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Sustainahillbilly: n., Any hill dweller who knows that the best path to the future is through the arts of the past mixed with the smallest possible dose of newfangled ingenuity.
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We have Passiflora incarnata (maypop passionvine) growing outside our back door. I’ve written in the past about how to grow this native plant for its delicious fruit, but today I wanted to share a video of our “bee bar.” I’d say they show up at first light, but really, they never leave. These sluggish insects gorge on nectar, becoming increasingly clumsy, until the blooms close over them at night. When dawn breaks they repeat the process.
This excerpt from an 1853 book entitled Wonders of the Insect World: With Illustrative Engravings by Francis Channing Woodworth has a delightful description of the phenomenon:
“I regret exceedingly to be obliged to announce the fact, that bumble bees are sometimes given to tippling. It seems that the nectar in the passion flower has an intoxicating effect upon these creatures, and that they now and then indulge in excessive drinking, when this beverage is within their reach. Instead of being content with a moderate draught, like orderly and temperate bees, they yield to temptation, and drink until they are quite drunk. They become so stupid, indeed, from their intemperate drinking, that they scarcely can fly home to their nest; and it sometimes happens, that one may see half a dozen of these poor creatures lying on the ground, near the goblet which has so grossly intoxicated them, and entirely unable to stir an inch. The dunces! They are almost as silly as the human drunkards that we too frequently meet with.”
Tippling is perilous indeed! We never find puddles of drunk bees on the ground under our plants… but perhaps our chickens find them first.
I felt silly displaying a potted ‘Tumbling Tom’ tomato for the Urban Farm Tour since we already had 80 tomato plants in the ground but last week it paid us back with extra early ripe cherries. Now the garden is producing handfuls of medium-sized varieties, leading up to the bumper crop we’ll be able to sell to the public.
I’m getting a lot of disease questions from area gardeners regarding Septoria leaf spot (Septoria lycopersici) and Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum). Both of these diseases are likely already in your garden soil (or old plant debris) but can also be carried by wind, rain, insects, weeds, and infected seed.
 Photo Caption: Finally! We were delighted with this first ripe tomato harvest for 2011. The bad news about Septoria leaf spot in this area is that I almost never see a tomato growing in May that doesn’t have it on the lower leaves. The good news is that it prefers to grow when temperatures are 59 °F – 80 °F.
This means you can pick infected leaves and wait on the hotter weather to set in and discourage it. If you planted your tomatoes with fertile soil in full sun and kept them free of water stress they’re unlikely to die from Septoria leaf spot.
 Photo Caption: I think of Septoria leaf spot as the "cartoon eyeballs" of fungal diseases. It starts out looking like little circles with black outlines. As the circles mature, a sand-grain sized black spot (the fruiting body of the fungus) appears in its center. When the disease advances, it looks more like the leaf in this photo. Photo Credit: BitTyrant (Twitter) My method of dealing with Septoria leaf spot is to fertilize at planting time and make sure conditions are ideal for rapid growth. I also mulch to discourage spores from splashing onto the lower leaves, where the disease first appears. Septoria leaf spot can overwinter on old plant debris and on certain weeds that are also in the nightshade family.
When infected leaves appear I remove them and dispose of them in the garbage, not the compost pile. It usually disappears by late June to early July (though it can come back when the weather cools back off on the fall).
 Photo Caption: Fusarium (and Verticillium) wilt shows up as a yellowing of the lower leaves, often on one side of the stem. Cross-sections of the stem will show brown spots in the vascular system of the plant. As the disease progresses, the upper leaves of the plant will appear wilted even when the soil around the roots is moist. The downside of the warmer weather is that it creates the perfect conditions for Fusarium wilt. There is another disease called Verticillium wilt, with very similar symptoms. This link compares the two. They can also affect eggplants and Irish potatoes.
Clemson Extension Service tells me that both diseases are already present in the soil throughout most of upstate South Carolina and that the best solution for heavily infested soil is to plant tomato varieties that are resistant. When you order tomatoes and seeds, look in the catalog or plant tag description for an “F” to indicate Fusarium wilt resistance and a “V” for Verticillium wilt.
