2016 03 04

 

Greetings fellow gardeners!

 

Spring planting season is just around the corner and we’ll be here once again with our insane selection of Tomato, Pepper, Herb and heirloom vegetable plants for your garden.

 

Our catchphrase has been and continues to be “Just say NO to GMO!”.

 

We always do our level best to practice responsible agriculture and although we are NOT and never intend to be “certified organic” we do practice organic technique when producing plants intended for human consumption. Fish emulsion is our primary choice for feeding and predatory insects are our preferred method of pest control.

 

On many occasions when faced with a pest that is outside of the reach of an organic solution we have chosen to compost the crop rather than spray poison to make it saleable.

 

I can’t begin to add up the tens of thousands that’s cost us versus our counterparts in the trade that spray hard chemicals as a part of a regular regimen, but at least we can sleep at night knowing we’ve remained true to our principles, and our customers.

 

We’re busy planting as you can see.

 

 

 

All of our herb and vegetable plants are grown right here on site from seeds, cuttings, or root divisions.

 

 

Once planted the flats go onto the bench for some professional TLC until they’re ready to go up front for you to take home for your table crops and flower beds.

 

 

Here’s a nice group of young tomato plants currently in 4” pots that will in all likelihood be setting fruit by mother’s day for those who just can’t wait to be the first on the block to be picking nice fresh homegrown tomatoes from the garden!

 

 

If you like nice fresh & fat healthy onions from the garden they’re pretty darn easy to grow. Just make sure you have nice soft soil and don’t plant them too deep. Onions like to have the bulbs seeing sunlight to size up nicely. I usually top dress them with Posy power or Happy frog soil conditioner for a feed boost when the bulbs start getting to about golf ball size. If you want BIG onions, plant seedlings. Onion sets are best for green onions. They’re also one of those crops you get in early since they will take frost. Here’s a group of seedling pots targeted for early mid April sales. You just wash the dirt off the roots in a water bucket, pull them apart and set them into the soil about 4-6” apart and let ‘em grow! Pull them anytime for fresh to table eating, but if you’re going to put them up for storage let the tops dry down to the top of the bulb before harvesting.

 

 

Cacti and succulents have long been a favorite of windowsill gardeners for their durability.

 

 

 

Some of them can add an extra benefit of useful herbal properties as well as being pretty to look at.

One of these is Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum) which originated in South Africa and has been used for centuries for it’s calming effects.

 

 

The wikipedia page for this plant is located here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sceletium_tortuosum

 

Excerpts from that article read as follows: S. tortuosum may elevate mood and decrease anxiety, stress and tension.[3][4] Intoxicating doses can be euphoric but not hallucinogenic, contrary to some literature on the subject.[5] According to anecdotal reports, it may potentiate the euphoriant effects of cannabis.[5]

S. tortuosum is traditionally used to relieve pain and alleviate hunger.[5]

S. tortuosum has been studied to alleviate excessive nocturnal barking in dogs and excessive nocturnal meowing in cats, both diagnosed with dementia.[4]

One of my personal favorites that has been in my grazing diet for a decade or so now is Gotu Kola.

It’s actually a rather tasty salad herb and is used through the near and far east in many culinary preparations. It’s easy to grow in a pot or a hanging basket that you take in for the winter and put outside in the summer. It’s hardy to zone 7 so if you happen to have one those protected pockets in the region it might winter for you outdoors.

The Plants for a future database lists this plant’s medicinal uses as : Adaptogen;  Anticonvulsant;  Antidiarrhoeal;  Antiinflammatory;  Antipanic;  Antirheumatic;  Cardiac;  Depurative;  Diuretic;  Febrifuge;  Hypotensive;  
Nervine;  Sedative;  Skin;  Tonic.

An excerpt from the article at pfaf.org reads as follows : Gotu kola is an outstandingly important medicinal herb that is widely used in the Orient[238] and is becoming increasingly popular in the West[254]. Its Indian name is 'Brahmi' which means 'bringing knowledge of the Supreme Reality' and it has long been used there medicinally and as an aid to meditation[238].

The full article is located here: http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Centella+asiatica

The wikipedia page for Centella is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centella_asiatica

Well, at any rate, I just wanted to let everybody know that we’re back and better than ever for spring 2016!

There’s lots and lots of new fun plants and the traditionally insane selection of garden heirlooms in the vegetable and herb department, as well as a pretty nice “boutique” selection of flowers for making the garden just plain pretty, including some very interesting and useful heirlooms that have been forgotten by the trade in it’s rush to promulgate the patented hybrid market.

I’ll close with my garden gospel of 2009 : “Teach a person to fish and they’re fed for life, teach them to garden and they can feed the whole neighborhood!”

We’ll be opening for the season in a couple of weeks once the weather breaks.

If you have any garden or plant questions you can drop an email to Bob at lepere@fuse.net

‘til next time,

Happy gardening!

Al Funke