Have You Seen the Edible Landscape Demo Garden?!

Laddy Lau





If you have not been to the Edible Landscape Garden in Fairmount Park, you are missing a hidden treasure.

Each time I visit, there is something new to explore.  Read more about what is happening at the garden and the great work of the volunteers that are making this space a wonderful place for education and nourishment.

Floating row cover bordered by okra and other 

Lois, master gardener, providing a tour of the garden to visitors

Community gathers to explore the Edible Landscape Demo Garden

 These pics don't do the demo garden justice so visit the Edible Landscape Demo Garden in person.  Explore the paths that lead to vibrant pollinators, rows of peppers, okra, herbs, berries, and so much more!! Located directly behind the large greenhouse of Fairmount Park's Horticultural Center (100 N Horticultural Dr, Philadelphia, PA 19131), you can peruse the Edible Landscape Garden and then venture to the Pollinator Garden that is near the white gazebo.

The Penn State Extension MG Edible Demonstration Garden at Fairmont Park’s Horticultural Center is expanding, again!

by Michelle L. Dauberman

Last year the edible demonstration garden expanded its footprint by adding five raised beds and this year the garden is adding four more!  

This fun expansion was spear headed by Lois Fischer and graciously supported by the Edible Garden Committee, Penn State Extension Master Gardeners & some philanthropic Drexel University students.

This is such an exciting time for the garden so check out the new additions while we celebrate Earth Day during the Penn State Extension Master Gardener Plant Sale on April 22, 2018.  Visit our location again over the summer when the garden at it peak!

Thanks to everyone who donated their generous time, materials and labor!

For more information on the Penn State Extension MG Garden Day and Plant Sale:

https://extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener/counties/philadelphia/news/2018/garden-day-and-plant-sale

For more information on raised beds:

https://extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener/counties/lancaster/idea-gardens/the-raised-bed-garden

Mad Hatter: A Hybrid Pepper

by Michelle L. Dauberman

Check out this fun 2017 AAS National winner called the mad hatter pepper (Capsicum baccatum).  First you'll notice its distinctive shape and then you'll be wowed and rewarded by its taste.  The consensus being that it's altogether sweet, citrusy and floral though there will be some mild heat as you nibble near the seeds.  This sounds perfectly divine to me if and when you are ready to take a break from the palate scorchers like the Bhut jolokia (aka, the ghost pepper).

These charming peppers were bred for varied North American conditions and the yields are high.  The habit of the plant itself is on the larger side and it is a vigorous grower.  You can expect a mounding, upright habit with a height of 36 – 48” and a width of 36 – 48.”  Like most other vegetables it likes to be exposed to full sun.

You can pick the peppers when they are a mature green or you can wait a bit and let them ripen to red.  If you wait you’ll be rewarded with a sweeter and richer flavor.  Generally speaking it takes 65 – 70 day to reach its mature green state and 85 – 90 days to reach its ripe red state.

Given this peppers unique shape and sweeter disposition it would be a fun addition to a children’s vegetable garden!

For more information on peppers check out these PSU Extension links:

Container Grown Peppers

http://extension.psu.edu/plants/gardening/fact-sheets/vegetable-gardening/growing-great-container-vegetables/peppers

Penn State Extension – Growing Peppers

http://extension.psu.edu/plants/master-gardener/counties/chester/how-to-gardening-brochures/peppers

Bees & Germander

by Michelle L. Dauberman

The plight of the bee is getting more and more serious if you ask me.  I’ve been doing my best to support them in the vegetable garden and in the landscape by providing the plants, shrubs and trees that they love to visit but here’s a small shrubby plant/herb that I’ve overlooked:  Germander (Teucrium).

Germander is quite hardy and can handle a variety of garden/landscape situations including poor soils and drought like conditions.  It can tolerate part-sun but prefers full-sun.  The lavender flowers that the bees find so appealing form on spikes, July through September.  A bonus of this plant is that there are evergreen varieties so, if you’d rather use it in your landscape as a low laying hedge rather than in the herb or vegetable garden, have at it.  You’ll have something green to look at while everything else is dormant. 

