February 16 , 2012
Transition time for flowers and food
Valentine ’s Day take up betimes with my potted carnation !
I love everything about it : colour , bouquet , dreary - green foliage , long - lasting cut flowers . drouth tough . If anything , they hate too much piss , and demand utter drain . Two years ago when I got this ‘ Silver Pink ’ , I add together decomposed granite to loose pot soil and “ mulched ” it with a sluttish level of the granite . This would be lovely in a large container with American aloe . Hmm , may have to attempt that !
violet sorrel sent Valentine , too !
I love purpleness , but especially I bang plant that do n’t involve much of my time . Between Sunday ’s sleet flurries , I cause a shot of this trouble - free squad , which includes splotchyArum italicum , columbine and a few Gomphrena ‘ Grapes ’ to the left field .
The oxalis and arum quietly retrograde underground in summertime , returning in belated evenfall . ‘ Grapes ’ usually goes dormant in wintertime . I ’ll cut it back in a few weeks to advance its lush little leaves until it kill its “ grapes ” next capitulation .
Thanks to rainwater and coolheaded weather condition , the lolly I seed a few weeks ago are occur in just o.k. . Upfront is heirloom ‘ Speckles ’ , one of my favourite , not just because of its color !
Some cilantro and Petroselinum crispum thought about bolting , but I ’ve channelize them off for now .
After I took this picture , I cut that parsley at the root word to bring in for dinner , and to further raw stems before it bolt for good . Once upon a time , I could keep this biennial around for two years , but recently , early hot weather does them in the first yr for me , though a few did show back up this wintertime .
snapdragon are finally in swagger - mood . Leafy Swiss chard arrive at a nice backdrop , when it ’s not coming in to dine , like in our Valentine ’s night vegetarian stir fry .
In this transitional garden time , how do vegetable growers extend their cool weather crops and make means for summer ’s plants?This week , Tom receive with Paula and Glenn FoorefromSpringdale Farmfor some insider bakshis , including their favorite tomatoes .
For years , the Foores have been in the landscaping stage business asTexas Trees & Landscaping(and still are ! ) . Eventually , Glenn decided to fulfill a dreaming for a small urban farm on their domain in east Austin .
Just down the street from Boggy Creek Farm ( Carole Ann and Larry as mentor ) , Springdale open its farm stand on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and for many community consequence .
On CTG , get some of their “ gamey tech ” techniques to keep seedling tomatoes warm .
In their nursery , they also expend buckets of water to warm the plants , a trick for early ground planting ( along with rowcover ) .
Once again , they ’ll be on theEast Austin Urban Farm TourApril 15 from 1 - 5 . Meet your local growers , along with chefs and local drink journeyman who will also flavor your day to benefit modest farmers and local ranchers who support theFarm and Ranch Freedom Alliance .
Some of our yield Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree are still show sign of wrong from last year ’s freeze . Daphne answersRachel Jackson ’s questionabout her troubled loquats .
We confabulate Texas AgriLife Extension fruit specialist Jim Kamas . Here ’s what he says :
It ’s almost undoubtedly cold combat injury . Loquat is a relatively cold fearless sub - tropic , but last yr the affectionate temperatures during the end of January caused a loss of hardiness in all flora . The cold front that came through on the first of February caused a sudden drop in temperatures . We went from 74 ° to 11 ° in about 22 minute .
Since this could for certain encounter again this class , here ’s Jim ’s advice for our fruit trees :
Keep the plant life well watered , but not saturate , over the wintertime . The drought last winter greatly exacerbated the problem with cold-blooded injury . tree diagram can indeed remediate themselves , but do n’t be surprised if limbs continue to crack up and bark sloughs off of the automobile trunk . Just keep the plants in as good of health as potential , remove beat wood , and hope for the salutary .
Kale is a super healthy , promiscuous - to - grow winter green . Trisha usher off her favorite varieties , include Redbor , to put on your inclination for seeding next fall .
In the lag , if you have clams to glean or purchase at a Fannie Farmer ’ grocery , get herdelicious recipesfor dough salad with Caesar salad dressing , kale potato chip and more !
On enlistment , get hands - on tips from some of the year - round gardeners atSunshine Community Gardens . From its inception in the 1970s , Sunshine has put food on many a mesa while touch base urban folk to the root of its inception . Its mission is more of import now than ever : a public space where citizenry can come together to grow constituent food in a wildlife haven framed by asphalt .
At their one-year plant sale on March 3 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. , pick up their tried and true vegetable and efflorescence transplant .
You also do n’t need to miss theAustin Organic Gardeners ’ flora sales agreement March 3 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.at Zilker Botanical Garden ! There ’s plenitude of fourth dimension to hit both to get the best varieties for your summer garden , plus meet up with local expert nurseryman !
See you next week , Linda
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