Friday, March 28, 2014

All this about March


Welcome back to the last episode of lost in the farmer’s market for March 2014. March as you all know has been a kind of crazy month with the weather being cold, wet, warm or wet and cold and more different cold. Yet April is right there just about a day or two away and I don’t know about you but it’s looking pretty nice! For today’s slightly delayed post I thought I’d break with the planned content and post up a few pictures of spring goodness in action.

So we start with a simple Hyacinth.
For note when it comes to bulbs what you see above is the true Hyacinth in circulation. Hyacinthum orientalis is the only readily circulated member of the hyacinth group. Two other plants are called hyacinths but are not true hyacinths and those are the Grape Hyacinth and the Woodland Hyacinth. Since I do not have a picture of the latter please note that the woodland Hyacinth's scientific name is Endymion hispanicus.


And move the topic to a grape Hyacinth
Grape hyacinths  Muscari neglectum are not nearly as aromatic as their larger cousin the oriental hyacinth and not as prolific as the woodland hyacinth but they are a solid option for planting bulbs in this climate. Paired with white daffodils they have similar bloom times and nice contrasting effect.


But perhaps a peach blossom might suffice for spring
Well the  fruiting trees are blooming so this is a good and definite sign that spring has finally arrived. In this case I think this is a peach bloom but since I focused the picture on the flower but not the rest of the plant the identification details are not clear enough.


Because some of you asked here is a picture of the tomato crop as they are right this moment.
 A few of you asked about tomatoes at the booth and I thought it'd be good to show the crop. This is four of about six trays of tomatoes. All kinds and sorts int heir 3.5" pots and labelled. Most have true leaves and are  perhaps three inches tall  as you can see they've been turned so they're leaning inward away from the sun. Once night time temperatures stabilize and remain at about 50 degrees these guys will go outside for final growing.


As you know the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market occurs every Saturday between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. The weather forecast says that there’s a high probability of rain this weekend but barring persistent torrential downpours I plan to still show up anyway. The market is located on 325 Franklin Street in downtown Fayetteville and is typically located in the frontal parking lot of the Fayetteville Transportation Museum.  Given the possibility of rain the market may be condensed around the front entryway to the market and so please look carefully the market may not be as obvious as normal. With that said the following will be available this week.

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.

Black Magic Fertilizer
That’s right you’ve heard about it in trials all summer. This specially formulated liquid fertilizer was made and tested at the test gardens using natural ingredients and no chemicals. The result explosive growth, great harvests and of course no environmental side effects! We’re making batches of this stuff to order, at $6.00 per gallon of fertilizer. You can either order it at the market and pick it up the next week or have it delivered to your home in the Fayetteville area for a delivery charge of an additional $2.00.

House Plants
1x Dancing Bones Cactus ($3.00)
5x Aloe Vera ($5.00)

Garden Plants
1x Cabbage, Savoy, 1 gallon pot ($3.00)
8x Dinosaur Kale, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Cabbage, Tatsoi, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Mustard, India green, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Lettuce, Freedom Mix, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
4x Lettuce, Romaine, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Raddichio, Crimson, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
4x Swiss Chard, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Herbs
3x Green Lavender-Cotton, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Black Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Sage, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Hyssop, White , 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Bloody Sorrel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Oregano, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Oregano, Bristol Cross
3x Rosemary, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Horehound, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
1x Tansy, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Lamb’s Ear, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon:
40x Ozark Beauty Strawberry, 3.5” pot ($3.00) ( April 12th)
6x Ozark Beauty Strawberry, 5” pot ($5.00) (April 12th)
10x Martha Washington Asparagus (April 5th)
10x Dark Red Norland Potato (April 5th)
Tomato, Amana Orange
Tomato, Aunt Lou's Underground Railroad
Tomato, Black Krim
Tomato, Blue Berries
Tomato, Brown Berry
Tomato, Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Tomato, Japanese Black Trifele
Tomato, Martino's Roma
Tomato, Paul Robeson
Tomato, Purple Calabash
Tomato, Rainbow Cherry Blend
Tomato, Reisetomate
Tomato, San Marzano
Tomato, Tlacolula

Well this brings to a close the last post of March, I hope you liked the photographs and next week the topic will go back to plants we will be carrying this year.  That is assuming some strange weather phenomenon or some other garden topic does not side track the conversation. We’ve got a few days of warm night time temps in the 40’s up ahead though, and the thunderstorms mean a weather front for our benefit so make sure to take full advantage of it all if you can. As always folks keep ‘em growing!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Spring 2014, It took ya long enough!



