Press Release: (June Class) Manging Garden Pests & Diseases

It's almost class time again!  If you are planning to attend and have a problem in your garden, feel free to bring a sample of what's going on.  Just put some of the insect and what it's eating, or diseased leaves, blooms, fruit, whathaveyou, in a ziploc bag and bring it to the class.  Linda and Marge will do their best to help you figure out what it is and what you can do about it.

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Class Title: “Managing Garden Pests & Diseases”

When: Saturday, June 4^th at 10am.

Where: In the beautiful, new air-conditioned addition to the Spicewood Library, 1011 Spur 191.

What: Special guest lecturer and Master Gardener Marge Trachtenburg will help you identify pests and diseases in the garden and manage them organically. 

Who's invited: everyone

To Sign Up: call Linda Wall at: 830-220-0320 or email LindaWall@gmail.com

For More Info: visit www.spicewoodlibrary.org or spicewoodpeapatch.blogspot.com

How Much: A suggested donation of $10.00 goes to support the Spicewood Library's organic teaching garden, the Pea Patch.

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Press Release

 

“Managing Garden Pests & Diseases”, Saturday, June 4^th, 10am

Got bugs, yellow leaves, plants that aren't thriving? Then this is the class for you, the home vegetable gardener. Special guest lecturer and Master Gardener Marge Trachtenburg will help you identify pests and diseases in the garden and manage them organically.  This class will be held in the beautiful, new, air-conditioned addition to the Spicewood Library.  To sign up, please call Linda Wall at 830-220-0320 or email LindaWall@gmail.com.  A suggested donation of $10 goes to support the Pea Patch.  For more info on the Pea Patch Project, please visit SpicewoodLibrary.org or SpicewoodPeaPatch.blogspot.com.

Spring Planting with the Boy Scouts

Kaye, Dan, and Jack Rich along with Jack's friend, James.

Two Cub Scouts joined us for our Spring Planting yesterday.  They were working on their World Conservation Badges and planting a vegetable garden was one of the requirements.  We were only too glad to have them.

Thankfully, many other people joined us for the planting ~ thankfully because we had two yards of turkey compost to unload!  We spread it all over the beds and worked it in well.  We also built two 4'x4' square foot garden boxes (those should be exciting to watch grow).  All in all, we planted tomatoes, peppers, okra, cucumbers, melons, squash, green beans and basil.

The boys really got into the planting. Ah, boys and dirt...

Later in the day we held another class, this one on Basic Organic Gardening.  The heat drove us inside where we met in air conditioned comfort.  Linda spoke for over an hour, talking about such topics as how to build a garden from scratch, light and water requirements of vegetables, how (and with what) to amend the soil and organic fertilizers.  Handouts were ... well... handed out, listing everything she talked about and more, including a list of popular and easy-to-find organic fertilizers and soil amendments and information on each in an effort to demystify them.  Also in the handout packet was a planting guide listing most all the crops we can easily grow in Central Texas and the best times for planting them, a paper explaining how to compost, The Natural Gardener's handout on vegetable gardening and another on sheet mulching.  Linda even brought some tomato plants she'd started from seed and some excited class participants took them home.  Here's hoping they get bumper crops of mouth watering 'maters!

Donations, Donations, Donations!

We received donations this week from David Naumann, owner of Naumann's Feed Store, and The Natural Gardener that will allow us to plant the Pea Patch this spring!  David Naumann generously gave us seeds, seeds and more seeds ~ so many that we were able to freeze the excess for planting next year (and maybe the next, and the one after that!).  Thanks, David!

The Natural Gardener gave us $150 in gift certificates to spend at the store any way we liked.  Can you say "Shopping spree?!"  We bought compost, pine straw mulch and transplants.  Thanks, TNG!

Laura McKissack, left, from The Natural Gardener presenting Linda with the donation.

Media Coverage

It makes me feel all important to say "Media coverage". *snicker*  Look where we've been so far!  In the past month, we've been in the Highlander newspaper twice.  The first time was a great article telling about the fruit tree class (article on right ~ click for larger, readable image).  The second was as the feature photo for the Calendar of Events (photo below ~ also clickable to see larger image).  Exciting!

Seed Starting Class

 

Starting your own seeds has many benefits: gives you independence and a sense of self-reliance, allows you to try varieties not easily found locally, gives you more flexibility with planting dates (like getting those tomatoes out extra-early) and saves you money.  If you've ever wanted to learn how, you would have had you been at the Spicewood Pea Patch's Seed Starting Class yesterday.

