Spring is for Harvesting

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, this episode comes to you early thanks to well good timing and the attack of the pollen! No seriously it’s early because as always Mother Nature provides and today we are going to talk about the agricultural practice of ‘Culling’.  It is at the end of every season that some of your crops will be ready to harvest, but we know there are generally two primary categories of crops, the cool season crops and the warm season crops both of which must be culled. Below is a list of the varied crops of fall/winter (cool season) and spring/summer (warm season).

Cool Season Crops – Cabbage, Turnips, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Mustard, Arugula, Radishes, Kale, Collards, Lettuce, Chicory, Celery, Cilantro/Coriander, Dill, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Kohlrabi, Beets, Peas Brussel Sprouts Strawberries and Endives.

Warm Season Crops – Tomatoes, Okra, Peppers, Eggplant, Ground Cherries, Tomatillos, Basil, Fennel, Tarragon, Stevia, Cowpeas, Cucumbers, Melons, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Rhubarb, Squash, Corn, Beans, Potatoes, Calaloo/Amaranth and, Blueberries.

 

            As some of you might notice certain crops aren’t listed because they might be started in one season and be harvested in a differing one. For instance sweet potatoes might be planted in spring, but might not be harvested until fall. Likewise the term warm and cool season isn’t exactly specific because it just refers to the temperature of most of the growing days in the time period. A warm season crop like tomatoes might be started while it’s still cool in the spring, and might not be ‘culled’ until the cool days start appearing in early fall. Tomatoes definitely do most of their producing in the warm days of summer though. So on to the term culling, it sounds terrible because most of you might be familiar with the usage of the phrase ‘Culling the Herd’ which means reducing the number of a given group of animals for a specific purpose. This term can be a very bad thing when you see it in some politician’s or serial killers manifesto, but it can be good thing if say a herd of cows has grown too numerous for their own health and safety. In a more controversial use, it can be used to describe reducing the number of wild animals of a specific type in a state park, such as culling the Wolves.

 

            In the specific context of plant-based agriculture culling as a twice-yearly process where crops that are not perennial are tilled under or otherwise sent to the compost pile at the end of their useful productive life. So, in late August the nightshades (Tomatoes, Peppers, ect) are all culled to make room for the cold season crops. Likewise in spring, the Cold season crops are culled to make room for the warm season ones. The cycle repeats yearly without fail and is only really governed by the gardener’s own initiative, and the weather. Now that plant matter that you are culling has a prettier name, Harvesting, which is essentially what you are doing but in this case it is the last harvest you can get from the plants in question.  Now speaking of  what I call Last Of Year harvests this leads into some photographs from the garden of my own end of winter harvests, the harvest numbers for 2021 are coming but not ready yet so stay tuned for that.

Starting off we have a picture of the size difference between Goose, Duck and Chicken eggs for those who were curious. The goose eggs are on the left, Duck eggs in the middle and chicken eggs on the right. This isn’t exactly harvest related but useful information to have.

 

 

Here is the big and final Mustard harvest of 2021; this is a total of ten heads of Japanese Red Giant Mustard (Brassica juncea). Red giant is a variety I grow for myself and sell at the market every year because of its very predictable habits and high yield for our climate.

 

 

This is the heaviest and physically largest individual Japanese Red Giant mustard plant (Brassica juncea) I've ever grown. By itself it weighed a few fractions of an ounce over two pounds.It's central stem was over 1" in diameter and it had dozens of side-shoots. It's given me some new ideas on how to grow mustard.

 

This specimen of JRG Mustard is one where it tried to bloom after planting, I nipped the flowers off and then it did all this side branching.

 

Here we have a nearly last of year harvest of Swiss Chard (Beta vulgare) which was a total of thirty-eight heads of chard. I even sold some of this at the market. the total weight of this harvest of chard was just shy of four and a half pounds.

This is the last of the Winterbor (top), Red Russian (middle) and Marrow Stem (bottom) Kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) for the year. At this point the freezer officially reached capacity.

 

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:

 

Spring Veggies: ($2.00 each on SALE!)

