Special Delivery

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmer’s Market. This episode will be posted late simply because of the Holiday weekend.  For those not in the USA, this weekend is Independence day which is a celebration of the end of the American Revolution, and the series of events that led up to it and came immediately afterwards. I hope that all you readers out there have a happy and safe 4^th of July.

First off we have the above image. This is a picture of the ‘turning area’ at the headquarters. It high lights one of the points of confusion between northern and southern gardens. In the south, the number of pine trees means that the cheapest available mulch is what is called pine straw.  At the store it might cost 3-5 dollars per bale, but if you have pine trees you get it for free. As far as mulches go, pine straw is light, cheap, and if it’s harvested from long leaf pines it lasts for roughly 2-3 years. Mulch acquired from bark, or chipped hard wood by comparison lasts 1-2 years on average depending on type. The point of mulch is twofold; firstly it limits or stops erosion by water by acting as a physical barrier to hold the soil in place. Secondly, mulch acts as a slow releasing soil improvement since mulches from pine straw, bark or wood chips all eventually decay leaving behind organic materials that help improve topsoil quality. In the picture above a lot of moderate quality pine straw has been used to cover what was bare sand soil. In doing so, the soil beneath the pine straw can only erode at a limited rate. This means that even with restricted vehicle traffic, the erosion issue in this area has been successfully abated at the cost of using 204 cubic feet of pine straw. Eventually the pine straw will break down and need to be patched or replenished but until then it looks good. For note, if you notice there is no pine straw under the truck. This lack of pine straw there is intentional as pine straw still contains pine resin and potentially can still catch fire if exposed to a source of heat such as a hit vehicle engine. Also, this is why I balk at the use of Rubber mulch; it does not break down and only leaches zinc into the soil making it a poor choice for residential use in the garden.

But speaking of soil and such with the entry into the month of July, it is now that we must keep a wary eye on our nightshade crops for that summertime scourge known as blossom end rot. Blossom end rot is a ‘disease’ that actually is a nutrient deficiency. For some reason in the peak of summer members of the nightshade family, particularly tomatoes  might start getting blackened bottoms on fruits while they are in the green stage typically. The long-term solution to this problem is to use a little fast-acting lime, oyster shells or, eggshells. The short term and fastest solution is to crush one regular strength antacid tablet in a cup of water and apply the mixture to the single effected plant and repeat process for each other affected plant.  Why this nutrient deficiency strikes is unclear. It is known that bloom end rot will attack potted plants even if they are growing in new potting soil and plants planted in your garden beds with equal opportunity. It seems to strike different plants every year and with no set pattern. It’s one of those summertime vigilance things that all of you out there should pay attention to. But don’t worry, here’s the good news, garden photography!

So here we have an improvised irrigation system for one of the figs. This fig came into my possession in fall of last year, I don’t outright recall the person’s name but they were moving had this brown turkey fig potted up in a 16” pot and could not take it so it was offered to me. I carted the bush away brought it home and it the cold weather set in before I could get it planted. As seen in earlier images it was finally planted near the growing trays so it could make use of the fertilizer runoff and be much easier to maintain. The bucket is an old brewing vessel that proved unneeded. Inside of it is a layer of large stones and a single small hole was bored in the bottom so water or fertilizer placed inside drips out slowly right at the roots of the target plant. The lid is weighted so it cannot blow off and the old non-functional airlock ensures air exchange. With a two-gallon capacity if can mimic a good ½” to 1” rain depending on climate conditions roughly speaking.

In this image some of the surplus rudbeckia have decided to bloom, I think they’re one of the Indian summer types I sold last year. They were in bad shape when planted and I didn’t expect them to survive winter.

In this image we have a mix of three types of cone flower, some Echibekias which are a rudbeckia-Echinacea hybrid and in the upper left the leaves of perennial cabbage.

I think this is a Sumerina Yellow Echibeckia, the last image had an orange one.

Vaccinium ashii – Rabbit Eye Blueberry

It’s that time of the year and the blue berry crop is off the charts already. My four bushes are so loaded with berries they’re bent over from the weight. I’ve already harvested a pound and a half.