These are tense days for the bees so think about using this non-native (yes, I said not native) small sub-shrub as a compliment to your other native pollinator friendly plants, shrubs and trees and bring on the bees!

If you’d like to take a look at this plant in action visit the PSU Edible Demonstration Garden at the Horticultural Center, in the beautiful Fairmont Park, right here in Philadelphia.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Garden Day Plant Sale Update

Free Soil Sample 

How to take your sample is below

Speakers of the day will be on the following topics

11AM  Pollinator Habitate 

12 PM Tour of the Pollinator Garden

12 PM Container Gardening for Vegetables

1PM    Three season gardening. What How and Why?

11 to 2 Tours of the organic edible garden, orchard, and Award Winning Pollinator Garden

All Day  Ask the Master Gardener

Do you like to try unusual plants? We have a few.

Cuban Oregano                                             

•  Cotton Plant
• Vicks Plant
• Castor Bean (Toxic but beautiful climbing plant in the right garden)
• Jack in the Pulpit
• Strawberry Spinach
• Cress
• Triple curled Parsley
• Quinoa Brighest Brillant Rainbow
• Okra Clemson Spineless
• Lemon Grass
• Ascepias -Milk Weed
• Solidago ZIG ZAG 

We will also have divisions from our pollinator garden as well as divisions brought in by our Master Gardeners from their gardens. All a surprise until this coming week.

General Prices

4"pots  3.00

6 Pks.  4.00    

Scented Geraniums.  5.00 All a great size

Calendula    5.00

Larger pots of perennials 5 to 18

Pre planted Mixed Herb Garden       25.00

Wild Columbine 

Trumpet Honeysuckle    15.00

              

Garden Day and Plant Sale Partial List of plants for sale

The April 30th Garden Day and Plant Sale is fast approaching. Below is a partial list of
plants available as new selections become available closer to the sale.

See everyone on the 30th.

2017 MASTER GARDENER PLANT SALE VEGETABLE LIST

Amaranth (Yin Tsai/Chinese Spinach)

·       Mixed – thrives in the heat of summer when growing spinach is impossible; its soft leaves are a welcomed addition to salads; like spinach, it melts delectably when cooked; mixed green, red and b-colored

Arugula

·       Rustic—smaller Italian native; distinctive nutty flavor; fine, deeply indented, dark green leaves; slow to bolt;

Beets

·       Boldor—luminous golden beets; improved uniformity and vigor; sweet and delicious when juiced, shredded in salads or roasted

·       Cylindra – shaped more like a fat carrot; 6-8” long, 1 ½ to 2” long; dark red roots taste great; ideal for slicing or pickling

·       Detroit Red – heirloom; large, smooth roots; also good for greens at early stage; exceptional flavor; freezes & cans well

·       Golden Orange—heirloom;  dates back to early 1820’s; rich, golden-yellow and very sweet; greens are tasty

·       Touchstone Gold – pale orange spherical roots with sunshine gold flesh; delectable sweet taste, both raw and cooked; keeps wonderful color when cooked; more reliable than many other golden types

Broccoli

·       Gai  lan – also known as Chinese kale or Chinese broccoli; thick, flat, glossy, blue-green leaves with thick stems; flavor similar to broccoli but slightly more bitter

·       Gypsy—very heat tolerant; plants are very vigorous with a strong stalk and energetic root system; color is a paler green; resists down mildew; good flavor

Broccoli Di Rapa

·       Novantina – non-heading broccoli, also called Broccoli Raab or Rapini; always served cooked

Cabbage

·       Red Express – one of earliest, open pollinated red cabbages available; uniform, dense heads; medium sized – 2-4 lbs.; crunchy texture; can be planted close together in a compact space

·        

Collards

·       Vates—in 1950’s this strain was praised as a “new, dwarf strain,” longstanding and heat-resistant; winter-hardy in this area, producing a crop into very cold autumn weather; make super healthy and delicious cooked greens

Cress/Garden Cress

·       Wrinkled, Crinkled, Crumpled – very ruffled garden cress; good for salads; very flavorfull

