Farewell to a year

Welcome back to Lost In the Farmer’s Market. This marks the last episode of 2014, and with the start of the New Year we begin the 2014 review.  I think it’s fair to state we had an interesting year and the vital statistics will definitely support this assumption.  As per the new tradition I thought it’d be wise to cap off the year with some unique year-end images and the first of which is a look at what sort of “Tree” we decorated this year. If you looked at this blog last year the plant decorated was a Pencil cactus or Euphorbia tirucali ‘Firesticks’. We picked the plant in question due to its size and the fact that it had developed a cheerful red-orange color by the time it had to be brought in for the winter. Well move over euphorbia for 2015 is the year of the Desert Rose Adenium obesum. The specimen this year was picked because of its exceptional growth, over the year and it’s decidedly much more tree-like form by the end of the warm season.

I did skip putting lights on the plant because let’s face it; the big plant is too good looking in all that bling to need lights.

A close up of the trim placed on our Desert Rose.

For those not in the know, the Desert Rose is a succulent plant classified as a caudiciform or a plant with a swollen trunk or base that serves to store water and nutrients which enables the plant to survive drought or periods of dormancy or bad weather. From a biological perspective a Desert Rose is interesting because as the above images suggest Desert Roses have actual leaves which put them somewhere between broadleaf non-succulent plants and the true succulents indicating a transition between environments in the plant kingdom. They still can get the same maladies as a succulent but when stressed can also suffer non-succulent pest problems so their care is a careful regimen of benign neglect. A bright sunny spot and occasional water is all one of these stoic plants needs to be happy. For those of you out there who are inspired to buy one, don’t be surprised if in your first winter with it the plant drops all leaves and goes dormant. It takes at least a year or more for them to stop doing this as new plants. The trick for handling dormancy when you have a new (less than two years old) Desert Rose is simply to water less often, and allow the soil to dry before watering and then only water enough to moisten the soil slightly.  The specimen plant here at the Test Gardens generally retains its foliage year-round and blooms twice a year. Fertilization during the warm season often produces better growth and heavier bloom set during the holidays. The typical bloom color for this species is pink however red and white and limited bicolor mixes of the aforementioned plants can be found occasionally.  Desert roses grow well in basic potting soil mixes that are not specifically geared to moisture retention and preferably do not have any of those fertilizer gimmicks in them. You may need to repot your Desert Rose every two to three years depending on its health and vigor and this should be during the winter during dormancy after its winter blooming period.  As a final note some publications suggest that Desert Rose is poisonous to dogs, the sap is said to contain glycosides. So it may be wise to surround a desert rose in a limited access area with pricklier companions as a pet defense.

Undoubtedly, you might be asking why 2015 is the year of the Desert Rose.  The Desert rose isn’t for everyone, it’s a plant that has needs and if you are careless it won’t survive but if you allow it to largely live without interference it’ll be just fine. Your reward is a plant that has attractive slightly lemon-scented blooms that it will delight you with at least twice a year for minimal care. In a way the Desert Rose is a little like a parable of interpersonal understanding, if you give it its fair due it will give the same back to you. Even a dormant leafless desert rose has a form and stature that in of itself is attractive and if you’re like me it lends itself to being decorated.  The trunks of these plants with age grow and take on forms and shapes that defy and prediction or logic. As far as a plant for the rigid science of Bonsai this plant excels in its role making do with what it receives. If I had to sum up all that with just a few words, the desert rose epitomizes the ideals of compromise, understanding and patience.

But enough of this end of year talk there is one other thing worth posting here as far as images. The initial cutting of this plant was given to me by Sharon (the cactus-terrarium lady) down at the Fayetteville City Market last year. So I planted the tiny snippets and waited through the summer of 2013, and the plants rooted and began growing. Now honestly I have a lot of members of this plants’ family but this one gave me trouble in identification because it did not match the other plant’s growing habits. I knew then it was a member of the Rhipsalis family but not which one. Late this year I found an identical plant in a nursery, and got ahold of a spare plant tag. Finally this plant had a name! Rhipsalis baccifera ssp. horrida…that’s not an encouraging name, horrida means horrible! The plant was covered with thin white spines that posted little threat so I suppose someone had “cactus-phobia” or something. Well just a few days ago the plant did something amazing really, at the end of my second year of caring for it; it bloomed. The flowers were nothing like any of the other rhipsalis, they resembled queen of the night cactus and other night bloomers but incredibly tiny.  Well take a look below and see for yourself the Christmas Rhipsalis as this one bloomed on Christmas Eve.

