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What to Plant Now: Seed in Root Crops from March 28 to April 4

3/28/2021

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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 

TRANSPLANT FRUITING / NUT PLANTS
  • Apples
  • Barbados Cherry
  • Citrus
  • Figs
  • Grapes
  • Jujube
  • Loquat
  • Paw Paw
  • Peach
  • Pear
  • Pecan
  • Persimmon
  • Plum
  • Pomegranate
  • Raspberries
  • Blackberries
  • Strawberries
  • Walnut

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.
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Aphids Are Back! 5 Tips for Managing Aphids Organically

3/25/2021

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Our veggie teaching beds at Zilker Botanical Garden have sprung back to life after the winter storm and a lot of insect activity is starting to happen. Our fall crops like brussel sprouts and cabbages are starting to fade out and are attracting aphids, a small sap-sucking insect that can be found on the underside of leaves. Many insects have freeze-tolerance mechanisms that allow them to survive through freezing temperature.
​
Aphids don’t do much damage when there’s only a few around. It takes clusters of them — and there usually are by the time they’re found — to make leaves curl and yellow as they deposit their sticky “honeydew” made from the moisture taken from the plants on stems and on the underside of leaves. If left untouched, this substance turns black with the presence of sooty mold fungus. ​
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Aphids on Brussel Sprouts
PictureLady bugs mating on cardoons
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.

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What to Plant Now: March 22nd to 27th

3/21/2021

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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!

​DIRECT SEED
Many of the varieties of seeds are associated with the three sisters or milpa agriculture system, we learned about last month with our special guest Sam from Dixza Rugs & Organic Farm from Oaxaca, Mexico. You can watch the recording.
You can learn more the three sisters square foot garden we grew at Zilker Botanical Garden in our videos online.
  • Beans, snap and lima
  • Cantaloupe
  • Cucumbers
  • Corn
  • Pumpkin
  • Squash (Summer & Winter)​ ​
TRANSPLANT
We hope you were able to pick up some of these transplants from our annual online fundraiser. We had an exciting time growing them this year indoors through the historic winter storm. Please tag us as your plants grow this year! Tell us what you like about the varieties our members grew.
  • Eggplant
  • Ground Cherries
  • Peppers
  • Tomatoes
  • Tomatillos

FRUITING / NUT PLANTS
  • Apples
  • Paw Paw
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Pecans
  • Persimmons
  • Pomegranates
  • Figs
  • Grapes
  • Blackberries
  • Strawberries
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.
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What to Plant Now

3/14/2021

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March 13th to 21st 
We hope you enjoyed the recent rains and cold front that we hope is the last for Central Texas. Hold off for a couple more weeks before planting citrus or tomatoes.
As we are approaching the First Quarter and are in Waxing Crescent, it’s a good time to plant leafy greens and herbs that do well in heat. During the waxing of the moon (the period extending from the day the moon is new to the day it reaches its fullest point), the moon pulls moisture upwards. Seeds do well during this time because moisture is available at the surface of the soil. It’s always best to try to transplant and seed-in with the coming rains. 

Seed-in or Transplant these warm season greens:
  • Kale
  • Swiss Chard
  • Longevity Spinach
  • Collards
  • Orach
  • Fame Flower
  • Malabar Spinach
  • Jericho Romaine Lettuce
  • Speckled Bibb Lettuce

Check out Southern Seed Exposure for the hot weather greens varieties as well as growing.
  •  Use shade cloth or plant in partial shade
  • Keep well watered.
  • Mulch around plants to help keep the soil temperatures cool.
  • Start plants that germinate better in cool soil (like lettuce) indoors and transplant out.
  • Also, check out the summer mesclun mix. 

A lot of herbs were damaged in the snow storm so if yours are not showing any signs of life, here are some warm season herbs that can be transplanted. 
  • Artemisia
  • Basil
  • Borage
  • Comfrey
  • Dill
  • Fennel
  • Winter savory
  • Yarrow
  • Licorice
  • Marjoram
  • Lemon verbena
  • Lavender
  • Oreganos
  • Parsley
  • Sage
  • Salvias
  • Shiso​

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.
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PART 6 Mycology in the Garden: Grow Mushrooms Using Trench Composting Method

3/10/2021

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In this video we show you how to grow culinary mushrooms in your garden using mushroom grow blocks from HiFiMyco. It's a great way to build your soil by adding organic matter. We are joined by Carter Humphrey from SmallHold and the Myco Research Station.

​Mushroom blocks are made from sawdust and grains, and they are what many farms use to cultivate their mushrooms on. They will typically fruit about 4 times, but with increasingly longer wait times and smaller yields. For this reason, most farms restock after a harvest or two, and will sell their spent blocks very cheaply to the public.
PictureGolden Oysters growing with cardoons.

