Computers are wonderful, until they are not.

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, A This post is late by a week. Unfortunately the computer I normally use to write these posts and edit the phots for these blog posts and for the youtube channel is currently out of order. It seems the CPU has gone and I need to find another one. In all honestly I might have to upgrade the motherboard and CPU so I don’t have to keep hunting for parts that are getting a bit scarce. AM3 central processing units aren’t exactly new technology and they’re becoming harder to find in any reasonably quality condition. But thankfully I’ve jerry-rigged a solution to the slight delay and today, although late I have a blog post for you with a ton of garden photographs and info so stay tuned for what is to come.

 

 

Here we have a volunteer Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) climbing up a bamboo stake. There are two types of cucumbers that are used in the garden, Bush type and Vine type. The cucumber pictured is a vining type which will climb up just about anything. The bush type has shorter stem internodes and still climbs but doesn’t get as big. Typically varieties like ‘Space master’ are bush type and they’re the best option or containers or limited spaces. They produce cukes as big as the vining types but are better for those who don’t know how the cukes do.  Way back in the mid 2000’s ‘Space master’ was the variety I experimented with to good success.

 

 

This pretty flower which looks a bit spindly is Thin-Leaved Coneflower ‘Prairie Glow’ (Rudbeckia triloba). It took a few years to really get it going but these flowers are totally worth it. For anyone who’s read this blog a while you know I have a bias towards coneflowers in general because they are native flowers that are pretty sturdy and reliable. The downside to this type of rudbeckia is that the rabbits seem to like eating it’s foliage a bit much. Thankfully their eating of it stopped once Caliente the cat showed up.

 

 

Three years later and in consideration for transplanting this Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus sp.) has bloomed. In our climate these hardy perennials can form dense clumps that resist the intrusion of weeds nicely.

 

 

Toad lilies (Tricyrtis formosana ‘Gilt Edge’) have been a long time perennial favorite of mine because they are evergreen in zone 8a and their flowers and foliage resembles Orchids minus all the special care and fuss. The best part is that these beauties spread by stolons so eventually I can give out clumps to friends and they are not invasive.

 

 

 

Four o Clocks (Miribilis japapa ‘Broken Colors’) are an old-time garden perennial that I have a special affinity for. They are named because their flowers never open before four pm, and they are the most well-known member of their family. They are considered a tender perennial in zones 7-10, and can form large tuberous roots that resemble rutabagas over time. Their large seeds are easily collected too so it’s easy enough to pass seeds onto neighbors and friends.

 

 

 

More Four O’clocks here, did you know they are also called ‘Marvel-of-Peru? They can have a sweet scent, and are actually native to the Americas. In the background of this picture are the papery seed husks from Silver dollar plant (Lunaria annua).

 

 

 

Inevitably when you have a garden you attract things. This kitten was found taking a nap in the driveway and was super friendly. Unfortunately Caliente wasn’t too kind about having competition for being fluffy and I had to take this kitten to Cumberland County Animal Control hopefully to be adopted by someone soon. Unfortunately FAPS said they were full and could not take her so CCAC was the best option.

 

 

 

Ah, remember that small Castor Bean (Ricinus communis ‘Zanzibar’)? Well this is how big it is now, there is no doubt those leaves are about the size of a pizza pie pan. Lets see how big it gets before the end of the year!

 

 

 

Now here is a life and death moment on the leaf of an Evening-Scented Flowering Tobacco Plant (Nicotiana syvestris). This spider is a Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans) and it is eating what appears to be a Cicada killer (Sphecius speciosus) of some sort. Green Lynx Spiders are numerous in any given garden setting and due to their unique color they are rarely noticed. They pose no threat to humans so it’s best to just observe and leave them alone.

 

 

 

This is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus). I get several of these large butterflies in the garden every year; though this is the first time one has stopped to feed on the mint blossoms. I suspect this is a female due to the enlarged abdomen. Typically these butterflies will seek out a member of the Parsley/Carrot family to lay their eggs on. The Resulting caterpillars are those cool looking black and yellow striped ones with the little orange 'antlers' that they poke you with when you disturb them.

 

 

 

While this picture isn’t ideal for identification, this Mantis is probably a Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis). Chinese Mantises were accidentally introduced in 1896 in Mt. Aity Pennsylvania. While they do eat a lot of pest insects they also eat just about anything they can catch which makes them a threat to native insect populations including the Carolina Mantis (Stagomantis Carolina) and the European Mantis (Mantis religeosa). I do not think they are declared an invasive species yet, but they are hard to miss as they are the largest species in the USA as they can get up to five inches long.

