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Beautiful Fall weather is ahead and it’s time to get started planting veggies! I’ve decided to expand my veggie garden at home and invite you all to follow me this season for some of my best tips, successes, and failures to overcome. I’ll be posting video updates here in the Garden News and on Gill social media pages.

Part 1 – Prepping a Veggie Garden Bed

A bountiful veggie garden starts with the soil! Check out my time-lapse video of creating a new veggie bed, and read my tips below for additional info and a recap:

A couple of things I didn’t mention in the video that are very helpful:

If the ground is dry and hard, you can water the area thoroughly for 2-3 days before turning the soil. This will loosen it up and make it a lot easier.
Get rid of all grass and weeds before prepping the bed. Pull them out making sure you get the roots.
The fork tool I’m using in the video is actually called a spading fork, not a pitchfork. Great tool to use!

Video recap:

Amend your soil with compost. Whether you are using an existing garden or starting a new bed it is important to use compost every season. Compost should be tilled (by hand and/or with a tiller) into the top 6-8 inches of soil. Compost helps build the soil structure and has great benefits for your plants including stronger root growth.

Create a barrier. I like to edge the garden with bricks or timbers, but you can use bendaboard, stone, steel edging, logs, etc. This stops weeds from creeping into the garden and helps keep things organized.

Top dress with mulch. Mulching is greatly beneficial to a healthy veggie garden. Mulch helps keep the weeds down, helps retain moisture in the soil, and when you use natural mulches like Hardwood or Pine Straw, they break down in the top layer of dirt building your soil structure even more.

Happy gardening!

–Wyatt

Part 2 – Starting Veggies from Seed

This Fall, I’m starting all my veggies from seed. Check out my video below to see how I start my seeds, and read tips below for additional info and a recap:

Video recap:

Timing is everything. Make sure you are planting your seeds at the right time! Check the Gill’s seed planting guide for the best times to plant veggie seeds this Fall.
Germinate overnight before planting. Put your seeds in a damp paper towel and leave them in a plastic bag overnight to help the seed germinate. (Don’t leave the seeds in the bags for too long or they may root to the paper).
Small containers + Potting or Seed-Starting Soil. I like to start my seeds in peat pots but using things like egg cartons or paper cups works just as well. Fill your containers with a good potting soil or seed-starting soil and plant seeds at proper depth according to the directions on the seed packet.
- Pro tip: Water the soil thoroughly, then plant the seeds. That way you don’t need to blast your new seeds with water and risk displacing them.
Tender young plants need love. Keep the soil damp, but not too wet. Gradually introduce the plants to more sun as the sprouts grow.
Transplant. Once the seedlings reach approximately 3 inches tall (this is a general rule of thumb and depends on the plant), transplant into the ground or a raised bed. Be gentle to keep the soil intact around the root.

Happy gardening,

-Wyatt

Are you as anxious as I am to replace your summer annuals with lush Fall color? I bet yes!! Our guide below (click here for the printable version) shows the most popular flowers for our area and the optimum months to plant. Timing is everything! Many of these can be planted at any time during their season but waiting for the optimum month to plant will give you the best and longest show of color.

For now, trim your plants back a bit to improve their shape, lightly spade some Nature’s Blend compost into flower beds, mulch beds, and pull out tired Summer annuals and refresh pots with new potting soil…all in preparation for your Fall annuals. Get ready; it’s right around the corner!

-Sally Gill

Grow Local South Texas and Gill’s share a passion for organic vegetable gardening and helping local gardeners be successful growing their own food. Here in South Texas we have 2 great seasons for growing food each year – Spring and Fall. Join Gill’s Wyatt Page as he demonstrates how to grow veggies using only organics.

We are lucky that we can garden year-round here in South Texas, but Fall is our best season for planting – especially for trees! Here’s why.

Trees (shrubs and perennials, too) get a great bonus when planted in Fall. South Texas enjoys relatively warm soil temperatures through Fall and Winter, and cooler air temperatures direct the new tree to grow roots instead of foliage all through this time.

So, a tree planted in the ground in Fall will grow much faster the following Spring due to having already developed a healthy root system. That root system will also help the tree take up deeper moisture and not suffer as much stress during its first South Texas Summer.

More Tips for Tree Success:

Consider size: starting with a small 3 to 15 gallon size tree makes planting easier and you get to watch it grow. Planting a larger tree gives you instant impact in your landscape, but planting is more involved. Be sure to choose a space suited for the size the tree will be once it has matured. We can help you choose the right tree and location and take care of the planting for you if you like.
Dig the hole as deep as the container & about 12” wider. Plant the tree so the top of the root ball is level with the surrounding ground or slightly higher. Don’t plant too deep!
Use Nature’s Blend compost to improve existing soil when planting. Don’t put the compost in the hole – mix it with the soil that you dig up, then back fill with the soil + compost mixture. Better yet, spread compost over the area where the tree will be planted, till it into the soil using a roto-tiller, then dig your hole and plant your tree in the middle.
Fertilize with Agriform tablets or Plant Tone mixed into soil around the root ball.
Mulch around trees & keep grass & weed eaters away from tree trunks.
Stake trees especially in high wind areas.
Follow watering instructions. New trees need TLC and W!

