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August in the Garden
Yes, it’s still crazy hot and there is no sign of rain, but it is time to start your fall garden! July and August are great months to get your fall veggies started. It’s also a good use of your time while hiding in the house from the heat. If you’re still determined to slog it out in the heat, wear long sleeves and a wide-brimmed hat to protect yourself from the sun. Okra, originally from Africa, loves our Texas heat and is abundant right now right through to frost. Harvest okra pods frequently before they get too big; over-grown okra is tough and stringy. Beat the squirrels by harvesting…
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Supercharge your Garden with Texas Superstar Plants
The new Texas Superstar Guide to strong and stunning plants for Texans, created by Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Department of Agriculture, is available online. To be designated a Texas Superstar, a plant must be beautiful and perform well for consumers and growers throughout the state. Superstars must be easy to propagate, which should ensure the plants are not only widely available throughout Texas but also reasonably priced. The Texas Superstar program began as a regional program in the early 1980s and became a statewide effort in 1989. The name Texas Superstar was coined in 1997. The designation was applied to all the…
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July in the Garden
The sweltering month of July is all about the star vegetable of the hot summer: Tomatoes. Varieties like Celebrity, Lemon Boy, Flame, Ponderosa, Cherokee Purple, and Tie Dye Green are some colorful favorites and worth a try in your garden. Now is the perfect time to make the classic southern recipe, Fried Green Tomatoes, from your own harvest. Bon appetit! If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to join the Lakeway Garden Club. Our goal is to build a local community of fellow garden enthusiasts to share tips and help each other’s gardening endeavors. It is free and open to all. We are planning some in person garden tours later this year. Let us know if you would like…
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June in the Garden
The month of June is a time of great abundance in Lakeway. Seeds sowed and veggies transplanted many weeks ago are beginning to bear the colorful fruits of all that hard work. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and zucchini are starting to abound. Now is the perfect time to make the most famous recipe of all Provençal cuisine, Ratatouille, from your own backyard. Bon appetit! If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to join the Lakeway Garden Club. Our goal is to build a local community of fellow garden enthusiasts to share tips and help each other’s gardening endeavors. It is free and open to all. We are planning some in…
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May in the Garden
The month of May can be an exhausting and exuberant time in Lakeway. Roses are blooming (like the fragrant Rosa ‘Sea Foam’ above), birds are singing and the bees are buzzing everywhere we look in our gardens. The severs storm chances and humidity are starting to rise, so early garden work is key. And remember to get out there and start weeding before it is too late! If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to join the Lakeway Garden Club. Our goal is to build a local community of fellow garden enthusiasts to share tips and help each other’s gardening endeavors. It is free and open to all. We…
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What is Hugulkultur?
When you don’t have a giant property, it is important to strategize to get the most use of the garden you have, and that includes planting vegetables and herbs in raised beds and containers. I’ve been growing vegetables and herbs in two 4-by-8-foot raised beds built years ago, and every few years, I invest in copious amounts of compost and organic topsoil to refill them. Some friends garden in much larger beds and the cost to fill them would make your salad spin. But there is a better method: “Hugelkultur,” is said to have been used in Germany and eastern Europe for centuries as part of a more extensive permaculture…
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April in the Garden
…or how I learned to enjoy the stormy weather! Will April showers bring May flowers? Let’s hope we get some more rain this April but not the torrential downpours or wicked tornado winds that March brought to Central Texas two weeks ago. April can be the most beautiful time in a Lakeway garden. One of my favorite spring flowers is called by the very unfortunate name “Spiderwort” (Tradescantia ohiensis). Plant a little clump and you will be surprised how it will liven up your yard in the springtime. The bright blue, purple and yellow flowers only last until 1 pm before they close up for the day but they are…
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Let’s Grow: Bumper Crops
A lot of people daydream about starting their own garden. Whether it’s in your yard or in containers on your deck or windowsill, the idea of growing fresh vegetables and fruits seems like a delightful use of your property and time. It’s also a potential budget boon, as growing your own food can be a lot cheaper than paying for food someone else has grown, harvested, and trucked to your area. So what stops us all from having majestic victory gardens in our back yard? Gardening is a lot of work, honestly. And too many of us have had the bitter experience of trying to keep a plant alive only…
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March in the Garden
or how I learned to enjoy eating a lot of asparagus Greens, greens, nothing but greens! March is a bountiful time in the Lakeway garden. Flowers, bees, butterflies, trees and spring vegetables flourish. But let’s bow down to the King of Spring, the graceful asparagus. Once established, it needs little more than some water and fertilizer every so often. And the return on investment for this little work is astounding! The best thing I ever planted in my garden was asparagus about 5 years ago. The fact that you can keep harvesting it’s delicious stalks for 20 years is mind-boggling. Truly the best! March Garden Tips Flowers to Plant Alyssum…
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Companion Planting for Vegetables
Make the most of your space and your efforts with this age-old technique of growing certain vegetables and herbs together for mutually beneficial purposes like soil condition, sun requirements, pest and weed control, climbing support, and more. Here are some classic vegetable companion groupings. Tomatoes/Eggplants/Peppers + Herbs + Borage Nightshades must be planted after the last threat of frost has passed. Edge the beds with herbs that like the same growing conditions, such as basil and parsley. Borage can also help keep away destructive tomato hornworms (and its periwinkle flowers taste like cucumber). Potatoes + Beans Plant seed potatoes in spring, after the soil thaws. Beans on poles or trellises…
