking.

White Ischia

- Very fast growing, the mother plant puts on several feet a year.

- The fruit is golden-green when ripe and has a reddish flesh.

- Good for use in breads and brewing.

But of course this is not the only thing because this week’s market list is below.

Vegetable

3x Early Black Egg Eggplant

2x Pepper, Flashpoint Habanero

1x Pepper, Cubanelle

1x Pepper, Trinidad Douglah

1x Pepper, 7-Pot

1x Pepper, Naga Viper

1x Pepper, Naga Jolokia

1x Pepper, Chocolate Scorpion

1x Pepper, Santaka

1x Pepper, Aji Pineapple

1x Pepper, Aji Citro

1x Pepper, Aji Limon

1x Pepper, Aji Chinchi Amarillo

Fruit

2x LSU Gold Fig

2x Negronne

2x White Ischia Fig

3x Ground Cherry, Cossack Pineapple

3x Tomato, Pink Stuffer

3x Tomato, Black Cherry

1x Tomato, Rainbow Cherry

3x Tomato, San Marzano

3x Tomato, Traveler 76

1x Tomato, Underground Rail Road

3x Tomato, Black Krim

3x Tomato, Cherokee Purple

3x Tomato, Brandywine

Herbs

4x Sweet Basil

1x Thai Basil

1x Cinnamon Basil

2x Santolina

2x Rue

2x Artemesia

4x Tumeric