Lilium sp. ‘Rio Negro’ – Asiatic Lily

Honestly, they’re dark pink! With a name like Rio Negro I expected dark red or, a darker shade, but then I’m not complaining at all.

Lilium sp. ‘Purple Prince’ – Asiatic Lily

Ok so this Asiatic lily is at least sort of purple it’s not nearly as flamboyant as Rio but still very nice. Obviously this is an overdue post, so there is no farmers market info attached, stay tuned for this week’s post where I’ll include the plants list and introduce you to a garden plant you may not have considered before.

The end of June 2015

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmers Market. I have to open this post with a bit about weather safety. As you may realize, the recent weather has brought us a lot of rain, but also with it comes a bit of danger. As those of you who live in Fayetteville might have noticed, the thunderstorms while excellent at providing much needed rain, are also perfect conditions for high winds, potential tornadoes, flash floods and or hail. There is also the risk of downed trees, and flying debris to consider. In our last storm we received 1.6” of rain and the one before that 2” and the mega storm two weeks ago 3”, this poses several problems. The fertilizer you applied in your fields may have washed out, yet you’re getting a mega-dose of atmospheric nitrogen. Likewise with all the water flowing through you may have lost some topsoil. These storm cycles are excellent for certain crops such as figs but terrible for more delicate fruits. In the end I advise that all of you who read this remember to take caution during storms, the severe weather advisories seen on TV and the Radio are no joke even if the weird sound effects on the radio ones make them seem so.

With that in mind I did not attend the Saturday market this week because of the weather, we had a line of ugly storms come through on Friday evening and they persisted into the early morning hours of Saturday. Honestly, with the high daytime temperatures and the thunderstorm activity, I think we can officially call it Monsoon season. Despite this, as you know, we are in the middle of transfer season, the spring veggies are nearing their end, but the summer herbs, and perennials are just about to begin. I’ll keep a variety of peppers tomatoes and a few other odds and ends available, but expect more of the fine summer specials, and of course aloe vera plants in three sizes for your medicinal enjoyment. The new plant list should be available and posted up here later in the week.  In the next post I’m going to show you some tricks to help keep your garden irrigated in these difficult weather conditions. For this week I finish this post with a photo or two.

Aloe barbadensis/vera – Medicinal Aloe

This is ‘Big Mother’ the oldest aloe in the collection and the largest potted house plant I own. I’ve had this plant for about five years, and for most of that time it has been in an small 6” pot. The aloe plant was so heavy that it used to top over its old pot so I had to put it in a large thick-walled container made out of terra cotta and weigh it down with stones so it would not tip over. Earlier this year ‘Big Mother’ was repotted finally to a much larger 12” pot as seen in the picture. All the little aloes I’m selling came from this one plant and as you can see, this aloe is now free of pups.  Grown 100% organically, you will have a hard time finding healthier plants.

Adenium obesum – Desert Rose

The desert Rose is one of those plants that a plant enthusiast seeks out for the reward of its blooms. Sort of like a Holiday cactus in use, the Desert rose validates the effort to find one by blooming once a year with stunning blooms that are pink, red or some shade in-between. A well cared for Desert rose will bloom twice a year or in the case of mine twice a year and on every stem. The blooms can be so heavy that the stems bend and desert roses can get so large that they resemble a small shrub with corky bark. As for care, you barely water or fertilize this succulent and treat it like a true tropical. This puts a cork in the bottle for this weeks post, check back for another post later detailing the current plant selection and DIY irrigation tricks.

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

September showers bring October...bah...doesn't rhyme.

Welcome back to a slightly rain-soaked edition of Lost In the Farmers Market or LITFM for short. As we’ve discovered by googling* our own name… that apparently our short hand acronym also means “Look In The F****** Manual”.  Don’t worry you won’t find that sort of impatient vulgarity here on LITFM, well unless we’re talking about Monsanto who deserves heaping piles of vulgarity just because. With that said as of this writing we have had several rain events since our last post.  We had a total of 1.85” last week after the last post spread across two precipitation incidents and now between Sunday and Monday, we have had a total of 0.00”.  In short making sure things are irrigated is not a problem right now. Compared to the weather last year we’re practically swimming in precipitation which for long term growth is a good thing and since larger landscape plants means irrigation and the cool temperatures and rain make the task easier.