​If you are in Austin, you can sign up to get recycled mushroom blocks for your garden.
GET MUSHROOM BLOCKS
If you are not from Austin, find a mushroom farm in your area.
STEPS:
  1. Pick a shady spot in your garden that has a lot of moisture or where you have run-off problems.  They can be placed creatively in underutilized garden space. For example, a trench of blocks beside your garden pathways, or "interplanted" on the shady side of vegetables.  In addition, there is evidence that King Stropharia mushrooms in the garden make for healthier root systems.
  2. Dig an area out as deep as your blocks are tall, and place them in flush with the ground. You can also add other compostable materials like coffee grinds (rich in nitrogen) and leaves and straw (rich in carbon).
  3. Then, top with a few inches of hardwood chips, soil and straw to keep it moist. Avoid cedar as it has anti-fungal properties. 
  4. Then just gently water like you would your other plants.
  5. In 3-4 weeks you should see mushrooms fruiting. They will grow quickly so be sure to harvest before the spores drop and the mushroom edges curl upwards.. After 3-4 days, cut at the base and store in a brown paper bag in the fridge. They will fruit a few more times before decomposing and eventually becoming organic matter added to the soil.
PART 1: HOW FUNGI BENEFITS THE SOIL
PART 5: GROW MUSHROOMS ON LOGS
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Starting Sweet Potato Slips

3/4/2021

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Sweet potatoes aren't grown from seeds like most vegetables. Sweet potatoes are related to morning glories. Unlike other white potatoes, sweet potatoes are grown from small seedlings, known as slips. 
You can order sweet potato plant slips from some local garden store like the Natural Gardener, but it’s very simple and much less expensive to sprout your own.
This post will break dow two methods, one faster than the other on how to grow your own slips.

When to Start Sweet Potato Slips
The timing is important if you want to grow large and tasty sweet potatoes. This plant loves warm weather and should be planted when the soil reaches 65 degrees F. (18 C.). The slips take about 4-6 weeks to mature, so you should be starting sweet potato slips indoors about six weeks before your last frost date in the spring. So in Texas, that is beginning of February into March. 
SOIL METHOD (FASTER)
SUSPENDED METHOD (SLOWER)
How to Start a Sweet Potato Slip 
SOIL METHOD (FASTER):  This method usually takes around 4-6 weeks. 
  1. Poke holes in the bottom of a foil pan. 
  2. Fill foil pan with potting soil or seed starting mix.
  3. Moisten soil. 
  4. Nestle sweet potatoes in soil, covering about half the potato with soil.
  5. Place on top of foil pan lid on bottom for drainage.
  6. Place pan on a warming mat, on top of the refrigerator, in the heat from a grow light or sunny window. 
  7. Keep soil moist as roots and sprouts form.
  8. In about a week, if you wiggle the sweet potato you will feel that roots are forming in the soil. Within another week or two, small sprouts will begin to grow from top of sweet potato.  

After 4 weeks, once several 5-6 inch sprouts have formed, scroll down to see the rest of the directions.

​SUSPENDING METHOD (SLOWER):  The suspending method the sweet potato in water. This method works, but often takes a 6-8 weeks (or more) to produce slips.

1. Simply put toothpicks into the top 1/4 of the sweet potato and suspend in water. The rooting or pointy end should go in the water. Here are a few ways to determine the difference between the rooting end and the sprouting end:
  • One end will appear larger and bulbous. This is the sprouting end.
  • The end of the sweet potato that tapers is typically the rooting end. 
  • Look for thin roots on one end. This is the rooting end.

2. You want the bottom, rooting half to be immersed in water and the top, sprouting half above the jar. Roots will form in the water, and sprouts will form in the top part of the potato. 
Providing warmth, a seedling warming mat or on top of the refrigerator or and heat from a grow light or sunny window will speed up the process. 

3. Keep the water level up in the jar and keep water fresh by replacing it every week or so. Within a few weeks, roots will develop first and then sprouts will start to form on the suspended potato. 

Once several 5-6 inch sprouts have formed, follow the directions below.

HOW TO REMOVE SPROUTS
  • When sprouts are about 5-6 inches tall, remove sprouts by carefully twisting off or cutting off at soil level or edge of potato.
  • Remove lower leaves from sprouts and place in jar of water to root them. Roots will develop quickly; you should begin to see roots in 1-2 days. 
  • Keep the jar on a seed germination mat for warmth and under a grow light will speed up the process of developing roots. 
  • Keep the water level high in the jar. Switch out the water about once a week to keep water fresh. Discard wilted or rotten slips. 
  • Once roots are fully formed and several inches long, it’s time to plant. 
  • Plant rooted sweet potato slips about 12-18 inches apart and 4 inches deep. 
  • Water newly-planted slips well and feed with a starter solution high in phosphorus to ensure the plants continue rooting.

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