I don’t know how I missed the buds, they looked like new growth, but fuzzier.

The flowers pretty much comprise of all white or semi-translucent white parts so they aren't easy to photograph.

It was just after with the plant in one hand that I searched for the common name for this succulent, and there after matching up flowers by size and color a common name for this plant finally was located for sure.  Mouse-Tail Cactus, honestly I was a little underwhelmed, that isn’t a flattering name but then, I think I’ll stick to Christmas Rhsipsalis. As a side note a lot of plants in the trade have botanical Latin synonym names the Christmas Rhipsalis is also known under the Latin name of Rhipsalis quellebambensis.

But of course the overdue part of this post, I will be at the Fayetteville City Market this Saturday (tomorrow) as the last market event of 2014, obviously there is no market on the 31^st so the next time I’ll be out there is January 3^rd 2015. If or if not I continue to do Wednesday markets for January and February 2015 is in debate, the weather and supply status are all in question for those months so for now feel free to ask on Saturdays to find out. In the meanwhile I’m on much needed vacation so Happy New Years, and here is the final product listing of 2014.

Southward Skies: A northern guide to southern Gardening

Southward Skies is a pocket-sized guide to gardening in the Carolina region. It will guide you through the process of having a productive garden in our region using a year-round format that matches the timing of what you should do and what time of the year you should do it. Unlike a lot of garden guides Southward is written in a way that can help even the most discouraged gardener to find success. Southward Skies has been tested by gardeners in other states ranging from as far south as Naples, Florida, as far north as Dorset, Vermont and as far west as Reno, Nevada. As a general guide you can’t lay hands on a better collection of tips, tricks and methods. The book is available on amazon.com as a digital book for the kindle and makes a good gift in print or digital format. The book costs $25.00 and we do take checks for this item, you can even have it signed. During the month of December we will wrap copies of the book at your request if you intend them as a gift.

Cold Season Crops

6x Mustard Greens, India - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Mustard Greens, Japanese Red Giant - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Cabbage, Copenhagen Market  - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

3x Collards, Georgia Southern Creole - 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Fresh Foods

2x Bordeaux Blend Soup Kit – ($5.00)

After quite a few discussions with visitors to the booth and other Sustainable Neighbors the lack of a locally available soup-making package seems to be an unaddressed need at our local markets. The Bordeaux blend soup mix contains carrots, purple top turnips, red potatoes, celery, parsnips, red onions. In short, it’s the last word in soup kits because all you need to add is bullion and meat or beans. The best part is that all items in the kit are organic and as much of it is home grown as is possible. Any item that is not homegrown is sourced within the state.

Herbal Bundles

3x Rosemary, Bagged – ($2.00)

3x Eucalyptus Bundles – ($2.00)

1x Mixed Sweet Potatoes – ($3.00)

Holiday Splendor

2x 6.75” Checkerboard Aloe – ($8.00) –SALE

1x 6” Gator Aloe – ($7.00) - SALE

2x 4.5” Silver Ridge Aloe – ($6.00)  - SALE

1x 4.5” Gator Aloe – ($6.00) - SALE

3x Bucket Teardrop Peperomia – ($7.00) - SALE

 

Ah New Years, Out with the cold, in with the...ah crap!

Its plenty festive darnit! I'll have you know Napa cabbages have a wonderful radial display of bright green and delicious leaves! Fine...I'll start the darn article.

Happy New Year!

What too soon? Aw, We at LITFM were hoping to do a new year’s episode this year but again the calendar makers win! Well this is the last post of 2013, and with it as promised we publish the yearly test garden numbers. As some of you may have heard the end of the year is a period of renewal and validation at the test gardens as we seek to verify through the data recorded all year long that indeed we are on the right track. As such, let’s begin with the harvest amounts in order of month harvested.

January – 74.5 ounces

February – 144.6 ounces

March – 161.5 ounces

April – 125.5 ounces

May – 3.0 ounces (Remember the point it rained for about three weeks?)

June – 23.2 ounces

July – 53.15 ounces

August – 81.0 ounces (Black magic fertilizer invented and used)

September – 125.3 ounces

October – 55.66 ounces (First killing frosts were early)

November – 9.3 ounces

December – 8.0 ounces

The totals from the above monthly numbers indicated that on average productivity was stable, despite the weather slowing things down in some places. We had that weird three week rainy period in May that stopped growth and starting in October we’ve had exceptionally cold temperatures and early repeated frosts. Even so the six-month counts and year total below indicates the test gardens held up.