 Photo Caption: These photos are of a tomato we removed from the garden last year when it became sick with Fusarium wilt. The variety in this photo is a 'Beam's Yellow Pear' tomato. This year I tried to grow it again in a different garden and it still came down with the same disease -- it is not very resistant. Every year I have good luck growing heirlooms that are not rated for disease resistance. The trick is just giving them a chance — heirlooms can be vigorous in some areas of the world and weak in others. I usually grow a variety at least 2 years before I reach a verdict on its performance. Sometimes an individual plant has problems but it isn’t a fault in the variety’s genetics. However, if I document that a tomato variety gets sick 2 or more years, I stop growing it. After several years of trials, three tomato varieties that I am unlikely to grow again include ‘Beam’s Yellow Pear’, ‘Roma’, and ‘Green Sausage.’
 Photo Caption: Sick leaves can be removed from more resistant plants but tomatoes with severe infections of Fusarium wilt should be entirely removed from the garden to prevent the spores from developing. Increased spores will remain in the soil and infect future crops. Fusarium wilt thrives in hot weather with moist soil — which perfectly describes late spring in our area. Prevention is difficult but I recently learned that a soil pH of 6.5 – 7 will discourage the spores from growing. Next winter I plan to get soil tests performed so that I can adjust our pH with pelletized limestone.
If your tomatoes look sick and their symptoms don’t match Septoria leaf spot or Fusarium wilt, try this link from Clemson Cooperative Extension listing the tomato problems in our area.
Many organic gardeners who have grown squash in the southeast US will think this must be a practical joke. It’s not! There are chemical-free ways to grow as much squash as your “conventional” neighbors. Then you can finally participate in Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day. No really, that’s an honest-to-goodness national holiday on August 8th every year.
The best solution for powdery mildew is a spray of 1 part milk to 9 parts water coating the leaves every 1 – 2 weeks. Use the spray when there is full sun (morning is best) before the disease sets in and you’ll have a 90% prevention rate. I’ve already written an extensive article on this remedy (siting the scientific studies backing it). Here it is:
How to Spray Milk to Prevent Powdery Mildew Disease
 Photo Caption: This is the perfect size to pick a 'Tromboncino' summer squash (C. moschata), though it is edible at any size or stage. If left on the vine it will harden into a butternut winter squash. We love the funny "spoon" shape. Squash Vine Borer (SVB) is one of the most difficult pests for organic gardeners to control. As diurnal moths, they are active in the daytime instead of at night. SVBs are also a wasp mimic, but can’t sting you.
What they can do is decimate a squash plant almost overnight, leaving many gardeners confused about the culprit. SVB adults lay their eggs on the base of the plant and then the maggot-like caterpillars burrow inside the stems to eat. Symptoms of SVB include leaves wilting even though the soil is moist and wet brown frass (caterpillar poop) collecting at the base of the stems. SVB damaged plants are much more susceptible to other problems like Powdery Mildew.
SVB larva spend their time eating the plant from the inside out, which means they are notoriously difficult to remove. Sprays, powders, and other traditional methods are largely ineffective. Hand-picking can only be done by slitting open the squash stem and finding the tunneling caterpillar. This can have some success, especially if the damaged stems are then covered with soil so the squash can put out new roots.
However, it’s a pain! I don’t do it anymore.
Instead, I plant my summer squash and zucchini as early as possible each season. SVBs show up late enough in the summer that I can get a decent harvest before my plants start succumbing. I’ve already gotten enough squash and zucchini this year to make me feel like my handful of plants were worth it.
But I don’t give up on having squash all season, either. Squashes are in the genus Cucurbita and most of the summer squashes & zucchini humans have bred for the garden are from the species C. pepo. SVB moths prefer this species above all other squashes. They also like squash, pumpkins, and gourds bred from C. maxima. There isn’t much hope keeping SVBs away from these two, so I also grow summer squash and pumpkins bred from C. moschata to take over for me later in the season. C. moschata varieties have tight, narrow stems that the SVBs don’t seem interested in.
