Since his arrival at the nursery 3 years ago, David Sargert's botanical
curiosity has led him down some curious paths. Gifts of seeds and
casual conversations with some of our Indian customers led him
into a world of Indian gooseberries and eggplants, tindori and mor-
inga – which we all now offer for sale at the nursery.
This summer David is keen to share his enthusiasm for two of his
other passions: corn, and the mushroom plant.
Before joining the nursery, David was an architect living and work-
ing in Taos, New Mexico, and one day he was given a special gift
of corn from one of the Pueblo Indians living there. It was rare
Hopi blue from the Third Mesa in Arizona.
David set to work, adding plentiful amounts of beneficial fungi
(mycorrhizae) to his soil, and managed to produce huge crops for
several years.
No surprise then that when he moved to Austin, there were some
kernels of Hopi corn in his luggage. Now, three years later, he has
added three other varieties to his collection.
'Glass gems,' creates kernels like no other – a sort of burnished kal-
eidoscope of mauves and tawny yellows and browns. Cross pollin-
ation with other colorful varieties makes for even more interest.
No wonder David refers to them at his 'jewels.'
'Popcorn,' with its smaller kernels is fun to have around, and espec-
ially to make it pop on the oven or fire. 'Sugar buns' is a tasty sweet
corn hybrid.
To grow this crop, give your plants plenty of organic soil and full
sun. They don't do well with limestone, and corn is a little picky
when it comes to the subject of wind. Too much, and the crop will
not produce fully developed ears. But it needs some light breezes
for wind pollination to occur.
Interesting fact: the little hairs that come out from the top of an
ear of corn are the female part of the plant. They feel soft to the
touch, and are known as silk. Each of these hairs is connected to a
single kernel of corn inside the sheaf. For corn to develop and ripen,
each of these little hairs has to receive pollen from the 'tassel,' the
male flower at the top of the plant.
'It blew my mind when I learned that,' says David - who admits
to secretly helping the pollination process along moving pollen
from the flowers to the tassels with a feather.
With the USDA estimating that we have some 97 million acres of
farmland devoted to corn, you could be forgiven for wondering if
you want to add more ears to an already massive crop.
The answer can be found in the enthusiasm on David's face. When
you chat with him on this subject, he lights up. I now have four
'glass gems' growing in my front yard, and am hoping for a tiny
crop of wondrous multi-colored corn in a couple of months. ❦
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Last year a customer from Russia visited the nursery and spoke to
David about a beautiful bushy herb called the mushroom plant that
you can add to salads and dishes. On her next visit she gave David
the gift of some Rungia klossii seeds, and we now offer these plants
for sale.
This fast-growing herb, originally from Papua New Guinea, will
flourish in the shady patches of your garden. Apart from tasting
like mushrooms, it has health benefits too. The glossy leaves con-
tain large amounts of beta-carotene, vitamin C and iron.
Happy gardening everyone! ❦
We have corn for $2 for a 4 inch pot, $5.89 1 gal. Mushroom plant:
$3.79 (4" pot) and $8 for 1 gal pot.