Parris Island Romaine Lettuce

Cherokee Lettuce

Cimarron Lettuce

Lollo Rosso Lettuce

Black Magic Dinosaur Kale

Red Russian Kale

 

Summer Veggies & Herbs: ($3.00 each)

Sungold Cherry Tomato

Chocolate Cherry Tomato

Glacier Cherry Tomato (Bush type)

San Marzano Improved Paste Tomato

Cherokee Purple Tomato

Tango Celery

Delizz Everbearing Strawberry

Toscana Everbearing Strawberry

Canary Island Sage

 

Coming Soon:

Walla Walla Sweet Onion (Plants)

Cotton

Okra

Zanzibar Castor Beans

 

 

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 seventh LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 16^th of April. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

Daylight Suffering Time is more like it!

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, this episode was delayed due to weather and schedules. The pollen is starting up and this kills the man. Daylight savings is upon us and the clocks annoyingly are set to roll one hour forward at 2am on Sunday March the 14^th. Beyond that I had the hardest time finding a good topic for all you garden folks out there and then as with anything else Mother Nature slapped me in the face with an answer. There will be a fair number of garden photographs in this post so bear with me while we discuss the horticultural term known as Bolting.

 

Bolting is an odd term because depending on context it could mean you ran from something quickly, it could refer to bolting a door, it also is the act of driving metal pins into the rock face while rock climbing. In agriculture it has a specific meaning; Bolting is when an agricultural crop has matured and puts all of its energy into producing a flower so that it can then produce seed. In the case of non-perennial plants after flowering usually the plant loses its vigor and dies after its seed is matured. Bolting brings about some internal changes to most crops as all sugars and nutrients are diverted to flower and then seed production. In lettuce this makes the leaves bitter, and they become quite unpleasant. In cabbages it’s similar but this varies on the individual specimen and other factors. It is known that bolting is triggered by plant hormones in the Gibberellin family, but which specific one varies by the species of plant, and other triggers such as temperature changes, stress, the number photoperiods in a given day, and even if you mess with a plant too much. In short when we grow leaf crops for food we are always operating under the assumption that the stress of a sudden temperature change or a failure to maintain moisture and nutrient levels will cause a bolt and potentially ruin or reduce our crops. There is thankfully a niche market for the blooms of some crops that have attempted to go to seed, and so there is that recourse if your crop decides to call it a season.

 

The test gardens are no different than any other garden in regards to bolting my late summer crops typically attempt to bolt about now and that leaves me with several options. I typically will harvest what I can and freeze what is compatible with freezing but the rest are harvested processed and made into a late winter meal or three over the course of a week or two. This year I fully intend to make a fresh veggie heavy chicken soup and a few very fresh salads. This harvest technically isn’t the end of it, if I catch the plants attempting to bloom at the right point they might resprout and produce yet more leaves. But it is all diminishing returns because the warm season crops need to be planted in less than a month from now. How you handle this is up to you, but bolting can be used to your benefit if you time your harvests right and trick your crops into thinking they did not bolt at all.

 

 

This Mizuna Mustard has gone for it, full on flowering!



Oh no, not you Winterbor Kale!

 

 

 What's this, even my Collards have decided to call it a season!

 

 

 These are Dinosaur Kale plants that are just starting to flower.

 

 

 Here we have a bunch of radishes bolting. Honestly their flowers are kind of pretty.

 

 

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'
Gasteria fusopunctata - Ox-tongue
Haworthia tesselata
Haworthia Savannah
Haworthia 'West Jogo'
Mistletoe Cactus, 'Drunkards Dream'

 

There is no plant spotlight this week because all houseplants are on sale. I have to make room for the crops on the growing trays and prices have been cut even on the stuff that was $4.00.  So, there will be deals and steals but I will not be listing the prices online, you're going to have to come on down and get the goods.

                                          

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 fifth LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 19^th of March. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

The Cool Nights Mean Only One Thing

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, and although this post is just a few days late there’s a bit to cover. Firstly did you know this blog has been in operation since May 11^th 2011? I literally didn’t realize it had been that long but lo and behold I’ve been at it for a while. Keeping a blog alive like this one is an at times difficult endeavor because producing content can be difficult if you are trying not to repeat information. Inevitably you cross your own path even if you do not realize it given time and the nature of the topic of gardening. The test gardens have been the source of material for this blog for all that time as well as interesting events in agriculture in general. Some of you have been with me since the beginning and I am hoping that I will pick up more folks as we move into the next decade. Speaking of the botanical test gardens, the Autumn Botanical Test Garden tour is coming up. I am shooting for the 18^th of October between the hours of 2pm and 5pm. It is hoped that by then we will have seen another reduction in the Covid-19 restrictions and the weather will cooperate. If not, expect to bring masks, and the Rain Date for the event will be the 25^th of October, just before Halloween. By then I can assure you there will be plenty of fall delights for your gardening fancy and you get to see what’s going on in the test gardens. I can tell you this, 2020 despite politics and other crazy things that happened has been an amazing harvest year, so you can expect some impressive information and some ideas that flip the script when it comes to gardening. But let’s move on from the shameless promotions to talk about something big.