They also have some yummy fruits! Any unripe C. moschata variety can be eaten like a summer squash when it is young enough that the skin can be pricked with your fingernail. They tend to be pale green like a zucchini and have a nearly identical flavor and texture. If you’re more interested in winter squash, wait until the fruit hardens and the stem connecting it to the vine starts to turn tan.
My favorite C. moschata variety is an Italian heirloom that was actually bred to be eaten like a zucchini. I buy it from Pinetree Garden Seeds under the name ‘Zucchetta Ramp Tromboncino.’ I’ve also seen it sold at places like Territorial Seeds under the simplified name of ‘Tromboncino.’ The flavor is fantastic and the vines produce like… a zucchini! They don’t have a bush habit, though — make sure to use a sturdy trellis for their long vines. Near the end of the season I leave some of the fruits to mature into giant, 4′ long butternut squashes.
 Photo Caption: This mature 'Tromboncino' from last year is almost as long as me! At this stage it can be stored as a winter butternut squash. I also have a favorite pumpkin. It is slightly flat and a beautiful muted pink, like something out of a fairy tale.
 Photo Caption: This harvest from last year shows a mature (butternut) 'Tromboncino' squash on the left and a ripe, round 'Long Island Cheese' pumpkin toward the upper middle of the photo. Even better is the pumpkin’s name of ‘Long Island Cheese.’ Perhaps it isn’t romantic to be named for looking like a wheel of coagulated milk, but it is certainly memorable. They’re delicious! I’d consider ‘Long Island Cheese’ to be one of the best flavored heirloom pumpkins. We especially love them in pies and curries.
Right now we have summer squash, ‘Tromboncino’ squash, and ‘Long Island Cheese’ pumpkins producing in the garden (though the pumpkins are far from ripe). I know I can count on the ‘Tromboncino’ variety to take my summer squash’s place when the SVBs really get going.
Now if anyone knows of some surefire solutions for squash bugs and pickleworms, we’ll be all set! (My great-uncle tells me that squash bugs are easier to hand pick early in the morning when the dew is still on the leaves). If you have any other suggestions please leave them in the comments.
It’s chicken-mania at Appalachian Feet lately. We started with 27 chickens in early May with the goal of keeping 6 for our personal backyard flock. Yesterday, we said goodbye to 21 of them (they are destined for good, free-range farm homes with people we know).
We’re glad to know these laying hens will be treated well, but that doesn’t make us miss them any less. Considering I’ve been herding nearly 30 chickens out of the kitchen every morning and back into it at night (yes, that does smell as bad as you think it does) you’d think I’d just feel relieved.
 Photo Caption: All 27 chickens have been living indoors at night, in the "dining room" extension of the kitchen. Not an ideal situation, but better than having them be eaten by the silver fox we saw in the yard last week. Okay, I am relieved. I will not miss escapees pooping on the floor or the incredible racket when they wake up in the morning and think I haven’t let them outside as early as I ought. Talk about mayhem!
 Photo Caption: Two "Easter Eggers" that lay blue, green, or pink eggs and two Cuckoo Marans that lay dark brown eggs. I will however, miss our morning routine. When I took the bird netting off the top of the pen they would promptly hop out and march through the back door like a group of kids exiting the school bus. Also charming (before we realized a bird netting lid was a necessity) was opening the fridge and having a chicken fly clear across the kitchen so that it could perch on our arm. (Yeah, we kept that chicken).
 Photo Caption: The chickens feel comfortable eating all the strawberry fruits, the leaves of the plants, and digging up the protective mulch. They need some gardening classes... I won’t miss how quickly they discovered the joys of decimating the garden. In only 2 days they managed to make my thriving herb and edible flower beds look like they had mange. More incentive to finish all our fencing…
 Photo Caption: They only became brave enough to visit the main garden yesterday (usually they stick near the underside of the deck). They fanned out into the vegetable garden yesterday and had a blast digging up the raised beds and putting beak-shaped dents in the foliage. They’re like tiny plant piranhas.
