Texas Redbuds

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Jay White

Here in Central Texas, signs of spring start early. Daffodils and narcissus begin blooming in early January. By February, these bulbs have begun to fade and are replaced by the graceful Leucojum. By March, big green mounds of dark green foliage in yards and pastures remind us that Bluebonnet season will soon be upon us. Yet, in spite of all of these signs, I never really feel sure that spring has arrived until I see two things in my yard: purple martins and buds developing on my redbud trees.

This lovely redbud was captured by Bruce Leander at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The Texas redbud (Cercis canadensis “texensis”) is probably the most loved ornamental native tree in Texas. The bright magenta flowers burst forth when most of the earth is still grey from winter. The flowers seem to appear over night. You can drive past the bare branches of a dormant redbud tree everyday and never notice it. Then, sometime around the first of March, the flowers arrive in all of their magenta glory. They are so bright and showy that I am always pleasantly shocked when I see the first redbud of spring.

Redbud in bloom by Bruce Leander

Redbuds are small deciduous trees with light grey bark covered in white spots. They are commonly multi-trunked and rarely exceed 25 feet in height. They flower in a variety of colors. In addition to the most common magenta, you can find varieties that bloom deep rose, pink, purple and even white. Redbud leaves have a very distinctive “heart” shape that is dark green and waxy on the top and lighter on the bottom. The tree produces a flat seed pod in late summer that is attractive to many birds and varmints. Technically an understory tree, they do well in full sun but do appreciate some afternoon shade. Their drought tolerance and adaptability to the alkaline soils of Central and South Texas make them an excellent choice for our yards and gardens.

Raindrops on redbud blooms by Bruce Leander

Like fruit trees, it is best to plant redbuds in late winter. If you are going to buy your tree from a nursery you might wait until early spring when they have bud development so you can be sure of the color you are getting. Once purchased, the redbud should be planted like all other balled or potted trees. Dig a hole about twice as wide and the same depth of the root ball. Back fill and tamp. Make sure and leave the plant high enough in the hole to keep the root collar exposed. Water in well and mulch with a 4” to 6” layer of compost.

The blooms of the redbud are a sure indicator that Spring is just around the corner! Photo by Bruce Leander

Last weekend, several purple martins began to set up house in my back yard. Seeing this, I immediately went and inspected my redbuds. Sure enough, they were covered in buds. Because of this, I am now pleased to announce that winter is officially over. Why not get in the car this weekend and enjoy the show provided by the redbuds? I promise, you will be glad you did!

The Bee Queen

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Jay White

My wife and I hiving our first package of bees

In addition to gardening, my wife and I are beekeepers. At least we try to be. Our first effort was a lot of fun and we learned a lot. Unfortunately we did not learn enough to keep the hive alive over the brutal winter. Since we both enjoyed the bees so much, and we really liked having them in the garden, we decided to try again. In order to increase our bee’s chances of survival, we decided to get some help. Last night we attended a meeting of the Central Texas Beekeepers Association.

The meeting was packed. We were very excited to see how many people keep bees in our area. The speaker was McCartney Taylor from Austin (http://learningbeekeeping.com/). He gave a very interesting talk on top bar hives. McCartney has the largest YouTube channel about bees on the internet.

The yupneck and the 2011 Bee Queen, Kaylynn Mansker

Another special visitor was the 2011 Bee Queen, Kaylynn Mansker. I have to admit, I was not aware that there was an annual Bee Queen. The Bee Queen is the spokes person for the Texas Beekeepers Association. The Texas Bee Keepers Association has been serving beekeepers in Texas since 1880. In addition to promoting bee keeping, the association provides scholarships and sponsors the annual Bee Queen. In her role, she travels the state and spreads the good word about beekeeping at club meetings, schools and fairs. Kaylynn was a joy to visit with. She is very personable, knowledgeable and a great speaker (and who can resist getting their picture made with a pretty girl). If you want to learn more about bee keeping, the Central Texas Beekeeper’s are hosting their third annual school on March 11 in Brenham. Here is a link if you are interested in attending: www.centraltexasbeekeepers.org

We also met John and Wendy Rohan. They are the owners of Rohan Meadery (www.rohanmeadery.com). Until last night, I did not know what mead was. Turns out, it is wine made from honey. Many believe that mead was the first fermentated beverage enjoyed by mankind. The Rohan’s make and sell small batch artisanal mead from their meadery in La Grange, Texas. They use local honey that comes from Kenny and Wendy Reed of Bee Wilde Farm in Montgomery, Texas (http://beewilde.com/home1.html). They also use 100% organic fruit in their flavored meads. They brought three varieties for tasting and they were all excellent. We cannot wait to visit the meadery and load up. If you are in the La Grange area, stop by “The Hive” (their tasting room), take a tour and try their mead. I promise, you will thank me for telling you about them.

Weed Free-Organically

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Jay White

The cover of this month's Texas Gardener magazine. In it you will find my first "published" piece, "Weed Free-Organically".

Well, this is a banner day for the yupneck. My first published piece came out today in Texas Gardener magazine (http://texasgardener.com/). My article is entitled “Weed Free-Organically”. It is a pretty in-depth piece on controlling weeds in your flower beds and vegetable gardens without the use of chemicals. Of course my wife, kids and mother think it is the best thing they have ever read. I hope you buy a copy and let me know if you agree with them. It will be available on news stands by February 28th and also on the web around the same time.

Texas Gardener is the second largest gardening magazine in Texas. It was started in 1981 by Chris Corby in Waco, Texas. For thirty years now he has been providing gardening advice to Texas gardeners by Texas gardeners. Chris has built an impressive stable of very well-respected garden writers. Their articles provide invaluable tips and tricks for growing things in the wildly variable and difficult Texas climate. This month, he is doing a special promotion with the garden centers in over two hundred Texas Wal-Marts. Look for your copy at the check out stand. You can also find copies wherever magazines are sold.

