September 2009 Archives

I really meant to take pictures today (tomorrow I promise!) because my jaw dropped when I saw my garden this morning.
Those inches of rain we got last week, along with the cooler temperatures, have turned it around! The seeds have germinated, and there are flowers on the eggplants and tomatoes that I nearly gave up for dead!
I'll share photos tomorrow.
In the meantime, want to spread your love of gardening to local schools? The Sustainable Food Center has School Garden Mentor Training on September 26. For $20, you'll learn how you can get started. Click here to find out more.

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Categories: around Austin | news | vegetables and fruits |

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Are you excited about all this rain we're getting? I am.
I could do without the weather warnings, though. It always worries me when I see a flash flood warning go across my screen. Be careful out there, folks.
I'm fortunate to have a bunch of windows around in my office, and sometimes I find myself staring outside, hoping that my garden is getting just as much rain as we are at work.
It's amazing what a little water has done for my garden. I realized when Stage 2 water restrictions went into effect and I went outside to re-program the drip irrigation control that it's been broken for weeks. That would explain why everything was so toasty!
So, a few weeks ago, I decided to start fresh, plant some seeds, and religiously began watering with a hose-end sprayer each morning. After a couple of week, I noticed that the tomato and pepper plants started turning green again. And now that the temps are only in the 90s during the day -- rather than 100s -- they have started setting flowers again. And to think that I also gave up and ripped those plants out!
Now we have new basil, peas, dill, fennel and various sunflower varieties coming up. Love it!

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Categories: news | vegetables and fruits |

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I was sitting at my dining room table over lunch, browsing through a Newsweek left there and eating leftovers when I stumbled upon an article that said there are now 43 million gardeners in the US.
Whoa! That's 7 million more gardeners than there were last year... that's a lot!
The article doesn't do more than guess that there are a number of reasons why people choose to garden vegetables -- edible gardening, according to the article.
I know that I started because I wanted the convenience of harvesting vegetables from my yard, rather than depending on a store. And it just tastes better in my opinion!
If you're a new gardener, good for you! I congratulate you on taking on what seems to be one of the toughest places to garden in the US -- Texas' seasons soil and weather can frustrate even the most seasoned gardeners. But if you love it, it's all worth it.

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Categories: news |

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