 

 

 

Here we have the literal fruit of my labor, three differing types of Fig (Ficus carica). The big green ones are White Ishia, the tan ones in the lower half of the container on the right are Chicago Hardy, and the darker brown figs at the top of the container on the right are Celeste. The scientific humor here is that figs are technically not a fruit, they are called a Syconium. A Syconium is essentially a flower turned inside out, the actual sex bits are those strange filaments inside the fig. Normally a small fig wasp (Agaonidae sp.) does the pollinating. I only know for sure of one species of commercially available Fig that probably has wasp bits in the 'fruit' and that's Calimyrna. Thankfully, Black Mission, Brown Turkey, White Ishcia, Chicago Hardy, Magnolia, Celeste, produce fruit through parthenogenesis. Basically they had a genetic glitch somewhere that made them produce edible fruit without the need for pollination. In short a literal virgin 'birth', and so they were the types that were proliferated by humans because without the need for a wasp, they could go wherever the wasps were not and provide food in exchange for better care. So for all you vegans out there sweating if eating figs breaks your lifestyle and diet, most commercial and homegrown figs are safe.

 

 

At last, we have the Botanical Test Garden’s Mascot Caliente the Cat assaulting some weeds. Really those weeds had it coming for growing so aggressively!

 

 

 

Here are the latest YouTube videos for your garden entertainment:

 

Yucca: Still gonna git you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVo38cxaSkM

 

Ruellia; Ruellia DeVille….wasn’t she in that movie about the dogs?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aImcuHhW5Wo

 

Coleus; Not Coal Industry Approved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cB91RjUVAg

 

 

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 fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, 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.

 

 

It's Tomato and Cuke Season!

 

 

Fresh Food:

Figs, 1 Pound ($8.00)

Tomatoes: 2 for $1.00

Cucumbers: 2 for $1.00

 

Summer Veggies:

Pepper, 6” pot: Scotch Bonnet ($5.00), Cayenne ($5.00)

Pepper, 5” pot: Assorted ($4.00)

 

 

Herbs: ($3.00 each)

Basil, Emerald Tower, Dolche Fresca, Rutgers DMR Devotion ($3.00 each or 2 for 5)

Comfrey ($4.00)

Oregano

Thyme

 

 

Ornamental Stuff: ($3.00 each)

Marigold 'Antigua Yellow', 'Durango Red', 'Tangerine', 'Hero Bee' ($3.00 each or 2 for 5)

Coneflower, ‘Artisan Soft Orange’, ‘Artisan Ombre Red’ ($4.00)

 

 

Coming Soon:

Milkweed, Milkmaid White ($4.00, more available soon)

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

 

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

https://nextdoor.com/g/ybvdm226x/?is=nav_bar

 

 

Meetings are back on track folks! We now meet at LeClairs General Store on the First and third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on August 5th between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.

 

 

If the two above methods do not work you can always contact me through this blog, PM me through Nextdoor.com and or visit the Fayetteville City Market. This brings to a close the sixteenth LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on or around the 13th of August. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

It's Offically Summer

            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. This particular episode will cover a few after-images regarding plants I’ve described at the market in bloom to show you what I meant. Additionally, I’m going to cover a few things in the test garden that are of note or in bloom. First off early this spring for the first time in a few years I offered Purple Vienna Kohlrabi ( Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group ) for sale and it wasn’t the best of sellers but a select few gardeners decided to be brave and give it a shot. For those who don’t know what Kohlrabi is, it is a member of the cabbage family and you eat the leaves and its swollen stem.

As you can see in the image above this kohlrabi has developed perfectly. While the image does not do its size justice this specimen, one of two leftovers that did not sell is about the diameter of a baseball which is about average for the home garden for a plant that was planted too late. Now, I bet some of you readers out there are wondering what one does with a kohlrabi, the leaves can be added to salads, or cooked in a similar way to cabbage, collards or kale. The swollen stem is generally sliced and steamed like broccoli but can be sliced and can be eaten raw with something akin to ranch dressing just like broccoli. I do recommend gardeners grow Kohlrabi because it’s easy, and since the part you are eating (the stem) is less apt to be attacked by pests plus it’s less temperamental about it’s location. Additionally, chances are it will be a good conversation piece when you show visitors your garden. Next I have pictures of ‘Irish Eyes’ Rudbeckia before and after the actual flowers open to show what it’s developed flowers actually look like. I sold this perennial variety of Rudbeckia at the City Market last year and when I told customers the centers of the flowers were green I was met with a bit of skepticism. Here is the proof of how this plant looks in the landscape.

 

This photo was taken back in May.

The same plant, but this photo was taken last week.

