Extension Education in Travis County

Easy Gardening Series Detailed tips from Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension on specific crops and practices.

Vegetable Gardening in Austin Resource hub for all things vegetables for Travis County

Monthly Gardening Calendar for Austin and Central Texas

Watch the Vegetable Gardening in Central Texas Webinar

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.

What’s Happening In Austin’s November Vegetable Garden

Posted on November 1, 2023 by sheryl.williams

November Vegetable Gardening Checklist from Paula Wolfel

November is a beautiful time in the Austin garden: pests start to ease up or disappear and the heat and humidity are also gone. Gardens are filled with brassicas, leafy greens, and artichokes, while root vegetables are starting to pop out from the soil. There are also still so many flowers and pollinators.

garden bed with multi-colored greens growing in the November vegetable garden

Austin’s Fall Garden has a variety of brassicas, greens, onions and garlic, and root vegetables.

Summer Harvest and Seed Saving

Summer plants that survived the harsh heat and drought of this summer will continue to grow until the first freeze, which the average first frost is November 27th. Keep an eye on the forecast and pick all tomatoes before the first freeze and let them ripen on your kitchen counter, in a sunny window, near bananas, or in a brown paper bag. Eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, okra, and snap beans can also be harvested prematurely. Similarly, snip delicate herbs like basil and either make sauces and freeze them, or dry them and use as dried herbs.

As the summer plants provide their lasts harvest consider saving seeds from open-pollinated annual crops that don’t easily cross-pollinate, like tomatoes, peppers, okra and beans. Shell seeds from pods or the fruit and allow to dry completely. Place in a paper envelope or glass jar and label with variety and date. Store in a cool dry location.

Stockpile Leaves for Mulch or Compost

Stockpile leaves over the next few months to use for spring and summer mulch. Those leaf bags make handy storage containers if you’ve got room to pile them up. Leaves can also be mixed with kitchen waste and added to the compost pile over the winter. Water lightly if the pile is dry to keep the microbial life active.

November Vegetable Garden Checklist

While you’re enjoying the last of the summer blooms, here are some jobs you can do in your November vegetable garden:

FERTILIZE

Feed vegetable plants with a water-soluble fertilizer every 2-3 weeks while they are actively growing.

WATER

Water as needed. Daily watering is important for seeds and new transplants during the first two or so weeks—until they put out new leaves. Irrigate plants during dry periods; vegetables that are not watered regularly are more susceptible to pests, diseases, and freeze damage.
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.

SOIL

Late fall is one of the best times to amend your soil. Adding organic materials in the fall all time for them to decompose and break down over the winter. I recommend against tilling because tilling disrupts soil structure that you worked so hard all summer to build! Add a thin layer of compost or organic material to the top of your soil and turn the soil lightly with your hands or a garden fork. If you must till, them consider adding compost before tilling that way you are at least mixing it into your soil.
Always cover your soil with mulch. Mulch helps keep moisture in the soil, suppresses weeds, prevents soil erosion, provides cover for beneficial, predatory insects and spiders.
Fall is also a good time to get a soil test if you have not done so in a few years. Soil tests will tell you if your soil is ready for the spring and if it is not, it will guide you in what should be added to your soil so you are ready for a big harvest next year. https://soiltesting.tamu.edu/

WHAT TO PLANT

Colorful group of cool season plants to harvest on the November vegetable garden checklist

A selection of cool season, mustard, and Asian greens, collards, kale, chard, lettuces and arugula, and Chinese cabbage.

Seeds

Beets (early November)
Carrots (early November)
Fava beans (early November)
Greens, cool season (all month)
Radishes (all month)
Turnips (first half of the month)

Transplants

Garlic (all month)
Shallots (all month)

Seeds or Transplants:

Asian Greens (all month)
Collards (first half of the month)
Kale (all month)
Kohlrabi (early November)
Lettuce (all month)
Mustard (first half of the month)
Spinach (all month)
Swiss chard (first half)

DISEASES AND PESTS TO LOOK FOR

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 brassica 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 drop them in a cup of soapy water or squash them.
Aphids are also still around. Lady beetles are the best defense. When they are not present, try spraying the plant with a shot of water or using insecticidal soaps and oils.
Silverleaf whitefly, grubs, and thrips are also pests that show themselves in the fall and winter garden.

MAINTENANCE

Well-established brassicas can generally withstand freezing weather.

Monitor weather forecasts for freeze warnings and protect tender vegetables by covering with row cover, sheets, or even a box.
Tidy up the garden, disconnect hoses, and put away tools before cold weather arrives.
Pull or cut down weeds before the go to seed.
If you decide to take a break for the winter season be sure to still cover your soil with mulch!

HARVEST

Harvest near-ripe tomatoes before the first freeze, and allow them to ripen indoors out of direct sun.
Enjoy a supply of fresh salad greens by harvesting young leaves of lettuce, kale and spinach. This is when the leaves are small and tender, and have the sweetest flavor. Regular harvesting will stimulate plants to produce more leaves.

Additional Resources

Vegetable Planting Calendar (Español, 繁体中文)

Vegetable Gardening in Austin

Monthly Gardening Calendar for Austin and Central Texas

Tool Maintenance

About Paula Wolfel

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

Vegetable Planting Calendar (Español, 繁体中文)

Vegetable Gardening in Austin

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.

Additional Resources

About Wizzie

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 2 weeks as needed. 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

Vegetable Gardening in Austin