Extension Education in Travis County

Monthly Gardening Calendar for Austin and Central Texas

Tool Maintenance

About Paula Wolfel

Paula Wolfel joined the Travis County Master Gardener program in 2022, but has been gardening in Austin, Texas since 2017. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago learning how to garden from both her father—a Sicilian vegetable and fruit tree gardener—and both her grandmothers, and then spent years in Virginia gardening. Paula loves gardening because she finds it to be a grounding force- it gets her out of her head and into the present. She loves the pride that comes with cooking a meal for her family with every ingredient coming from her garden… and then the humility she feels when she loses an entire crop because of Mother Nature. She finds gardening to be wisdom, lessons, best practices passed down generation to generation, season to season and hopes to share that with you.

How to Choose Vegetable Varieties

Posted on October 29, 2023 by sheryl.williams

Have you ever found yourself at a garden center, staring at a rack of seeds or a table full of transplants and wondering how to choose vegetable varieties for your garden? The many selections at nurseries and online can seem a bit overwhelming, and ending up with plants you don’t need can be costly. The following tips may help with the decision making.

Plan Before You Buy

Assess your garden situation, considering the space you have, the time you can devote to tending plants, as well as the time of year for planting (warm season or cool season). View the Travis County planting calendar for recommended planting dates: https://travis-tx.tamu.edu/files/2020/06/Vegetable-Planting-Calendar-Travis-2015.pdf. The time of year makes a big difference on how to choose vegetable varieties that will thrive in the expected weather conditions.

Focus on Vegetables You Like to Eat

Make the most of your garden investment by choosing vegetables that appeal to you and those who will be cooking and eating the harvest. Consider varieties that are unique, hard to find or more expensive to buy at the grocery store such as orange cauliflower, yellow beans or fingerling potatoes. Take note of the expected harvest from the vegetables you plan to grow to determine how many plants you will need. One tomato seed will produce several tomatoes but one carrot seed will produce one carrot.

Review Gardening Resources

Start your search with reliable variety recommendations from Travis County AgriLife Extension (https://travis-tx.tamu.edu/files/2023/11/VegetableVarieties2023_English.pdf) and Texas A&M (https://aggie-hort.tamu.edu/publications/veg_variety/). Choose vegetable varieties that fit your soil and sun availability.

Shop Seed Sources

local seed library card catalog to help choose vegetable varieties

Some local libraries and community garden clubs offer a seed library or seasonal seed swaps that allow gardeners to trade and share seeds.

Shopping seed catalogs and garden websites is the best way to find specific varieties, whether an old favorite or a new release. Most seed companies allow you to sign up for informative newsletters about their latest offerings. Some provide insight into their work with vegetable breeders and trials before releasing new varieties. Texas based Willhite Seed is a 103-year-old, family-owned business; the varieties they offer are a good barometer of what is popular and dependable in Texas. Community seed swaps, garden club plant sales and seed libraries are also good sources of regional vegetable seeds and transplants. Travis County AgriLife Extension provides a list of reputable seed sources at the following link: https://travis-tx.tamu.edu/files/2021/12/VegetableSeedSources2021.pdf

Check Pricing and Quantity

Specialty hybrid and artisan seeds or varieties that have unusual colors, enhanced disease resistance or other special attributes command a premium price and a seed packet may only contain a small number of seeds. Be sure to check price and quantity before deciding which seed packets you want to add to your cart.

Read the Variety Description

seed packets and catalogs with information to help you choose the vegetable variety best for your garden

Seed catalogs, university websites, seed packets and plant labels provide useful cultivation and harvest information for specific vegetable varieties.

Seed catalogs, plant tags and seed packets provide valuable information that can help with garden layout and timing. Knowing the days to harvest, mature size, spacing recommendations and disease resistance can help you choose varieties that will work for your particular situation. Some varieties are vining, some are bush, some are compact and some are sprawling. Make sure you match the mature size and growth habit to the space you have available.

Look for All-American Selections

Founded in 1932, All-America Selections (AAS) is an independent horticultural organization that coordinates trials of new flower and vegetable varieties in test plots and botanical gardens across the country in search of superior ornamentals and edibles for home gardeners. The winners receive an AAS designation that they display in retail centers and seed catalogs. Past AAS winners include long-time favorites such as ‘Clemson Spineless’ okra, ‘Juliet’ tomato and ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard.

Identify Hybrid and Open-Pollinated Seeds

Hybrid varieties are bred to combine desirable characteristics, such as disease resistance or improved yields, from two distinct parent plants. The seed is produced by man-made crosses and often the parent plants are known only to those involved in seed production. Saving seed from hybrids is not recommend because the results will not be consistent and may not display the desired traits. Open-pollinated seeds are described as true to type; they are stable varieties and will produce plants that are genetically identical to the parent plant. Open-pollinated seed can be collected and saved from year to year. Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated varieties that have been saved and passed on for more than 50 years.

