tel: 512 280-1192 Thursday, Sept 8, 2016
Nursery notes: fall veggies are everywhere! Our greenhouses
are full of cauliflower, cabbage (including Chinese), kohlrabi,
Brussels sprouts, collards, kale, arugula, mustard, lettuce and art-
ichokes. If you're a fall tomato fan, you need to get them planted
soon. We still have some in stock. / Help the butterflies and bring
your garden to life with fennel, dill and butterfly weed. / No news-
letter next week. The editor will be in Spain. Expect a report on
my visit to the Alhambra's Generalife Gardens in a future issue.
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Mo Ping: When our friend Mick Vann visits a restaurant, every
shallot, every serving of sticky rice, is carefully examined and
Food Forest work day Saturday: the Festival Beach goal is
'to grow edible forest gardens on public lands to nourish, educate
and inspire.' How can one not want to support such a noble miss-
ion? Volunteers can report to 25 Waller Street, 78702 this Satur-
day for a lively 9 a.m. - noon session of mowing, mulchi and
The Arte of Gardening: this was the title of one of the world's
first gardening books. Published in 1563, and written by Thomas
Hill, it contains some hilarious chapters on pest control, which
have been explored by James Alexander Sinclair in Fine Gardening.
Did you know that 'Garden Mice may bee driven away,if you sprin-
kle the beds with the Ashes of the Weesel, or with that water sprink
or with that water sprinckled on the beds in which a Catte hath
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Central Texas Gardener: fall vegetable advise from Patty Leander
and Jay White. Crockett High School's raised beds and aquaponic
greenhouse are both flourishing. Plant of the week: variegated
Cuban oregano. Saturday: 4 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m. on-line
Fall Veggie Gardening Full On
by Chris Winslow
Yes, it's still hot . . . but now is the time, fellow Austin-area gard-
eners, to start planning (and planting) your fall garden.
By planting our cool-season crops now while it is still summer, it
gives them a better chance of growing and producing before the
coldest of our winter slows them down.
A late summer planting is especially crucial for the Cruciferous
vegetable family. Here in central Texas broccoli, cauliflower,
Brussels sprouts and cabbage thrive when planted in late August
into September.
Late winter plantings on the other hand have a tendency to run
into early spring heat that causes them to stop producing edible
heads and start bolting (going to seed).
September is also the time to start successively seeding carrots,
beets and radishes along with leafy greens. Carrots and beets can
be planted through October and again in late winter.
Radishes and many greens can be planted throughout the winter
for long-term harvest. Don’t forget to thin your root crops along
the way so that they can develop properly. The thinned veggies,
including carrots, are great in salads or mixed into a stir-fry.
September and October are also the months that we start thinking
about the onion family. While onion sets are typically set out in
Jan/Feb, we plant the rest of the 'bunch' in early fall (less than a
month away).
Garlic cloves are planted individually, broken off from the head
and planted pointed side up. Shallots are also planted this way.
Bunching onions can be dug and divided this time of year if you
have a perennial variety (such as Egyptian multiplying onions) or
direct seeded.
I have a tendency to over-plant. If I have any left over at the end
of the harvest season I cut or chop them up and freeze for later use.
Even my onion tops freeze great and then I have them to toss into
soups and gumbo the rest of the year.
Strawberries are also best planted in the fall here in the Travis and
Hays Counties. By planting now we can get the plants established
and producing before the worst of the heat hits next spring and
summer. Make sure to give your strawberries mid-late afternoon
shade. They will do fine right now, but when summer does hit next
year they will need it.
Planting a late summer garden for fall and winter harvest has its
challenges. Be sure to have some shade cloth or frost cover on hand
to shade the fragile seedlings and transplants from the extreme heat.
Lay soaker hoses along the new plants and cover with pine straw
or something similar to keep the new roots cool and the moisture
from evaporating from the soil.
Fertilizing with organic fertilizers helps to feed the vegetables
slowly and deliberately and should not burn when applied in the
late summer/early fall heat.
You can also water in new plants and seeds with a solution includ-
ing seaweed or Superthrive to encourage stronger growth and faster
root establishment during this super hot time of year.
We are lucky to be able to garden year round here in Texas. While
that sometimes means our labor comes at a time when we would
prefer to be on the porch or hiding in the air conditioning, toughing
out the heat pays off in spades in the form of fresh vegetables even
in the 'dead' of winter. Happy Gardening everyone!
Contact newsletter editor Darrel Mayers 
with any ideas for articles or interesting links:
internationalrain@yahoo.com (hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)
Visit the website: It's About Thyme or facebook
