Companion Planting Series: Part 1 - The Carrot Family

As part of a series of special posts up here I will be posting information about Companion planting and grouping plants of interest by the family they belong to. I've you've read The Wild Harvest Digest posts on Nextdoor already imagine these posts as a expanded version since I do not have to deal with pesky character limits here. The source material for some of this information is Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte, Rodale's Companion Planting and, Roses Love Garlic by Louise Riotte as well as the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Tool Box, The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center and a few other credible online sources. Today's post will cover the Carrot Family which is known today collectively as the Apiaceae family, but in older publications is known as the Umbelliferae. The older name is a direct reference to the shape of the flower heads of plants in this family which is called an Umbel. The new name Apiaceae was first used by John Lindley in 1836, it derives from the name Apium which is the ancient Greek name of Celery. the original family name didn't officially switch over until about 1996, which ironically is why a bunch of my horticulture books still use the old name. You will see this a lot when it comes to major plant families in common cultivation because they get more scientific study.

 

Anise (Pimpinella anisum) – Anise is an annual herb in the Carrot family. It is said to have antiseptic oils and its chief use is that it helps Coriander seed germinate when they are sown outside near each other.

 

Caraway (Carum carvi) – Caraway is a biennial that is difficult to sprout, though some sources indicate that sowing it around freshly sown garden peas helps the germination rate indicating they would be a good pairing. It does not however grow well near its cousin Fennel.

 

 

 

Carrots (Daucus carota subspecies sativus) – Carrots get protective effects from being grown close to Onions, Rosemary, Black Salsify, Wormwood and Sage. Carrots grow best when paired with tomatoes because they impede weeds and their low arching foliage helps keep the soil cooler. Carrots also are a good pairing with peas but according to a few sources will not do as well near their cousin Dill. Queen Anne’s Lace is a carrot that has escaped cultivation or a wild carrot that has reverted to a natural form, we have patches of these in Fayetteville.

 

Celeriac (Apium graveolens variety rapaceum) – This alternative form of Celery does its best if grown after a sowing of winter vetch has been turned under in the same spot. Celeriac because it is a biennial root vegetable needs higher than normal levels of Nitrogen and Potassium and pairs in the garden with leeks and also Field/cow peas.

 

Celery (Apium graveolens) – Celery much like Celeriac is a biennial and grows well with onions, but also with Tomatoes and Cabbages. Both Celery and Celeriac have a chemical compound (apigenin) in them that have a blood sugar lowering and insulin resistance effect.

 

Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium) – Commonly called French Parsley, in our climate this herb is best grown with morning sun and afternoon shade.  Radishes are annuals and short–lived annuals and so is Chervil they benefit from being close to each other.

 

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) – Coriander is also known as Cilantro; Coriander is the seeds of the plant, and Cilantro is the foliage. Coriander is a cold weather biennial herb that is best sown in late August through mid-September and be expected to survive the winter in the southeast. Coriander is said to repel aphids, to help Anise but be a problem for Fennel.

 

Dill (Anethum graveolens) – Dill is an annual that readily self-sows giving it the appearance of a biennial or perennial. Dill is said to be a good match for Cabbage.

 

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) – Fennel comes in one of two varieties, the green type or the bronze type; both of them are safely edible. Fennel according to some sources inhibits members of the Nightshade family while pairing with Cabbages, Onions and Mint family members. In come older publications another plant (Nigella sativa) is also commonly called Fennel.

 

 

 

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) – Parsley is a biennial that comes in two forms, the curled or flat leaf types. The former is often used as a garnish and the latter as a seasoning but both can be used in culinary dishes. Parsley seed sown with Carrot seed can help fight off Carrot flies. Parsley planted under Tomatoes can help the vigor of the Tomatoes while also acting as a ground cover to suppress weeds. Eating a sprig of parsley and washing it down despite the taste with ice-cold water can help obliterate bad breath.

 

Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) – Parsnips are a biennial and are known for their difficult germination and their seeds having a very poor shelf life. They’re one of the few root vegetables that don’t really get any pests but if you can get them to germinate they can grow under Tomatoes just like carrots.

 

Lovage (Levisticum officinale) – Lovage is essentially perennial miniature Celery with a flavor that is described as a mix of Celery and Parsley with more kick. The Leaves, roots and seeds are all used in culinary and herbal/medicinal recipes and this plant is said to help pretty much everything else do better.

 

For the purposes of companion planting someone is inevitably going to ask about the two problem children of the Carrot Family; Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) and, Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). 