Cucumber

·       Armenian – heirloom, highly ribbed; light green; sweet taste; long and thin; best picked when 12”

·       Boothby Blonde – heirloom; short, oval fruits; 3” to 4” in length; become yellower as they mature; sweet, mild flavor

·       Dar –  good slicing/pickling cuke; bushy plants that are good for containers; fruits hold well on plant; powdery mildew tolerant; superb new Polish variety

·       Mexican Sour Gherkin (Mouse Melons) – heirloom; packs lots of flavor in tiny, teaspoon sized fruit; delicate foliage with fistfulls of tiny, fruit that look like miniature watermelons; grow in the ground with a trellis to plant in a hanging basket

·       Tendergreen Burpless --  excellent slicing green cucumber; popular for over 80 years; medium-dark green; 7-12 inches; smooth, tender skin; tolerates cool, damp soil; powdery mildew and mosaic virus resistant; altogether a superior sort

Eggplant

·       Black Beauty – very handsome heirloom eggplant; one to three pound, glossy, deep

purple fruits that keep well and have superb flavor

·       Black Egg—fruit resemble black bombs or teardrops; produces unusually tender fruit on

vigorous 3 foot plants; sets fruit early and best when picked early

·       Slim Jim – exceptionally earyl; fruits are purple, long and slender; flavor is mild; harvest  at any size but 4-5” is best

Endive

·       Tres Fine – frisee –type heirloom; mildly bitter bite ; a wonderful addition to salads

Fennel

·       Zefa fino – all parts of plant are edible with a sweet, licorice-like flavor; 4” medallion-shaped bulbs mature in 90 days; leaves of the 2’ plant can be eaten throughout the summer; very aromatic and tender, never woody; almost never bolts

Kale

·       Blue Curled Scotch – heirloom; compact plants yield tender blue-green crinkled leaves; quite delicious; very cold hardy; rich in vitamin A

·       Red Russian – tender, oak shaped, 3’ leaves from reddish green to red after frost; may be left in garden for harvest throughout the winter

Kohlrabi

·       Kolibri – exterior attractive purple, interior crisp, clear white; flavor is fine and delicate for kohlrabi; globes can exceed 1 pound and are not woody

·       Kongo – produces uniform pale green fruit which hold well in ground without becoming woody; luminous light green skin encases a tender, juicy, creamy-white interior; best to harvest young for best flavor

Lettuce

·       Black Seeded Simpson  -- old favorite; light green frilly leaves, loose head; very dependable

·       Burpee Mesclun Blend

·       Garnet Rose – Romaine type; bright garnet color throughout; excellent for containers

·       Green Towers – tall Romaine type; intense green; easy to grow

·       Kweik – quick-harvesting, large, lime green butterhead lettuce; grows best in cool temperatures

·       Leaf salad Blend Mix

·       Little Gem – heirloom; very small, romaine type; heat tolerant

·       Paris Mesclun Mix

·       Red Oak Leaf – long standing oak leaf variety; does not turn bitter in the heat; tight rosettes of deeply-lobbed leaves, tinged with gorgeous burgundy

·       Red Velvet – soft frilled leaves are maroon and green; loose leaf; slow to bolt

·       Stardon Lettuce Mix

·       Tom Thumb – heirloom; small cabbage-like green heads only 3-4” across; very tasty

·       Winter Density – Romaine type; early and compact; bolt resistant

Melons

·       PMR Delicious 51 (Cantalope) --  juicy, perfectly sweet dark orange flesh with creamy texture and strong flavor; excellent resistance to powdery mildew

·       Rocky Ford (Musk Melon) – average size musk melon; well known for fine grain texture and sweet flesh; wowed gardeners since 1881

·       Sugar Baby (Watermelon) -- melons roughly 10 inches across; unmistakable crisp, mouthwatering  rich, sweet flavor; perfect for the home garden

Mustard Greens

·       Purple Osaka – Japanese mustard greens with large, rounded purple leaves; beautiful, pungent and sharp; best when planted as cool weather crop; can be used as companion plant to discourage aphids     

