It's About Thyme
April 23, 2009
"Several Habits of Highly Effective Gardeners"
A free lecture this Sunday, 2pm, by Jenny Nazak
Jenny will introduce you to an approach to gardening - and life - with
the principles of permacultural design in mind. (This is where gardeners
mimic the natural ecology of their surroundings as much as possible.)
Jenny is public-relations coordinator of the Austin Permaculture Guild. Her
interests include urban permaculture, human-powered transport, tiny houses,
semi-nomadism, building with recycled materials, and solar cooking.
To read more about permaculture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture
To read a fascinating story of Jenny's frugal lifestyle from a Statesman profile:
A permaculture garden at the La'akea Community, Hawaii
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NEXT WEEK'S LECTURE: May 3, 2 pm: ‘Tie Dye Workshop,’ by Doug
Benjamin of Light Vibrations. Learn the process of tie dye, color techniques,
and make your own shirt. A $25 fee will cover the costs of all materials,
including the shirt which dye with your own design. (Wear old clothes.) Call
the nursery to pre-register for this class. (Only 12 spots available.)
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Organic Pest Control Solutions
By Chris Winslow
Good news. Organic gardeners no longer need to use any toxic
chemicals to treat plant disease.
With the addition of Actinovate and Serenade, we now have two
highly effective organic solutions to combat an array of the common
lawn and vegetable blights.
Actinovate, made by Natural Industries of Houston, uses Streptomyces
lydicus, a naturally occurring beneficial bacteria, to control many root
and plant diseases common to turf and ornamental plants.
This bacteria adheres to plant roots and forms colonies that destroy
the pathogens that cause these diseases.
Until Actinovate arrived on the horticultural scene, there were no
organic cures or treatments for Take-All Patch disease in St. Augustine
grass and many other diseases.
(www.naturalindustries.com)
The second product, Serenade, consists of the micro-organism Bacillus
subtilis, which uses its natural biochemistry to attack common plant
diseases such as molds, rust, blight, black spot, and powdery mildew.
It’s safe to use Serenade on roses, flowers, shrubs, trees, and vegetables.
Besides being non-toxic to birds, bees, and beneficial insects, vegetables
can even be safely harvested on the same day as spraying.
(www.serenadegarden.com)
Great! We now have two fantastic products that attack plant disease
problems without harming the environment and ourselves.
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For those of us that are late in setting out our tomatoes there is still time.
As we get closer to hot days and warm nights, we need to choose varieties
that produce fast and can set fruit in higher temperatures.
For a fast tomato, try celebrity or early girl.
For varieties that set well in the heat, try roma, BHN 444, Amelia, heatwave
2, sun flare, and sun pride.
Also, the cherry types never fail in the heat. Try sweet one hundreds, sun
gold, red cherry large, Juliette, yellow pear, and red grape.
By the way, those onions you planted in the fall should be close to ready
to harvest. What was I thinking when I planted a thousand of them? I am
now working my way through them with grilled onions every evening.
What a treat!
Happy (organic) gardening everyone!
Visit the website at www.itsaboutthyme.com Visit the
nursery at 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748 Tel. 512 280 1192
