July 21 , 2011
Cultivating ideas, fall vegetables, first Garden Pet of Week!
congratulation to Mojito , our firstMaude & Augie Doggie ’s Garden Pet of the Week!This Maine Coon is the proud possessor of Tina & David Poe .
While supervise them in the garden , he chews on lemon grass ( which has anti - bacterial and anti - fungal properties ) . For dessert , he favors catnip . Thanks , Tina , David & Mojito !
Garden Pet of the Week can be any beloved creature in your garden , so send on your high - resolution pictures and a brief description of your small ally to llehmusvirta@klru.org .
Even though most of my plants will make it through the drouth , I ’ve bring forth a lot of provision and update to do . Translation : WORK ! One thing is to make larger expanse of hardscape , especially tract . I ’ve been analyse every option “ under the Lord’s Day , ” dare I say ? On the Windsor Park Garden Tour in May , I took a few pictures of some ideas .
And even though it ’s sweaty , it ’s really sentence to design the fall vegetable garden , so when nerveless weather comes , we ’re quick to go for it ! Bruce Leander ’s picture on the cover of the July / AugustTexas Gardener magazineto illustrate Patty Leander ’s storyis enough to jumpstart even the weariest summer warrior .
This week on CTG , Master Gardener Patty Leanderjoins Tom for tips to transition from summer crops to wintertime ’s harvest .
Fall is really our soft time to rise all kinds of treat without SWEARING a quite a little !
You never need to eat foodstuff store lettuce in cool months , since it ’s so easy to arise your own artistic and yummy display .
Since it will still be hot when we get start , fit out Patty ’s originative ways to shade young plants and seedling . These are great idea for young ornamental , too .
you could also use a 30 % blending cloth .
Patty also has tips to pop cool down the soil now with thick layers of mulch ( preferably tear up leaves , desiccated sens , partially decomposed compost , not bark chips ) . As we get near , cool down with burlap or other material , and/or piddle really well for several day in advance to wet the soil down deep and cool down it .
Get her monthly tipsand those of other Master Gardeners in their unbelievable monthly newssheet , Compost Bin !
Meet Patty in personand find out even more at theTravis County Master Gardeners Fall Vegetable workshopon August 6 from 10 a.m. – noon . This devoid grade will be defend atZilker Botanical Garden .
Get planting guides , month - by - month lists , and set more in theTravis County Master Gardener ’s Garden Guide for Austin and Vicinity , just $ 14.95,available at these locating .
Online , determine outCentral Texas Horticulture , the Travis County site of Texas AgriLife Extension , for veggie planting guides and varieties , plus a barrow - full of other swell entropy ! AtAggie Horticulture , connect to the Extension site in your county , along with other resources .
And , if you ’ve been look for the unadulterated constitutive water sprayerto fend off spider mites , aphids , and the succulent pests that Entomologist Wizzie Brown feature next hebdomad , check out theMiteYFine sprayer !
For years , Patty ’s been asking her technologist brother to amount up with just the right gimmick for a high - might , focussed blast of water system to quickly drown those pests and get them off her plants . Her buddy ’s married woman leap in with product ontogenesis . Wizzie attest to its great success !
Now that ’s a mighty hunky-dory thing ! I think I ’m sending Patty ’s comrade a list of prick I ’d like to see but am certainly not creative enough to build !
Daphne and Augie Doggie reply : What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable ?
As she notes , “ It depends on who you ask . A cook ’s definition will differ from a botanist ’s . In cooking terms , generally , a fruit is sweet and a veggie is not . So to a chef , a Lycopersicon esculentum ’s a veggie . ” ( Thanks to Sara Robertson for all these yummy homegrown fruits ! )
“ But , to a botanist , a yield is a ripened ovary and any add-on tissue surrounding it . So a love apple is a yield , like an orange or a pepper . Then , when you talk to a plantsman , a vegetable is an herbaceous industrial plant train for an edible purpose , so in that typesetter’s case tomato plant goes back to being a vegetable ! ”
To a plant scientist , a veg is a plant that is edible for its leave of absence , stems or roots , including beets , carrot , loot , Asparagus officinales , scallion , and Irish potato . Whatever they are , they ’re good for you !
On turn , we repeat our segmentwith Dorsey Barger , atomic number 27 - owner ofEastside Cafewith Elaine Martin , for super ideas with container and how she rotates crop in modified blank . With cinder cylinder block , line storage tank , and salve materials , she create many garden choice without a crowd of instrument or a bunch of cash .
John Dromgooledemonstrates how to get your seeds off to a full start . Some benefit from overnight soak for easiest sprouting .
Another event to check out!Head to theLady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centeron July 24 to honour Lady Bird Johnson . This is a free - admission price twenty-four hour period filled with family activities , admit the children ’s play , “ wildflower , ” songs by sear zoologist Lucas Miller , artist Catherine Flowers , and a book of account signalize byJeannette Larson , author of “ hummingbird : Fact and Folklore from the Americas . ” And lots more , to observe the woman who did so much to exchange our perspective .
PLUS ! If you ’ve wanted to meetSharon Lovejoy , author of many script and powder magazine articles , here is your chance ! She ’ll be in Austin next week for presentation and Koran signings forToad Cottages & Shooting Stars : Grandma ’s Bag of Tricks . But this is n’t just for grandmas ; it ’s for young families and for every gardener who need a little cost increase to just go out there and have sport ! On July 25 , she ’ll be atBook Peoplefrom 4 - 6 p.m. On July 26 , she ’s give a lecture shop by The Natural Gardener . The lecture will be hold off - site ( with reception and book signing at NG later ) . The talk is an RSVP , soclick herefor detail .
Until next week , Linda
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