Ed. note: The blogging bryologist, Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany, Bill Buck, is back! This time, Buck is reporting from Tasmania where he is researching mosses for a week before flying to Melbourne for the International Botanical Congress.

July 15, 2011; Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; final entry

Once again we awoke to a frost, this one so heavy that it almost looked as if it had snowed. We assumed that the frost would not be in the forest, and we were right. Our first scheduled stop was not too far away, along a trail leading to a view of St. Columba Falls. The falls are named for an Irish Catholic saint who copied the Psalms around 500 A.D., which started a war, and who was then exiled to Scotland. The falls were named by an Irish woman who discovered them and who had herself been exiled to Tasmania.

Echidna playing ostrich

On the way to the site we finally saw an echidna, a porcupine-like marsupial. We slammed on the brakes, only to have the only other car we saw all morning blow its horn at us. Nevertheless, we scrambled out of the car to get a better look at this strange little animal. Like an ostrich, it had buried its head in the leaf litter, presumably thinking that if it couldn’t see us then we couldn’t see him. It was great to see this odd Australian animal. The only animal we didn’t get to see that we really wanted to was a wombat.

St. Columba Falls

But duty called, and leaving our new friend behind, we headed up the road to the falls. Because St. Columba Falls is a popular tourist destination (just not first thing in the morning on a winter weekday), we were cautioned not to leave scars from our collecting along the trail. It’s just a short walk to the falls, which is one of the highest in Australia. Although I only found a single moss that I hadn’t seen previously on the trip, I found that many of the mosses I had seen sterile at other sites were fertile here. I collected these judiciously so as to have them as reference material in the herbarium.

Bill and co. go sampling, but this time for cheese! More below.

The Greenmarket is open today until 3 p.m.! Be sure to stop by.

It’s a beautiful day to get out and sample the goods from our fantastic vendors. Grounds admission is free on Wednesdays (there is an additional charge for entrance to the Conservatory and certain gardens), but there’s so much to see on the grounds right now (Waterlilies! Daylilies! Roses!) that a quick trip to pick up beans and blackberriescould easily turn into an all-day affair.

Here’s a look at what’s fresh and delicious today at the Greenmarket:

Plums, peaches and blackberries are in season this week!

Gajeski Produce has beautiful bunches of sunflowers and statice, corn, zucchini, cucumbers, squash, beets, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, new potatoes, scallions, string beans, kale, blueberries, black cherry tomatoes, peppers, shallots, basil, cilantro, lettuce, broccoli, new potatoes, scallions, onions, dill, blackberries, blueberries and eggs.

Migliorelli Farm has peaches, snap peas, lita, zucchini, carrots, beets, radishes, fennel, turnips, dandelion, collards, escarole, fennel, kale, chard, broccoli, broccoli rabe, cilantro, swiss chard, parsley, mustard green, bok choy, arugula, parsley, apples, corn, lettuce, blueberries, basil, dill, cilantro, apples, cucumbers, lettuce, blueberries, tomato juice and sauce.

Local honey can be purchased from The Little Bake Shop. Pies of all sorts-cherry, blueberry, apple, and raspberry in the Linzer tart and chocolate croissants, quiches, and scones

Bread Alone has sourdough, multigrain bread, foccacia breads; raisin nut, Ciabatta, and peasant rolls; as well as muffins, tarts, danishes, cookies, baguettes, scones, tarts, cookies, danishes, muffins are also available.

Red Jacket Orchard has plums, sour cherries, apples, gooseberries, jams, and juice.

Come learn about healthy choices and safe food preparation from the Cornell University Co-operative Extension and get a free blood pressure screening from Montefiore Hospital staff.

You can learn more about Greenmarket, part of the Council on the Environment of New York City and one of the largest open-air farmers market programs in the country their booth. Taste what’s fresh at their weekly cooking demonstrations.

Today is Greenmarket day at the Garden. And that means nectarines!

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

The Greenmarket is open from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. and is free to everyone. Stop by!