1^st Quarter Harvest total: 532.3 ounces (33.26 lbs)

2^nd Quarter Harvest total: 332.41 ounces (20.77 pounds)

Total harvest amount 864.71 ounces (54.04 pounds)

The yearly record for note in 2011 we harvested 111 pounds of produce; in 2012 it was 62.88 pounds. Considering that this year we had 54 pounds despite uncooperative weather and that it roughly matches last year’s harvest total which featured an oddly warm winter It draws question to the accuracy of the 2011 number. However depending on what 2014’s harvest weight results are the 2011 number will stand for now. That said, we still made about a pound of fresh produce per week and with the invention of the black magic formula, it is possible that 2014 may see an explosion in productivity.

With that said the top crop categories are next in this discussion, as the information was collected it revealed clearly which plants were performing the best and thus validates their return in the next growing year.

Top 5 crops (individual) for 2013

Mustard, Red Giant – 176.5 ounces

Cabbage Collards – 93.0 ounces

Collards, Georgia – 72.0 ounces

Tomato, Paul Robeson – 38.3 ounces

Lettuce, Romaine – 32.5 ounces

Top 5 crops (by group) for 2013

Cole Crops – 454.00 ounces

Tomatoes – 96.28 ounces

Salad Greens – 59.25 ounces

Peppers – 42.2 ounces

Figs – 30.9 ounces

I’m personally not surprised Red Giant Mustard ran the show in 2013, the inclusion of collards and cabbage-collards however came as a surprise. All three were planted in fall of 2012, and grown as a winter crop through the winter. The amazing part is that often these crops do little the year they are planted, but seem to spring to life in January or February and become a food powerhouse just before the heat of spring rolls in. Paul Robeson Tomatoes proved to be slow to produce, but once they did their tomatoes were large, flavorful and utterly fantastic. To the point it did so well I’ve got cuttings of this plant in rooting chambers in the hope of cloning the specific specimen. The myth that one can’t grow big tomatoes in the south is officially debunked. The fifth entry on the list was Romaine lettuce, a salad item I’d never bothered with before. I suppose it’s the Straight upright leaves that make romaine so well adapted to the climate. Maybe Romaine is uniquely adapted for southern climates or perhaps its form resists bug damage and reduces dirt accumulation between the leaves. I might add that were there a 6^th place Bibb lettuce would have it uncontested.

The top crops in comparison were quite clear; the Cole crops ran the show, period. For note Cole crops includes Cabbage, Cabbage-collards, Collards, Kale, Mustard and Mustard Spinach. Tomatoes made a good snowing holding 2^nd place and salad greens (Lettuce, Dandelion, Chicory, Amaranth, Malabar Spinach and, Radicchio.) held 3^rd place. Not surprisingly Peppers held 4^th place and Figs held 5^th place.

Radicchio, my dear you are most certainly uber-festive....and soooooooo delicious! Wait where are you going *chases after radicchio waving a bottle of salad dressing* come back!

With all that covered we bring to you the precipitation numbers for the week. This week we did not have as much rain but there have been light night rains and the overall total is 0.45” give or take 0.01” for the additional night rain activity. The soil is moist and I doubt we are suffering drought, but the low temperatures have not been helpful. I’m hoping the weather will eventually stabilize somewhat, but even so you can expect I’ll keep manning the booth at the farmer’s market. From what I gather tomorrows forecast for the Market will be a high of about 60 no rain and a slight wind. The city/Farmer’s Market is located at 325 Franklin Street in downtown Fayetteville and runs from 9:00 am through 1:00 pm. You can stop by and get some good farm fresh foods and hit up the sustainable neighbors booth. This week we’ll have the following available at the booth.

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

Bagged Fresh Rosemary No stems

Plants

3x Spineless Prickly Pear

6x Morris-Heading Cabbage Collards

3x Georgia Collards

1x Stonehead Cabbage

2x Savoy Cabbage

That's right folks screw buying a dead tree or getting a plastic one! Who decorated a Pencil Cactus for Christmas? THIS GUY! Put that Douglas fir tree in your pipe and smoke it you modern lumberjacks!

Well this wraps up the last episode of 2013, with the arrival of 2014 you can expect new garden trials, more botanical mayhem. I thank you all for reading this blog and sticking with us please have a safe and happy new year and as always folks keep ‘em growing!

P.S.

Agricultural lime, good for pH adjustment, necessary for growing wheat, and surprisingly effective at hiding those pesky in-laws you got rid of.