Welcome back to another episode of lost in my backyard where we will be discussing….wait a minute…sorry folks wrong cue cards! That’s my cue card for avoiding telemarketers. Yes this is Lost in the Farmer’s Market, and you are here enjoying the first episode of spring 2014! It’s that magical time right after the hangover of St. Patrick’s Day has worn off when we stagger out of our houses and realize that the agonizingly long winter is in fact over. So what is a gardener to do these days to get his or her garden fix? Well, it’s too cold to plant the hall marks of summer yet it’s warm enough to do something so of course we get our spring plants going. The usual culprits for this include lettuce, radicchio, carrots, peas, Swiss chard, beets, radish and a large variety of cabbage family members. Given the winter you may want to replant things to replace the food plants that didn’t make it through and now is the time. However I must warn you not to fall for the spring frenzy. I personally have seen several big home improvement stores selling warm season plants this early and had to feel sorry for anyone who bought them. Not only is it bad for the industry but it could be damaging to the customer’s impression of gardening as an activity. At the end of this article I do discuss why I won’t sell certain things early because of the weather and what falls under this category. So for today’s topic we cover that…other stuff we didn’t cover the last time!


Tomato, Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad is a returning variety from last year. We grew it and got a decent number of tomatoes but thought it needed another year of testing to verify its capabilities. According to what we know for sure Underground Railroad is an old heirloom that got its name because it was carried to the north by a fugitive slave. The seed of this tomato originates in Kentucky somewhere but was carried to Ripley Ohio. How much of this is verified as truth is irrelevant, we just like the spirit of this true heirloom. The plant takes 82 days to mature, and produces dark pink 4-10 ounce fruits. This tomato is known for long leggy vines and sparse foliage and last year’s testing verifies that.

Tomato, Japanese Black Trifele
Germination difficulties with this crop has it in limited supply however JBT as we’ve taken to calling it is apparently about the size and shape of a Bartlett pear and bear a purple-red color. They are said to have excellent flavor and take 80-90 days to reach maturity. This is the first year we have offered this, and so it’s a special item.


Tomato, Martino’s Roma
This is another new entry to the trials this year. Last year we carried plain Roma tomatoes as a a part of our paste tomato line and now this new entry from a clean non-gmo organic source! Martino is said to be determinate and take 70-80 days to mature. It bears fruit on compact plants that need no staking and the fruit range between 2 and 3 ounces with a lot of meat and very little gel or seeds. We’re looking forward to this one and we hope you let us know what you think.

Tomato, Mexico Midget
We got this one as an extra complimentary seed packet last year and included it in the trials not quite knowing what the plants would do. All I can say was wow, this plant was totally worth it. Mexico Midget is a cherry tomato that can produce hundreds of cherry tomatoes on a single vine. Much like sweet 100’s the plant is Indeterminate and matures quickly (60-70 days). I might add the flavor on these tomatoes is quite incredible and during last year’s tomato season I was trying to find new ways to include them in everything from soups to omelets.

Tomato, Purple Calabash
In last year’s trials Purple Calabash didn’t win any fast growth awards, or any other awards for that matter but we’re bringing it back anyway. Like that tag line of a song you can’t get out of your head the purples are back! From seed purple calabash has a surprisingly high dud rate and what does emerge takes what honestly feels to be forever to get past the seedling stage. However we’re hoping to offer a few of these this year as a special item. For those who don’t know Purple Calabash tomatoes are a African American heritage plant, and is perhaps the most purple tomato you can grow. The irregularly ribbed fruits can be up to 12 ounces, and it takes about 85 days for the plants to mature. The fruits are flavorful, and make for an interesting additive for sauces.