 

Now there is another milestone to talk about, this blog has a YouTube channel called LITFM Garden Shorts. I’ve posted some videos on this blog so the two content sites link up but the amazing thing is that as of just a few days ago the Youtube site finally reached its 50^th video. Now I admit videos were produced at a breakneck pace so that a reasonable amount of content could be had before I worked a bit more on quality improvement. Some of you will recall how the early videos were shot using the camera on my smartphone, and the ‘wobble vision’ that resulted. After that I started using a digital camera and a grip to shoot videos and quality improved but there was still an issue with image stability. Soon a tripod was being used and I started shooting the ‘Lab videos’ for smaller plant subjects and quality got better. All of this was to bring you a better garden video where the plants were the focus and you got a fact-based source of garden information that has virtually no comparison. Well, this is just the beginning, for the rest of 2020 the format will not be changed much, but I have some plans for 2021.Starting in 2021, there will be one video per week for a total of fifty-two videos per year. The scripting will be more detailed, and they will be longer videos but you will get more out of them so the reduced production speed will pay off for you. I may have to revisit certain subjects such as perennials that are better established or in a few rare cases where I feel the original video wasn’t as good as it could have been. These plant update videos will be bonuses under the title ‘LITFM Garden Redux –‘. The redone videos won’t count towards the 52 videos but should help you all out there with making decisions on what plants to use in your gardens. It is my hope that I can figure out how to better edit videos and maybe ad an actual intro to my videos but this whole series is as much a learning process for me as it is for you. I hope you all out there will keep reading this blog and watching the videos.

 

Videos and blogs hitting milestones is good and all but, ‘where’s the gardens’ you ask. Well about that, the weather has gotten kind of nice, it’s cool at night and daytime temperatures are bearable in the 70’s. This is like a perfect second spring and it is time to get those cold weather veggies in the ground while you have the chance. You can direct sow the classics like carrots, lettuce, radish, collards and so on or get plants and get them in the ground. It is also a good time to apply a mild fall fertilizer like dried bat guano or chicken manure. My preferred favorite is mushroom compost or composted cow manure depending on how heavy my cool season crops need to feed.  Typically the rule of thumb I operate under is that low to moderate feeders like Mustard, Carrots, Radish, Celery, Arugula, Spinach, Lettuce and Swiss Chard get the mushroom compost. Heavier feeders like Collards, Cabbage, Pak Choi, Kale, Kohlrabi, Cauliflower, Broccoli and Turnips get a trop-dressing of composted cow manure.  I apply regular doses of liquid fertilizer (Alaska fish fertilizer) just to supplement that and ensure soil moisture and the rest is all a matter of sitting back, relaxing and waiting for the harvest to come in. This isn’t rocket surgery, but it does have a certain agri-science to it that follows a set pattern of actions and reactions to produce a desired outcome. I should note as a matter of timing for cold season crops it is normal to start your slowest maturing seeds indoors using bottom heat as early as the second week of August. Normally you progress from your slowest maturing to your fastest as you get into September and then into Early October. The last batch of indoor-germinated seedlings should be out for hardening off or planting by the 15^th of October. Fortunately you can sow certain seeds like Lettuce, Carrots, Radish, Swiss Chard and Arugula directly so if your indoor crop fails you can have a somewhat slower backup plan. This is also the time when you apply mulches to things that need protection against the coming cold weather and a good time to shoe-in those last few desired perennials. Pruning of things is in order as most shrubs are set to go dormant and of course your last mow and trim should be around the second or third week of October as our grasses in NC are all warm-season and won’t grow anymore until next year.

