The weekly vegetable harvest from our gardens includes:
Tomatoes—40.35 pounds
Cucumbers—29.6 pounds
Green Beans—15 pounds
Yellow Squash—7.2 pounds
Eggplant—1.8 pounds
These vegetables were donated to the Caring Place, the Annunciation Maternity Home, and the Round Rock Area Serving Center.
To date, the Williamson county master gardeners have donated over 1,036 pounds of demonstration garden produce to local charities in 2015!
Routine garden maintenance this week:
Many of our activities this week were focused on general garden upkeep including weeding, mulching, preparing planting areas for new crops. Okra, zucchini and tatuma squash seed were sowed in rows 4 and 6. These vegetables tolerate humid central Texas heat and are bountiful.
A bald cypress tree on the grounds (used for shade in the summer heat) appeared stressed this month. A “sick tree” mixture of cornmeal, cottonseed meal, and molasses was applied around the drip line of the tree. Compost was then layered over the amendments. This treatment surface was thoroughly watered.
Herbs are a gardener’s helper:
Herbs are most welcome in our gardens and have culinary and medicinal properties. In central Texas, many herbs tolerate drought conditions overwinter without damage. Flowering herbs such as basil and thyme planted in or near vegetable gardens attract pollinators, facilitating fertilization. We have several African blue basil planted in the gardens. This summer squash row has been producing prolific yields of yellow squash this month thanks to our basil and our pollinators!
Other herbs including parsley and dill serve as host plants to Black Swallowtail butterflies. Recall their life cycle: egg, larvae, chrysalis and butterfly. This mature dill plant has yet to see any butterfly visitors!
Our keyhole garden:
A keyhole garden is a unique raised-bed planter found in many sizes and shapes. It is often constructed in a circular fashion measuring about 6-8 feet in diameter, stands waist-high and is notched like a pie with a slice cut out. A hole in the center holds “the basket” that moistens and nourishes the soil with decomposing organic matter. Our keyhole garden is also an effective recycling tool for organic garden debris and overripe vegetables.
The “to do” list for June gardens:
Mulch, mulch and mulch your summer garden! Apply mulch or a mixture of compost and mulch at the base of each plant. This layer provides a moisture layer as well as a nitrogen source for your summer vegetables. Trim and clear away garden waste as quickly as possible. Consider starting a compost pile, if you already don’t have one in your yard, and put it to work for you! Vining indeterminate tomato plants can be pruned back and re-staked for new fruit. Determinate tomato plants can be removed from the garden, after they finish bearing, and a new summer crop planted. Integrated pest management in the summertime is also a key element to sustaining a healthy vegetable garden!
Come and see us!
Our demonstration garden is located beside the Williamson County Extension Office driveway at 3151 SE Innerloop Road, Georgetown, Texas. Master gardeners are usually at work in the vegetable garden on Tuesday, and Friday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00 weather permitting. Anyone is welcome to stop by to see the garden or to ask questions of the master gardeners.
Click here for location on Google Maps
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