I think the thermostat is broken

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, and wow June has been a test of everyone’s patience hasn’t it? It’s been super-hot and then not so much, we’ve had Thunder storms, thundershowers and flooding. Then there’s the weirdo pollen problems, I swear August is going to be absolute hell, and to think certain people still deny climate change. Well anyway today’s blog post is all about the garden photographs and what’s going on in the test gardens so be prepared for a lot of images folks.

Ricinus communis ‘Zanzibar’ – Castor Bean

 

That’s right folks this is one of those giant castor beans I was selling at the market. I kept one for planting in the gardens and here it is. In just two weeks after it’s planting its newest leaves are already a foot in diameter. When I joke about this plant being really good at drawing attention away from other things it’s not a joke it’s more or less an observation of fact. I will post a monthly photograph to show how big these things really can get so all you gardeners out there can really see what those not-so-tiny seedlings are capable of.

 

Solanum x burbankii - Wonderberry

 

Some of my customers at the market looked at the Wonderberries with a bit of doubt, which is understandable; they do look a lot like a certain weed. But then Wonderberries are very close to their genetic origins and as such they have not been as genetically homogenized as things like their cousin, the Better Boy Tomato. Even if you bought these with no intention of eating the purplish-black berries the plants still are interesting to look at and certainly will get you answering all kinds of questions. Take a peek at my post from last month to see how much growth has happened with this plant in just three weeks.

Nicotina alata ‘Seratoga Purple Bicolor’, ‘Seratoga Rose’ – Flowering Tobacco

Some folks seemed confused by the idea of growing tobacco just for the flowers, but some could not tell the difference between the purple and rose types. Purple is on the left and has a faded ‘face’ while Rose is on the right and is a pink-rose color throughout the bloom.

 

Hemerocallis sp. - Daylilies

It’s sort of a tradition to post pictures of the day lilies when they bloom and these are my assorted mix, there are some tawny day lilies int here and a bunch of other assorted types and colors.

 

Physalis sp. – Ground cherry

It’s impossible to know what specific variety this volunteer is, it could be the Cossack Pineapple, it could be Cape Gooseberries, it could be the new seed I bought at the beginning of the year. All I know is it volunteered in the same pot as my Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) and I’m ok with that.

 

Echinacea purpurea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ – Coneflower

The crazy reddish-pink coneflowers are still going, they seem to like their spot but that garden bed could use a weeding. Remember folks, roses and coneflowers do make good company.

 

Hemerocallis sp. ‘Gentle Shepherd’ – Day lilies

Originally slated as a fill in for the Memorial bed, and then used in a curbside bed and then transplanted into the Compass bed in 2017, these plants sure get around. They’re bigger and healthier than ever.

 

Clinopodium vulgare – Wild Basil

For those with a good memory I offered these plants for sale in a prior year. Well as it turns out they are definitely perennial, and they seem to be doing just fine in the test gardens with light maintenance. Yes you can use the leaves in cooking, they impart a flavor that’s a bit like Thyme and Basil combined.

 

Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Texas Star’ – Swamp Rose Mallow

Does anyone remember how I tell that story about that one neighbor I used to have who mistook a plant in my front yard for Marijuana? Well this is that plant, it’s a hibiscus, but until the flowers bloom it really does look like a recreational herbal substance.

 

Opuntia ellisiana – Spineless Prickly Pear

While the flowers do not last long, boy are they a sight to behold!Prickly Pear is a true cactus and Cactus blossoms are worth all the troubles that cacti can give you when the plants are not in bloom.

 

Capsicum chinense x frutiscens ‘Fayetteville Inferno’ – Fayetteville Inferno

There she is, pushing four of five years old, the oldest and biggest of the pepper plants I grow at the test gardens, she’s taller than she’s ever been and gets special treatment. You see Peppers are short-lived perennials, and to get one to live more than three years in cultivation is a bit uncommon. This pepper is at least four years old and I’m hoping for a fifth growing year. Why all the fuss? This is the only Fayetteville Inferno Pepper plant in existence anywhere. I’m harvesting seed and taking cuttings this year just to keep the line going.

 

Brassica oleracea medullosa – Marrowstem Kale

Marrowstem Kale was an oddball seed purchase based on the name. I mean a kale that doesn’t get woody or stringy stems where you can eat almost the entire thing? What is not to like about that level of efficientcy? What no one mentioned was that these Kales can bet massive, like on the scale of how big a properly grown Collard or Cabbage-Collard Plant can get. The specimen pictured has leaves that are a foot long and it’s stem is 1” in diameter. Despite its sinewy looking main stem it seems to be doing just fine, even cabbage moth damage doesn’t seem to be slowing it down. This has got to be some kind of a growing record, and now I’ve found it has a specific scientific name that diverges from the names of all other Kales.

