Hello Hibernation Lovers,
 
The dormant season is upon us, though a little less extreme this year, and we are grateful.  Just like native plants and wildlife, we enjoy the summer weather as an excuse to slow down and take it easy, have a little seasonal nap, and save our resources for the inevitable burst of activity that comes with cooler weather and more rain, which is just [...]

Farmer Mike gave us a great tip this week on how to know when it’s time to harvest watermelons, so you aren’t just wasting them until you finally get it right:

Mike says, to know when an indivual watermelon is ready for harvest, look at the first two tendrils (little flexible things that grow from the [...]

We’ve seen leaf footed bugs on veggies lately, especially tomatoes.   These pests feed on ornamental and wild plants.   They also fly, but are slow to move so they’re easy to grab and kill, if you don’t mind a little stink on the fingers.   The Bug Book says healthy biodiversity will prevent leaf foots from becoming a [...]

Almost every day, the BG crew collects excess leaves that could not be mulched and returned to the landscapes they came from.   We also haul away invasive plants, winter cuttings from dormant perennials, fallen limbs, tilled up lawn grass to make way for new native beds, weeds, carcasses of dead trees and shrubs, and more [...]

The broken record spins on.  Weeds are a hot topic this year, so I’ve had hours every day to think about the subject, and what we can do about it.  The quick version:
Funky Weather Patterns - Two years of record heat and drought.  Then an unusually hard winter, including a super hard freeze.  Then 6 months [...]

Like an ancient coral reef, my approach to organic gardening matures, richens, and deepens every season.  I’m like a sponge in the reef, only with legs and eyes, always trying to get close to smart and thoughtful people who have a slightly different and always more experienced perspective than I, and try to absorb as much knowledge [...]

Ask any organic gardener, farmer, rancher, habitat restorationist, ecologist, agronomist, or organic landscaper – microbes are important.  (See Spring 2010 issue of EDIBLE AUSTIN for more.)  Microbes take a whole corner of the foundational soil triangle:  Microbes – Organic Content (Humus) – Soil Structure.  Beyond that, lack of research lends to a variety of opinions [...]

On top of “Big Hill”, near Old Tunnel WMA in Kendall County:

Feeling guilt for under-spending during the first round of holiday consumption?  Don’t try to compensate by eating more cookies or adding another plastic snowman to the front lawn.  Take on a landscaping project!
Veggie Gardens
Now is an excellent time to start a new veggie garden to get ready for spring planting in February/March.  We’ve scaled back [...]

Organic landscape maintenance programs usually focus on restoring natural balances in soils.  In most of Austin, we can count on a few general assumptions (highly disturbed, alkaline clay soils with minimal organic material) to create a general soil restoration plan.   Topdressing the lawn with compost will add organic material, beneficial microbes, and nutrients, and is our favorite clutch shooter [...]