All posts by Jordan Charbonneau

Heirloom Fibers: Growing Colored Cotton

In the United States cotton is deeply tied to its role in slavery and the atrocities committed against African slaves. Gardeners growing cotton today get an important piece of living history. Slaves were forced to cultivate acres of cotton and harvest the fiber from sharp bolls all day long in the hot sun. While no one can truly imagine the horrors African slaves went through growing cotton can help keep their story alive.

It’s also worth noting that before cotton was ever grown in the United States it was cultivated for thousands of years in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America where different varieties were first domesticated. We tend to think of Europeans and their descendants who colonized North America as having bred this important important fiber crop when in fact they’ve played a relatively small role in cultivating different cotton varieties. It was instead Africans, Asians, and Native Americans that were the original cultivators of cotton including many colored varieties.

Colored Cotton

Arkansas Green Lint Cotton

Thanks to commercial farming operations if you ask most people what color cotton is they’ll say white. In reality cotton cultivars come in many colors including brown, blue, pink, green, red, and tan. At Southern Exposure we offer 6 cotton varieties including green, brown, tan, and white varieties. In the United States these colored varieties were sometimes grown by slaves prior to the Civil War for use in their own clothing as they were not allowed to grow the same white cotton as their masters.

While these older, colored varieties are certainly beautiful most of them have a shorter staple length than most modern varieties making them less than ideal for industrial spinning operations. For this reason commercial growers solely grow white cotton and colored cotton varieties are now relatively rare.

This doesn’t mean that colored and heirloom varieties don’t have benefits though. First many of these heirlooms are more drought tolerant and pest resistant than their modern cousins and even though they cannot be spun on an industrial scale they can be used by home spinners and small crafts people. Their natural color also means there’s no need to dye them. Today chemical dyes used for clothing are a major source of water pollution.

Why Grow Cotton?

  • Growing cotton can help connect you with important history even if part of that history is a negative.
  • Cotton is a wonderful ornamental plant and can be used in bouquets at the flowering stage or when the bolls mature.
  • It’s relatively easy to grow and drought tolerant.
  • It can be used for truly homegrown and handmade crafts.
  • Growing an heirloom cotton helps keep biodiversity alive. These varieties may be important for breeding future varieties. Whether it’s breeding colored cottons with longer staples lengths for mechanized spinning or cottons that are more resistant to certain pests.

Cotton is annual and can be direct sown in zones 8-10 after danger of frost has past. Though cotton isn’t grown commercially in the northern United States it can in fact be grown there with a little extra effort. In northern climates (zones 7-5) cotton should be started early indoors like tomatoes or peppers and transplanted out because it is frost sensitive and takes 130 days to reach maturity. For more detailed growing information check out the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Cotton Growing Guide.

*Note: Some states including Virginia require growers to have permits in order to grow cotton. Please check with your local extension agency. 

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12 Flowers to Plant in Summer

Powder Puff Mixed Colors Asters – 85 days

For many of us modern gardeners spring flies by in a blur. With all of our other commitments some of our best spring garden intentions go out the window. When summer rolls around it’s easy to regret not planting more flowers especially if you visit other gardens with plentiful blooms. Thankfully there’s still a variety of flowers that can be sown in the summer and bring beauty to your garden. Besides get wells, there are also happy moments that happen at Houston medical center florist Center. Orchids and lighter colored roses spread cheer and good tidings to new mothers or patients that just beat the last fight of a terrible disease.

Asters

A good choice for later plantings, asters bloom in just 85 days and can be direct sown. They germinate best with soil temperatures around 70°F and make excellent cut flowers.

Coreopsis

Blooming in 83 days coreopsis is a gorgeous summer flower that can also be used to make natural dyes. It germinates in temperatures between 55°-70°F. Planting coreopsis will help with next year’s garden too because it self sows readily.

Cosmos

Cosmos come in a wide range of colors and are easy to grow. they germinate best in 70°F soil and bloom in just 45-65 days depending on the variety.