Order Early

Trendy and new varieties go out of stock quickly. Other years there are crop failures which mean certain seeds won’t be replenished. Shopping early in the season provides the best selection. Even better, ordering early gives you time to find substitutes for varieties that aren’t available.

Track Results and Repeat!

Use a garden journal or calendar to help you choose vegetable varieties in coming years. Each of our gardens have unique micro-climates and it’s worth keeping track of what works. Run your own experiments by choosing one or two new varieties each garden season as challengers. If you have young children in your life, choose a weird-looking vegetable variety to help keep curious minds engaged. (This also works with spouses.)

Additional Resources

Watch the Vegetable Gardening in Central Texas Webinar

Monthly Gardening Calendar for Austin and Central Texas

About Patty Leander

In the Vegetable Garden with Patty G. Leander

This post was written by Patty G. Leander.

Patty is a contributing editor for Texas Gardener magazine and an active member of the Travis County Master Gardeners Association with an Advanced Master Gardener specialty in vegetables. She has been growing vegetables year-round in her Austin garden for over 20 years, encouraging the use of sound, horticultural principles that will lead to a bountiful harvest.

Texas Tarantulas by Wizzie Brown

Posted on October 25, 2023 by sheryl.williams

A tarantula, Aphonopelma sp. (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Photo by Jackman.

Texas Tarantulas Use Hair As Defense

Tarantulas, also known as baboon spiders in Africa or hairy spiders in South America, are the largest spiders in the world. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Tarantulas have two body regions, eight legs, and hairy bodies. Tarantulas that are found in North and South America have hairs used in defense. These tarantulas use their legs to flick hairs off their abdomen and into the face of predators. Hairs cause irritation to the eyes and mucous membranes. Tarantulas can be attacked by birds, lizards, snakes, and tarantula hawk wasps.

Nocturnal Predators

Tarantulas are nocturnal predators and feed on insects, other spiders, small lizards, frogs, and snakes. When prey is captured, it is then bitten with the spider’s fangs and injected with venom with digestive enzymes that kills and liquefies the prey. Once prey is soupy, the tarantula sucks up juices through their fangs. While tarantulas are capable of biting humans, their venom does not react with our body chemistry like widow or recluse spiders. Tarantula bites are comparable to a bee sting.

Fifteen Species of Texas Tarantulas

There are fifteen species of tarantulas in Texas and they create burrows in the ground, typically in well-drained soil. They use their webbing to line burrows which helps to shore up tunnels so they do not collapse. Webbing can also be used to create a molting mat which is laid down before the tarantula sheds its exoskeleton as well as used for handling prey. In other parts of the world, tarantulas live in trees and may use webbing to create a sling as a nest. Tarantulas are solitary, so there will only be one tarantula per burrow.

Tarantulas are arthropods, so they have an exoskeleton which requires them to molt numerous times throughout their life to grow. When ready to molt, which is controlled and signaled by hormones that only arthropods have, the tarantula lays down a silken molting mat, flips over on its back, and pops open the old exoskeleton along a weakened area called the ecdysial cleavage line. The spider must push its way out of the old exoskeleton by expanding and contacting its body to help wiggle its way out. Once the spider has emerged from the old exoskeleton, it stays in place on its back until the new exoskeleton hardens and then it will flip back over.

Brake for Tarantulas!

Some in Texas may come across mass “migrations” of tarantulas. These are not true migrations as the tarantulas are not moving to live in a new area, but instead, are males out searching for females for mating.

While tarantulas may be disconcerting for people when they venture indoors, they really are not a pest and don’t warrant control. The best thing to do is to keep tarantulas outside where they belong be excluding the home so the spiders cannot enter.

For more information or help with identification, contact Wizzie Brown, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Program Specialist at 512.854.9600.

This work is supported in part by the Crop Protection and Pest Management, Extension Implementation Program [award no. 2021- 70006-35347/project accession no. 1027036] from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Additional Resources

About Wizzie

Wizzie Brown
County Extension Program Specialist – Integrated Pest Management
Email:EBrown@ag.tamu.edu
Wizzie has been with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service since 2002 and has been playing with insects since she was a toddler. She is an Extension Program Specialist with the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. Wizzie holds a B.S. in entomology from The Ohio State University and a M.S. in entomology from Texas A&M University. The integrated pest management program provides identification, biological and management information to whomever needs help. Wizzie’s research focuses on imported fire ants, including community wide fire ant management. Wizzie also is happy to provide programs to area groups on a variety of arthropod-related topics. You can find insect and other arthropod information on Wizzie’s blog.

