What To Do In The Garden In The Deep Of Summer Heat And Drought?

By Jannie Vaught, Keep the perennials somewhat alive and prune, prune, prune!! Today was somewhere shy of 109 with no rain and water restrictions. What’s a gardener that is deeply invested in the growing of all things green to do? Take a breath and make hard decisions. Cut back or remove the spring items that were so happy and productive a few weeks back. Tomatoes … Continue reading What To Do In The Garden In The Deep Of Summer Heat And Drought?

MontequeAugust 9, 2018August 7, 2018

Care For Trees In Times Of Drought

By Jannie Vaught As we are struggling with No Rain, drought conditions and the serious state of our water sources it is time to look at this important issue. Trees are resilient and long-lived, but like all living plants, they need moisture, either rain or water coming from us. Trees that are under areas that get water are less likely to get in serious condition. … Continue reading Care For Trees In Times Of Drought

MontequeAugust 8, 2018August 7, 2018

The Weird List Of Summer Special And Unusual Problems

By Jannie Vaught This time of the gardening season always presents some very special and unusual problems and things that make me go huum? Here is a few. Tassel-ear corn, vine borers, no cucumbers and fire ants in the tomatoes. Let’s tackle these with a fine clear mind of interest. The weirdest on this list is tassel-ear corn. This seems to be very popular this … Continue reading The Weird List Of Summer Special And Unusual Problems

MontequeAugust 2, 2018July 31, 2018

Have You Noticed The Crape Myrtles Are Blooming?

By Jannie Vaught Lagerstroemia! Commonly known as crape myrtle or crepe myrtle. Is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and trees. From the Indian subcontinent. And they grow excellent here in the South. Known for their beautiful summer flowers and mottled peeling bark. All species are woody in nature, they can range in heights. Very dwarf from 1 to 3 … Continue reading Have You Noticed The Crape Myrtles Are Blooming?

MontequeAugust 1, 2018July 31, 2018

Rain! A Respite From The Searing Heat

By: Jannie Vaught For this Gardner, it is a big Thank You! The heat did cause some heat issues and with consistent and deep watering most of the garden is still in production, although slowed down or gone off the rails with ripening. I got plums galore and my later ripening peaches have slowed a bit. The blackberries for me are recovering from a full-on … Continue reading Rain! A Respite From The Searing Heat

MontequeJune 8, 2018June 5, 2018

Its All About The Natives

By: Jannie Vaught As the spring season lengthens and we press on into Summer, this is my intention. Learn more about Texas Native Plants and the big one for this gardener is grasses. The What are they, where are they and are they a help or a problem. As with all big topics, let’s shorten the list and study just a few. On the … Continue reading Its All About The Natives

MontequeJune 6, 2018June 5, 2018

How Long Does It Take To Grow Tomatoes?

By Jannie Vaught This is the big question most gardeners get, and it is simply the fact that after the winter and a slow spring we are hungry for a homegrown tomato. Here are some numbers, and they also can vary due to soil temperatures and when they were planted in the garden. After you have started them inside lovingly under lights and a heating … Continue reading How Long Does It Take To Grow Tomatoes?

MontequeMay 9, 2018May 8, 2018

Spring Has Sprung With the Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, and Yellow Asters

By Jannie Vaugh We have been waiting for this day. Also arriving are the sneaky garden bugs. Have a look at the underside of your cabbage and mustard leaves for aphids or the dreaded stinkbug! Get the soap and water in the sprayer ready. It could be another buggy year. I have been told that Rescue stinkbug traps are worth trying and are just … Continue reading Spring Has Sprung With the Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, and Yellow Asters

MontequeMarch 20, 2018March 22, 2018

From The Remarkable Plants of Texas

By: Jannie Vaught As this gardener wanders through the extensive history and availability of the many native plants of Texas, I find some interesting and thought provoking plants. In my list of “Things that make you go hum.” The Common Persimmon is one. Not to be confused with the Texas Persimmon, The little black fruited persimmon. The Common persimmon, Diospyros virginianan L. There are … Continue reading From The Remarkable Plants of Texas

MontequeJanuary 9, 2017

An Easy Way to Grow Potatoes

By: Jannie Vaught How many ways are there to plant potatoes? Well about as many as you can imagine? Today we will cover planting in barrels, pot’s and bags. For someone with limited space growing potato’s for a few summer meals is possible. First decide the variety you want to grow. Then the way you want to grow. You will need a sunny place with a … Continue reading An Easy Way to Grow Potatoes

