the Austin Garden | Big news from Far South nursery

Far South Nursery Open to the Public

Some exciting news to share this week with former custo-mers of It's About Thyme (writes Darrel Mayers).

The vast and beautiful Far South Wholesale Nursery (just a short drive from 'Thyme) has opened its gates to the general public. In addition, the friendly face of Jerry Hinton (formerly of 'Thyme) will be there to greet you ; - )

To step into the beautiful gardens of Far South is to step into an Eden, a dream of a nursery. All of the sounds and smells of the city somehow dissolve, and all around you are beautiful plants, and skilled gardeners busy propagating original stock, while centuries old oaks stand sentry nearby.

If you are into social distancing - make that extreme social distancing - then this hidden, rambling 20 acre nursery is perfect for you. It is, after all, roughly half the size of the University of Texas at Austin.

"This is a chance for people to visit a grower's nursery," explains manager Crystal Murray. "We're not traditional retail; our focus is on propagating plants. This is the place where it all starts."

Far South opened 20 years ago. But now, in this anniversary year, the nursery has found itself navigating its way through the calamities of Covid-19 shutdowns, and a steep decline in the wholesale business. Hence this transition into a mixture of retail and wholesale.

Given these unusual times, there are a few sensible procedures in place.

_________________

1. Customers must wear facemasks at all times and practice social distancing.

2. Customers can explore the nursery, and then make a list of the plants they want to buy. Do not touch the plants. (Not all of the plants that you see on site will be for sale.)

3. Phone 512-291-4648, share your list with a member of staff, and they will pick them up for you. If you see a member of staff, you can also give them your list.

4. Resist petting the nursery's dog Sweet Pea.

_________________

Crystal, who wears a facemask at all times, asks that customers embrace the difference in visiting this unique property.

"We're basically a farm," she explains. "We have 8 employees, 16 poly-tunnels, and over 500 different types of plants currently available. We're tremendously proud of all the plants that we're growing here and are excited to offer the public the opportunity to buy directly from the grower.

"But we ask that visitors be patient - we have a very limited sales staff at the moment. As the business changes, we are going to have to grow and change as well."

Based on some of the reviews on Yelp, it seems that Far South is impressing its new customers big-time.

"WHAT AN INCREDIBLE NURSERY! I mean the selection is endless," writes Casey M. "This place has acres, plants everywhere! It is a bit of a hidden gem, but it's worth driving to find!"

William A. J. writes: "The staff here is what really makes this business excellent. They curate an impeccable pallet of native and adapted plants that are easy on the earth and the gardener."

"Boy howdy am I glad I found this special gem today while searching for a great local nursery!" writes Hollie B.

_________________

Far South is open from 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday.

CLOSED WEEKENDS 1141 Penion Drive, 78748 (There is no access to the nursery from Chappell Lane. Please enter from Slaughter Lane.) www.farsouthnursery.com

_________________________________________________

Other nursery news: check websites for up-to-date info on their status. Note: The Natural Gardener will be closed tomorrow (Saturday) because of expected inclement weather.

Austin's High Line: our city is on track "for a buzzworthy new project near Lady Bird Lake that some are calling Austin's High Line," reports Culturemap. It's official name is Cypress and Shoal Creek, and it will transform an ailing antique railroad trestle into a public park. Let's cross our fingers and hope Piet Oudolf gets involved. CultureMap, details ❦

Nature worship: in this uplifting radio program, Sue Stuart-Smith talks about the healing effects of gardening, and its ability to create well-being in everyday lives. Jonathan Bate discusses poet William Wordsworth's career, love of gardening, and embrace of nature worship. BBC ❦

Recipe: de-boned chicken with veggies: from his outdoor kitchen (with hens aplenty in the background) field chef Eric Wilson takes viewers step-by-step through the process of deboning a chicken, and creating delicious golden brown parcels of meat and veggies. Modern Farmer ❦

_________________________________________________

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

Thursday Morning Landscape

design and installation,

free consultation Call Dwight: 512 913 2189

_________________________________________________

Central Texas Gardener: On tour, a backyard fruit orchard replaces an old tennis court. In the studio, Jay Arredondo (Desert to Tropics Nursery) pairs succulents of all kinds for eyepopping foliar and color combinations. Sat. 4 p.m. and Sun. 9 a.m. KLRU ❦

At Peace in my Garden

by Renee Studebaker

It’s mid-May and I’m harvesting Sungold tomatoes, onions, poblano peppers and fat pickling cucumbers. Also big handfuls of sweet basil. And next week, I expect to harvest my first green beans of the season.

That’s the good news from the garden. There’s also plenty of not so good news from the garden (see below), but in the midst of the corona virus pandemic, I’m finding that the usual garden woes just aren’t that woeful anymore.

When fire ants destroyed the roots of several of my fingerling potato plants before many of the potatoes had reached harvest size, I was disappointed, but I quickly shrugged it off. I’ve been cooking the undersized potatoes and they’re quite tasty.

When I noticed that almost all the Sungold tomato plants seemed to be struggling with some sort of early blight, my first thought was Oh No, but my next thought was Oh well, it looks like I might get a pretty decent harvest anyway.

When the record breaking hot days in the past month dried out more than half of my lima bean seeds before they could germinate, I sighed and planted more seeds.

When the Harlequin bugs and Army worms started going to town on my collard greens, I said bye bye collards. (Unlike last year when I spent a lot of time picking and squishing bugs in an effort to extend the life of the greens.)

I haven’t seen any leaf-footed bugs or green stink bugs yet, but I’m sure they will be arriving any day now, along with the most dreaded of all Central Texas garden bugs — the squash vine borer. At the moment, though, not even the borer can make me mad. Maybe I’ll get some squash this summer, maybe I won’t.

It seems that no matter how hard the going gets in the garden, none of it is as maddening or as challenging as everything that’s going on outside the garden. No matter how buggy or weedy it gets, the garden still feels safe and normal. And whatever obstacles arise seem surmountable.

So until there's a vaccine or a reliable treatment for Covid-19, I'll stay as close to my garden as I can and remain distant from my friends and family. This crisis won’t last forever. ❦

Longtime Austin gardener and writer Renee Studebaker is a retired newspaper journalist who now teaches children how to grow and cook vegetables.