 Photo Caption: This lavender Easter Egger chick is one of the friendliest. She frequently jumped into our laps and relished being petted. I can’t be mad. Just look at that face! She thinks I planted the garden just for her. It’s my fault we’ve taken weeks longer than we anticipated getting our coop and fencing ready (isn’t that how it always works)?
 Photo Caption: I had never heard of lavender-hued chickens until three of them showed up in our batch of Easter Eggers. That's the bottom half of our nearly finished coop in the background. Here she is again. We kept 2 of the 3 “lavender” colored chickens (who were equally as friendly). I guess this one was more of an underdog because of her comical charcoal face. Also, in her first couple weeks of life she confused human hand veins with potential worms and quickly earned the nickname of “mean chicken.” She grew out of the hand-pecking habit and proved herself to be extremely sociable.
 Photo Caption: My daughter is the chicken Pied Piper. But really, all of our chickens are so well socialized that our bar of how sweet they are depends on how often they jump in our lap. Here they are following my daughter around the yard. (To her right is the rock-walled herb beds that they enjoyed eating for lunch).
 Photo Caption: This friendly little Cuckoo Maran had more white coloring than the others. The Cuckoo Marans gained the reputation of being the least friendly because they squawked loudly whenever they were picked up. There were a couple, like the small one pictured above (and the one we kept) that didn’t mind being held. It’s not as big a deal to me as it is to my daughter, although I admit it’s much easier to catch a chicken that doesn’t dread being grabbed.
 Photo Caption: We were worried about hawks so I took to propping unused window screens on top of sawhorses and leaving large objects scattered around open areas the chickens liked to frequent. Our pullets seemed a little careless about checking for predators (though they’ll be safe from the common cold since they scatter for cover every time someone sneezes). I’m not sure if that’s a product of how tame they are, but we tried to discourage hawks by making our yard look like a redneck paradise. I guess I need to take photos and submit it to The Yard Art Game. Most likely a very hungry hawk is going to attempt a nosedive no matter what debris is in the way — but I hoped they’d prefer the squirrels in the open field next door.
 Photo Caption: My friend's son is set on keeping this Golden Polish if it turns out to be a hen. The Golden Polish freebie that I wrote about in a previous post alleviated my fears that our chickens would eat the bees. I watched as it walked up to the hive and taste tested a couple… and then cartoonishly ran around the yard trying to rid itself of irritated guards. After that, the hive gained some respect and a wide berth.
 Photo Caption: In spite of how conspicuous the Golden Polish chicken usually is, this picture is almost like an "I Spy" image. No worries, it soon learned that earwigs and roly polies were much easier pickings from the compost pile. I use the word “pile” loosely after the chickens foraged in it yesterday. We’re going to have to pitchfork it all back into place.
Speaking of the favorite foods of chickens… can someone tell me why I can give them an all-you-can-eat buffet of grain in their chicken feeder, but if it happens to be in the palm of my hand it is a delicacy worth fighting over?
We sprinkled oatmeal on the ground when it was time to gather them up into pet carriers and sent them on their way to Pecandale Farmstead. I hear that their backseat transport involved some extra special aromas since rolling down the window required getting soaked with rain. However, they happily settled in to their new home.
Our permanent flock of 6 chickens have been lazy all day. It could be the heat, but maybe they are missing their friends as much as we are.
Instead of being informative with this “How to,” I’m really asking.
Is this golden Polish chicken a hen or a rooster (or right now, pullet or cockerel)? How long until I can tell for sure? I was hoping someone had experience with this breed in particular since it seems a lot different than our other chickens.
 Photo Caption: This golden Polish is very tame and humorous to watch. *Edit* Here’s some more photos to help with identification:
We’ve been trying to guess from the beginning what our freebie chick would turn out to be. It’s easier to find homes for hens than roosters, but my daughter is hoping that someone will want it (for uses other than fighting or the kitchen soup pot).