·       Red Giant— this India  Mustard is easy to grow, vigorous and good in stir fries, quickly boiled or pickled; grows to 1’ with large, slightly fringed leaves of a deep purplish red; winter-hardy and slow to bolt; relatively resistant to disease and pests

Okra

·       Clemson Spineless  -- plants are about 3’ tall; numerous spineless pods that are tender and tasty if picked young; won All American award back in 1939 and still going strong

Pak Choi

·       Shanghai Green – delicious baby type; compact plants; light green stems; extra tender; finely flavored

Peppers (Hot)

·       Big Thai Hybrid – medium-hot, 4” to 5” fruits on 30” plants; mature quickly from green to dark red

·       Cayenne Blend – adding cayenne increases the “heat” of your favorite chili or othe spicy recipe; fruits are colorful and festive when dried

·       Early Jalapeno – early, dark green 3” peppers; excellent fresh or pickled; zesty flavor

·       Hungarian Yellow Wax – medium-hot Old World favorite; excellent for pickling; also good for salads and frying

·       Spicy Fiesta Blend – hot and spicy; great for containers

 Peppers (Sweet)

·       California Wonder —vibrant, red when ripe fruit; crisp and flavorful

·       Coral Belle – intensely orange bell pepper; compact plant with reliable production

·       Jupiter – older commercial variety, perfect for home gardener; produces blocky 4 ½” by 4 ½” green fruit that ripen to red; disease resistant

·       King of the North – open pollinated; very bushy, high yielding plants; can produce 14-20, blocky, large fruits per plant; harvest when green or wait until they turn bright red

·       Mad Hatter – novel shape & flavor; disc-shaped, three-sided sweet pepper; citrusy flavor; vigorous plants produce an abundance of 2” to 3” fuirts

Spinach

·       Strawberry – old-fashioned plant dating back to 1600’s in Europe; produces greens that are picked and cooked like spinach plus attractive red but bland tasting berries that can add a nice touch to fruit salads; easy to grow plants

Swiss Chard

·       Bright Lights – almost neon in appearance with vivid red, orange or yellow veins running through the stalks; also effective in ornamental gardens

·       Burpee’s Rhubarb Chard – heirloom; crimson stalks with glossy green, crinkled leaves; easy to grow; best in full sun; tolerates some shade

Tomatillo

·       Toma Verde – early, abundant and easy to grow; delicious tart green fruits mature to sweet yellow ones; enjoy raw, grilled or roasted

Tomatoes (Cherry)

·       Black Cherry – indeterminate; long vines covered with distinctive, very dark purple fruit; exceptional flavor of a Brandywine in a cherry tomato

·       Black Vernissage – “black” tomato loaded with flavor and production; 2 ounces make a big splash in garden and kitchen; heirloom

·       Camp Joy – strong growing vines bear big, heavy clusters of large-sized red cherries; full flavor with intense sweetness; heirloom

·       Gold Nugget— determinate; bright yellow; early and abundant; compact plant; thin skin yet resistant to cracking; 1” juicy, mild fruits

·       Green Grape – sister to ‘Green Zebra’; rich, sweet and zingy; fruits are lime green inside; skin is chartreuse –yellow; beautiful in salads

·       Pandorino – indeterminate;  vigorous, tall vines covered with early multiple cascading clusters of cherry-bright, sweet, grape-shaped fruit; extremely disease resistant

·       Peacevine—open pollinated; indeterminate;  perfectly round, 1” red fruits; plentiful and early; up to 18 tomatoes per cluster

·       Red Pear –heirloom grown since colonial times; indeterminate; attractive and tasty 1-2” fruits

·       Rosella – massive trusses of pink to purple cherries with smoky blush; ½” across; very few seeds; excellent balance of sweetness to acidity

·       Snow Fairy – incredibly dwarf tomato from Russia; heirloom; produces large yield of small, globe-shaped fruit, very early; plants are short, stocky and very deep green; fruit is tart and of an average tomato taste; good for containers

·       Sungold – indeterminate; great “tomatoey” flavor with intense sweetness; 1” fruit; very heavy yields

·       Sungold Select II –indeterminate; selection from regular ‘Sungold’; one of the tastiest cherries out there; variety is not completely stable – few plant still produce red fruit