Here's some info on the plant:

https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Brassica+oleracea+medullosa

 

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.

 

Summer Veggies: ($3.00 each)

Pepper, Sweet Banana, Poblano/Ancho, Habanero, Golden Bell, Ghost ($4.00)

African Runner Peanuts (Almost Gone!)

Herbs: ($3.00 each)

Basil, Emerald Tower, Dolche Fresca, Rutgers DMR Devotion

Cervesa & Lime Cuban Oregano

Oregano

Thyme

Ornamental Stuff: ($3.00 each)

Cotton, Erlene's Green (Limited Quantity)

Flowering Tobacco 'Saratoga Purple', 'Saratoga Rose'

Marigold 'Antigua Yellow', 'Durango Red',  'Tangerine',  'Hero Bee'

Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'

Coming Soon:

Comfrey (Herb, late summer)

 

We have a new place to share information and work on groovy sustainable stuff!  You can look for Sustainable Neighbors in our own Nextdoor.com group under the name “Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville”. You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join but it is a private group so feel free to request to join us if you are signed up on the Nextdoor.com site.

 

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

 

Unfortunately, Covid-19 is still mucking up the works in terms of meeting in person. The good news is that Sustainable Neighbors does have a Discord Server. You can request access through our Meetup.com page or you can request access via our Nextdoor.com group. The meetup.com page is below for anyone looking to join us.

 

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/

 

Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t need to buy anything or maintain any sort of attendance standard, you can come on in and join the meetings. When this Covid-19 mess calms down we may be able to resume normal in-person meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market. This brings to a close the Twelfth LITFM post of 2021; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on or around the 25^th of June. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

An Invasive To Worry About

 Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers Market, so in our last episode we talked about Bradford Pears (Pyrus calleryana) which are a bafflingly bad choice for a tree in the landscape. Well in conjunction with a LITFM Fieldtrips episode today in detail I will be covering the topic of an invasive deciduous tree called the Tree of Heaven. 

Image courtesy of Oregon State University, this image shows the form of a moderately sized tree.

The Tree of Heaven’s scientific name is Ailanthus altissima, and as I said before it is deciduous and is considered an invasive tree. This tree can rapidly grow to a height of 60-75 feet with a canopy of 35-50 feet; it is not uncommon for specimens of this tree to grow up to six feet per year. It’s leaves are borne alternately but the leaves themselves are evenly pinnate. Ailanthus is found in USDA zones 5a through 8. It is not soil sensitive and will grow almost anywhere even in extremely acidic soils; the most acidic it has been recorded to have grown in is 4.1 pH.  This adaptability and its ability to survive drought, herbicide and fires have made it hard to eradicate. 

This is a example of a young Ailanthus, now how it's been cut down once and is vigorously regrowing.

Additionally the roots of this particular tree will form offsets which are genetically identical to the parent and will also have the same gender as the parent. Normally this is where I would say it’s a limiting factor that Ailanthus are either male or female trees, however upon further research it seems a portion of their population is both, which may or may not include flowers that are bisexual. This means that it is possible that singular group of Ailanthus trees might suddenly be able to reproduce and you might have a greater threat on your hands after years of it only being able to ‘clone’ itself from root offshoots. Given that the seeds of Ailanthus have a 90% germination rate this plant would otherwise have no problem reproducing by way of its winged seeds which can drift on the wind a fair distance.

This is a typical example of a seed cluster on a Tree of Heaven, a healthy tree can produce several hundred seeds per cluster and the recorded record for a singular tree is between 470,000 and 440,000 seeds. In short these things are determined to multiply.

What makes this tree undesirable is its aggressive means of reproduction but also the fact that its fast growth comes at the cost of the tree having soft wood. Ailanthus’s bark is thin and easily damaged from mechanical impacts and it is susceptible to branch breakage at the crotch because of weak branch collar formation and the fact that the wood is very soft. All parts of the tree emit a odor when handled that roughly resembles peanut butter that has gone bad, though some liken it to rotting cashews or garbage. This makes the plant undesirable for gardens where it might be handled and unpleasant to work with in a woodworking sense. Ailanthus’s roots are also known to heave sidewalks and roads making it a troublesome tree for long-term urban planting. In the fall this tree’s foliage color is give-or-take yellow, but the display is so short lived and this tree tends to drop leaves early making it not even useful for fall color. All parts of the Ailanthus plant produce a specific inhibitor compound called Ailanthone which inhibits the growth of most other plants, especially those that have not been exposed to it in prior generations. This natural herbicide of sorts is not unique to the Ailanthus as the Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) produces a compound called Hydrojuglone which essentially has the same effect. Ailanthus is known by several common names including Stink Tree, Garbage Tree, Varnish Tree, Tree of Hell, and its Chinese name Chouchun. As last bit of information on this miscreant of a plant, it belongs to the Simaroubaceae family of which it is the most famous member. However, it has a not-so-well-known cousin named Quassia amara which has a number of medical uses, is effective at killing hair-based parasites and can kill mosquito larva without harming fish.There is one last thing to mention, Aailanthus looks like a bunch of other non-invasive trees, and oftenthese trees are damaged or eradicated in a misguided attempt to kill Ailanthus. Similar looking trees include the Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina), various Ash trees (Fraxinus sp.), Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), and various Hickories (Carya sp.). Identifying these similar looking trees is fairly easy, Sumac has fuzzy reddish-brown stems and leaves and may have fuzzy fruits. Ash Trees have opposite leaves, and all four look-alikes have completely to mostly toothed leaf margins. As an additional identifier, Black walnuts may produce a dead zone nearly devoid of other plants around their roots and they have large green fruits that when crushed will dye whatever touches the juices brown. Plus, Black Walnut fruits have an aroma you can't mistake for anything else. If you don't know for sure, hold off on the herbicide and check with an expert, that tree that looks like an Ailanthus might turn out to be a Pecan Tree (Pecans are a type of Hickory). But anyway enough of the gloomy world of a terrible invasive and on to this weeks garden photographs.