The second picture requires some explanation, Rudbeckia is a member of the Daisy Family which is collectively called the Asters (Asteraceae) and as such it has a composite flower where the petals are ornamentation as one might expect but that disc or cone at the center of the flower is actually a tightly packed head containing potentially hundreds of very simplistic flowers. From a biological standpoint since many insects, birds and animals eat the seeds having hundreds of flowers each of which can produce a single seed is a survival strategy. If each flower head produces fifty seeds, and forty of those are eaten, destroyed or are duds, the surviving ten carry on the genetics of the species which guarantees in some part that there will be room for biological adaptation and growth in the next generation.  Now in this case in the second flower the actual flowers are developing and are opening from the outside inward as the cone extends. This changes the color of the flower’s center to a dirty sort of yellow-green as the golden pollen of this plant is released. Of course, letting this plant flower and produce seed is essential to the biological diversity of the test gardens and it yields seed to grow more of this Rudbeckia for future plant sales and as a food source for the varied birds and pollinators that visit the test garden. I have two more plants to cover before we move to the usual sales-oriented portion of this post.

I snapped this photo recently of a white balloon flower in the crescent bed. Balloon flowers ( Platycodon grandifloras ) are a interesting garden perennial that are members of the Campanulaceae family which includes the Lobelia family. Aside from the group of plants the family is name for, the Campanulaceae family also includes the lawn “weed” called a Venus’ Looking Glass. Personally, I don’t consider the Venus looking glass a weed because of it’s pretty but tiny blue flowers and interesting leaf arrangement and thus they are spared mowing in my yard. Balloon flowers are of specific note because of their unique blooms which look like balloons until they open, though normally most balloon flowers as seen are blue, in the last decade or so pink and pure white hybrids have been made available which further expands the versatility of this garden perennial. In terms of care Balloon flowers are tough, and drought tolerant once established, add in that their normal height is at least two feet and they become a pretty structural addition to the garden. As far as I know they have no pest problems and are fairly tolerant of varied soil types though heavy clay soils might be a problem.

Trying to describe the colors of Golden jubilee has been amusingly difficult.

Finally as a closer to the garden-oriented portion of this post, we have a picture of Golden Jubilee’ Agastache ( Agastache rugosa  ‘Golden Jubilee’). Agastache is sometimes called Anise-Hyssop but is best known by the common name ‘Hummingbird Mint’ which accurately identifies that it is a strong attractor of pollinators and that it is a source of nectar for hummingbirds. I should note that Agastache is ultimately a member of the Mint family ( Lamiaceae ) and has square stems which is the common identifying trait of plants likely to be in the mint family. Additionally, it’s foliage has a minty aroma and it has some use in herbal medicine. What really makes these plants special is that incredible chartreuse foliage which sets off the violet-pink flowers. This plant will readily sow seed and spread out so it should be planted where it can take over and be pretty much a chartreuse neon sign for pollinators. I had to wait to discuss this deciduous perennial here because it had to be in bloom so I could adequately demonstrate the foliage flower color contrast. Theres also the fact that I had a somewhat hard time describing the color of the blooms so a picture does that better then I can. For note I will have more of these available at the market soon, so if you are interested, come on down!

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

Peppers, Ghost – $3.00

Peppers, Aji Limon - $3.00

Peppers, Peporncini - $3.00

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

Basil, Holy - $ 2.00

Basil, Sweet – $2.00

Basil, Thai - $2.00

Burnet, Salad - $2.00

Oregano, Italian - $2.00

Aloe Vera, Small - $5.00

Aloe Vera, Large - $7.00

Dancing Bones Cactus - $3.00

Coming Soon: (New Items Available July 14^th at the latest)

Herbs - Santolina (aka Lavender-Cotton)

Lavender, English

Thyme, English

Rosemary

Ornamental - Milkweed

Ornamental – Coneflower, Pow Wow Berry Mix

Ornamental – Coneflower, Cheyenne Spirit

Ornamental - Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'

Houseplants - Flowering Maple

Houseplants - Eve’s Needle Opuntia

Houseplants - Benjamin Fig

Houseplants – Mini Variegated Jade Plant

Houseplants – Shark Tooth Plant

Houseplants – Live Saver Plant

Houseplants – Philodendrons, assorted

Houseplants – Gold Dust Plant

            As noted in the last update, Bordeaux Regional Nursery is no longer delivering exotic houseplants to Leclairs general store. We will however be honoring the warranties of plants sold in the store until the end of 2018. For the detailed reasons why we have made this change please see the blog posted on the 22^nd of June.  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 twelfth LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 6^th of July roughly speaking.