Tomato, Reisetomate
Another one of those plants that has a name that’s fun to say because well how does someone else even respond to it? Perhaps with a hearty “WAZZZZAAAAAUUUP?” or maybe “Leave my mother out of this!” Who knows what to say really but this tomato is truthfully a lot of fun because it’s super mutant fruits look like the tomato exploded a bit but reformed. The plant is fairly vigorous, and looks perfectly normal until it starts belting out mutant looking deformed tomatoes that are pretty much weird from fruit set on. The average fruit size in the test gardens was 4-8 ounces and these tomatoes were perfectly edible though they are best cooked due to the high acidity.  However if you want to mess with someone serving them sliced or cut into chunks in something like a sandwich or salad isn’t out of the question.

Tomato, Rainbow Cherry Blend
A happy blend of various colors of cherry tomatoes we did our best to make sure no pot has duplicate colors! You might get a red and a yellow or green and a white or any of a mix of eight colors. The cherry fruit are sweet and this variety matures quickly though you might have to fend off the birds and the kids from this garden treasure!


So now that we have talked on the particulars of another fine batch of warm season garden favorites, it’s time to cover the market list for the week. Now as you may know, the Fayetteville Farmer’s/City Market is located in downtown Fayetteville on 325 Franklin street in the Fayetteville Transportation Museum’s front Parking lot. As always there is planet of parking nearby and the meter force is off on Saturdays so no need to feed a meter! With that said on to the plants.

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.

Black Magic Fertilizer
That’s right you’ve heard about it in trials all summer. This specially formulated liquid fertilizer was made and tested at the test gardens using natural ingredients and no chemicals. The result explosive growth, great harvests and of course no environmental side effects! We’re making batches of this stuff to order, at $6.00 per gallon of fertilizer. You can either order it at the market and pick it up the next week or have it delivered to your home in the Fayetteville area for a delivery charge of an additional $2.00.

House Plants
1x Dancing Bones Cactus ($3.00)
5x Aloe Vera ($5.00)

Garden Plants
1x Cabbage, Savoy, 1 gallon pot ($3.00)
8x Dinosaur Kale, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
4x Cabbage, Tatsoi, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Mustard, India green, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Lettuce, Freedom Mix, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Lettuce, Romaine, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Raddichio, Crimson, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Herbs
3x Black Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
5x Green Lavender-Cotton, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
1x Tansy, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Oregano, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Sage, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Rosemary, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Bloody Sorrel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Horehound, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Lamb’s Ear, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Rosemary, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon:
40x Ozark Beauty Strawberry, 3.5” pot ($3.00) ( April 12th)
6x Ozark Beauty Strawberry, 5” pot ($5.00) (April 12th)
10x Martha Washington Asparagus (April 5th)
10x Dark Red Norland Potato (April 5th)

Tomato, Amana Orange
Tomato, Aunt Lou's Underground Railroad
Tomato, Black Krim
Tomato, Blue Berries
Tomato, Brown Berry
Tomato, Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Tomato, Japanese Black Trifele
Tomato, Martino's Roma
Tomato, Paul Robeson
Tomato, Purple Calabash
Tomato, Rainbow Cherry Blend
Tomato, Reisetomate
Tomato, San Marzano
Tomato, Tlacolula

The plant list wraps up our post for this week and as you can see spring is in full swing as the plant list just keeps getting better! Now remember folks, the last frost date is roughly about Easter, so of course we won’t be carrying any hot weather seasonal plants until the 26th of April unless the weather behaves by the 19th of April. With that said the tomato armada is coming so stay tuned for updates and more garden mayhem. As always folks keep ‘em growing!

Friday, March 14, 2014

The Bates Motel, eh nah...I prefer the Ranch


[Disclaimer and Parental Notice: This episode contains scenes of gore, violence and the massacre of potatoes and has been rated GS-13. If you lack a sense of humor or are easily offended by scenes of potato decapitation this episode is not for you please do not read!]