Eat A Rainbow Halloween Style

Posted on October 25, 2023 by sheryl.williams

Eat a Rainbow Presented by Travis County Master Gardeners

Master Gardener Eat a Rainbow Volunteers Posing for Camera

From left, Peggy Hart, Emily Waters, Beverly Brentwood, Eli Mueller, Mei Yi Pflum, Jana Beckham, Judith Craft, Laura Wilcox, Evelyn Hootkins, Darlene Watson, Kim Leon

How do you get almost 400 third and fourth graders excited about healthy eating with Halloween approaching, which is one of the unhealthiest holidays? Answer… use a colorful poster, sparkling bracelets, and interactive teaching to reinforce that colorful foods are healthy.

Kim Leon teaching two children about nutrition

Travis County Master Gardener Kim Leon teaching students the connection between color and nutrition.

Twelve enthusiastic Travis County Master Gardeners did just that at the Science of Agriculture Event at the Travis County Exposition Center on Thursday, October 5th. The event consisted of eight separate sessions for the Title 1 schools. The children divided into three groups for each session to encourage participation.

Halloween Theme Scares Up Interest

Adults using a skeleton poster to teach students

A skeleton poster associates food color with helpful nutrition.

A Halloween themed spooky skeleton poster illustrates how eating a rainbow of colors affects different parts of the body. The brain, eyes, skeleton, teeth, heart, aging, and the immune system are all tied in with food. Students learned that red is not the only color food that is good for their heart. White, yellow, and orange are “heart healthy” too. Children then called out foods that were red, white, yellow, and orange to illustrate their understanding.

colorful vegetables for children to guess where they belonged on the eat a rainbow activity

Fresh food of different colors for children to identify.

Next, Master Gardeners held up actual, fresh food of different colors and asked the children to identify them. The foods chosen were not on the poster and not ones that they normally see raw. The children identified the food and the targeted body part. Some of the foods relating to the heart included sweet potatoes and mushrooms. As expected, with Halloween right around the corner, pumpkins were frequently called out as healthy food.

Bracelets Crafted As Reminders

Colorful beads representing food groups on children's wrists

Eat A Rainbow activity teaches children that specific colors of fruits & veggies help specific parts of the body.

Why should wrists have all the fun?

At the end of each session, Master Gardeners distributed black chenille stems and bags of colorful beads that sparkled. Each bead represented a color of food covered in the presentation. As the children strung their beads, Master Gardeners reinforced that each colored bead represented specific healthy foods. The children delighted in wearing their bracelets on their wrists, as well as on their ankles.

The children were encouraged to share the information with their families and to keep the bracelet as a reminder that they should “eat a rainbow.” All of the Master Gardeners felt that this was a fun and worthwhile experience. As a result of this event, children learned that many colorful foods can be healthy and target specific parts of the body; they just have to “eat a rainbow.”

The program “Eat a Rainbow,” developed by Travis County Master Gardener JaNet Booher. It’s a crowd favorite at plant clinics and other community events.

This article was written by Evelyn Hootkins, Travis County Master Gardener and coordinator for the Eat a Rainbow activity.

In Austin’s October Vegetable Garden

Posted on October 3, 2023 by sheryl.williams

Fall Finally Arrives in the October Vegetable Garden

I am so thankful for fall weather. Shorter days and cool mornings have brought back the gardening enthusiasm that the relentless heat of summer usually drains. That small stretch of rain we had last month really helped too. If you haven’t already, take advantage of the mild, frost-free weather this month and get cole crops, root crops, greens, and garlic established in the garden.

Try Garlic This Year

Garlic makes a great addition to any garden as long as you pick the right variety for the time of year you plan to harvest. I plant very early varieties to make sure that I get a good harvest in mid May. Usually May is our rainiest month, and in my heavy clay soil, the garlic heads will rot if I don’t get them out of the ground. For the rest of you with better soil, you’ll want to plant cloves this month and harvest no later than June.

Garlic hanging on rack to dry in the June vegetable garden

Early maturing garlic varieties can be easy to grow.

Some online garlic sources are starting to sell out, but your local nursery may still have seed garlic in stock. You can plant them in a row, a raised bed, or even in your landscape. Prepare a planting area in full sun and add 3-4” layer of well-decomposed compost to help improve soil structure. Garlic likes to grow in fertile free-draining conditions. Plant the cloves 1-2 inches deep, 6” apart, with the pointy side up. Water regularly throughout the winter and fertilize every 2-3 weeks with fish emulsion, blood meal, or other high nitrogen fertilizer. Full sun and high fertility are needed to produce large bulbs. Cultivate lightly to eliminate competition from weeds being careful to not damage garlic’s shallow roots.

Two Categories of Garlic

There are two categories of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Hardneck is the type that forms a flower stalk or scape as it matures. It grows best in colder climates but you might have some success growing it in Central Texas, especially if you refrigerate it a few weeks before planting. Hardneck varieties include Purple Stripe, Music, Ajo Rojo and Metichi.

