News
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Celebrate Summer’s Bounty with a Classic Provençal Ratatouille
The sun is shining, the days are long, and gardens are overflowing with the vibrant flavors of summer. What better way to celebrate the season than with a classic French dish that showcases these fresh ingredients? Today, we’re diving into ratatouille, a Provençal vegetable stew bursting with color and taste. The cute Pixar movie Ratatouille is also worth a look if you haven’t seen it yet too! This French vegetable stew is a symphony of textures and tastes. Tender eggplant, zucchini, peppers, and onion mingle with juicy tomatoes, all bathed in a fragrant herb sauce. It’s a vegetarian masterpiece that’s perfect as a main course, a delightful side dish, or…
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Summer in the Garden – 2024 Edition
Howdy, Lakeway gardeners! Buckle up for another sizzling Texas summer! June, July, and August bring scorching temperatures and relentless sunshine, but that doesn’t mean your plants have to wilt. This post is your guide to keeping your green garden thriving through the hottest months. We’ll cover harvesting tips for your summer bounty, strategies for outsmarting the heat, and even how to get a jumpstart on your fall plantings. So, grab your hat, sunscreen, and watering can – it’s time to conquer summer gardening in Lakeway! LGC Member News Our next Lakeway Garden Club (LGC) Member Mixer is only a few days away! So mark your calendars for next Thursday, June 6th! We…
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The Inside Austin Gardens Tour is Back!
Get ready to immerse yourself in a wonderland of flourishing flora! The Inside Austin Gardens Tour, designed “For Gardeners, By Gardeners,” returns on Saturday, May 11th, from 9 am to 3 pm. This self-guided tour offers a rare glimpse into four exceptional private gardens, each meticulously crafted by a Travis County Master Gardener. This year’s theme celebrates the diversity and beauty of Central Texas gardening. Whether your backyard boasts sprawling acres or a cozy urban nook, the featured gardens promise inspiration for all. A Journey Through Four Unique Paradises The Suburban Farm: Prepare to be enchanted by Katie Bird Farm, a sprawling three-acre haven bursting with life. Encounter 35 distinct…
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Earth Day 2024: Our Earth, Our Future
Celebrate Earth Day by beautifying our Lakeway community together! The City of Lakeway is hosting a volunteer event on Monday, April 22nd, at 11:00 am, where we’ll be planting flowers at the Lakeway Swim Center (3103 Lakeway Blvd.). If you’re passionate about keeping Lakeway vibrant and want to meet some friendly neighbors, this is the perfect opportunity! The City will provide all the necessary equipment for the planting, and afterwards, volunteers can enjoy some delicious snacks and pick up Earth Day goodies with helpful information. What to bring: Reliable transportation (your car) Comfortable clothing (dress for the weather) Comfortable shoes Gardening tools (optional, but feel free to bring your own!)…
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Understanding Climate Zones
The climate is the reoccurring average weather found in any particular place, measured over 30 year intervals. The Earth’s tilt, rotation and land/sea distribution affect these global weather patterns, resulting in variations between different locations. Travis County Climate Zone is Cfa C – Moist Subtropical Mid-Latitude Climate f – Wet year-round a – Hot Summer German climatologist and amateur botanist Wladimir Köppen (1846-1940) divided the world’s climates into categories based upon general temperature profile related to latitude. He worked with Rudolf Geiger to modify these categories into what is known today as the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system The major categories are as follows: A – Tropical Climates Moist tropical climates…
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Grow Big in a Small Space: The Magic of Square Foot Gardening
Dreaming of a bountiful harvest but limited on space? Look no further than square foot gardening (SFG)! This revolutionary method, developed by Mel Bartholomew, allows you to maximize your yield in even the tiniest of balconies or patios. What is Square Foot Gardening? Imagine your garden bed divided into a grid of 1-foot by 1-foot squares. Each square becomes its own mini-ecosystem, planted with specific vegetables, herbs, or flowers according to their spacing needs. This eliminates wasted space and allows for intensive planting. Benefits of Square Foot Gardening: High Yields: SFG utilizes a special, lightweight soil mix that promotes healthy growth, leading to impressive harvests from a compact area. Low…
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Best Wildflower Trail of Texas Bluebonnets
Willow City Loop is an awe-inspiring, historic 13-mile scenic drive (map) through the picturesque rugged Texas Hill Country landscape. The iconic loop located north of Fredericksburg, TX is the quintessential display for Texas wildflower exhibition, especially known for the blankets of beloved Texas bluebonnet and ever popular Indian paintbrush. Keep in mind, the stunning Willow City Loop wildflower showcase usually peaks in spring at the end of March, first of April. The fields are colorfully painted with wildflowers combined with rolling hills, craggy escarpments, and a beautiful canyon carved by Coal Creek. The landscape is colorfully highlighted with an assortment of distinctive native live oak, pecan, and mesquite trees. Other…
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Cultivate Longevity: Your Guide to Blue Zone Gardening
After our Lakeway Garden Club Spring mixer last week, we had many requests to share more information about Blue Zone gardening. Enjoy! Have you ever wondered what the secret is to a long and healthy life? Look no further than the Blue Zones! These five regions around the world – Sardinia (Italy), Ikaria (Greece), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Loma Linda (California), and Okinawa (Japan) – boast populations with exceptional longevity. And one key element they all share? A deep connection to gardening. Here’s why you should consider incorporating Blue Zone gardening into your life: Move Naturally: Gardening isn’t just about planting seeds. It involves weeding, watering, harvesting – all activities that…
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Spring in the Garden – 2024 Edition
Greetings, Lakeway gardeners! Spring in a Lakeway garden is a beautiful and bountiful time. March, April and May are bustling with garden activity and the busiest time of year for local gardeners. This season will paint Lakeway with vivid and colorful blooms, but be patient and wait to transplant flowers until mid to late March to avoid any late winter frost. By late March, cheerful annuals such as poppies and cosmos can be planted outdoors. Late April and early May welcome heat-loving flower favorites like zinnias and sunflowers, plus warmer-temp vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and squash. This season, experiment in your garden with some new vibrant flowers and plant a few…
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Pick Plants that Survive in our Extreme Texas Weather
What are the best native and adapted plants to use in central Texas that can tolerate extremes of heat and cold, drought and deluge? Find out when the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension-Travis County kicks off the 2024 Texas Tough Plants webinar series with Native and Adapted Plants for Central Texas and Wild About Plants, February 21st, 10 am to noon. Texas Tough Plants Webinar Series: FEB 21: Native and Adapted Plants for Central Texas and Wild About Plants MAR 20: Native Landscapes for Wildlife APR 10: Trees Your Landscape Legacy MAY 8: 6 D’s of Container Gardening Success Those interested must register in advance to receive a link to the…
