By Chris Winslow F or me the middle of February always brings with it a sense of celebration: it’s Irish potato season. Woo-hoo! This is one of my all-time favorite crops to grow… and to consume. Potatoes are a cool season crop. They do very well if you plant them in the late winter, around mid-Febr...

By Chris Winslow 1 . Perennial pruning. The December cold spell and the recent freezes should have frozen back all perennials. Cut your native and adaptive perennials back to a few inches above the ground and mulch. Mixing some organic compost with the mulch will assure some nutrition to build beaut...

W ith 2014 now behind us, it seems a good time to reflect on some of the important lessons that we all learned in our gardens during the last year, and to figure out how to incorporate them into our practices for 2015.  Here are some of my lessons learned from last year.  1. I realized the importanc...

G ardeners and farmers alike have to have a deep-seated sense of optimism to keep ourselves going… because tests are constantly being put in our way, mostly in the form of weather conditions.  Promises and resolutions for me – with encouragement from members of my family! –normally include eating be...

By Chris Winslow 1 . Replace summer annuals with winter bloomers if the frost has burned them. Top performers are dianthus, flowering kale, flowering cabbage, pansies, snapdragons, violas, and stock. Add some rich compost and bone and blood meal to the soil to give the new plants a boost. 2. Plant b...

‘T is the season. . .  for the poinsettias to shoot to number one in the potted plant charts. In this country alone in 2013 we spent $144 million on these beauties, and so it’s not too surprising that we see them pretty much everywhere this month.  The poinsettia is native to southern Mexico and Cen...

By Amanda Moon A s I sit writing today there’s a cold mist outside and many of our summer and fall perennials have started to go dormant (three weeks early this year).  The good news is that there are several winter-hardy annuals that can brighten up those newly bare spots in our yards, and carry ov...

By Chris Winslow A lthough during Thanksgiving the spotlight tends to focus on the cooks of the house, it should also be a time for gardeners to receive some acclaim.  So, gardeners of Buda, Kyle and Austin, if you grew any of the vegetables that are part of your Thanksgiving feast tomorrow, then sp...

F or many of my friends the arrival of November signals the start of the deer and wild turkey season. For me, it’s onion planting time. While Baker and Oliver hone their hunting skills over at the ranch in Brackettville, I’m in my backyard planting this season’s crop. I am often asked about the ‘key...

  By Chris Winslow 1. P lant a tree : now is still a perfect time to get that shade or ornamental tree in the ground.  2. Plant flowering perennials : it’s never too late. Even though their tops will be burned back with the first hard freeze, their roots will be hardy. During the cool days of winter...