 Photo Caption: From day one this chick looked different than the others. I took a video, too:
Out of the online images of golden Polish chickens I thought these photos at CD Farms, LLC were striking. I had been thinking our little chick’s longer tail feathers than our marans and leghorns meant that it must be a rooster, and now I don’t feel sure at all.
 Photo Caption: A golden Polish rooster at CD Farms, LLC. Right now, our chick looks more like the hen pictured below than the rooster pictured above.
 Photo Caption: A golden Polish hen at CD Farms, LLC. I need to find a new home for this chick whether it turns out to be a hen or not, because we’ve already chosen our 6 chicks and the coop we built won’t accommodate more than that.
What do you think, do we have a male or female? I’ve also asked on the breed & gender forum at Backyard Chickens.
Here’s a quick photo essay to introduce you to our little flock (now 5 weeks old).
 Photo Caption: This is "Combustion Spur Lava Beak" (named by my daughter), an Easter Egger who will lay blue, green, or pink eggs. I'm not sure what a suitable nickname for her will be...  Photo Caption: "Mrs. Poultrious BokBok" (named by my fiancée) is a lavender/orange Easter Egger. She'll be known as Mrs. BokBok most of the time.  Photo Caption: "LaZertron Eggonater" (also named by my fiancée) is a cuckoo maran that lays dark brown eggs. I've been informed that her correct nickname is "Ol' LaZertron."  Photo Caption: "Miss Lilac Luna Pumpkintoes, Fairy Killer Extraordinaire" (named by me) is absolutely the cutest Easter Egger ever to exist. I've been calling her "Lilac" but my daughter prefers "Fairy Killer."  Photo Caption: "Pecksterecksious Radioactive Alpha Peep" (named by my daughter) is a rose comb brown leghorn who lays white eggs. She answers to "Peckster."  Photo Caption: And this is "Acorn" (named by me). She's a brown leghorn, too. It’s amazing that it only took 5 weeks for them to go from this (the extra 21 chicks in this video go to some farming friends of ours):
To this:
 Photo Caption: We can't wait until our girls start laying eggs! Yay for our chickens!
Our city’s Urban Farm Tour is over for this year and by all accounts was a great success — GOFO sold out of tickets early in the day and had to scramble to print even more of them! I hope everyone who toured came away feeling inspired, I was so impressed by all the enthusiastic visitors we met at our garden. It seems like upstate South Carolina is packed with people who care about sustainability and growing their own food.
We aren’t sure how many visitors we had yesterday. I would guess it was somewhere around 500… possibly more. We attribute the higher count to our central downtown location and to me getting interviewed for WYFF News 4. Good thing it occurred to me to make informational signs for most of my crops on Friday evening! I’m sure I couldn’t have kept up with all the questions (which were great — everyone was delightfully curious!)
 Photo Caption: You enter our garden through a gate next to the back deck and herb patch. We didn’t finish everything from our todo list before the tour, but we certainly put a giant dent in it. We had an extensive garden with spring and summer crops planted, established fruit trees, new bramble fruits (raspberries & blackberries courtesy of The Walden Effect), flowers to attract pollinators, an (empty) beehive, a canning/preserving display, a homegrown edible mushroom display courtesy of Mushroom Mountain, container gardens, one week old chicks, a compost pile (of sorts), plus a new worm bin and nearly finished chicken coop courtesy of Pecandale Farmstead.
We really just need to get bees plus finish the chicken coop/run to make our spring goals. Over the summer/fall we’re hoping to work on a non-overhead irrigation system, a tidier 3-bin compost system, a water feature of some sort (perhaps a minnow pond to feed to chickens), and a greenhouse and/or cold frame to make my seedling care easier next season.
 Photo Caption: Our spring crops exceeded my expectations. I put these beds in before the rest of the garden was finished so that I could plant them as early as possible -- which ended up being March 1st - March 15th. When I was first asked to do this farm tour I thought it was unlikely I’d have mature crops by May 7th. I didn’t even break ground until February 20th! Most things weren’t planted until March 1st – April 15th. Luckily, everything grew quickly thanks to my homemade fertilizer (if you have a small garden it may be more economical to buy the cereal-box sized container of slow release fertilizer at The Green Thumb or another organic supplier).
