Penny Lane? Nah Purselane!

Welcome back to another terribly late episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. This time honestly the lateness has to do with the new job suddenly going from being part time (30 or less hours) to me suddenly having to do the work of several people and it being 40 plus hours. Since overtime is involved I cannot complain but besides that I had a plan for the two July episodes and decided to scrap both. The fact is in retrospect I noticed that the late July post wasn’t fully researched and the early one was flat boring. Honestly if any of you readers out there wanted to be bored you could just listen to grass grow or you know try to win a staring contest with your compost. I kid of course, we all know compost never blinks, you can’t win that one no matter what you do.

Portulaca oleracea - Common Purslane

This month’s topic however is one I've touched on quite a bit and I’m coming back to in light of some good photos of specimens in the wild.  The topic of course is weeds, but more so today we are going to talk about one very common weed that is completely edible with a nonexistent chance of ill side effects and no poisonous look-alikes. Surprisingly the cultivated form of this weed is often known by the scientific first name of the species and is also fully edible and remarkably drought tolerant. The plant in its cultivated form is called Portulaca, but in its ‘weed’ forms it is called Purslane. The differences between the two summarize with the leaf shape and flower colors and that the cultivated types have been bred for double flowers. but otherwise they have negligible differences. In both cases pieces of the plant can be propagated in water or the ultra-fine powder like seed can be harvested which has a high germination rate if you protect the seed from excessive moisture in storage. But of course, the real question is why should you eat Purslane? Well Purslane is a strong source of Vitamin A, enough such that 100 grams (3.53 ounces) provides 44% of your daily recommended amount. It also is rich in Vitamin C, a number of complex b-vitamins and it is noted to have dietary minerals like iron, magnesium calcium potassium and manganese. Additional research by [Proc. West. Pharmacol. Soc. 45: 101-103 (2002] indicates that Purslane contains two types of Betalain alkaloid pigments; the yellow b-xanthins and the reddish b-cyanins which have been found to have anti-mutagenic properties in lab tests.

Portulaca amilis - Broadleaf Pink Purselane

This does come with some not-so good news as it’s been noted that Purslane’s foliage bears naturally occurring oxalic acid which can give it a tart flavor. 100 grams of fresh leaves can contain 1.31 grams of oxalic acid which is more than spinach or cassava and thus those with the risk of oxalate urinary tract stones should avoid purslane. I should also note that if you heard the word oxalic acid, and thought it sounded familiar otherwise you are right to think so. When it comes to house plants some plants use oxalic acid as a defense to prevent grazing. The most common is the Dumb cane (Dieffenbachia sp.) which when chewed causes oxalate crystals to lodge in the tongue and throat causing you to lose the ability to speak and general discomfort. However, the Dieffenbachia isn’t the plant with the highest oxalate content in common cultivation, that title goes to Parsley (yes, the biennial in the carrot family), which by volume is 1.7% oxalic acid and can be eaten with no real side effects. If anything, the combination of organic chemical compounds in parsley makes it suited for flavoring and for the use as a breath freshener that can even nullify garlic.

Sources used for researching this article:
    1.    Stanford School of Medicine, Cancer Information Page: https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-clinics/cancer-nutrition-services/reducing-cancer-risk.html
    2.    Proc. West. Pharmacol. Soc. 45: 101-103 (2002) http://fikrat0.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/procwest.pdf
    3.    USDA National Nutrient Database

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 summer offerings.

Plants Available Now:

Peppers, Ghost – $3.00

Peppers, Aji Limon - $3.00

Peppers, Pepperoncini - $3.00

Basil, Sweet – $3.00

Sage, Common - $3.00

Stevia - $3.00

Santolina - $3.00

Tarragon, Texas - $3.00

Toothache Plant - $3.00

Coneflower, Pow Wow Mix - $4.00

Milkweed – $3.00

Milkweed, Whorled - $3.00

Oregano, 6” pot - $5.00

Hops, 6” pot - $10.00

Aloe Vera, Large - $7.00

Dancing Bones Cactus - $3.00

Polka Dot Plant - $4.00

Coming Soon:

Flowering Maple

Ornamental – Coneflower, Cheyenne Spirit

More To Be Announced

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 thirteenth LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 1st of August which is next Wednesday. As a bit of a spoiler, next week you are going to see first hand what kind of hot peppers I am trading to Fowler’s Restaurant on 723 West Roan Street In Fayetteville North Carolina, and this means the first pictures of the vaunted hybrid pepper I’ve bred and been talking about. Oh, the spoiler here isn’t what I’ve just said, it’s that said hybrid pepper is now being used in a hot sauce called “X-Man” because it’s so hot that you need to have super powers to endure it. I’ve taste tested it and it’s good, but even a few drops will burn for upwards of 48 minutes.

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.