I’ve had much better luck with softneck garlic because it’s better suited to our mild winters. Varieties to look for include California Early, Lorz, Inchelium Red, Creole Red, Cuban Purple, and Texas Rose. My favorite variety is Chinese Pink, but I’ve only found it on the Burpee website this year.

There are hundreds of garlic varieties and every year I experiment with at least one new variety. When you find one that works for you, make sure to write down the name for next year.

October Vegetable Garden Checklist

If garlic isn’t your thing, here are some other items in your October vegetable garden checklist:

Fertilizer

Fertilize garden vegetables with a water-soluble fertilizer or fish emulsion every 1-2 weeks. You want to give plants every opportunity to grow before our first freeze hits in late November or early December.

Water and Irrigation

Water as needed. Monitor the moisture in your planting beds by using a hand trowel. Dig down to a six-inch depth and use your hand to feel for a soil dampness. Many gardeners make the mistake of watering their mulch instead of getting irrigation directly into the soil.
Newly planted seeds and transplants will need extra water to get established. Water more frequently until seeds and transplants put out new leaves.

Planting

Plant garlic any time from mid-October thru early December.
Start planting lettuce and spinach as the temperatures begin to cool; a little shade above the plants will help with establishment if warm weather lingers. Look for nursery transplants or plant seed directly in the garden.
Cool-season herbs planted now, including cilantro, dill, chives, fennel, parsley and sage, will add zest to meals throughout the winter. Plan to let them flower in the spring to attract beneficial insects.
Plant cover crops in fallow areas to improve the condition of the soil. Cool-season options include Elbon rye, clover, Austrian winter peas and hairy vetch. Elbon rye is also a good rotation crop if you have nematode issues. It forms thick root mats that nematodes invade but can’t reproduce in, thus reducing the population in the planting area. Elbon rye is also called “cereal rye” and most independent nurseries in Austin sell it. Make sure you are buying the rye grain, not ryegrass.

Diseases and/or Pests to Look For

Cabbage loopers and other caterpillars can damage fall vegetable crops

Inspect plants regularly for caterpillars that can severely damage leaves of cole crops. Row cover or netting can be used to protect plants from moths that lay the eggs.

Keep an eye out for fall pests such as caterpillars, aphids and harlequin bugs. Look for and destroy eggs. Handpick caterpillars. Use a strong spray of water to dislodge aphids from plants.
Use row cover over brassica crops to keep the moths and butterflies from laying eggs on the foliage.
As we get more rain, slugs and snails will start showing up again. Visit the garden at dusk to pick off these voracious pests. I take a small flat rock with me and have squish fests.

Maintenance

Weeds love fall weather as much as vegetables. Keep them in check by regular pulling, hoeing and mulching. An extra bonus is that many weeds can be chopped up and added as a green to the compost pile.
One of my favorite weeding tools for fall is a circle hoe. They are great for knocking back weed seedlings in vegetable beds as well as pathways.
Watch the weather forecasts. The Austin area has had a freeze as early as Halloween. Get your frost protection ready so that it’s easy to put into place should we start to get cold temperatures. For me that means pulling my frost blankets out of an overhead rack.

Harvest

Sweet potatoes are generally harvested this month as their growth begins to slow down. Cut back on irrigation 2-3 weeks before you plan to harvest so soil is dry. Dig carefully to avoid bruising, brush the dirt off and place in a dry, shady location to cure for 5-10 days before storing or eating. Keep pests like squirrels and rats from helping themselves by covering the drying rack with chicken wire and/or netting.
Harvest winter squash and pumpkins when the rind is hard. Use pruners to cut from the vine, leaving 1-2 inches of stem attached. Be careful not to nick or scratch the skin as this could invite decay should you decide to store them.

Additional Resources

Watch the Vegetable Gardening in Central Texas Webinar

Monthly Gardening Calendar for Austin and Central Texas

About Sheryl Williams

Sheryl Williams has been a Travis County Master Gardener since 2010 and currently works as the Horticulture Program Assistant at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension – Travis County. She was introduced to gardening by her mom and grandma and has been an avid vegetable gardener most of her life. Sheryl believes that there is nothing more satisfying than growing and preparing your own food. She likes gardening in Austin year round and concedes that means pulling weeds every day. She practices organic gardening principles and enjoys the challenge of outsmarting garden pests. Occasionally she loses these battles, but doesn’t mind sharing a good meal.

What’s Happening in Austin’s September Vegetable Garden

Posted on September 1, 2023 by sheryl.williams

Purple eggplant harvested in the September vegetable garden

Enjoying the remnants of the summer garden

September Vegetable Garden Checklist Tips from Paula Wolfel

Vegetable gardeners and most everyone else welcome the arrival of September because it means cooler temperatures are on the way. Though the daytime temperatures are still hot, at some point in September, the nighttime temperatures begin to fall. That little drop will take heat stress off of plants and help make our gardens beautiful again. Gardeners are enjoying harvests from the plants that survived their summer gardens such as eggplant, cucumbers, melons, and tomatoes as well starting new with fall plantings.