Welcome back to another trowel-gripping soil-turning adventure packed episode of Lost In the Farmer’s Market! In our last episode the Tomato mafia was planning its takeover of the growing tray while the Dino Kale and herbs had immigrated to the cold frame. In today’s episode titled “Interview with the Aardappel” we take a close look at a red headed stepchild cousin of the more famous tomato mafia! Stay tuned folks it’s going to be real good. But before we start, a fellow farmer’s market vendor got the Order of the long leaf pine award recently and here are some photos from Tuesdays ceremony.

So there's Greg  accepting the award he had no idea he was going to get.

And they had these cupcakes at the event, theyw ere too pretty to eat I tells ya!
Ok so then silliness aside, today’s topic is the Aardappel or translated from Dutch the potato. Yeah that’s right I threw a naming curve ball there. In regards to common names of things all of you out there should remember that any given plant you may grow or buy could have several if not dozens of common names. Always mind the scientific name of a plant to make sure you are getting what you want. With that said we are talking about potatoes this week and more so how to propagate potatoes. The specimen we are using is called Dark Red Norland and it is a small to medium sized red-skinned* potato.


Me: Ok potatoes group photograph! 
Potatoes: YAAAAAAAY!
The first step is to identify potatoes that are in the right condition for removal of cuttings or “slips”. In the picture above this batch of Norland potatoes has growing points, and have begun to shrink due to the moisture loss of the growing points. Note the crinkling of the skin. These potatoes are barely fit for eating, a but green on the inside and rubbery to the touch.


Me: Alright how about a close up Mr. Potato?
Mr Potato: Wooo just make sure to get the good side of my eyes!
So the next step is identifying a good tuber to take slips from and identifying the best slips to take. The potato in the example clearly has a predominant side as pictured and from that will come an especially vigorous plant in a few months.


Me: Ok now to the next step…
Mr Potato: Hey….what are you doing with that? NOOOOOOO! *Dieing gargle!*
Other potatoes:  OH MY GOD HE KILLED KENNY THE BASTARD!
As a side note you may want to imagine that side effect from Hitchcock’s Psycho as I cut the potato there for extra comedic effect.  Basically as you can see in the next picture, taking a bit of flesh with the growing point is perfectly normal. That bit of flesh will briefly aid the cutting as a moisture reservoir until it decays providing a bit of organic matter. Now, it should be said that should your potato not have green flesh, what is left after you take the cuttings is theoretically still edible or can be fed to the compost; it is purely your call. Green potatoes however can make you quite ill in the way that you and the commode may become BFF’s forever if you get my meaning.

Mr Potato: *twitches and flails headlessly*
Me: Yup...haters gonna hate! 
Me: hmm let’s check on the others. *Opens container*
Potatoes: BRRRRAAAAAIIIINNNNNSSSS!
Me: Well, mission accomplished!
Of course this discussion would not be completed without showing you what the end product is. As you can see below these potatoes were cut, matured in a humidity container and potted some time ago and they are about right for the time of year. As the shameless prop of the day yes these are stock for sale so expect them at the booth in about a week or two.
They're small now but once the weather stays warm they'll take off.




So enough with the depictions of potato decapitation and onward to the market section of this episode as we must move on to something else.  Now keep in mind the first day of spring is on Thursday the 20th and tomorrow, it is supposed to have a high temperature of 70 degrees and is said to be partly cloudy, no rain. Which means the market will be glorious, and thus if you did not know, the Fayetteville Farmer’s market is located in downtown Fayetteville at 325 Franklin Street in the front parking lot of the Fayetteville transportation museum. The Market runs from 9:00 am through 1:00 pm and there is plenty of very close parking. You’ve got the basics now let’s get on with the plants and materials list for the booth this weekend.

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.

