We just passed the Full Worm Moon, which was originally thought to refer to the earthworms that appear as the soil warms in spring. This invites birds to feed—a true sign of spring! 
We are now going into a waning period of the Moon—from the day after it is full to the day before it is new again. As the moonlight decreases night by night, plants are encouraged to grow roots, tubers, and bulbs. It is still a good time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. It’s always best to try to transplant and seed-in with the coming rains, which is in the forecast.

Click on the links to get growing information and best varieties from Texas A&M Extension and other sources.

SEED-IN

• Beets
• Ginger 
• Jicama (Farmer Peppy told us that he is growing this plant at Jester King Brewery.)
• Sunchokes / Jerusalem artichoke
• Potatoes (White/Irish) If you haven’t prepped your potatoes you can buy seed potatoes to put directly in the soil. This is your last chance.
• Radish
• Sweet Potatoes (Slips) Now is also a good time to grow your own sweet potatoes slips as well. See our blog post on two ways to do this at home.
• Tumeric 

The wonderful staff at Zilker Botanical Garden covered our beds with frost covering before the winter storm and most plants bounced right back. The cardoons were mildly damaged by the storm and they are also attracting aphids. We couldn’t help but notice it had turned into a playground for the lady bug beetles, hover-flies, lacewings and other pollinators. They were also all over our bolting cilantro and mustards in our winter cover crop. These beneficial insects are a natural solution to aphids. It's reported that a ladybugs and lacewings will eat some 50 aphids a day. If you're lucky enough to have these insects in your garden, their larvae will eat their weight in aphids each day.

Here are a few tips on helping control aphids organically and how to attract beneficial aphid loving insects.

1. Add plant diversity to your garden. Here are plants broken down into beneficial, repellant and trap categories. 
   • Attract beneficial insects: Plant clover, mint, dill, fennel, and yarrow. 
   • Natural aphid repellents: Plant catnip, marigold, garlic, chives, leeks, and onion. 
   • Aphid trap plants: Plant zinnias, cosmos, asters, mustards, and nasturtium
2. Plant cover crops. We planted winter cover crops that include Austrian winter peas, rye, mustard, daikon and hairy vetch. The beneficial lady bug beetles, hover flies, lacewings, and birds were all over the blossoms this spring. In the late spring and summer you can plant buckwheat which attracts honeybees, hover flies, soldier beetles, parasitic wasps and parasitic flies.
3. Allow your vegetables to flower or bolt and go to seed because you want to attract beneficial insects and feed the bees. 
4. Remove aphids by hand by spraying water or knocking them into a bucket of soapy water. You can control with natural or organic sprays like a soap-and-water mixture, neem oil, or essential oils. 
5. Buy beneficial insects. If you don’t have diversity in your garden, you can buy some beneficial insects like lady bug beetles at garden stores but it is best to plant the herbs and plants that attract these insects to your garden.

Let us know any tricks and tips you use in the comment section.

Happy Spring Equinox! We were busy packing plant orders for our plant fundraiser so we definitely noticed the surge in plant growth and activity. The length of day and night is approximately equal on this day and our gardens are feeling the balance.

We just passed the first quarter and the moon is now in waxing gibbous going into a full moon. Now is also a time to seed-in plants that fruit and seed like beans, corn, cucumbers, melons, and squash. It’s also time for transplants of strawberries, eggplants, tomatillos, tomatoes and peppers. It is still a good time to plant nut and fruit trees including citrus, and berry bushes and grape vines. It’s always best to try to transplant and seed-in with the coming rains. Rain is in the forecast this week!

Be sure to check out our  online plant sale  for some of the above plants and herbs. We will be adding more plants early next week. Members will be notified first so if you're not yet a member of the oldest organic gardening club in the US, dues are $10 a year and 100% of it goes to Zilker Botanical Garden.

For more ideas on Ornamentals, Perennials, and Herbs, visit the Central Texas Gardener and The Natural Gardener lists online. Download the Texas A&M Extension Planting Chart and Varieties Chart at AustinOrganicGardners.org.