– James and Debbie

It’s Wyatt again – welcome to part 3 of my Fall Veggie Vlog. I decided to start all my cool weather veggies this year from seed and share video tips along the way – take a look at Part 1 and Part 2 (ICYMI). After sprouting in peat pots, my seedlings are ready to transplant into the ground. Check out my tips for transplanting young seedlings, including protecting them from still-warm temps, spacing, watering, and feeding.

Video Recap:

Protect Cool Weather Seedlings from High Temperatures

It’s time to get cool weather veggies like cabbage and broccoli planted into the ground, but we are still having some 90+ degree days. Using a thin layer of Pine Straw Mulch over your young plants can help protect their surface roots from heat and help retain moisture.

Tips for Transplanting

Not too deep! Be sure to plant level with the surrounding soil so you don’t suffocate the surface/feeder roots. Use a good organic starter fertilizer like Biotone when you plant. Mix a small handful with the soil, then backfill around your new plant.

Give Them Plenty of Space

A good rule of thumb is 12-16” spacing between most cool weather veggies. Visualize their full-grown size. Plants that are too crowded can encourage bad bug infestations.

Gentle Watering!

Don’t blast your tender young plants with a water hose. They need a gentle “blessing” of water from a watering can. Since you can’t drench them yet, they will likely need a gentle watering 2-3 times a day until they are established.

Feed Regularly

Liquid Hastagro is an excellent organic plant food that’s great for young plants. You can hook it up to your hose and broadcast it over the whole garden about once every 2 weeks. Liquid fertilizer is easier to apply accurately on young plants. Using a granular is ok too, but it’s easy to use too much.

-Wyatt

There’s an abundant palette of garden herbs & flowers that thrive when planted in Fall. No need to keep them separated – pair them together for the perfect garden to table companions.

The classic herbs for the Fall season align with those familiar flavors for soups and holiday meals. Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Oregano, Cilantro, and Chives are well known and very successful in South Texas gardens.

Epazote, Yerba Buena, and Yerba Anís (aka Mexican Mint Marigold or Mexican Tarragon) also grow well here in South Texas. Epazote is used when cooking beans to ease digestion. Yerba Buena is a relative of mint commonly used in teas and to freshen breath. Yerba Anís is the flavor associated with licorice, but the fresh leaves + oil and vinegar make an amazing salad dressing.

Fall is prime time for flowers too: Pansies, Violas, Calendulas, Nasturtiums, Roses, Lavender, Anise Hyssop, Marigolds, & Ornamental Cabbage and Kale are all beautiful AND edible with proper care. (Remember to not use chemical fertilizers & treatments on your flowers, especially if you plan to eat them.)

Instead of thinking of separate herb and flowerpots or beds, try planting them together. Maybe a soup garden with Parsley, Sage, Thyme, and Violas. Or a salsa garden in a large pot with Cilantro, Mexican Oregano, and Pansies for color.

Herbs and flowers can be planted in ground; making sure the soil is well drained; or in containers using a good potting mix. All will need at least 4-6 hours of sun and regular watering, especially at first planting.

Our go-to organic solutions for herbs and flowers (and all things edible):

Hasta Gro, Espoma Plant Tone, & BioTone for feeding.
Spinosad, Neem Oil, and Beesafe 3 in 1 spray to prevent and control pests.

Need more ideas? Come see us!

-Debbie

Brown patch/Large patch fungus and Take-all Root Rot (TARR) are two unwelcome Fall and Winter visitors to our South Texas lawns. Cool nighttime temperatures and moisture on the grass from rain, dew, or excessive watering frequency are the two main factors promoting these diseases. Large patch is relatively easy to diagnose visually if you are familiar with the symptoms. TARR has more subtle and varying symptoms and requires 60x or greater magnification to positively ID. Large patch is an unsightly annoyance for Fall and Winter, but damaged grass will regrow in Spring. TARR does not show much damage while the disease is spreading over Winter, but when hot temperatures arrive in Summer, the weakened roots and runners are unable to support the water requirements of the infected areas, and they decline or die.

There is no “curing” or eliminating these diseases, but you can attempt to prevent them, or manage them, by various means. Culturally, you should “goldilocks” your lawn: not too much water, not too little, but just right. Water deeply when needed to avoid drought stress but keep the frequency of application to a minimum. Mow as often as needed. Do not let grass grow too tall, but do not cut it too short. Fertilize according to recommended timing and quantity, not too much or too little. If you see a fungus damaged area, mow it last to minimize spreading into healthy areas. Keep mower blades sharp, so grass is cleanly sliced rather than ripped with slower-healing ragged edges. Any stresses make the lawn more vulnerable to infection by a harmful fungus.

We have fungicides that can help prevent or suppress harmful fungus, but keep in mind that there are also beneficial fungal organisms that recycle dead organic matter into plant nutrients and help prevent thatch. So excessive fungicide use, like most excesses, can cause new problems. My personal recommendation is to let large patch fungus run its course, as it does no permanent damage, just temporary unsightliness. But I recommend topdressing TARR infected lawns with peat moss, to control (can’t eliminate) the disease, as the damage is permanent. Best is for you to bring in some samples (still alive but with symptoms) and photos for us to look at, and offer to you various courses of action, for you to choose whatever approach you are most comfortable with.

-James

fall

A couple of things I didn’t mention in the video that are very helpful:

Video recap:

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