 

The first one was used historically to kill Socrates after he was convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens. Poison Hemlock is a biennial and looks a lot like a Wild Carrot but, Hemlock can get well over eight feet tall, has hollow stems and when it’s foliage is crushed or bruised it emits a unpleasant odor. Also purple spotting is likely to be present on the stems of Poison Hemlock. 

 

Giant Hogweed which is considered a noxious invasive plant has phototoxic sap that can really mess up your skin. Giant Hogweed can get up to 18 feet tall and has leaves that almost resemble those on an unrelated Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). Giant Hogweed also has hollow purple spotted stems that are often 2-6” in diameter with coarse bristles and leaves may be as wide as 8 feet. In short everything on this plant is massive. It thus far has only been found in Watauga County near blowing rock in NC. For the next bit about companion planting, I’m going to take a look at the Onion family and then after that the Cabbage family.

What's In A Name - A whole lot

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market.  This week I’d like to talk about a topic that was brought to my attention by a member of sustainable neighbors on Monday. I Have to preface this by saying the obvious, in horticulture the botanical Latin names of plants do occasionally change as new evidence sheds light on the origin of a species. Normally such changes occur without any real notice and for the most of us it’s no big deal. But the plant that just recently changed its scientific name is causing quite a stir. You would think this is a strange occurrence, gardeners up in arms, the Royal Horticultural Society being accused of meddling for no real benefit and the usual drama you’d expect when something has to change.

Rosemary – Salvia rosemarinus (formerly Rosemarinus officinalis)

 

Common Sage - Salvia officinalis

On the 22^nd of November the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in Britain, opted to change the scientific name of Rosemary from Rosemarinus officinalis to Salvia rosemarinus in light of studies done over the last five years that included mapping the plant’s genes and comparing them to the Sage family. This is one of the most high-profile plant name changes in a long time since Rosemary’s name has gone unchallenged since it got it in 1753. This change is pretty dramatic, as both the Sage genus (salvia) and the Rosemary genus (rosemarinus) are known already to be related as they are both in the Lamiaceae family which is commonly called the Mint Family. Believe it or not most of the herbs you use in cooking belong to just a handful of families, and in of that it’s not surprising that gene mapping will reveal closer family relations than we ever thought possible. I mean, Mint, Basil, Sage, Rosemary, Oregano, Agastache, Lavender, Catmint, Bee Balm, Marjoram, Cuban Oregano, Savory, Lemon Balm and, Thyme are all in the mint family and are all culinary herbs. All members of the mint family share just one common trait, square stems, this is how botanists and naturalists identified the plants before the internet, radio, or genetic testing. Another example is the Parsley or Carrot family which contains, Parsley, Carrots, Parsnips, Celerac, Celery, Dill, Fennel, Root Parsley, Anise, Chervil, Corriander/Cilantro, Cumin, Angelica and, Cicley. Ironically there wasn’t much a fuss when the name of this family changed from Umbelliferae to Apiaceae roughly around 2003 officially. I remember this change, because I first learned the scientific name of the parsley family and thought, ‘Hey, this word sounds like the word umbrella, and their flowers kind of look like an umbrella too…this makes sense!”  Then it changed and at the time I couldn’t figure out what the new name came from, well it turns out that Pliny the Elder named the plants Apium back in 50 CE. This was the first of a few name changes I would encounter in my Horticultural career. 

English Lavender ' Phenomenal' - Lavendula angustifolia 'Phenomenal'

You see, a few short years after that, the name of a common beloved garden annual changed. Somewhere in the mid-2000’s Coleus, that part-shade, foliage color-based plant with slightly minty smelling sap got added to the Plectranthus genus. What we once knew as Coleus species now became Solenostemon scutellarioides, talk about a mouthful, writing all that was painful. But it doesn’t end there, the former annual betting plants got another name change sometime recently and apparently are now Plectranthus scutellarioides, right, that is so much better! Yeah you see, the lovely betting plant we know as coleus, has had two name changes in twenty years and now it’s in a genus that a bunch of you have never heard of, right? Wrong, Plectranthus is still in the Mint family, and it’s two most famous existing members are Plectranthus amboinicus which is better known as Cuban Oregano. The most famous member of the Genus is Plectranthus verticillatus, or Swedish Ivy, the succulent houseplant.