 Photo Caption: I try to use mostly edible flowers in my herb beds but I make sure to tuck blooms all over the garden to pull pollinators in for a closer look. I had zinnias, nasturtiums, cosmos, and more planted among the veggies but the pansies were the only thing established enough to flower. The herb bed near the back door was one of the first things I worked on when we took on the house. It still had some perennial herbs left from when our renters had lived there so I moved them to strategic spots and filled in the blanks. The rock edging came from stones my dad found in his yard on Paris Mountain.
 Photo Caption: I made educational signs for various crops and garden concepts, many of them articles printed from this blog. We also had a few warning signs for uneven ground and a mommy cardinal nesting in the Asian pear tree. The signs we put up saved our lives when the guest count quadrupled what we were expecting. I had in mind all the times I’ve been at a botanical garden and lamented the lack of signage on a fascinating specimen. It’s fun to look at plants, but even better to learn something about them.
 Photo Caption: Our chicks are around one week old. Since our one-week old chicks can’t take outdoor drafts yet, we put them inside near the back door so visitors could pop in and see them. A flagging tape barrier kept people from getting too close and it seemed to go over very well. At least, the humans liked it. We’re not so sure what the chicks thought of all the stimulation but they calmed down quickly once everyone left.
 Photo Caption: A canning display, container garden, late-started seed trays, and our amazing new chicken coop were available for viewing on the deck. We went camping at Edisto Island last week and while we were gone our amazing friends built this beautiful chicken coop right onto our deck. Now we can go outside in bedroom slippers to harvest the eggs (from my mom’s old laundry room cabinet converted into a laying box). Did we mention our friends are amazing?
 Photo Caption: This pomegranate has been passed down in my family for generations. My great-grandmother’s pomegranate tree greeted people as they walked up the driveway. It’s the largest one I’ve ever seen in this area — I think because of the south-facing brick chimney it leans against.
 Photo Caption: Blue oyster mushrooms are one of my favorite "homegrown" edible fungi (vs. wild foraged species). I’d planned to get some oyster mushroom cultures started on my fiance’s coffee grounds prior to the farm tour but ran out of time. Luckily, Tradd and Olga at Mushroom Mountain were kind enough to give us an oyster bag and loan us some of their shiitake logs. We highly recommend their products, classes, and website tutorials if you’re thinking about growing some mushrooms. You can also join SCUMS, the South Carolina Upstate Mycological Society.
 Photo Caption: My stepdad kept my old beehive (nine houses away) and we're replacing them at our new location. We sent people who came to see a working beehive down the street to view my old colony (now managed by my stepfather). Since our hive was empty, we were able to let people dismantle it to see how it worked.
 Photo Caption: The same friends responsible for our gorgeous chicken coop gave me this homemade vermiculture bin. I had one a while back but my mom vetoed any worms in her house when we were living together. You sure don’t need anything fancy to make a homemade vermiculture bin — just a plastic tub with air holes drilled along the side, some damp shredded newspaper or junk mail, some food scraps, and some red worms!
 Photo Caption: I tend to plant 4 cells of every variety I grow to ensure I get at least one... and most of them make it. That means I have a ton of leftover transplants to sell! We kept an email signup sheet for people who wanted to buy our veggie transplants and extra summer produce. It was so popular (8 pages long!) that I’m looking at expanding the garden to grow even more!!!
If you went on the farm tour (or wish you did) and would like to read the articles that I had hanging in the garden, here they are:
I also included a few that answer questions people asked me during the day. The printed articles that were not from my blog are the ones on healthier free-range eggs, keeping backyard chickens, building a 3-tier compost bin, DIY vermicomposting bins, and the City of Greenville chicken municipal code (Go to Chapter 4. Animals, then Article I. General Provisions, then Section 4-8 & Section 4-9).