Hyacinth Bean

Despite being a bean, hyacinth is purely ornamental and is actually poisonous if consumed. It’s a large climbing bean that can grow up to 10-20 ft depending on the conditions. It produces beautiful pink-purple flowers and should be sown a month after your last frost.

Johnny Jump-Ups

These cute little flowers also called violas, are easy to grow in the summer and are edible! They can be direct sown when soil temperatures are around 70°F.

Marigolds

Signet Marigold, Lemon Gem – 59 days

Depending on the variety you choose you can have marigolds blooming in your garden in as little as 55 days. While many people start them indoors early in the spring they can be direct sown after soils warm up.

Morning Glories

These lovely vining flowers can be direct sown and bloom in about 65 days. Before planting be sure to soak the seeds for 2 days, changing the water every 12 hours.

Nasturtiums

Another edible flower nasturtiums make a wonderful addition to any summer garden. They can be direct sown.

Phlox

Phlox will provide you with blooms well into the fall, with flowers surviving temperatures down to 20°F. It matures in just 80 days and is an good candidate for summer direct seeding.

Rudbeckia

Sometimes called Black-Eyed Susan, rudbeckia is great for gardeners without a lot of time. It’s a very hardy perennial and self sows and spreads readily.

Tithonia

Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) is a very heat hardy flower and can be direct seeded in soil temperatures up to 86°F. It can grow to 5 feet tall and is excellent for attracting butterflies to your garden.

Sunflowers

Super easy to grow sunflowers are a popular choice for many gardeners. They stand up to summertime heat well and depending on the variety can bloom in as little as 53 days.

With the proper varieties you can create a late summer or fall garden that looks just as lovely as a spring flower garden. While many people only really get into gardening in the early summer continuing your garden throughout the year is an easy way to get more enjoyment and time out of it. For more tips on late season planting check out these posts.

Planning and Planting for an Abundant Fall and Winter Harvest

Succession Planting Warm-Season Crops for Hot Summers

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Summertime Herbal Iced Tea

After a long day in the garden there’s nothing better than a glass of iced tea and chair in the shade. While I do love the classic sweet tea with just black tea and sugar, having something fresh from the garden makes it extra special. This is my favorite tea blend for hot summer days. It’s super easy to make and uses just 3 ingredients, fresh fruit slices, lemon balm, and red clover blossoms.

Lemon balm is a wonderful and easy to grow perennial herb. It can be cut and used in teas all summer long. Some studies have found lemon balm to have important antiviral properties and it’s also known to have a calming effect.

Red clover has long been used as an herbal remedy and has a long list of benefits. It’s believed to have a mild sedative effect and be anti-inflammatory.

*Red clover and other herbs can react with certain medications. Please consult your doctor with any questions or concerns regarding herbal remedies.*

Ingredients

1 pint of water

2 sprigs of lemon balm

4 red clover blossoms

fruit slices (orange, strawberry, lemon, grapefruit, etc.)

*Optional* maple syrup or honey to taste

Directions

There’s two ways to make this tea. The quickest is to pour hot water over your herbs and fruit and and let them steep for 15 minutes before placing in the fridge or freezer to chill.

Alternatively you can make sun tea. Add all your ingredients to a mason jar with a lid and let your jars sit in the sun for about 4 hours before pouring over ice. 

If desired you can strain your tea before adding ice. If you want your tea to look extra pretty save some fresh fruit and herbs to garnish once the tea has steeped.

If you’d like to have this tea year round or in a convenient travel option all of the ingredients can be dehydrated. For the lemon balm and red clover you should harvest them in the morning or evening when it’s cool. Dry them in a dehydrator at around 105°F. If you don’t have a dehydrator lemon balm can be bundled and hung upside down to dry and red clover flowers can be laid out on a screen.

Fruit should be thinly sliced and dehydrated at around 135°F until the slices are brittle. Alternatively you can dry them in your oven on the lowest possible temperature.

Once dry you can mix the herbs and fruit and store in an air tight container. Herbs will lose some of their potency and flavor as they dry so you may need more than you would fresh.

Store-bought herbal teas can be expensive however many herbs are easy to grow in your own back yard and are even better when harvested fresh!

 

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