MontequeJanuary 28, 2016

Cucumbers The Mighty Vegetable

By: Jannie Vaught The first day of summer arrived with a bang! The storm was a hit and run. We had been out doing the weekly mow–ugh– and rushed inside to get cover. Welcome summer. This may be the beginning of another interesting season. This week cucumbers seem to be the topic. This is the fourth most cultivated vegetable in the world. And known to … Continue reading Cucumbers The Mighty Vegetable

MontequeJune 24, 2015June 24, 2015

Knowing When to Feed

By:Jannie Vaught Late June and we are in full Garden production. We have had some challenges and issues due to the heavy storms and with all that said. What a Beautiful Garden Year! Just a reminder to stay on task with feeding protocols. If your plants are looking tired, they probably are. It takes a lot for them to grow, flower and produce. I … Continue reading Knowing When to Feed

MontequeJune 21, 2015June 21, 2015

Gardening In A Humid Wet Spring

By: Jannie Vaught June has come in with a lot of growth and heat! The tempature and sun are giving us a really interesting end of spring. With the record breaking amount of storms and flooding rain the result for many gardners are leggy plants. Small or muchy onions and endless pests. This is definitely challenging and takes lots of learning. This evening I noticed … Continue reading Gardening In A Humid Wet Spring

MontequeJune 9, 2015

After The Storms

By: Jannie Vaught After all the rain storms, flooding loss and grief, the clean up continues. Now the beautiful abundance has turned into a problem. After moving, weed whacking, pulling weeds, and hauling into a large pile of limbs there is still too much! So today I decided to focus on the raised beds. The grass was as high as an elephants eye and the grass … Continue reading After The Storms

MontequeJune 4, 2015

Early Summer Check List

By: Jannie Vaught This morning I ventured into the garden for the first time in two day’s, due to heavy storms. Believe me I was so thrilled at what met me at the gate. Everything is proceeding abundantly now we just need some sun to get the ripening process going! I have plumbs to pick , raspberry are about ready, the onions are tipped over and … Continue reading Early Summer Check List

MontequeMay 27, 2015

Learning New Ways to Help Natives Plants To Thrive

By: Jannie Vaught A few Saturdays ago in the afternoon I had the opportunity to sit in on the Highland Lakes Native Plant Society of Texas at the Marble Falls Library. The speaker was Hans Landel, Ph.D . Current Interim Invasive Species coordinator at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. First of all the group is fun and enthusiastic and really, “Into” invasive species. … Continue reading Learning New Ways to Help Natives Plants To Thrive

MontequeMay 27, 2015May 27, 2015

Garlic, The Easiest Plant To Grow

By: Jannie Vaught Last fall I wrote about how to plant and grow garlic. One of the easiest crops to grow. Now this week end I harvested my first 2 beds of Chinese pink and by following the organic growing recommendation this is by far the best ever! Big Garlic with long roots and lovely pink color. I used the keeneorganics.com site and am growing … Continue reading Garlic, The Easiest Plant To Grow

MontequeMay 11, 2015May 12, 2015

Next Season’s Planting

By: Jannie Vaught This weekend was spent inside planning and plotting next seasons garden plans and as my rain water barrels overflowed, I was quietly happy. This means more water on the garden a little hail damage but the moisture was worth the concern. Now with this big storm and all the great available nitrogen everything is ultra green. This is the gardeners constant state … Continue reading Next Season’s Planting

MontequeMay 1, 2015April 30, 2015

Pollinators Are Getting By With A Little Help From Their Friends, The Gardeners

By: Jannie Vaught Pollinators are in trouble especially in built up cities. It is up to the urban residents to provide nectar, pollen, and nesting options. Our native bumble bees are among our most important pollinators and they thrive in urban and suburban environments. Research has counted around 50 other types of Bees, carpenter bees, leaf cutters, borer bees, mason bees, sweat bees just to name a few … Continue reading Pollinators Are Getting By With A Little Help From Their Friends, The Gardeners

MontequeApril 30, 2015April 30, 2015

The True Power Of Three Sisters

By: Jannie Vaught The Three Sister Garden is a Native American way of sustainable agriculture through companion planting, in which one plant helps the others. Corn Beans Squash These make up the 3 sisters. These 3 “New World” foods have changed the course of human culture. The time is ripe to take a look at Native American Gardens. This is a system of gardening that … Continue reading The True Power Of Three Sisters

MontequeApril 27, 2015April 27, 2015