When I started my master’s degree at A&M, I had no idea what I would do with it. Thanks to some prodding and encouragement by some very special people, I may have found my niche. Seeing my work in print is very exciting. I am humbled to know that some people think that other’s might actually enjoy reading the things I write. I would like to say a special thanks to my wife. Without her encouragement, none of this would have happened. I would also like to thank Cynthia Mueller for asking me to write for HortUpdate (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/). That first potager piece led to my blog and now this. Also many thanks to Dr. Bill Welch and Dr. Doug Welsh for their support and encouragement. My son-in-law, Ramez Antoun is a very talented photographer. His photos made this article and my blog come alive. Thanks Moose! And finally, thanks to my kids. You always read what I write. And even if you think it is boring, you never let it show! I love you all!

Going Green For God

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Jay White

Kate is thinning the carrots in the St. Paul's organic garden

How do you get a bunch of second grade students excited about science? If you are Sally White, you have them grow an organic vegetable garden. Sally is the second grade teacher at St. Paul’s Christian Day School in Brenham. She is also an avid gardener. Each year, as a part of her science curriculum, she introduces her students to several plant related concepts. She then uses the hands on experience of the garden to reinforce those concepts. She calls her program “Going Green for God”. According to Sally “The kids love getting their hands dirty. The garden provides a way for me to get their initial interest level up and maintain it through out the year by constant visits to observe and document the changes in the garden.”

Sally built a raised bed garden at the school based on Mel Barthalomew’s square foot gardening methods. Her garden is an 8’ X 3’ raised bed with a trellis on the back. Each year her class plants both a fall and a spring garden. The kids get to plan their garden by selecting the appropriate plants for the appropriate season. This exercise in planning reinforces lessons learned about seasonality and helps develop their graphing skills. The kids are responsible for all of the care of the garden. They water, compost, weed and harvest. This fall, her class has harvested broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and lettuce. Spring plantings include carrots, lettuces, cucumbers and tomatoes. This year, she will be adding potatoes to the mix.

Sally's class harvesting the fall garden

Sally also uses her garden to demonstrate and reinforce the Christian principle of stewardship. She teaches her students to be good stewards of God’s creation by caring for the garden with organic methods. Compost is a big part of this. She teaches kids about the processes involved in making compost and the value that it provides to the soil and ultimately the plants. Her compost lectures are always a hit. The kids love the fact that they can make something good out of “cow poo and garbage”! The compost lesson is reinforced before each planting when the kids add compost to the planting bed to “recharge” their soil. Good stewardship also means learning to live by the “waste not, want not” motto. Nothing grown in their garden goes to waste. The lunch staff often prepares the vegetables for the kids or the kids are allowed to take home the fresh produce. The greens and foliage go into her compost pile.

Our world is going through a lot of changes right now. Things like climate change and overpopulation are serious threats to the future of our planet. Kids across our world are going to grow up in a world that has much fewer certainties than the world their parents grew up in. By teaching her kids to be concerned, self reliant, good stewards of the earth, she hopes that she is “growing” a huge crop of great kids that will be a positive force on our future.

Cheap Tomatoes

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Jay White

A friend at work told me that she wanted to start growing her own vegetables as a way to cut down on her grocery bill. I encouraged her to start a small garden but I warned her that she probably would not be saving money by doing so. She was not to be deterred. She had done the math! She would grow tomatoes in hanging baskets that cost $19 each. Since each plant would produce 10 pounds of tomatoes her cost would be just $2 per pound. Any fool could see that was cheaper than what Whole Foods was charging for a pound of organic tomatoes.

After a couple of weeks I checked in on my friend to see how her hanging tomatoes were doing. She was pretty pleased with all things horticultural, but she was a little dismayed about how much she had spent. The two hanging bags set her back $38, soil and tomatoes were another $20. Then she had to figure out a way to hang them. Since her patio did not get enough sun, she fashioned a rolling support out of galvanized pipe and fittings and a patio umbrella stand. This cost her another $100. My friend had learned a very important lesson. Gardening can provide you with many things. Unfortunately cheap food is not usually one of them.

I am happy to report that my friend did not allow her initial start up costs to deter her gardening efforts. In fact, she has now expanded her gardening operation and is successfully growing herbs and veggies in giant pots in her yard. She no longer tries to justify her hobby as a money saver. She now gardens just for the fun of it! She is growing her own food, spending time out doors, reading books and talking to other gardeners. She has definitely caught the gardening bug.

A lovely pot of chard and parsley at Thompson and Hanson’s in River Oaks

Watching my friend get so excited about gardening put me in a reflective mood. I started wondering, “What is it about watching things grow that makes me, and countless others like me, kind of nutty?” What exactly does gardening provide that makes us return to this pursuit year after year? I know this, gardening provides me with a link to my past. As I get older being connected to my history gets more and more important. I also get the majority of my exercise and all of my sore muscles and back aches in the garden. It gives me a place to express my creativity and it provides me with a window into the wonder of life. Gardening relaxes me, humbles me and keeps me ever watchful and hopeful. It is place where I gather and pass on my knowledge. I have talked to many gardeners and they all seem to agree. The garden is a place where we invest our time, talent and resources. We all receive many gifts from the garden. Unfortunately, cheap food is not generally one of them.

Here are the links for the vendors mentioned in this article:

http://www.thompsonhanson.com/

http://www.gardeners.com/Outdoor-Planters/OutdoorPlanters_Dept,default,sc.html