It was a beautiful day for a seed starting class ~ breezy, overcast and cool.  Ten people (and two dogs!) gathered to hear Linda talk about all aspects of starting seeds.  She started by telling how a seed is a living thing, then explained exactly what hybrid, open pollinated, heirloom and GMO seeds are.  She touched on how to save seeds as well, but the main subject was how to start those seeds indoors. 

Two of Linda's dogs, BJ and Nellie, enjoy the class.

Linda talked for over an hour about soilless mediums, sowing containers, planting dates, adequate lighting, bottom watering, germination temperatures and what to feed those babies when they finally start growing up.  She explained how you could really can start seeds on a budget using butter tubs, get fancy and use handmade newspaper pots she showed how to make, or get fancier still and buy any of a number of commercially available seed starting trays.  She talked about problems and how to remedy them, and ended the class by touching on how to save seeds and generally propagate garden plants.

If you're interested in learning about starting your own seeds, this class will be repeated next year.  Just contact Linda to get on the Pea Patch email list and she'll make sure you hear about upcoming classes.   

Press Release: (Feb. Class) From Seed to Fork: A Seed-Starting Class with Linda Wall

Get a jump start on the Spring gardening season and save money by learning to grow your own vegetables and flowers from seed with gardening expert Linda Wall. Linda, who grew up on a farm and is currently working at the Natural Gardener in Austin, will demonstrate how to start your own plants from seed, saving you money and allowing you to grow heirloom and hard-to-find varieties of veggies and flowers. "Seed starting doesn't just save you money," Linda says. "It lets you get started earlier, gives you access to varieties of plants you won't find in the nurseries, and is just plain fun!" The class will be held on February 26 at 2pm in the Pea Patch behind the Spicewood Library, 1011 Spur 191 (next door to the Spicewood Elementary). A suggested donation of of $10.00 will go to support the Pea Patch, the Spicewood Library's community Organic Teaching Garden. Space is limited, so sign-up now! Contact Linda at: 830-220-0320 lindawall@gmail.com or visit: spicewoodlibrary.org.

Spicewood Library's Fruit Tree Class a Success!

Under a bright blue sky on a mild winter day, the Spicewood Library's Pea Patch held an outdoor class on the selection planting and care of fruit trees, berries, grape vines and more. Class members filed into the Pea Patch and sat at folding tables and on wooden benches, eager to learn how to select, plant and care for fruiting trees and plants.

Ably presented by the very knowledgeable and engaging gardening expert Linda Wall, the class consisted of beginner and experienced alike. The eleven class attendees received instruction on planting and selection, an explanation of chill hours and why they are important, and handouts on the best varieties of fruits, nuts, grapes and brambles for the Spicewood area. Linda also demonstrated various pruning techniques, answered questions from the attendees, and as a bonus, class members could select from several types of fig tree cuttings to take home with them. "Even though I have had fruit trees for many years, I learned a lot from this class," said attendee Kelly Baty.

This successful class, with 11 people in attendance, was the first in a year-long series of Organic Gardening classes to be held each month at the Spicewood Library Pea Patch. Future class subjects will include basic organic gardening, seed saving, and preserving the harvest. The Pea Patch is an organic teaching garden where the public is invited to learn how to grow their own food organically and sustainably. Organizers expect it to grow from the current fenced patch of wide-row planting beds to a full-fledged demonstration garden with a greenhouse, cold frames, herb garden, grape arbor, raised beds and more. If you would like to donate materials, money or time to help them reach this goal, please contact Linda at the email address or phone number below.

The next class will be "Seed Starting: From Seed to Fork" on Saturday, February 26, at 2pm. Linda Wall, who grew up on a farm and is currently working at the Natural Gardener in Austin, will demonstrate how to start your own plants from seed, saving you money and allowing you to grow heirloom and hard-to-find varieties of veggies and flowers. "Seed starting doesn't just save you money," Linda says. "It lets you get started earlier, gives you access to varieties of plants you won't find in the nurseries, and is just plain fun!" A suggested donation of of $10.00 will go to support the Pea Patch, the Spicewood Library's community Organic Teaching Garden. Space is limited, so sign-up now! Contact Linda at: 830-220-0320 lindawall@gmail.com or visit: spicewoodlibrary.org.