Black Magic Fertilizer
That’s right you’ve heard about it in trials all summer. This specially formulated liquid fertilizer was made and tested at the test gardens using natural ingredients and no chemicals. The result explosive growth, great harvests and of course no environmental side effects! We’re making batches of this stuff to order, at $6.00 per gallon of fertilizer. You can either order it at the market and pick it up the next week or have it delivered to your home in the Fayetteville area for a delivery charge of an additional $2.00.

House Plants
1x Dancing Bones Cactus ($3.00)
5x Aloe Vera ($5.00)

Garden Plants
10x Dinosaur Kale, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
1x Savoy Cabbage, gallon pot ($3.00)

Herbs
1x Green Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Black Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
1x Bloody Sorrel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Lamb’s Ear, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
5x Green Lavender-Cotton, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Tansy, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon:
Ozard Beauty Strawberry
Martha Washington Asparagus
Dark Red Norland Potato

Rosemary
Sage
Angelica
Hyssop
Horehound
Cabbage, Pak Choi
Swiss Chard
Lettuce, Romaine
Lettuce, Freedom Gourmet Mix

Tomato, Amana Orange
Tomato, Black Krim
Tomato, Blue Berries
Tomato, Brown Berry
Tomato, Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Tomato, Paul Robeson
Tomato, San Marzano
Tomato, Tlacolula

The weekly plant list wraps up this week’s episode of Chainsaw Potato Massacre…wait…no…sorry wrong script. This week’s episode of Lost in the farmer’s market Next week, well the topic may or may not cover more crops coming to the market or some other tips and tricks on propagation or both.. just tune in and find out. As always Keep ‘em growing!

P.S.
Many potatoes were harmed in the filming of this episode, we’ll hurt some more of ‘em too. Hey PETA your hate mail sent to the studio fuels us…bring….it….on! *Stabs a potato*  Yessss!


By the way this is the mother holiday cactus from which all the ones sold came from, and it is STILL in bloom this also is what I mean by dark pink.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Super Happy Gibberish Time!



Welcome back to another episode of Lost In the Farmers market and boy do we have some bad news for all you non-morning people out there. Sunday March the 9th is Daylight Savings time and your clocks should be set forward before bed on Saturday evening or at 2:00 am on Sunday morning for all you ultra-night owls out there.  I don’t know about you but honestly Daylight savings is really one of the archaic things in modern society. It was originally conceived to maximize daylight working hours for an agriculture based population but is now just an artifact of a time that is long gone. The second president bush moved about the original daylight savings and caused a lot of people some serious annoyance as their alarm clocks would auto-reset for the old time.
However you readers out there have LITFM giving a few days fair warning so hopefully you’re all set for the hour shifting shenanigans of popular culture.

Now today’s main topic focuses on the raw details of some of the crops that are listed as coming soon. In this case we’re talking tomatoes because we tried a number of new varieties this year and well we’d like you to know all about it. Some favorites are making a nostalgic return and of course it’s all in good garden fun.

Tomato, Amana Orange
Amana orange is a beefsteak type heirloom that can produce up to one pound fruits. We had this at the booth last summer and in trials it did ok, however this year we brought it back to repeat the trial and to see what it can really do under high production conditions. As the name suggests the fruit are a bright and cheery orange color that can really liven up recipes with its unique color and good flavor.

Tomato, Black Krim
Black Krim is a Russian heirloom variety that originates in a Crimean town called Krim along the black sea. In early trials black krim was tougher than most and produced regularly even surviving overwintering as a cutting and setting fruit very early the next year. The fruit are roughly 9-12 ounces on average and have reddish-brown flesh with an earthy-smoked sort of flavor.

Tomato, Blue Berries
Blueberries are a new variety to our list this year. The seed was sourced from a verified organic non-GMO source. I wanted to carry this variety last year but the supplier was out of seed very early on due to high demand and now here it is! The fruit of this tomato are a very dark purple, and are roughly 1-4 ounces on average making this type a very large cherry or grape tomato.

Tomato, Brown Berry
Brown berry is a recurring variety that we’ve brought back three years in a row. As far as cherry type tomatoes brown berry is positively gorgeous as the fruit are flecked with bands of golden-brown against a reddish-primary color. As far as flavor is concerned brownberry is rather tasty and is a nice surprised sliced in salads.

