September 10 , 2015
Gardening Game Changers
If you ’re feeling a shade foil right now , you are so not alone!First , we stimulate too much rainwater at once in an outstandingly extended cool and cloudy spring . Then , bang , the rainfall spigot turns off , succeed by apace elevating temp and unrelenting sun .
Good news ! Fall perennial planting is just around the corner . I ’m thinking ahead to next leap with wildlife friends Jerusalem sage against aboriginal coral honeysuckle . Spring citrus fruit charter a footling beating . Thanks toValerie Amaro and Christina Pascowho sent us pictures of their victim . Looks awful , does n’t it?Christina ’s dachshund Bentley is whole in the clear ! ( Daphne ’s Augie agrees).Daphne checked in with Texas A&M ’s fruit and pecan specialist Monte Nesbitt who assure us that we ’re not confront some life - threatening citrus disease . Monte tags the perpetrator : Mimus polyglotktos ! They peck the yield and then indeed , fungus sets in .
Christina also feed into chomp leaf , but catch the perpetrator in action this time : a katydid .
Jesse ’s troubled citrus fruit leaf are due to spring leaf miners , not a serious care . Forrest Arnold from theAustin Organic Gardenersuses caging and net to keep critters forth from citrus and other yield trees like his Prunus persica . Be sure to stop up tightly at the bottom to stand off the stealthy ones that crawl under . Brianne Bersenuses tulle from the fabric computer storage to protect her crop . Oh , Christina ’s doxie Obi Wan commend planting wildflower seminal fluid in late October to November!Planting always comfort us . Lemon balm , an herbaceous perennial , cool it us even by brushing against its fragrant leaves . I like this herb for its 1 ’ tall fluffiness in good morning Dominicus to part shade . It often freezes back in wintertime but rebounds quickly in lovesome weather . It ’s also esteem for its lemony discernment in recipes . In teatime , it reduces stress and stomach upset . In the garden , pluck off a few leaf for on - the - spot aromatherapy ! Get Daphne ’s tips on arise lemon yellow unction .
And before we head into fall ( and hurry up ) let ’s admireLinda Ofshe’ssummer time crinum that last bloomed!Now , as you ’re pulling your garden appurtenance out of retirement , Jeff Ferris from The Natural Gardener has the ESSENTIAL tool that every gardener need : a 5 - gallon bucketful . Get his wizard tricks right here . Gardening organically works like magic , too , so let ’s celebrate the seventieth anniversary of theAustin Organic Gardeners . Forrest Arnold joins Tomto exemplify why organics have gone mainstream . Compost is the super illusion trick . You do n’t need fancy equipment . Turn that nutrient waste , garden prunings and autumn leaves into the best plant food to nourish your soil — and your plant life roots . Style up with raised beds , specially if you live on rock’n’roll or unmanageable soil — here at Sunset Valley Community Garden . Give that old boat a raw drive , like Sara and John Dunn who turned this one into a cute wicking bed , dubbed the “ grow gravy boat . ”In 70 years , theAustin Organic Gardenershas raised generation of young gardener who require how - to , hand - on item to turn hefty food at home . At monthly meetings / plant barter and AOG ’s yearly leap cut-rate sale , perhaps you ’ll meet long - time member Earl Hall who ’ll help you get growing . On term of enlistment , how does gardening shock students challenged about high-pitched schooltime commencement ceremony ? At Gonzalo Garza Independence High School , meet the young plot auto-changer who channelize to college , thanks to hands - in - ground skill and innovative growing technique that gainsay them . For 17 years , Social Studies teacher Martha Cason has anchored students through gardening . Her students unite in a invention / build team that memorise ecology , planting , compost and pruning . Angelo Sanchez plans to go to nursing schooltime and then take off a community garden in a humble Ithiel Town to make indisputable that everyone has access to fresh , organic food . Taking a lesson from dryland Africa , they build keyhole gardens , designed by student Hunter Botner . He ’s headed to Texas A&M University Corpus Christi for Mechanical Engineering . Martha ’s class helped rear their twat from goslings . “ It ’s a respectable manner to instruct kids about fauna agriculture without having a horse or a cow , ” she said . Fabian Solorzano , like all the students , loves lean them . They ’re very protective so we had to view them from outside the fence ! Fabian plans to make landscape his career . An old - style solar panel erected over their lodging still pump enough Department of Energy back into the control grid to magnate two classrooms . Through a Speak Up , mouth Out project , Martha ’s class saves even more electricity . The students compost a lot of the school ’s food waste matter , too , along with composition board box and paper to nourish their beds .
Meet these remarkable student right now ! You ’ll be happy you did .
Thanks for stopping by ! See you next hebdomad , Linda
tags :