The September Vegetable Garden Checklist

WATER

Daily watering is important for new transplants during the first two or so weeks as they put down roots. Water the soil before putting the plant in the soil.
Keep an eye on the sky – plants prefer rain water so if it is going to rain or rained the night before, skip your regularly scheduled irrigation until you can determine how much rain was received. Dry conditions in a vegetable garden can lead to delayed maturity, low yields, and poor quality so understanding soil moisture is crucial.
When planting seeds also water the soil before planting, then keep the soil most until the seeds have germinated.
Avoid watering in the middle of the day because water can be lost to evaporation. That’s mostly because the plant has closed it’s stomata to prevent water loss and doesn’t absorb water at the same rate that it does during cooler morning temperatures. The water that is applied to the soil during the hottest parts of the day is then just evaporated away.
Most vegetables have a growth stage when water is most critical: during head development for broccoli and cauliflower; during flowering and pod enlargement for beans and peas, and during root enlargement for radishes, beets, and carrots. Lettuce and other leafy vegetables do best with a fairly consistent supply of moisture from planting to harvest.

FERTILIZE

Sidedress vegetable transplants 3-4 weeks after planting. To sidedress, pull back mulch, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of fertilizer around the perimeter of the plant, scratch it lightly into the soil, water well, and replace mulch. Repeat this application of fertilizer again 3 weeks later to maintain healthy and vigorous growth. Keep soil moisture even so that the fertilizer doesn’t “burn” the plant.

SOIL

Newspapers laid on ground and covered with leaves for mulch

Use newspapers and mulch to protect soil and suppress weeds.

Clean up any dead plants.
Keep soil covered to conserve moisture, moderate temperature, and deter weeds.
One low-cost way to protect soil that is lying fallow is to spread a few layers of newspaper over the soil, wet it down, and top it with dried leaves, grass clippings, or mulch. Place drip or soaker hose underneath the leaves, grass, or mulch. This method works well for weed suppression around the perimeter of the vegetable garden too – just leave out the irrigation.
Put down a layer of mulch. It is an important component for the vegetable garden. It moderates soil temperatures, deters weeds, helps conserve moisture, and gradually breaks down and enriches soil. Dried grass clippings, leaves, pine straw, partially decomposed compost, and shredded bark are suitable options. When you’re ready to plant, just scoop up the mulch and put it in your compost bin.

WHAT TO PLANT IN THE SEPTEMBER VEGETABLE GARDEN

If transplants have been grown indoors or in a greenhouse, it’s a good idea to acclimate them to outdoor conditions before planting in the garden. Start by setting them in a shady spot for a few hours, gradually exposing them to more sun each day over the course of a week.
The best time for setting out transplants is in the evening or on a cloudy day, and if rain is in the forecast, it is very good for the plant to get rainwater right after being planted.
Broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower are planted as transplants in order to get a harvest before the first freeze. And root vegetables such as beets, carrots, turnips, and radishes are planted as seeds because they do not like their roots disturbed. Many of the other fall plants grow well from seeds or transplants. Seeds are less expensive and give you more control over the complete life of your plant. But transplants provide a quicker harvest.

SEEDS

Beets (all month)
Carrots (all month)
Leeks (seed all month for spring harvest)
Radish (all month)
Turnips (all month)

TRANSPLANTS

Broccoli (all month)
Brussel sprouts (all month)
Cabbage (all month)
Cauliflower (all month)

TRANSPLANTS OR SEEDS

green leaves yellow stems of swiss chard

Asian greens (all month)
Beans, snap and lima (early to mid month)
Chard, Swiss (all month)
Collards (all month)
Cucumber (early month)
Garlic (late month)
Greens, cold season (late month)
Kale (all month)
Kohrabi (late month)
Lettuce (mid-late month)
Mustard (all month)
Onion, bunching/multiplying (all month)
Peas, English, snap, and snow (all month)
Potato, Irish (early month)
Shallots (late month)
Spinach (late month)
Squash, summer (early month)

DISEASES/PESTS TO LOOK FOR IN THE SEPTEMBER VEGETABLE GARDEN

Cross-striped cabbage worm.

Fall armyworms, cabbage worms, cabbage loopers and cross-striped cabbage worms can be an issue this time of year, especially on cole crops like broccoli, kale and cauliflower. Cover new plantings with row cover to exclude the moth that lays the eggs or treat plants with a product containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which comes in either dust or spray form. Bt is deadly when consumed by caterpillars but does not harm other insects. Read the label and follow directions carefully. You can also pick them off with your fingers and either drop them in a cup of soapy water or squash them.

MAINTENANCE

Always keep up with the weeds: they compete with young plants for water and nutrients.
Continue to pull up any summer plants that are infested with pest damage or disease.