·       Yellow Pear – indeterminate; very sweet, 1 ½” pear-shaped fruit; mild flavor; great for snacking; very productive; easy to grow

Tomatoes (Plum)

·       Amish Paste – indeterminate; sweeter than most paste tomatoes; juicy, 8-12 ounce fruits with meaty flesh; very few seeds; useful for sauces, canning and slicing

·       Italian Roma – heirloom; superb Italian paste and canning tomato; also delicious for salads and sandwiches; heavy producer

·       Russian Purple – purple, egg-shaped fruit; good for salsa, eating fresh or cooking; very productive; fruits weigh about 6 ounces each; AKA Ukrainian Purple

·       San Marzano – heirloom ;indeterminate; classic Italian paste tomato; many consider is the best; high-yielding

·       Speckled Roman – intriguing paste tomato with orange & yellow stripes; yummy flavor; very meaty; excellent for sauce, canning and freezing

Tomatoes (Slicers)

·       Aunt Ruby’s German Green –indeterminate; green fruit become amber tinged when fully ripe; spicy and sweet flavor; fruits 5”X4”

·       Black Krim – beautiful, dark purple-black fruits; rich, old-fashioned flavor with hint of smokiness; reliable and productive

·       Bloody Butcher – heirloom; indeterminate;  early to ripen; deep red color inside and out;  yields 5-9 3-4 ounce fruits in clusters

·       Brandywine – heirloom; winner of many taste tests; pinkish/red, extra-large fruit; fabulous flavor

·       Burpee’s Jubilee – indeterminate, high yielding cross between Tangerine and Rutgers; up to 3” across; bright golden orange; delicious mildly- flavored fruit

·       Carbon – heirloom; smooth, large and beautiful fruit; one of the darkest and prettiest of the purple types

·       Chef’s Choice Yellow—hearty, beefsteak type tomato in a beautiful yellow color; sweet, citrus-like flavor with just the right touch of acidity; disease resistant

·       Cherokee Purple – indeterminate; heirloom; old-fashioned variety from Tennessee; superbly rich flavor and striking color; very productive

·       Copper River – indeterminate; rare and very sought after, potato-leaf tomato; green when ripe bi-color with faint, metallic-yellow stripes

·       Early Harvest Hybrid – determinate; 10 ounce red fruit; 4’ high plants; early harvesting

·       Kelloggs Breakfast – indeterminate; heirloom; extremely large, sunny orange beefsteak with outstanding flavor that is unforgettable

·       Pineapple – indeterminate; heirloom; orange and yellow striped both inside and out; very large, beefsteak type; fruits are 5” in diameter with juicy, meaty flesh; fine, mild flavor; fruit can exceed 2.5 pounds!

MASTER GARDENER PLANT SALE HERB LIST 2017

Basil

·                Mammolo – perfect for containters;  bred for high leaf to stem ratio; bushy, compact plant; classic Italian aroma and flavor without the without the minty smell some of some of the Italian basils

·                 Purple Petra – premium purple-leaf basil; dark-red foliage with excellent flavor; good for containers

·                 Thai

·                 Lemon

·                 Lime

Dill

Lovage

Oregano

·       Cuban – part sun to full sun; drought tolerant; easy to start from cuttings

Parsley

·                 Flat Leaf

·                Giant of Italy

·                Sweet Parsley Triple Curled (heirloom)

Sage Pineapple

                                          Perennials and Annuals

Arisaema triphyllum--'Jack-in-the-pulpit'

Coreopsis lanceolata--'Lanceleaf Coreopsis' Scented Geraniums Pelargonium Pelargonium--'Attar of Rose' scent Pelargonium--'Citrus Scent' Pelagornium--'Lemon scented' Pelargonium--'Mint-scented Rose' scent Pelargonium--'Old Spice' scent Pepper, Ornamental--'Pepper on a Stick' Calendula Calendula--'Ball's Improved Orange' Calendula--'Yellow Gem' Ricinis communis, 'Red Castor Bean' ****  **** DANGER: poisonous, skin irritant Setcreasea pallida--'Purple Heart'

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