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Complete Forecast for  Sep 06 2008

TOP JOBS

Saturday was a July morning — that pretty much describes the situation.

It was warm early, no breeze to speak of, and the humidity was high. Even the just-rising sun was warm on the skin. It was going to be a really hot day. Despite the weather, shoppers were out in droves to participate in the two wonderful farmer’s markets we have in Tyler each weekend.

First, my husband and I hit the one in a parking lot on South Broadway. The growers use organic methods and the produce is just wonderful. With home-made grocery bags and large sun hats we got busy.

We always appreciate the fresh fruit; the blueberries and peaches are perfect just now. The fresh corn is incredible, and there are always lovely tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, onions, squash of all kinds, cucumbers, cream peas, and much more.

There are fresh-cut flowers, and herbs to add color and aroma to the kitchen. Some home-produced soaps are available also.

I especially like being able to buy eggs produced by free-range chickens. It recalls to my thoughts my grandmother’s small garden and her few chickens. The next stop on our Saturday jaunt is to the market across the street from Harvey Convention Center, where it has been for years. There are many more vendors there, and the produce is also fresh and delicious.

We like to pick up locally produced honey. With the nation-wide dearth of bees due to a mysterious problem, it is always uplifting to see that we still have enough being produced here, rather than being imported.

Supporting local growers is one of the best things we can do to help fight global warming. The less money spent on gasoline bringing food to our table, the better it is for everyone. The food is fresher, since no chemicals are used to keep it “fresh.”

Little gasoline is required to bring it to Tyler from the suburbs and smaller towns surrounding us, rather than China or South America; and the money stays in Smith County. It is win-win all the way around.

Even our local grocery chain should be applauded for selling locally-grown, organic fruits and vegetables in a special section of the produce department. That is a really intelligent move on their part, because it reduces their transportation costs and supplies the kind of food people want — fresh and locally grown.

Of course, the local health-food stores have always sold a large variety of locally-produced goods. Perhaps the trend will continue to grow and we will be able to avail ourselves of these foods in more places. Soon, if we are lucky, we will be back to the days when our farmers’ products were available everywhere. Wouldn’t that be amazing, to get back to the way things were 70 years ago, and that would be progress?

No Saturday out would be complete without a stop at the IDEA Garden. We caught the sprinklers watering everything before the sun got above the tall eastern hedges. Rudbeckia Herbstonne “Goldstrum’’ (Black-eyed Susan) is a wonderful, evergreen perennial growing six-feet by three-feet wide, covered with edible flowers, blooming all summer until first frost.

It likes part shade to full sun, and will take normal to dry soil, but blooms better with regular watering. It can be seen growing all along the highways and fields of Texas, and that will let you know that it is deer, drought, heat, humidity, pollution, and rabbit resistant. It will grow along the seashore, or high slopes, as well, and can withstand strong winds. It is a hardy, wonderful plant for the garden.

Cleome Hasslerana (Spider Flower) is an annual that grows up to four feet high and two feet wide.

It likes lots of sun, and has medium requirements of heat and water; but since it is growing so well beside the Rudbeckia, it must like the same conditions. It grows well in the back of the border, among shrubs and perennials.

If planted in mass it will look like blooming shrubbery. The blossoms are 8 inch balls of color. It gets its name from the way the seed-pods form and spray out from the base, as the flower continues to bloom up the stalk. It is a beautiful plant to add to your garden.

Take a trip to the IDEA Garden, and you will get many more ideas on what to plant here in Smith County.

“What’s Blooming In Our Garden’’ is a regular feature of the Tyler Morning Telegraph Garden Page. It is written by Mary Claire Rowe, a Master Gardener with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and focuses on flowers and plant life around East Texas. To share your comments on gardening, write her in care of the Morning Telegraph.