tel: 512 280-1192                                        thursday, nov 20, 2014

Nursery Notes: onion sets have arrived just this morning! Four 
varieties: Texas 1015y, white bermuda, hybrid southern belle reds,
and yellow granex. One set - $4; two sets $7.50; three or more, $3.
(A set is a bunch of 30-40 onions held together with a rubber band.)
See below for Chris's onions article. Metal art still 50% off. Also we
have some fragrant pinyon pine wood for sale - wonderful for the 
chimineas on a winter night: $24 99 for a 30 lb bag. 

Free Thanksgiving Cooking Class this Sunday at 2 p.m.  Learn
from award-winning hot sauce maker J.P. Hayes (Sgt. Pepper) how
to make rosemary spinach pesto, cranberry salsa, and poblano
green bean casserole. El Chipotle Sauces From Sgt. Pepper's
(Coming next Sunday at 2 p.m. 'How to Decorate your House with
Living Plants  for the Holiday Season,' by Amanda Moon.)
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So you think you can... shell Pecans?  Here's a useful video that
will help all of you gathering and struggling to shell pecans as you 
get ready for Thanksgiving next week. Snip the ends with pruning
sheers, and squeeze gently with pliers. the ryker dane
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Potted Plant Helmets -  the latest thing in Indonesia: two artists
in this island nation are putting small banyan trees on their helmets
and riding around their city as a tribute to beautiful nature in their
city - Yogyakarta -  and also to raise consciousness about the environ-
ment. tree hugger
 
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Central Texas Gardener:  Bringing Nature Home author Doug Tall-
amy explores the unbreakable   links between native plants, wildlife,
and our future.   Also visit Oak Hill Elementary where kids connect
to wildlife, food and discovery. Sat., 4 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. www.klru         

   
Top 5 Onions for Austin Gardeners
by Chris Winslow
 

1. Texas 1015y 'Super-Sweet'  Probably the most popular onion
in Texas. The 1015 is globe-shaped, yellow, and can grow up to 6
inches in diameter. It’s so sweet that it can be eaten like an apple!

2. Texas Early White   A new, sweet, white onion that  won the
2012 direct gardening “Green Thumb” award for its flavor, ease-of-
growing, and disease resistance. Matures in 105 days and is globe
shaped. Mature width: 5 inches.

3. Southern Belle Red   A large, globe-shaped, sweet onion that
grows to 4 inches in diameter. It’s the sweetest of the red short day
onions.

4. White Bermuda   A flat, sweet, white onion that grows to 3 to
4 inches. It’s an excellent onion to harvest early for scallions. This
heirloom onion originated in the Canary Islands.

5. Creole Red   A pungent, new red onion that is globe shaped and
reaches 3 to 4 inches across at maturity. A strong flavor that’s works
well for Cajun cooking.
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For many of my friends the arrival of November signals the start of
the deer and wild turkey season. For me, it’s onion planting time.

While Baker and Oliver hone their hunting skills over at the ranch
in Brackettville, I’m in my backyard planting this season’s crop.

I am often asked about the 'key to success’ with onions, and I always
tell gardeners that they first have to know which variety is best suited
to the area where they live. 

Here in central Texas, we plant short-day onions. These grow during
the short days of winter and are ready for harvest when the days be-
come longer in the spring.

Short day onions mature in roughly 120 days, and you can plant them
from the middle of this month through late winter.  It’s important to
know that the earlier you plant them, the bigger the onions will grow
 
These onions need a sunny garden location with loose, well drained
soil. Mixing lots of organic compost with our native soils is a must.

For fertilizer, they like a lot of phosphate to start. Organic bone meal
(0- 10-0) mixed into the soil before planting work well. As they start
to grow, add a higher nitrogen fertilizer as a top dress. Blood meal
(12-0-0) or Ladybug organic fertilizer (8-2-4) is very effective.

Plant your onions 1 inch deep and 4 to 6 inches apart. If you like
to harvest green onions early, plant them 2 inches apart and harvest
every other onion as they grow.
 
Rows should be at least 8 inches apart so that there are enough nut-
rients to go around. Onions like water, so keep up with a regular
watering schedule. (They will not grow in dry soil.) If the leaves
begin to yellow, that’s probably a sign of too much water.

You can harvest your onions in the spring when the tops turn brown
and begin to fall over. This should be somewhere between mid-April
and mid –May.
 
Finally, onions are easy to store. My crop from May of this year is
still holding up well in the crisper.

Take advantage of the season and try your hand at being an onion
gardener.  I know that’s what I’ll be doing!
Happy Gardening everyone.
 
  Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com
 Visit the nursery:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748  Like us
 
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