Additional Resources

Watch the Vegetable Gardening in Central Texas Webinar

Monthly Gardening Calendar for Austin and Central Texas

Tool Maintenance

About Paula Wolfel

Opportunities to Grow as a Gardener in Weather Extremes

Posted on August 18, 2023 by sheryl.williams

tree limbs on the ground from freeze damage

Tree damage from the 2021 storm

Meet “Frovid”

Before and after photos of damaged plants On February 12-18, 2021, we thought we had met our garden demise with what we refer to around here as Frovid. After that freeze we felt like our gardens and landscape across our three acre property would forever be changed. We lost so many perennials, succulents, fruit trees, and branches and we thought things would never recover. March rolled around and the massive undertaking of the cleanup was behind us, and thankfully we did not meet our garden demise. Just like the many spring seasons before, plants once again emerged and by May we were in full swing again with beautiful color and healthy plants. One would have never known it ever happened.

And Then Came the Ice

fallen limbs and trees and then same area cleaned up

A lot of downed limbs that had to be sawed up and hauled away.

Fast forward to February 1-2, 2023. The ice apocalypse strikes hard in south Austin. By February 2nd, a third of our trees or branches from trees were so laden with ice that they were splitting, cracking off and uprooting left and right throughout the property. For lack of a better description, our property looked like a war zone. Giant multi trunk cedar trees were splayed completely across gardens, driveways, paths, donkey and chicken runs and on three acres of fence line. We also lost many prized heritage oak branches. We had never felt so overwhelmed in our lives as things deteriorated around us. When it was all said and done, we had major work to do on half of the four hundred plus trees on the property.

More Clean Up

The City of Austin and surrounding counties set up brush drop off sites and once again we had the intense job of cleaning it up. We hired a crew for 2 days that cost us about 2k to get the large branches, uprooted trees, and anything dangling and unsafe. Over the next 30 days I worked everyday chain sawing, stacking, and loading branches. In total, I transported fourteen brush loads in my 10’x 8’ foot trailer across town to the Hornsby Bend city brush drop off site (https://www.austintexas.gov/brushdropoff), a wonderful free service the City of Austin provides.

And Yet…

Same garden with more sunlight and happy plants

More sun has made for healthier plants.

We left town for the month of March for a much-needed break and decided we would regroup in April and see what in the world we were going to do with all of the gardens that were now full blazing sun. Again, just like in 2021 we thought the property as we knew it was never going to recover. Well, here we are in July just 5 months later and things are thriving.

Many plants in our shade gardens were moved or taken out to introduce more sun-loving plants. Overall, things are much happier. It turns out the perennials we had planted in numerous partial shade areas were not getting enough sun and they are now thriving. The loss of these trees allowed us to reinvent some areas that quite honestly were getting a little tired and needed a facelift.

An Opportunity to Grow

These extreme temperatures are hard, and they always create a challenge. Too hot, too cold, but always an opportunity to grow and learn as a gardener and reinvent a spot. One of our most favorite gardens now was our least favorite post freeze. It just never worked with the giant tree towering over it. Now that the tree is gone, we completely recreated it with paths and rocks that provide additional visual interest. The perennials have filled in and are healthy and blooming.

I vow to never think a too hot or too cold season will be the end of what we create. It’s an opportunity to learn and to get in the best shape of our lives pulling it all back together! As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” and that certainly holds true for our little patch in south Austin. Of course, as our temperatures climb past 100 we have a new set of challenges in front of us. This too shall pass.

The Tally – Winners

Plants that made a complete rebound without any losses during both 2021 and 2023 freezes:

Shrubs

Pride of Barbados
Rock Rose
Yellow bells
Flame Acanthus
American Beauty Berry
Knockout Roses
Mexican Honeysuckle
Sotol
Firebush

Grasses/Perennials

Gulf Coast Muhly
Salvias
Majestic Sage
Bee Balm
Fall Aster
Silver Pony Foot
Obedient Plant
Cannas
Plumbago
Mexican Sage
Turks Cap
Shasta Daisies
Wormwood
Rock Penstemon
Fall Aster
Lantana
Greg’s Mist Flower
Clumping Bamboo
Mystic Spires
Gopher Plant

Vines

English Ivy
Crossvine

The Tally – Losers

These plants were damaged or a complete loss:

Arbequina Olive
Peach Trees
Cotoneaster
Germander Shrub
Prickly Pear Cactus
Mexican Mint Marigold
Jerusalem Sage
All Lavender Varieties
Ice Plant
Bi Color Iris

Additional Plant Resources

Ornamental Plants for Austin

The Grow Green Native and Adapted Landscape Plants guide

About Kay Angermann

Kay is a retired AISD teacher and has been a Travis County Master Gardener since 2018. She and Julie (also a Travis County Master Gardener) have had their “Katy Bird Farm” garden featured on Central Texas Gardener. They have two miniature donkeys, chickens, dogs, cats, and 15 different gardens on three acres. When she’s not busy on the farm, she’s out gathering vintage signs and décor for her Hipbilly Vintage business.