Whew! I think I’ll go sit out back in a relaxing chair and stare at the garden.
Urban Farm Tours (a collection of sites featuring intensive city gardening) are becoming more common these days. You may have a great one near you (if so, post the link in the comments!)
Those of you in the upstate South Carolina area can check out the brand new Urban Farm Tour hosted by GOFO (Greenville Organic Foods Organization). If you’ve wanted to see Appalachian Feet in person, this is your chance because we’re one of the tour sites!
I’ve owned this house for about 10 years and planted the now established backyard orchard. However, I removed almost all traces of a garden before I moved out for a few years in order to make it low maintenance for renters.
That means the garden we’re showing to this tour practically sprang up overnight! GOFO began asking if I’d participate sometime in January and we didn’t break ground until February 20th. Here’s the before and after:
 Photo Caption: The yard on February 20th, 2011 just prior to breaking ground.  Photo Caption: What the yard looks like two months later, but still in progress. We’re not finished yet (what garden ever is?) but we’re hoping that our progress will be instructive to the people who visit on May 7th. We’ll also have newly hatched baby chicks, most of a chicken coop built, container gardening, a food preservation display, edible mushroom growing, and a new beehive to show them. So our todo list is coming along nicely!
Spending a day visiting the 25+ sites on the Urban Farm Tour will set you back less than a night at the movies — only $7 per person or $5 for groups of 4 or more. Children under 12 are free! Throw in all the fantastic workshops you can attend and it’s an unarguably great deal — all while supporting a wonderful non-profit organization.
GOFO’s Urban Farm Tour Official Website & Ticketing
In all likelihood there are wonderful, inexpensive plant sales happening near you this spring. Good places to check are your Native Plant Society, Master Gardeners Association, local botanical garden, farmers market, nurseries, and local farms.
If you live in the Greenville, SC area, here are some of the great places you can get plants this season (apologies that the Upstate SC Native Plant Society sale has passed, but they host another one in the fall). I’ve posted them chronologically:
 Photo Caption: Master Gardeners pot up specimens from their own yards so you never know what you'll find at their plant sale. Prices start at $1.00!
225 S. Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville, SC 29607
Saturday, April 16th, 8am – 11am
Want to do some landscaping on a shoestring budget or snap up a rare specimen? Master Gardeners pot up extras from their own gardens so the selection is unpredictable and delightful. The prices are right too — they start at $1.00! All the proceeds from this event go to fund MG projects such as the Roper Mountain Science Center Butterfly & Heritage gardens, the Project Host vegetable garden connected to the soup kitchen, and the downtown Linky Stone Park Children’s Garden.
 Photo Caption: Greenbrier Farms has the best selection of organic heirloom veggie transplants
772 Hester Store Rd, Easley, SC 29640
Saturday, April 23rd 9am – 2pm
I don’t know of another public source for organic veggie transplants in the upstate and this one has a great selection (of healthy, ample-sized seedlings)… if you get there early! They’re almost guaranteed to sell out so make sure you’re an early bird. Even if you get there late the farm tour and hayrides are well worth the trip.
 Photo Caption: A booth at the Greenville State Farmers Market Plant & Flower Festival
1354 Rutherford Rd., Greenville, S.C. 29609
April 28 – May 1, 2011 Thursday – Saturday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
I like the farmers market plant sale because there are so many different vendor booths and types of plants sold. You can get everything from heirloom veggie transplants to the latest hybrid bedding petunia. I particularly like the selection of herbs and native plants — the prices are very competitive!
Note: Whichever sale you visit, it helps to have your own rolling cart or wagon. Some places provide a few but the demand for them exceeds supply. Otherwise, you’ll be that person juggling an armful of pots all the way to your car. Bring cash & checks, they rarely take plastic!
Just a quick break from digging, mulching, and chicken coop constructing to say he proposed to me in the garden and I said yes.
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Every post in this blog is a green living “How To” that can be applied to your own life. The primary focus is local food and growing in the varied altitudes of the southeastern mountains and foothills.
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