ECGDallas Weblog

We have our new schedule for 2009! Our first lecture is Saturday, January 17 at 9:00 AM. Dr. Greg Church, Ph.D, Collin County Extention Agent - Horticulture, will be lecturing on Fruit Tree Care (Planting, Pruning, Harvest) with a demonstration in the Education Community Garden.

Here is our schedule for 2009: (All sessions take place the 3rd Saturday of each month)

January Fruit Tree Care (Planting, Pruning, Harvest) - Greg Church, Ph.D., Collin County Extension Agent - Horticulture

February Rainwater Harvesting

March Wildlife in the Garden (Butterfly Garden, Bee Keepers, Eco-Friendly Wildlife Management)

April Soil Amendments and Fertilizing

May Drought Damage Prevention and Summer Care of Turf

June Entomology - Life Cycles of Garden Pest

July Making the Most of Heat in Vegetable Gardens

August Seed Starting and Planning for Fall Gardens

September Backyard Composting

October Urban Tree Selection, Planting and Care

November Irrigation Scheduling

December Holiday Get-Together

We hope to see you this Saturday!

Very exciting plans - Brandon and Susan Pollard are meeting with Fouad and me this morning to discuss installing a hive here at the ECG. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to expand our community involvement as well as enhance our own diverse mini-ecology here in our garden.

The Texas Honeybee Guild currently works with the Texas Discovery Gardens , Lake Highlands Community Garden , and the CommunityGardens of Oak Cliff to create bee sanctuaries as teaching centers for children and adults alike. They sell the honey produced by these community hives at the Dallas Farmers Market on the weekends; during the week, they make site visits to their hives to asses and monitor the bees.

The hives will not be placed in an area that might conflict with our sensitive gardeners. I am really looking forward to this amazing opportunity!

Here is their website http://www.texashoneybeeguild.org/

Hi All!

I am extremely impatient for this winter to end. My hands are becoming very itchy - I need some quality time with my garden. Despite the fact that I "should" know better, I still want to start my seedlings for my spring garden at home. There are several vegetables that can be started this time of year indoors, but I have a bad habit of expecting too much this early in the year.

Here is a chart of the average last dates for freezes in Texas

This chart is intended to help you plan when to begin your seeds based on the information provided by the seed company. Often, they suggest that you start your seeds indoors between 8 and 12 weeks before the last average freeze date (obviously - depending on the particular vegetable you are planning).

Here is a link to a useful article on starting seedlings at home

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/ornamentals/seedlings/seedlings.html

I am determined to grow sugar snap peas this year. Wish me luck!

Barbara