What’s Happening in Austin’s August Vegetable Garden

Posted on August 1, 2023 by sheryl.williams

Leafy plants with open spaces in the August vegetable garden

An example of an August garden with cucumbers, poblano peppers, tomatoes, and basil holding on but empty spaces where spaghetti squash and nasturtium succumbed to heat and insects.

Black Krim tomatoes going strong despite heat, waiting for cooler weather.

Stay Hydrated and Keep the August Vegetable Garden Going – Tips from Paula Wolfel

August is an interesting time for gardeners in Austin. Vegetable gardens consist of plants that have survived or are surviving the heat but have dormant and empty spots from plants that succumbed to high temperatures or pests and diseases.

For those who have tomato, pepper, eggplant, squash, melons, and cucumbers that are still going strong, continue to water daily and to provide a water-soluble fertilizer once a week.

If you’ve got empty spots or those who are ready to start new, clean up the remnants from summer and plan and prep for the milder days that will come. The first frost in Central Texas usually arrives in late November or early December which means you have over 3 months of frost-free weather ahead. Gardeners can concentrate on the array of cool season vegetables that thrives in fall’s cooler temperatures or there is still time for a round two of green beans, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes, which start producing about two months after sowing seeds.

Things to Do in the August Vegetable Garden

Water and Irrigation

Water continues to be the most important factor in the garden as the temperatures remain consistently above 90 degrees without rain. Continue to water your plants at the soil line every day if needed and give them a long, deep water once a week.
Irrigate in the morning. Wilted plants in the afternoon is a natural response. Watering at night in times of high humidity can promote fungal disease.
Water new seedlings regularly and transplants daily; direct sun combined with high temperatures can be a death sentence for a tender seedling without an established root system.

Fertilizer

As tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and squash begin to flower again and form fruit, give them a boost with an application of water-soluble fertilizer according to label directions.

Soil

Clean up any dead plants.
In preparation for planting, spread a 2-inch layer of compost over the garden beds and mix it in lightly. Water the area well before planting seeds or transplants.
Put down a layer of mulch. It is an important component for the vegetable garden. It moderates soil temperatures, deters weeds, helps conserve moisture, and gradually breaks down and enriches soil. Dried grass clippings, leaves, pine straw, partially decomposed compost, and shredded bark are suitable options.

What to Plant in the August Vegetable Garden

Shade young seedlings and transplants from direct afternoon sun. Use what you have on hand – an old window screen, shade cloth, sheets, cardboards, or umbrellas. It is not permanent and does not have to look pretty but it will give your plants a fighting chance.
If you have decided to grow cucumbers, squash, or green beans, plant seeds in late August or early September. For best results, choose varieties that mature in less than 60-days and be prepared to water daily until they are established.
Take into account the milder temperatures and shorter days that will slow the growth of fall plantings.
Seeds:
- Beets (late month)
- Carrots (late month)
- Corn (early-mid month)
- Greens, warm season (early-mid month)
- Turnips, (late month)
Transplants:
- Broccoli (late month)
- Brussel sprouts (late month)
- Cabbage (late month)
- Cauliflower (late month)
- Eggplant (early-mid month)
- Okra (early-mid month)
- Peppers (early-mid month)
- Tomatoes (early-mid month)
Transplants or Seeds:
- Beans, snap and lima (mid to late month)
- Chard, Swiss (late month)
- Collards (late months)
- Cucumber (all month)
- Kohrabi (late month)
- Mustard (late month)
- Peas, southern (early-late month)
- Potato, Irish (mid-late month)
- Squash, summer (all month)
- Squash, winter (early-mid month)

Diseases and/or Pests to Look For in the August Vegetable Garden

Aphids: a strong spray of water can easily dispatch them from the leaves or remove the leaves and put into a cup of soapy water. The soap breaks down their protective exterior and the aphids become dehydrated and die.

Maintenance

Pull weeds from the garden. They compete with young plants for water and nutrients.
Continue to pull up any summer plants that are infested with pest damage or disease. Remember, whatever malady they are suffering from will get worse, not better, during the stress of summer heat.

Harvest

You can harvest any tomato once the green turns to a yellowish-orange and it will ripen on your counter, especially if placed next to bananas or in a brown paper bag. You can harvest green tomatoes and they will ripen-just take a bit longer-or you can use in roasted tomato salsa, fried green tomatoes, or chop and add to a vegetable sauté. Store on counter or in bowl with stem side down to encourage ripening.

green, orange, and mottled orange tomatoes

Example of range of color that you can pick your tomatoes.

green to yellow to red tomatoes on a kitchen counter

All tomatoes in this photo were picked upon the first sign of yellow/orange and ripened on the counter.

