tel: 512-280-1192 Aug 5, 2011
Nursery Notes: 20% of all metal art - planters, trellises, arches &
animals; 20% off all pottery (except talavera). Mulch and compost -
$1 off each bag. Compost Tea now available! Bring your own gallon
jug to fill - $5.00, or $5.99 for gallon jug.
_____________________________________________________
On Central Texas Gardener (KLRU) this week, a visit to the English
arts & crafts Smithville home of Mitzi VanSant; a conversation with author
William Welch, and Steve Kainer shows how to fertilize and prune pond
_______________________________________________________
High excitement at Boggy Creek Farm last weekend, when Farmer Larry's
'Big Blanco' pickup was stolen while he and Carol Ann were in their house.
Writes Carol Ann: "Larry was in the office researching saw mill blades on
the internet, when, at 9:30 PM, he heard engine noise not eight feet away,
outside the window. Heading towards the back door, he calmly told me that
something was going on and he ran quietly out into the darkness. . . . "
________________________________________________________
An in-depth guide to eatering during a drought is now available thanks
to the amazing folks at Texas A&M's AgriLife extension office;
Five Activities for August
by Chris Winslow
1. Mulch & water Your vegetable garden, landscape, flowerbeds and
trees need some help to make it through this torrid month. Mulch, and
water deeply.
2. Lawn care Your grass also needs deep, infrequent watering (5 day
schedule) and keep the cutting height for your lawnmower as high as
possible. This will help shade the roots and conserve water.
3. Vegetables This is the month to start your sweet corn, okra, snap
beans, cream peas and black-eyed peas from seed. Because the first
frost is likely to occur within 100 days, use transplants for your peppers
and tomatoes. During the second half of this month, plant your broccoli,
cabbage and Brussels sprouts.
4. Fall tomato deadline The window for planting fall tomatoes closes
at the end of August. Some growers feel that this is the best season for
tomatoes. Tomatoes planted in August reach production maturity towards
the end of September, when the temperatures (hopefully!) are cooling
down, creating optimum conditions for fruit set.
5. Survive! While it is nice of you to nurse your plants through this
brutal month, it is even more important that you look after yourself. Here
are three gardening rules that you must follow. A. Garden early in the
morning. B. Wear effective sunscreen and a large brimmed hat. C. Drink
gallons of water! (painting above: 'Watering the Garden' by Daniel
Ridgway Knight (1839 - 1924)
photo: Julie Blake
Wheat grass: easy to grow, nutritious
Wheat grass is the young grass shoot of the common wheat plant Triticum
aestivum. You can harvest the seedlings after just a week of growth, and
then juice them, and you will be holding in your hands an incredibly rich
source of chlorophyll, vitamins, amino acids, minerals and enzymes. For
the home gardener, growing a crop of wheat grass couldn’t be easier.
My recipe:
1. Fill a 4” pot ¾ full with straight vermiculite or 50-50 with compost
2. Cover the surface with wheat grass seed I use ‘hard red spring
wheat berries’)
3. Cover the seed and water in gently with a fan type sprayer Be sure
to water two or three times for the first two days, and then just daily
after germination.
The wheat grass seedlings should be ready to harvest after 5 to 7 days
of growth. Then just throw your crop in the juicer, and drink the liquid
from a shot glass. Besides the health benefits for humans, some folks
buy and grow wheat grass for their indoor pets. Your cats will thank
you for providing fresh grass to their diet. Dogs love it too.
Happy gardening everyone!
Visit the website at www.itsaboutthyme.com Visit the
