Fall Into Winter Vegetables on Central Texas Gardener

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Jay White

If you have questions about what to grow in the fall and winter garden, then this week’s episode of Central Texas Gardener is perfect for you. Patty and I were thrilled to be invited to talk about fall gardening on this award winning PBS (KLRU) television program.

In my opinion Fall is the best time of the year to garden in Texas. The temperatures are milder and the weeds are not nearly as aggressive. Plus, you can grow so many great vegetables! While it is a little late for tomatoes it is the perfect time to plant broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. It is also a good time to plant root crops like beets, carrots, turnips, radishes and parsnips. It is also time to start your salad greens. Fall and winter are the ONLY time you can grow your lettuce and spinach in Texas.

I have been a fan of CTG for years. Growing in Texas is challenging and their experts and guest always have the right answers for the problems I am dealing with in my own garden. If you are not a regular viewer, or you do not get CTG on your local PBS channel, go to their website (http://www.klru.org/ctg/ ). Each and every segment they do is available on YouTube on their site or on their YouTube Channel.

This was my first time in a television studio and I was a little nervous. However producer Linda Lehmusvirta and host Tom Spencer (and the Hays County Master gardeners) made the whole experience so much fun. I would also like to thank all of the people behind the scenes at KLRU for making Patty and I feel so comfortable in front of your cameras. Heck, I didn’t even get offended when you had to put make up on my bald head to kill the glare!

Many thanks to the whole KLRU, and the Hays County Master Gardeners for a truly wonderful experience!

Many thanks to the whole KLRU crew, and the Hays County Master Gardeners, for a truly wonderful experience!

English Cottage Garden Deep in the Heart of Texas

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Jay White

Did you see Downton Abbey this past Sunday? OMG!!!! I did not see that coming!!!! I am not going to spoil anything for any of you that missed it but OMG! Killing Matthew – yep saw that one coming, but this past episode truly blew my mind!

Since Downton Abbey is such a hit, our friends at KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener decided to do a tie in on their program for the season opener. I must say, they did “a jolly good job!” The clip below feature’s a Texas interpretation of an English Cottage garden in Austin. Click below to see how David and Jennifer Stocker utilized their English heritage to build their beautiful and water wise “English Garden” deep in the heart of Texas.

If you garden in the US, there is a very good chance that a lot of the design principles you use and the plants you choose came to you from the English. The English are great gardeners and have been for centuries. Dr. William C. (Bill) Welch from Texas A&M talks with Tom about the many ways that the English horticultural traditions have shaped our views about landscaping, especially in the south. If you have not heard Dr. Welch speak before, or read one of his many books, you are in for a treat. Dr. Welch is one of the most knowledgeable horticultural historians in the entire United States. Enjoy!

See MOH on TV This Weekend!

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Jay White

Nine months ago, the folks at KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener (CTG) came and filmed my potager for an upcoming fall gardening segment on CTG. Well, that “upcoming time” is finally here! I am so excited to have this opportunity and I want to say a great big thank you to Linda Lehmusvirta and crew for all of the hard work they did on this. Click on the link below to watch it now.

Central Texas Gardener now airs on five Texas public television stations and is coming soon to New Mexico. Check the station link listed below for the most recent local schedule.

KLRU / 18-1, Austin

noon & 4:00 p.m. Saturdays
9:00 a.m. Sundays (repeat)

KLRU-HD, Austin

noon & 4:00 p.m. Saturdays
9:00 a.m. Sundays (repeat)

KLRU-Q / 18-3, Austin

6:30 p.m. Tuesdays
7:00 a.m. Wednesdays
9:30 a.m. Fridays

KAMU, College Station

5:00 p.m. Saturdays

KNCT, Killeen

1:30 p.m. Saturdays
5:30 p.m. Sundays

KLRN, San Antonio

11 a.m. Saturdays

KWBU, Waco

3:30 p.m. Saturdays
12:30 p.m Thursdays

KPBT, Midland (Permian Basin)

12:30 p.m. Mondays

KBDI, Denver

2:00 p.m. Sundays
2:30 p.m. Tuesdays

MOH on Central Texas Gardener

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Jay White

Yesterday was a banner day for MOH. About 10:00 a.m. yesterday morning, Linda Lehmusvirta and a film crew from Central Texas Gardener showed up to film my little potager. This was very exciting for me and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The only downside is it will take a while before my little garden makes its television debut. Turns out television programs take an awful lot of prep and it will take a bit of work to get the final product edited and ready to view.

Linda and I doing the interview

Over the past three months I have worked tirelessly growing the plants and improving the potager so that it will look awesome on TV. Because of this, things have never looked better at my house. There really is nothing like a big dead line to motivate you to get all of those honey do’s finished that have been put off for too long.

My wife and I with Linda Lehmusvirta from Central Texas Gardener

The focus of the interview was growing the Texas fall garden. I was asked to describe what I most commonly grew and how I grew it. Since I grow organically in raised beds we spent quite a bit of time talking about soil and bed prep. We also discussed the benefits of the paved walk paths. I am not sure how long the interview lasted but I think I babbled on for about 30 minutes. The interview will mostly likely be edited to about 3 or 4 minutes of dialog so it will be interesting to see what I actually said!

A pic of the lettuce, shallots and cauliflower that is growing in the triangular beds of the potager.

I would like to say a special thanks to Linda Lehmusvirta of CTG for taking time to do this. She was great and the film crew was awesome! The whole experience was so much fun and Sally and I greatly enjoyed making new friends.