 

Cuban Oregano – Plectranthus amboinicus ‘Cerveza and Lime’

Variegated Cuban Oregano – Plectranthus amboinicus ‘Variegatus’

Getting back to the point here, the Rosemary thing isn’t a big deal, it’s still in the mint family, and honestly, it’s growing habits are a lot like a sage except geared for tolerating heat. Its similarly slow growing, super aromatic and without it; certain dishes would be bland and pointless. Ok, I admit Salvia rosemarinus is interesting to say, but it rolls off the tongue with no losses in the suave and sophisticated departments. Roll some r’s maybe toss on an accent and bam, your sounding like the most cultured person in the room saying normal botanical Latin names. Now if only some bored horticulturist with too much grant money would genetically cross the two and make me some darn Sagemary, I’d buy THAT for a dollar! Now, the study that prompted the name change to rosemary is included below and as always I’d love to hear what you readers think.

Here’s the paper covering the name change:

http://sytsma.botany.wisc.edu/pdf/Drew%202017%20Taxon.pdf

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

Pepper Packets: $2.00

Garlic, Whole Bulb: $1.00

Vegetables:

Kale, Siberian: 3” - $3.00

Kale, Dinosaur: 3” - $3.00

Swiss Chard: 3” - $3.00

Houseplants & Annuals:

Kalanchoe: 4.5” - $4.00

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 twenty-fourth LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 13^th of December. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

Blooming Night & Day

            Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmer’s Market, where we take a look into varied topics regarding sustainability, horticulture and organic practices. In this episode we will be covering a few interesting topics including wild flowers and their role in attracting pollinators and a rare fungal disease that few agriculture text books or gardening books cover. It is an inevitable fact that you will encounter things in the field that you cannot readily find a reference for in your books and one of those things is the normal concept that flowers don’t always bloom during daylight hours. In the test gardens this year is an evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) that volunteered. The specimen pictured below is the size it is because it has benefited from fertilizer runoff from a nearby potted perennial. Despite this fact, the common evening primrose is a biennial as the second part of its botanical Latin name suggests.

This photo was taken at 11:00pm and back lit with a 500 lumen LED flashlight.

This photo was taken at about 8:00 am, note that the evening primrose's flowers are closing.

Since it is night-blooming but doesn’t have much of a scent, you have to wonder just what kind of pollinators it could possibly attract, despite this it has a nectar guide path which allows it to be pollenated by moths, some species of butterfly and some species of bees. Additionally, ants seem to play a role in pollination as they are attracted to its nectar and may actively protect the plant from pests. The down side of the plant is waiting for a bloom every other year and in it’s first year it does resemble a number of common weeds so accidentally pulling it up is a constant possibility. Despite this the bright yellow flowers are completely worth it and this can be part of an old-time cottage style garden bed much like Silverdollar plant (Lunaria biennis) Which is also a biennial. Before we go on to the next topic, I do have to mention the scientific meaning for the term biennial for any readers who are unfamiliar. A biennial is any plant with a life cycle that is such that it germinates and produces vegetative growth the first year and then in the second year produces flowers and seeds thus completing its life cycle. The two most famous biennials we see every day at the grocery store are Carrots and Parsley, but some forms of Radish are as well. 

Few allow a carrot to bloom, but this is what a carrot left to do so looks like.

The fortunate thing about biennials is often their flowers are quite impressive to behold and if that isn’t enough the foliage on the flowering stalks often looks entirely different then that on the rest of the plant. But this moves on to another encounter with an oddity that you will only see on rare occasions in the south when cold and wet weather combine to allow a certain species of fungus called exobasidum to attack the growing tips of several species of Sasanqua-type camellias. This fungus does rarely also attack Japonica and hybrid camellias as well.

The symptoms are pretty consistent as the effected growth is extra-fleshy and may be at times warped or gnarled and the waxy cuticle or protective outer layer of the leaf on the underside may come loose and fall off. Controlling this fungal infection is as simple as pruning the effected parts away and disposing of the clippings in the trash. Left to its own means, the effected parts will dry out and fall off on their own but this does run the risk of the fungus going deeper into the plant so control by pruning is recommended as the best alternative. It should be noted that in common context this ailment is called ‘Exobasidum Leaf Gall’, despite the fact no actual galls in the conventional sense are formed and this disease is not a product of an insect living in the camellia causing a gall-structure. Either way, what the references won’t tell you is the effected parts of the plant are edible, and they are in some parts of North Carolina deemed a rare delicacy. In case you are wondering yes, I’ve tried it, it does need salad dressing but in texture it’s roughly like mushrooms or several spinach leaves or Swiss chard leaves stacked. Since tea comes from Camellia sinensis it shouldn’t be a surprise that camellia leaves aren’t exactly bad for you, especially after a fungus has made them fleshy and soft.