The Harvest moon was visible on the 5^th and 6^th and again on the 9^th.

But precipitation aside, I get a lot of folks at the market who are form other places who want to know how to grow things in the North Carolina climate and often the discussion the booth can’t quite cover it all. So for this episode I in print will reiterate the five critical things to know about adapting to the North Carolina climate especially considering it’s almost time to plant the cold-season crops.

1. The Weather

The North Carolina is fairly regular, and usually by April you can figure out what the rest of the year will do within some fair margin. Usually the hard frosts happen between December and April and the drought period tends to start in Late july and range through August. High humidity is a normal thing year-round because of the geography of the state and the fact that we are just barely in the start of the Sub-tropical zone. This means our thunderstorms can be pretty violent, as can the hurricanes and there is always a risk of tornadoes. Due to this it’s always wise to have a rain catchment system and be very wary of erosion of your land.

2. The Soil

The soil in our state varies greatly but in the Fayetteville area we range from gray clay to red clay and sand soils. There are obviously places where you will find mixtures of the aforementioned types and occasionally you may find all three in the same spot.  Due to the swampy areas you may even find a soil type called ‘muck’ due to its high organic content and it being constantly wet. I might add that many underground rivers and surface riparian areas wind through the area making the land and its soil very diverse.

With all that said generally our soils suffer from nutrient deficiencies due to the fact that in the case of clay the soil particles compact and prevent the movement of water and nutrients. In the case of sand the soil particles are so large that water does not stick around for long and nutrient washes out into the subsoil putting it out of reach of the roots of most plants. So, what is one to do under this situation? The answer is simple, you add slow-decaying organic matter, compost and manure products to darken and enrich the soil in general while also increasing its nutrient capacity and water retention. I have to admit that unless your building raised beds or using containers it’s a slow process to make the soil acceptably fertile but it can be done.

3. The Bugs

Let’s face it, with the warm and humid climate you will encounter larger and more numerous critters in general. Because we have such a long warm season you can expect to encounter uglies such as palmetto bugs, several types of mosquitos, fleas and ticks almost year-round. Your crops will likely have to fight off attacks by varied types of caterpillars, and then there is dealing with the fire ants and for your furniture the possibility of termites. This means that for the average gardener you need to be proactive as opposed to reactive and maintain an environment that does not favor pests and try not to disturb natural predators. For some the knee-jerk reaction is to reach for the insecticide bottle and to those people I pose a thought to consider for the next time you’re tempted. “Is this pest causing serious damage to my crops or posing a significant risk to my health and safety?”  If the answer is no then you may be able to ignore the pest problem as it’s not a problem. If the answer is no, I recommend considering what you are to use and see if there is not an alternative that only targets the pest in specific or a physical method of control that refrains from altering the local ecology.

4. The Plants

It seems simple enough on paper, and I explain it plenty of times in lecture and at the table at the market but, plants come from specific regions and are adapted for those regions specifically. In of that plants have certain needs you must address in order for them to do well. I get a lot of customers at the market who ask for Mint, Cilantro, Dill and other cold-season plants in the dead heat of summer. It’s then I have to explain that they will not tolerate southern summers due to a mixture of heat, drought and humidity and in order to get them to produce that late a gardener has to go through a number of steps that are often more trouble than they are worth. While a lot of our favorite garden plants come from Mediterranean climates even more come from tropical or alpine climates and making sure to know the difference is critical to your success as a gardener.

For instance, Lavender prefers colder temperatures, is not fond of humidity, and will not tolerate poor soils. Well we have poor soils excess humidity and a long warm growing season so it would seem that growing lavender is a loss right? Wrong, the trick there is to find some way to handle most of what your lavender plants need; so we know lavender doesn’t like excessive heat. Well the solution there is to ignore the labels that came with the plant and plant it in a spot that has afternoon shade. We know that lavender needs decent soil so perhaps the cure is to excavate the native soil where the lavender is to be planted and backfill with composted manure and spent potting soil to create an oasis of plant nutrition and improve overall water retention. The humidity issue in the case of lavender can only be reduced, this is as simple as avoiding overcrowding and keeping all other plants at least six inches away from your lavender so there is adequate airflow about the plant. Obviously this won’t lower the atmospheric humidity any but it will reduce the local humidity by preventing continuously wet mulch and leaf surfaces which can contribute to foliar disease.