Preparing Your Fall Garden

In preparation for fall, check your seed inventory and peruse seed catalogs for varieties that grow well in Austin and fit Austin’s required “days to harvest.” Popular vegetables for the fall garden include broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, kale and spinach, beets, radishes, and Swiss chard, as well as bush beans, cucumbers, and summer squash. In choosing frost-tender varieties look for those that will mature in less than 65-days.

You can save money by growing your own transplants of fall crops indoors under grow lights. Start planting seeds of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and other falls crops early in the month so they can be transplanted in September.

One habit to start, is to sketch out a garden planning grid and include a rotation plan for growing vegetables. Crops within the same family are often susceptible to the same pests or diseases. If possible, move or rotate plants to different locations to help break the pest/disease cycle.

Keep Up With Tool Maintenance

Find a shady tree or a patio and get caught up on tool maintenance.

Additional Resources

Watch the Vegetable Gardening in Central Texas Webinar

Vegetable Planting Calendar (English) (Español) (繁体中文)

Rootknot Nematode Management

Monthly Gardening Calendar for Austin and Central Texas

About Paula Wolfel

What’s Happening in Austin’s July Vegetable Garden

Posted on July 1, 2023 by sheryl.williams

vegetables from the july vegetable gardening checklist

Early July harvest- you can pick tomatoes as soon as the color changes from green to yellowish orange and have them ripen on your counter.

July Vegetable Garden Checklist Tips from Paula Wolfel

The July heat slows things down in the Austin vegetable garden. For most gardeners, July gardening consists of either trying to keep plants alive with daily watering until the temperatures drop again in late summer, or planning for their fall gardens. Heat and lack of rain can adversely affect growth and pollination so if your plants are not producing new fruits but remain green, try to hold tight until the temperatures drop. And in the meantime, start planning your fall garden. For those plants that have given up and have turned brown, or have succumbed due to pests and disease, pull them from your garden to make room for fall crops.

Your July Vegetable Garden Checklist:

WATER

Water remains the most important factor in the garden as the temperatures remain consistently above 90 degrees.
Continue to water your plants at the soil line every day if needed and give them a long, deep water once a week.

FERTILIZE

Over- fertilizing in summer is a common plant killer. Excess fertilizer (especially nitrogen) can burn plants in dry weather. This happens because the salts in fertilizer draw moisture out of plants that they are not able to replenish from soil moisture or retain due to evaporation on hot days. Lack of moisture results in scorched leaves resembling fire damage, or “burn”.
Use liquid fertilizers and be sure to water deeply.

SOIL

Mulch all bare soil.
Clean up any dead plants.

PLANTING

Seeds:

Corn (late month)
Greens- warm season (all month)

Transplants:

Eggplant (late month)
Peppers (mid-late month)
Tomatoes (all month for harvest before first freeze). Cherry tomatoes have an easier time setting fruit when it’s hot.

Transplants or Seeds:

Okra (late month)
Peas, southern (late month)
Squash, winter (late month)

DISEASES OR PESTS TO WATCH FOR

Spider Mite damage on green beans.

Aphids (yellow) and a lady bug pupa.

Spider mites thrive in dry, hot conditions and the warmer days will make aphids prevalent on stressed plants. Remove both with blasts of water to the underside of leaves. Remove any heavily infested plants from the garden.
Powdery Mildew: a fungal disease that affects many plants in the garden and is especially prevalent during times of high humidity.

MAINTENANCE

Pull up any tomato plants that are infested with pest damage or disease. Whatever malady they are suffering from will get worse, not better, during the stress of summer heat. Use green tomatoes for roasted tomato salsa, chow-chow relish, fried green tomatoes, or chop and add to a vegetable sauté. Or place on your counter upside down near a banana or in a brown paper bag and let them ripen.
Melons, peppers, and eggplant handle Texas heat better than tomatoes. Keep them watered and mulched. Even if they pause production during summer’s peak, they will power through and produce a bumper crop this fall.
Your July vegetable garden checklist should also include tool maintenance. Get things in tip-top shape while things are slowing down.

Start Planning Your Fall Garden

Vegetables for the fall garden include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, kale, beets, Swiss chard, carrots and sugar-snap peas, as well as bush beans, cucumbers and summer squash. In choosing frost-tender varieties look for those that have a short ‘days to harvest’, generally less than 65 days, so that plants have enough time to mature and produce before the first anticipated frost in Central Texas, which typically comes the end of November or first week of December.

Check your seed inventory and peruse seed catalogs for varieties you want to plant. You can save money by growing your own transplants of fall crops indoors under grow lights. Start planting seeds of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and other falls crops later this month so they will be ready for setting in the garden by mid-September.

Sketch out a rotation plan for growing vegetables. Crops within the same family are often susceptible to the same pests or diseases. Moving or rotating them to a different location helps break the pest and disease cycle.

Additional Resources

Watch the Vegetable Gardening in Central Texas Webinar