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We are seeing peek poppy blooms at the teaching gardens @zilkerbotanicalgarden . 💕
Here's a list of what we are seeing this week in the garden: 🐛As temperatures increase we are starting to see the winter Brassicas crops send off stress hormones that invite aphids, cabbage worms and stink bugs like harlequin beetles. We picked off many of them, did a foliar spray with Seaweed and Neem. We left some of the aphids for our ladybug friends. We will keep a few of the kale plant as a trap crop and to help feed our beneficial insects. 🐟 We watered all of the plants getting established with fish emulsion. 🌽 In the Milpa / Three Sisters the corn is already around 6 in and height and we planted 3 Kentucky Wonder pole beans at the base to help fix nitrogen and also support the corn. 🧄 We noticed that some of our Dr. Pound garlic was getting quite large so we harvested a few bulbs. This variety of garlic from member Tim Miller is an heirloom variety and definitely puts on some weight. GROW WITH US Join us at Zilker Botanical Garden as we continue to learn organic gardening together in the teaching gardens. We meet Saturday's and Wednesdays from at 9 - 11 am at Zilker Botanical Garden. This fall we made a major change to the garden as we design a 4-square garden! We are also looking for seed and plant donations so let us know if would like to contribute to the garden this way. Everyone is welcome, No previous gardening experience required.  We are about to pass the first quarter and the moon is now waxing gibbous going into a full moon. Now is also a time to seed-in plants that fruit and seed like beans, corn, melons, and squash. You can still transplants tomatoes, eggplants, tomatillos, 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. Which is coming up next week.
Many of the varieties of seeds are associated with the three sisters or #milpa agriculture system we learned about last year with our special guest Sam from Oaxaca, Mexico. You can watch it on our YouTube channel. If you haven’t gotten your corn in, this is the last chance to get it in. You can learn more about milpa and also learn about the three sisters square foot garden we are growing at @zilkerbotanical. DIRECT SEED
TRANSPLANT
FRUITING / NUT PLANTS:
 We just passed the New Moon phase and are now approaching the First Quarter and are in Waxing Crescent. It’s a good time to plant leafy greens including warm season greens that do well in the 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. Keep dancing for the rain because we really need it this year.
Direct Seed or Transplant
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.  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. DIRECT SEED
TRANSPLANT
Now is also a good time to start prepping your sweet potatoes as well. See our blog post on two ways to do this at home. 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.  We just passed the first quarter and the moon is now 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. Many of the varieties of seeds are associated with the three sisters or milpa agriculture system we learned about last year with our special guest Sam from Oaxaca, Mexico. You can learn more about milpa and also learn about the three sisters square foot garden we grew at Zilker Botanical Garden below.
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.
DIRECT SEED
SPROUT INDOORS: This year we are sprouting our squash indoors to get a ahead of the Squash Vine Borer SVG. Here are some of the SVB resistant varieties we like: Tatume, Rugosa, Koginut, Futsu, Blue Hubbard. Check out our SVB Guide here.