5. Timing

The pace of a garden is relative to the season and weather. We know that generally there are two primary seasons in relation to the plants you can grow. Basically you have the cool-season and warm-season crops/plants that summarize our gardens in this region. With the plants being divided you have to consider plant life cycles (annual, biennial, perennial), and how much time these plants take to mature and provide what you are expecting. As a general rule of thumb, if you are starting seed for use in the next temperature-period you want it sown at least three months before you intend to plant it in the field. If you are taking cuttings, often you can chop a month or more off the startup time depending on the type of cutting (Non-woody cuttings are the fastest.). So for instance when it comes to timing, you might sow your warm-season crop’s seed in late January-February, and be preparing it for planting out by Easter in April. Your cold-season crops for long term use might be sown in late-August to September and planted out between Late October and November depending on the variety of plant in question. In the meanwhile while you’re doing this soil enrichment and preparations might be made out in the fields to receive the crops. Final harvests of plants at the end of their season and the composting of their uprooted materials might also be a way to seasonally build your composting operation. I might add that with every crop shift you may want to consider adding mulch also to generally improve your topsoil over time.

As I said before this is just a generalized guide to the five aspects of urban farming in general. Each yard and the situations it will present will vary and for that you must find your own variant methods and practices that work in your area. But the time has come to shift the topic.

Late Summer Veggie Delight!

 

That’s right this Wednesday (2:00-6:00 pm) and Saturday (9:00AM – 1:00 PM) I will be at the Fayetteville Farmers market selling aloes galore for the last week of Sparklitis month. This is your last chance to lay hands on the rare and unusual aloes before they are taken off the sale racks for a few months. Some of the plants may return during the holiday months but I wouldn’t bet money on that one!  The Fayetteville Farmer’s Market is located in downtown Fayetteville in the Fayetteville Transportation Museum Property on 326 Franklin Street.  Without further delay here is this week’s plant list which polishes off this week’s LITFM post, I hope to see you at the Market.

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.

Cold-Season Crops (Available on Saturday)

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

6x Collard Greens, Georgia, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Lettuce, Black seeded Simpson, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

6x Onion, Egyptian Red, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

ON SALE!

3x Artemesia, 3.5” pot ($2.00)

6x Baloon Flower, White 3.5” pot ($2.00)

6x Nicotina, Flowering Tobacco, 3.5” pot ($2.00)

6x Rudbeckia, Irish Eyes, 3.5” pot ($2.00)

House Plants: (By Price, Wendnesday only.)

1x Aloe x hybrid ‘Fauxgave’, 6.0” pot ($12.00)

2x Peperomia orba, Teardrop Peperomia - Gift pot ($9.00)

2x Aloe glauca, Cosmetic Aloe - Gift pot ($9.00)

3x Adenium obesum, Desert Rose – 6” Pot ($8.00)  < Limited Supply!>

1x Aloe hybrid, Blizzard Aloe - 4.0" pot ($6.00)

2x Aloe x Gasteria, 'Night Sky' Aloe - 6.0" pot ($6.00)

3x Aloe dorotheae, Sunset Aloe - 4.0" pot ($6.00)
3x Aloe deltoideodantes, Checkerboard Aloe - 4.0" pot ($6.00)

2x Peperomia orba, Teardrop Peperomia, 3.5” pot ($5.00)
3x Aloe nobilis ‘Gator’, 3.5” pot ($5.00)

Perennial Flowering & Fruiting Vines:

2x Passiflora incarnata, Passion Vine – 3.5” pot ($3.00)

1x Muscadinia rotundifolia, Muscadine Grape Vine (Copper) – 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon: (September 13^th)

Cabbage

Kale

Just as a clarification, if the weather does not cooperate on Wednesday sparklitis month may extend to Saturday and then the new cold season plants and the rare houseplants will be at the booth at the same time!

*Googling yourself honestly sounds dirty…it’s not though.

** For those who don’t know, Food Lion is the same as Pathmark in the north literally the same company.