tel: 512 280-1192 Thursday, July 7, 2016
Nursery notes: rose sale extended! All roses just $10 (regular
prices $19.99 and $24.99). Moringas two-for-one: $4,99 for a
4" pot, $12.99 for 1 gal. All 2 gal. perennials on sale for $12.99
(reg. $15.99); includes blue plumbago, esperanza and duranta,
and 4 types of lantana - all popular with butterflies. Two-for-one
offers on basils: lemon, Thai and holy: $2.59 for 4" pot. Bougain-
villea baskets: $14.99. Purslane baskets: $9.99. 🌷
Fattoush, salad of the Middle East: this is a tasty bread salad
made from toasted or fried pita bread, mixed with a whole mess
of mixed greens, radishes, cucumbers, olives, tomatoes and feta.
A great summer recipe from an old Edible Austin: Fattoush 🌷
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Healthy stretches for gardeners: after weeding, pruning, clear-
ing, or digging in the garden, many of us 45+ years-old sometimes
suffer from a variety of pains in the back, arms and legs. Trisha
Mushroom streetlights? Scientists in deepest Siberia are hard
at work on a study of bioluminescent fungi, and have discovered
'the ninth luciferin' - which apparently brings the possibility
of having our streets lit by mushrooms several steps closer! An
article about their achievements appeared in The Guardian.🌷
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Central Texas Gardener: a special focus on small spaces with
Ravenscourt Landscaping. On tour, designer Leah Churner 'styles
apartment balconies and patios. Saturday: 4 p.m. Sunday at 9 a.m.
Fall 2016: Perfect for Tomatoes
by Chris Winslow
On Wednesday the fall tomatoes will arrive here at the nursery - a
time for celebrations! Despite the heat, I am always cheered up by
their arrival in the searing heat of these early July days. Many cust-
omers are happy, and at home at the end of the day I get to turn the
soil and work on a Fall tomato patch of my own.
Texas A&M's Vegetable Garden Planting Guide advises gardeners
to get their fall tomato transplants in the ground between today
(July 7) and August 7. Larger transplants in 1 gal. pots or larger
can be planted as late as Sept.1.)
I prefer to plant determinate, heat-set tomatoes for fall. Varieties
such as Bob Cat, Celebrity, and BHN 444 can crop in under 80
days, making them perfect for fall planting. Celebrity, an all-time
backyard favorite, acts as a semi-indeterminate, producing longer
if frosts come later than average.
July is also the perfect time to plant cherry type tomatoes – which
have no problem setting fruit in the heat. My favorites are Sweet
100, Juliet and Sun Gold. Rarely do they make it to the kitchen!
For your fall tomato garden, choose a sunny location with good
drainage, and be sure to shovel in lots of compost and slow release
organic fertilizer.
At Urban Farm they mix up a fertilizer of bat guano, mycorrhizae,
humic acid, crab shell, worm castings, kelp, soy meal, and compos-
ted poultry litter, making it a great choice for gardeners. Adding
dolomite lime (calcium and magnesium) also helps to prevent
blossom end rot, a common tomato fruit malady.
Keeping your newly transplanted seedlings watered is a must.
Moist but not soggy is the ideal. I like planting in trenches or cra-
ters. This helps to direct water down to the root zone instead of
running off and away from the plant.
Providing the newly transplanted seedlings a bit of afternoon
shade for the first two weeks can really help them to establish a
strong root system. I place some frost guard cloth on the west side
of the plants, suspended with bamboo stakes to give some tempor-
ary shade. 'Works great, and is easy to do.
A weekly spray of seaweed and fish emulsion can also give the
plants a boost. Both are known to help with stress from the sum-
mer heat.
If you have never grown fall tomatoes before, why not give it a
try? Happy Gardening Everyone! 🌷
Please 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 And here for facebook
internationalrain@yahoo.com (hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)
Visit the website: It's About Thyme And here for facebook