They call it leaf gall, but it doesn't even look like galls.

Before we get into the advertisement part of this post here are some pictures from the field that you might enjoy.

 

'Fuyu' Japanese Persimmon with early fruit.

 My persimmon has failed to produce fruit for years, and here it is in another spring with the beginnings of fruit and perhaps I might get something. Honestly I'd like to try my hand at persimmon wine but  I loathe the idea of buying persimmons at the store so lets see what happens. For note it can take 3-5 years before a persimmon produces buds let alone fruit after it is planted so patience is critical.

This is how varieties are naturally made.

 This plant is a member of the mulberry family and all the differing leaves are coming from one plant. For some reason it has a chance mutation that is producing three different leaf forms on a single plant. This is how we get those cultivated varieties, we would take a cutting of the odd leaf form and grow it to see if it is stable, if it is then we would take even more cuttings to produce a production lot. That production lot would be cloned numerous times to create the first saleable plants.

It's summer, and it isn't only the bugs that are out.

 I encountered this critter while doing a bit of freelance landscape work for a client. As you can see that is a type of snake, and it is not engaging in a threat posture. I disturbed it and it did not get hostile. Now a lot of people I know kill snakes on sight regardless and that is a practice I do not agree with, in this example, the above snake is either a juvenile black racer or a form of rat snake both of which are non-venomous and pose no threat to pets or people. In both cases they eat varied forms of rodent and serve as population control. This snake upon me disturbing it hung out long enough for me to snap a few photos and then slithered back into the bushes.

For note this is where the advertising starts because it keeps the Test Garden’s supplied and running tests so you don’t have to. 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. Barring bad weather, I’ll be there selling the following spring offerings while supplies last.

Late Spring Plant Sale: - All 3” Peat pot plants $2.00!

Plants Available Now:

Peppers, Sweet Banana - $2.00

Peppers, Giant Marconi - $2.00

Peppers, Red Peter - $2.00

Peppers, Furious Sunset - $2.00

Peppers, Tobasco - $2.00

Tomato, White Wonder - $2.00 <Low Acid Type>

Tomato, Carolina Golden - $2.00 <Low Acid Type>

Tomato, Radiator Charlie - $2.00

Tomato, Brandywine - $2.00

Tomato, Black Krim - $2.00

Tomato, Golden Jubilee - $2.00 <Low Acid Type>

Tomato, Glacier - $2.00

Tomato, Mountain Spring - $2.00

Tomato, Sungold - $2.00 <Low Acid Type>

Tomato, Sweet 100 - $2.00

Burnet, Salad - $3.00

Chives - $3.00

Lavender, English -(out of stock)

Oregano, Italian - $3.00

Rue -(out of stock)

Tansy -(out of stock)

Thyme, English -(out of stock)

Aloe Vera, Medicinal Aloe - $4.00 (Small)

Aloe Vera, Medicinal Aloe - $6.00 (Large)

Coneflower, Pow Wow Mix – $4.00

Milkweed, - $ 4.00

Agastache, Anise-Hyssop - $4.00

Cherimoya, Custard Apple - $4.00

Coming Soon:

Santolina (aka Lavender-Cotton)

If the market isn’t your thing or your schedule does not allow you to go there my premium exotic house plants can be purchased in attractive clay pots with unique embellishments at LeClair’s General Store. LeClair’s General Store is located on 1212 Fort Bragg Road in Fayetteville North Carolina.

This is their Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/leclairsgeneralstore/

The Visit NC page’s Listing:

https://www.visitnc.com/listing/leclair-s-general-store

Most recent deliveries to Leclairs:

2x 7” rimless pot – Eve’s Needle Cactus, Opuntia subulata

1x 5” rimless pot – Jade Plant, Crassula ovata

2x 4” standard pot – Radiator Plant, Peperomia caperata ‘Ripple’

2x 4” standard pot – Aristocrat Aloe, Aloe aristata

2x 4” standard pot – Jade Frost Plant, Echeveria sp. ‘Jade Frost’

2x 4” standard pot – White Bunny Ear Cactus, Opuntia microdaisys

4x 3” standard pot – Miniature Jade Plant, Crassula ovata

4x 3” standard pot – Minature Variegated Jade plant, Crassula ovata ‘Carnival’

3x 3” standard pot – Green Carpet Sedum, Sedum sp. ‘Green Carpet’

These days I am generally at the store once a week, maintaining stock and/or delivering new materials (roughly every other week) so if you go to visit the store there is a fair chance I’ll be present to answer your questions. 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 tenth LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted roughly around the 6th of June.