Crops to be planted

[Rose]

Does anyone have any ideas about planting crops in the spring? Which
natives crops to choose?

[Mary Pat]

Yes , let me get thru Thanksgiving, are u talking food crops for the table or crops to feed animals or for market? 

On Thu, Nov 25, 2010 at 12:03 AM, Rose <rosea...@gmail.com> wrote:

Does anyone have any ideas about planting crops in the spring?  Which
natives crops to choose?

--
Mary Pat Berry
berry...@wildblue.net

[Rose Ann Haft]

Yes, anyhting for the table, spices, herbs, plants for a butterfly garden and/or possibly fruit or berry trees.  Anything that's native, and edible or considered acceptable for the area!  That we can have access to!

No rush and thank you for responding!
Happy Thanksgiving!
- Rose

--
Rose Ann M. Haft
Bachelor of Science, Physics
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
301.752.1425

We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations.
-- David Brower

[Jessica Milstead]

Rose,

I'm not a food-plants person, but I know a little about natives and butterflies, so I'll share from that point of view.

Many herbs are members of the umbellifer family (Apiaciae, carrot family) and these also feed both butterflies and their caterpillars -- meaning that you need to plant enough for both the people and the caterpillars.  I'm not a great deal of use in figuring out which herbs are native, but I'm fairly sure that there are specialist native plant seed companies.

Pawpaw is a native tree fruit.  Not everyone likes it, but it is native, right here in Southern MD on the coastal plain.  There are also native blackberries -- there are lots of places to dig these up if you're so inclined (my place, for instance :-) ), and you'd be sure you're getting the actual native.  There are also native blueberries and huckleberries.   Keep in mind the Native American corn-beans-squash economy.  (I have no idea which kinds of beans or squash.)

You could also look for a dwarf variety of the native persimmon.  I have no idea if there is such a thing or not. 

Have you considered the scope of "native"?  North America?  The whole U.S.?  Eastern U.S.?  Coastal Plain?  Maryland?  When I'm serious about planting true natives I hold out for the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain because that's where we are and I think the kind of ecology matters a lot more than the state lines.  How long does it have to have been here?  For instance, the Native Americans brought corn to this part of the continent from its origin (in what is now the U.S. Southwest or northern Mexico, as I recall).  White potatoes originated in the Andes.

There are probably resources on Native American foods -- and I'll bet the Museum of the American Indian would have materials that would help you find them.

Jessica

[Mary Pat]

I would think St Mary's City would be a great resource - they just held their Home and Hearth weekend. I too like Jessica need you to define native- natives didn't have "butterfly" gardens, they had meadows. And access how? Do you want the plants to plant?, to harvest? Look for colonial cookbooks too.

MP

[Rose Ann Haft]

Thank you, Ms. Jessica and Ms. Mary Pat for your responses!  Native I believe implies native to the Maryland and especially Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  That might be going to extremes with planting native gardens, but worth finding out about to recreate the abundant berry variety that was here so long ago, and the native American crops too.  The question came up when talking with one of next year's garden planners and their crop choices.  

I knew more about the native berry varieties, but not as much about actual crops or fruit trees.  Thank you for the information. How much of a distinction for plants that are in not so native regions  is there?  And are there native flowers that go well in butterfly gardens?  I have the Arboretum's butterfly garden list, but wasn't sure how many of those were strictly native or not. Should I send out that list? 

Ms. Mary - What do you mean by St. Mary's City? 

Thank you for your time and help! 

Best wishes!

Rose

[Mary Pat]

Historic St Mary's City in St. Mary's City, MD (St. Mary's County) is a well spring of information as this is where the natives and colonials made contact and shared ideas and practices. I suggest you call/goggle  the museum there for further information.

[Ronda Goldman]

Hi Rose,


Would you happen to have a copy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Native PLant Guide?  It is a wonderful resource for all things native.  It is especially helpful for planting a butterfly garden.



Best,

Ronda  R. Goldman
3921 Light Arms Place
Waldorf, MD 20602
(240) 724-4628
 
 
Ronda R. Goldman
Charles County Bay-Wise Coordinator
Charles County Master Gardeners
9375 Chesapeake Street, Suite #119
La Plata, MD 20646
(240) 724-4628 (Cell)

---

From: rosea...@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:06:02 -0500
Subject: Re: Crops to be planted
To: chalres-county-c...@googlegroups.com

[Jessica Milstead]

Hi Rose,

It's a pleasure to help, and thank you for pursuing this. 

I suggest not using artificial state boundaries for your "native" criterion unless the garden is supposed to be an example of what grow in the state.  It's too limiting and at the same time too broad.  Maryland has several physiographic regions -- all within the bay watershed.  Many of the plants that thrive in the western mountains are not suited to our coastal plain environment.  On the other hand, a plant that is native to Delaware's or Virginia's coastal plain environment is likely to be very well suited to our environment.  Plants don't know about state lines.

Since you're thinking about butterfly -- i.e., ornamental -- gardening, I'd like to send you a couple of publications of the Fish & Wildlife Service entitled Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping.  The big one is 5 Mb, and includes thumbnail photos and considerable (coded) information about each plant in the Chesapeake Bay watershed judged suitable for landscaping.  It includes the physiographic regions and the states where the plant has been found.  The small one is 600K, is limited to the Coastal Plain, and just lists the plants without a lot of detail.    They're both on the Web.  I don't want to clutter up mailboxes, but anyone who wants a copy can either google that title or ask me and I'll email it to you.

Many native plants draw butterflies, at both the adult, charismatic stage, and the juvenile caterpillars.  The latter eat up the plants, of course, but -- no caterpillars, no butterflies.  Any plant with lots of nectar, or juicy fruits will draw the butterflies.  The caterpillars are on a huge variety of plants, from grasses to trees.  I seriously doubt that the Arboretum's butterfly garden list is limited to natives, though I haven't investigated it.  For instance, butterfly bush (Buddleia), one of the most popular butterfly plants, not only is not a native, but is becoming invasive.  I finally got rid of mine when I found out how invasive it was.  On the other hand, butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a very decorative native perennial whose flowers will be covered with butterflies, and one of the hosts for monarch caterpillars.  (It's a milkweed.)

These are just a few examples.  I think what you need to do is start defining your goals, and use those to define scope.  There are many publications and resources to look at once you have decided just what you're trying to do.  Mary Pat and I, as well as others, can give you much better help when you have a better focus.

Jessica