 

One of the other magical things about this time of year is the planting of scores of Pansies and Violas for color that lasts through fall into early summer of next year. Another good candidate are the Snapdragons which are a flower that only bumblebees like and yet they provide nectar and pollen in general for any pollinator that can get into the flowers. Many gardeners in the Southeast forget that snapdragons can take the winter cold of zone 6b, so our 8a cold is not a bother as long as the snapdragons are planted once the night time temperatures remain cool and they  are maintained. Cold season floral color means nectar and pollen for whatever pollinators can fly or move so this is a lifeline to pollinators during the winter that will pay off later. Hanging baskets full of annuals such as Pansies can attract Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) to nest. These small birds which are kind of bland in plumage have impressive songs and a voracious appetite for insect pests. They are your cool-season allies in reducing pests such as cabbage moths and cabbage moth larvae. It may help to maintain a Suet feeder for the wrens and other wild birds during the cold months to make sure your garden is well patrolled for insect pests and you keep some form of rotating bird population. There will be more on this in the next post due to be posted right before the Fall tour but let’s move on to the lovely garden photos for this post.

 

First off is this incredibly lovely picture of what Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans) flowers look like. I think had I planted this earlier the Hummingbirds would have went crazy for it but the best of plans can be mislaid.

Here we have a type of solitary bee, specifically a Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on the blooms of a Blue African Basil (Ocimum kilimandscharicum × basilicum 'Dark Opal') plant. Carpenter bees can be a problem to exposed woodwork because they burrow in and build tunnels for nesting. Fortunately these bees while decent pollinators are not very bright and simple wooden bottle traps can eliminate them by the bushel.

 

Here we have the burly looking stems of a Pumpkin Crush American Marigold (Tagetes erecta). When I was turning under annuals and summer crops in pots I started in on the potted marigolds as the first frost would certainly turn them all into soup. I did not expect that marigolds would produce adventitious roots that far up the stem or big chunky stems like that.

 

This picture was taken while out and about town at the day job. These are wild morning glories (Ipomoea purpurea) and the red cup flowers with the bright yellow centers were very striking. I plan to hit that site up to see if I can harvest any seed.

 

Now here's something worth talking about! I thought the Pineapple Sage was only frequented by daytime pollinators but I was wrong. As it turns out one night I happened to shine my flashlight at it and found the entire plant was wiggling. At first I thought I was seeing things then I realized, no there were a crap load of moths going to town for nectar! I don’t know what species these little gray moths are but their little eyes lit up in the unnaturally white light of my LED flashlight.

 

Here for your appreciation is a picture of an Okra blossom. If you had any doubts Okra (Abelmoschus esculentum) is in the Hibiscus/Mallow family consider that laid to rest. Ly last three Okra plants have a temporary reprieve from being turned under with all the other warm season crops because they can reliably produce up until frost.

 

This plant is commonly called Mistflower but I know it as Perennial Ageratum (Conoclinium coelestinum) because of its resemblance to the annual bedding plant with a nearly identical flower.  This plant can be invasive as it spreads moderately fast through rhizomes but is vulnerable to herbicides and manual methods of control. I keep a few colonies of this plant to add color to the property in late summer to early/mid-fall. The sky blue flowers and purple stems are striking and its bigger cousin Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed) adds to the palatte with pinks, purples and, reds. For note the Annual cousin is called Bedding Ageratum (A. houstonianum) and has a bunch of common names revolving around similar terms to the perennial pictured.

 

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.

 

Food Plants: (3” Peat Pots)
Arugula: $3.00
Cabbage, Ruby Perfection: $3.00
Celery, Tango: $3.00
Collards, Carolina: $3.00
Kale, Lace: $3.00
Kale, Red Russian: $3.00
Kale, Scotch Blue Curled: $3.00
Kohlrabi, Cossak: $3.00
Lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson: $3.00
Lettuce, Cherokee Fire: $3.00
Lettuce, Parris Island: $3.00
Swiss Chard, Red: $3.00
Swiss Chard, Green: $3.00
Spinach, Avon: $3.00

Herbs: (3” Peat Pots)
Black Fennel: $3.00

Coming Soon:
Collards, Alabama Blue
Kale, Marrow Stem
Kale, Rainbow Lacinato
Kale, Lacinato (More available in Two Weeks)
Mustard, Japanese Red Giant (More Available in Two Weeks)

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 nineteenth LITFM post of 2020; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 16^th of October. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.