TRANSPLANT
FRUITING / NUT PLANTS
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.  Riley Holly Nov. `09
I know everyone is ready to start collecting scion wood to share at our exchange. There are some that have asked, "What is a proper way to collect and store prior to the exchange?" So here are some pointers. First, be sure to sterilize your tools that come in contact with the wood each time you move from one tree to the next. Keep alcohol and cotton swabs handy for this job. Collect wood from trees you know to be healthy. This way we can keep from spreading any pathogens. The wood should be saved from branches that have had fruit in the past. You can tag the branches that have fruit during harvest, making winter scion collecting easier. The new branches that shoot up very fast (water sprouts, sports) should not be used as they take 2 years or more to fruit. These "sports" may produce a new variety that you can cultivate and name, but keep the wood for your own experiments. Cut the wood (6-10 inches long) from last year's growth, making a slanted cut ¼ inch above the upper bud, and a straight, perpendicular cut at the bottom (While there are other methods, R.J. Garner, in his 1947 book, "The Grafter's Handbook" specifies the angled cut be at the top. If we all follow this rule, there should be less confusion when grafting and rooting scions). The ideal size is about ¼ inch diameter (pencil size) for seedlings. The scion should always be smaller than the rootstock. Larger diameter scion wood is used when you are stump (field) grafting. You will want 1-2 buds above the graft, more reduces the energy to each bud, thereby reducing the possibility of it "taking". You will be able to get several scions for grafting from each stick. You will use the whole stick if you plan to root a cutting. Choose wood with buds that are leaf buds rather than flower buds. Leaf buds are narrow and pointy, flower buds round and plump. Sometimes this is difficult to determine, so if the bud starts to show as a flower, remove it and there will be a leaf bud under it. Be sure to collect the wood before the buds open. Be sure to keep the wood from each tree separate. Put cuttings from each tree in a separate zip-lock bag and stick a label on it immediately. Remove the leaves to help keep the wood from desiccating. Some small wood should even have the ends wrapped with "Parafilm". Keep the bags with the wood in a cool and dark place, to keep the buds from breaking into leaves (or flowers). The vegetable drawer in your refrigerator is ideal. If you have a "hard to take" variety, you can increase its chance by pre-girdling 2-4 weeks before you cut the scion wood. Girdling keeps the food (photo synthetically produced), from the upper leaves, to be concentrated above the girdled area. Girdling is done by removing ¼ to 1 inch of bark along the branch. This is done using a knife cutting around the branch, just deep enough to reach the cambium and remove the phloem, which transports the food. Share your favorite fruits with others, except for the patented varieties. Happy grafting Ed and fellow grafters: I can only add this --- re storing scions in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator -- do not store with apples or other produce that emit ethylene (a powerful plant hormone). Ethylene will deteriorate the scions longevity and their vigor. Of course this effect is chemical/biological and hence it increases with time. Short storage, a few days, does not matter. Months do. Harvest any dormant scions now. Plants that evergreen you can wait closer to the exchange. With our scion exchanges coming up in March and folks talking about grafting I wanted to share some info about the grafting film that I use. When I started grafting in the 80s I bought a huge roll of Parafilm M to use for my grafting. It gave me lots of success for many years but the past 5 years I have switched to a similar product that I think is superior to Parafilm M it is Buddy Tape. I find it to be easier to use and more successful grafts! I only whip and cleft graft. This product has been the best in my opinion for these grafts. I like the fact you can complete your graft and pretty much forget about it. You don't have to go back later and cut it loose or remove it. It will biodegrade. The only draw back is its hard to find sometimes and can be expensive. This is not the only successful way to graft but has been the best method for me! https://graftingsystems.com/.../buddy-tape-perforated.../  A lot of herbs were damaged this winter and if they aren’t bouncing back, here are some warm season herbs that can be transplanted or seeded in.
We will have many of these herbs available at our plant sale/fundraiser. Online pre-sales start this weekend at AustinOrganicGardeners.org and members will be notified by email first. On Saturday, March 26th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. you can pick-up and shop in-person at Zilker Botanical Garden. If you plan to shop in person, don't forget to get your admission ticket at ZBG so you can enjoy the day at the garden. DIRECT SEED/TRANSPLANT
 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. Be sure to check out our online and in-person plant sale on March 26th for some of the below plants and herbs. Members will be notified first so if you're not yet a member of the oldest organic gardening club in the US, dues are $15 a year and 100% of it goes to Zilker Botanical Garden and the teaching gardens. AustinOrganicGardeners.org
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. TRANSPLANT
SEED OUTDOORS / TRANSPLANT
 Thankfully we avoided the full snow moon this year. Although with the freeze a few weeks again it's time to keep planting.
The explanation behind February’s full Moon name is a fairly straightforward one: it’s known as the Snow Moon due to the typically heavy snowfall that occurs in February. On average, February is the United States’ snowiest month, according to data from the National Weather Service. In the 1760s, Captain Jonathan Carver, who had visited with the Naudowessie (Dakota), wrote that the name used for this period was the Snow Moon, “because more snow commonly falls during this month than any other in the winter.” 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. SEED OUTDOORS
TRANSPLANT
If you haven’t prepped your potatoes you can buy seed potatoes to put directly in the soil. Now is also a good time to start prepping your sweet potatoes indoors as well.. 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. |
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May 2022
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