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Tag Archives: grow vegetables
Wells Branch Community Library Plant Clinic and Seed Swap
Master Gardener Plant Clinic and Seed Swap at Wells Branch Community Library The Wells Branch Community Library is hosting the Master Gardener Plant Clinic during their seed swap event. Travis County Master Gardener Jane Kurzawa Cravey will be conducting a short seminar at 1:30 pm and again at 3:00 pm on vegetable gardening. She is joined by several other Master Gardeners who can answer questions on the best plants for the Austin area, lawn care, fertilizers, pest management, landscaping challenges, vegetable gardens, and native plants. Look for their… Read More →
What’s Happening in Austin’s May Vegetable Garden
Austin’s May Vegetable Garden Checklist Tips from Paula Wolfel May is upon us and are veggies are growing! I am already picking tomatoes, radishes, asparagus, snap peas, and lots of lettuces and greens. You still have time to get new plants in before the summer heat arrives. Make sure you are staying on top of your watering as it is the most important task for May. Your vegetable garden prefers rain but if those drops are not falling from the sky, then make sure you are watering plants… Read More →
What’s Happening in Austin’s March Vegetable Garden
March Vegetable Garden Checklist Tips from Paula Wolfel The March vegetable garden is where the magic happens in my Austin yard! Every year, I plant the bulk of my spring garden the week after spring break—I have 3 elementary age children who are off of school 10-19 March. By late March, daytime temperatures are consistently warm enough for spring and summer vegetable (often reaching the 80s), and nighttime temperatures no longer drop below freezing. However, keep an eye out for a late-season cold front. The last average frost… Read More →
What’s Happening in Austin’s February Vegetable Garden
February Vegetable Garden Checklist Tips from Paula Wolfel February is a fun month for Austin gardening because we start planning for our spring and summer gardening. It is almost as if what occurs this month will dictate your gardening all the way through the fall! Hopefully you have been keeping up with the weeds, if not, use the warmer days to get out there and start spring cleaning in your garden. Early in the month, work 1-2” of compost into your beds. There are a wide range of… Read More →
In the (Hot) July Vegetable Garden
It’s Dry in the July Vegetable Garden If you’re a new gardener in the Austin area, you’re probably wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into. The U.S. Drought Monitor tells the story. Over 2/3 of Travis County is now tagged as experiencing extreme drought. Dry conditions mean that the soil has a reduced capacity to capture and store heat, exacerbating the high temperatures we are already experiencing. High nighttime temperatures cause many varieties of tomatoes to produce sterile pollen, which means your plants are going to stop fruiting (if… Read More →
In the January Vegetable Garden
Freeze Wallops the January Vegetable Garden And just like that the hard freeze arrives and wipes out a good portion of my January vegetable garden. Happy new year to you too mother nature! Like many of you, I’ve been gardening like crazy up until a few days ago and enjoying constant harvests from just about everything. I was even picking okra! But not anymore. All those tender vegetables and herbs are blackened and shriveled from the hard freeze that hit my Austin garden. I’ve been paying attention to… Read More →
In the December Vegetable Garden
When is it Winter in Austin Texas? Winter is a relative term for the December vegetable garden if you live in Austin. The first freeze hasn’t arrived yet, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t lurking around the corner (the average frost date is the first week of December.) It is classic weather for Austin – which means anything can happen. According to NOAA, we have entered into a La Nina weather pattern, which for us here in Central Texas means we can expect warmer than normal temperatures and… Read More →
In Austin’s November Vegetable Garden
First Frost on the Way Fall has arrived and winter is on the way, but there is still plenty to do in the November vegetable garden. The first frost to Central Texas usually arrives after Thanksgiving (the average is the first week of December.) We are lucky that even with the occasional frost we have many mild days that are perfect for cool season vegetable growth. Your November vegetable garden plan is to get your plants through the cold snaps so they can keep growing until ready for… Read More →
In the September Vegetable Garden by Patty Leander
Still Sizzling in September Vegetable Garden Central Texas is known for parched, sizzling summers but what a difference the unexpected and well-timed rains made in our gardens and rain barrels in June and July. Peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes, especially cherries, produced longer than usual, okra flourished and even Austin’s hiking trials are verdant and dense. It’s hard to imagine that earlier this year Texas was was hammered by a record-breaking deep freeze. Vegetable gardeners welcome the arrival of September because it means that cool weather is on the… Read More →
In the August Vegetable Garden with Patty Leander
Transition Time in the August Vegetable Garden August is a transitional time in the vegetable garden as we 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 we have over 3 months of frost-free weather ahead. Many gardeners concentrate on the array of cool season vegetables that thrive in fall’s cooler temperatures though there is also time for a fresh planting of green beans,… Read More →