Tomato, Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Hillbilly Potato leaf is beefsteak heirloom type that in truth is a bicolor variety. The fruit will often mainly be yellow with irregular red streaking along the sides and bottom giving it a variety of orange shades in the middle. Fruits range up to one pound and are very sweet and quite meaty.

Tomato, Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson is a Russian Heirloom variety named for the famous performer. I can say from last year’s trials this plant is a super-performer breaking a number of growth and productivity records leading the entire tomato crop in pounds of produce per plant. The fruit range between 5 and 10 ounces and tend to be a deep red color sometimes with brown or purple shoulders.

Tomato, San Marzano
San Marzano was used as the Mascot of the anti-GMO efforts in California and we at BL2 can see why. These tomatoes survived the 2013 monsoon, drought and neglect and still produced some seriously tasty paste tomatoes. The fruits are red at maturity and are up to 3” long with an average weight of 1-3 ounces.

Tomato, Tlacolula
Tal…Tula…Tahlacoo…Ah hell whatever its name is it’s a new addition!  This variety is named for the town in Mexico it originates from Tlacolula. While we imagine it’s probably pronounced something like Dracula this new addition seems to be so much fun to say that the basic details only help its usage. The fruit of Tlacolula are roughly pear-shaped and bear deep ribs and ruffles giving them an almost bell shape. The fruit are said to be Pink skinned with gold-splotched shoulders and the flesh is mild sweet and light pink.

Keep in mind readers this is the first of a number of detailed posts about the weird and wonderful crops coming down the line so stay tuned for next weeks continued tomato mayhem! The weather forecast is looking good and predicts it will be sunny with a high of 66 degrees which is pretty good. With that said the Fayetteville Farmers market is a 365 day a year event that occurs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I’m there on Saturdays between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM and the market is located on 325 Franklin Street in the parking lot of the Fayetteville Transportation Museum.  We’re practically surrounded by parking lots and the meter maid brigade in downtown Fayetteville takes the weekends off so no worries for carrying coin to feed the meters. You’ve got the basics now let’s get on with the plants and materials list for the booth this weekend.

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.

Black Magic Fertilizer
That’s right you’ve heard about it in trials all summer. This specially formulated liquid fertilizer was made and tested at the test gardens using natural ingredients and no chemicals. The result explosive growth, great harvests and of course no environmental side effects! We’re making batches of this stuff to order, at $6.00 per gallon of fertilizer. You can either order it at the market and pick it up the next week or have it delivered to your home in the Fayetteville area for a delivery charge of an additional $2.00.

House Plants
4x Holiday Cactus ($3.00)
2x Rotary Privet ($3.00)
2x Dancing Bones Cactus ($3.00)
4x Aloe Vera ($5.00)

Garden Plants
10x Dinosaur Kale, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Herbs
2x Green Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Black Fennel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Bloody Sorrel, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
2x Lamb’s Ear, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
5x Green Lavender-Cotton, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
4x Tansy, 3.5” pot ($3.00)
3x Rosemary, 3.5” pot ($3.00)

Coming Soon:
Ozard Beauty Strawberry
Martha Washington Asparagus
Dark Red Norland Potato

Tomato, Amana Orange
Tomato, Black Krim
Tomato, Blue Berries
Tomato, Brown Berry
Tomato, Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Tomato, Paul Robeson
Tomato, San Marzano
Tomato, Tlacolula

Ironically my appeal to the month of March for better weather has largely fallen on deaf ears as that frozen rain/sleet event earlier in the week will attest. However we have received an average precipitation of 0.7” inches so at least there isn’t a winter drought. Just a note for all you propagators out there, if you’ve not started seed you may want to if your facilities allow. The colder than average February has set things back but the warm seasonal plants that are finicky about soil temp can reasonably be started now, whereas tomatoes are fast growing enough to not care as much as say peppers and eggplant might.
In the end it doesn’t quite matter the method folks just as long as you can Keep ‘em growing!