 

My Pomegranates are heavily in bloom for the first time since they were planted, I suspect this has more to do with me not pruning them this year than anything else.

It was surprisingly difficult to get a photograph of this but, two years later finally my Walking Iris (Neomarica northiana) are in bloom. the Flowers literally last less than one day. The plants are called walking iris because they produce plantlets on flexible stems that allow them to spread. Walking Iris are hardy in USDA zones 10 and 11.

These are the specimen plants of Wonderberry (Solanum retroflexum) in the Test Gardens.

Well now it's officially summer, the Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is now in bloom.

Here we have the first nearly ripe tomato of 2021, It's a Sungold Cherry Tomato of course!

The raised garden bed, which currently has a Zanzibar Castor bean (bottom), Two Alabama Blue Collard Plants (middle)  and a Pineapple Sage (Top).

Here we have a Domesticated Cat (Felis catus), This cat isn't feral, she's just taken up residence on property and recently had kittens under the Pomegranate Bush. I've started feeding her and making sure she has access to clean water and honestly she's sort of become the Test Garden's Mascot. I dont know if she's just someone's outdoor cat or an outdoor cat that's used to people but I've named her Caliente. This Spanish for for emitting heat or warmth but more commonly means spicy which she was early on. She'd hiss, then meow then growl and meow again early on and I'd ask 'why are you so spicy? So the name stuck, and she's 'cali' some times for short.

 

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.

 

Summer Veggies & Herbs: ($3.00 each)

Sungold Cherry Tomato (Sale $2.00)

Chocolate Cherry Tomato (Sale $2.00)

Lemon Drop Tomato (Sale $2.00)

Sweet Hundreds Cherry Tomato (Sale $2.00)

San Marzano Improved Paste Tomato (Sale $2.00)

Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad (Sale $2.00)

Paul Robeson Tomato (Sale $2.00)

Cherokee Purple Tomato (Sale $2.00)

Walla Walla Sweet Onion

 

6" pot Sungold Tomato (Sale $3.00) 

6" pot Chocolate Cherry Tomato (Sale $3.00) 

 

Pepper, Sweet Banana

Pepper, Poblano/Ancho

Pepper, Habanero

Pepper, Golden Bell

Pepper, Ghost ($4.00)

 

Wonderberry (Limited Quantity)

Ground Cherry (Limited Quantity)

Cotton, Erlene's Green (Limited Quantity)

 

 

Basil, Emerald Tower

Basil, Dolche Fresca

Basil, Rutgers DMR Devotion

Cuban Oregano

Oregano

Mountain Mint

 

 

Ornamental Stuff: 

Zanzibar Castor Beans

Mexican Sunflower 'Fuego Del Sol'

Flowering Tobacco 'Saratoga Lime'

 

Coming Soon: 

Comfrey (Late summer)

 

We have a new place to share information and work on groovy sustainable stuff!  You can look for Sustainable Neighbors in our own Nextdoor.com group under the name “Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville”. You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join but it is a private group so feel free to request to join us if you are signed up on the Nextdoor.com site.

 

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

 

Unfortunately, Covid-19 is still mucking up the works in terms of meeting in person. The good news is that Sustainable Neighbors does have a Discord Server. You can request access through our Meetup.com page or you can request access via our Nextdoor.com group. The meetup.com page is below for anyone looking to join us.

 

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/

 

Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t need to buy anything or maintain any sort of attendance standard, you can come on in and join the meetings. When this Covid-19 mess calms down we may be able to resume normal in-person meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market. This brings to a close the twenty-first LITFM post of 2020; stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 13^th of November. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.