Well, it’s already November, and our thoughts are slowly turning from our gardens to the holidays... soon, 2017 will be a just memory, and 2018 will be breathing down our necks. I started thinking about what I could write about a week or so ago, and thought, hmm, there is just not much going on... Well, except this and that, and... ok, there is plenty going on, lol.

Before long, we will be faced with the Spring Plant Sale!!! So, this is the time we need to be getting ready.. now...  There are plenty of signup sheets at PACE for grow teams for various things. We need to sign up to get those precious plants ready for the sale, so don't be shy, lol. We also need some folks who can foster some trees for the 2018 Fall tree sale. So, even though the days are getting short, and the daylight savings is messing with our sleep, there are still plenty of projects to volunteer for here at the Master Gardeners. Plants need to be started soon, so at the Winter Social be ready to sign up!!

Did I say Winter Social? See.. the year IS passing us by...  December 7th is the first Thursday in December. Look for an e-mail from Fran about food to bring to the event, and plan on bringing your significant other, or a good friend, or someone interested in gardening, or..? There is always excitement in the air, and food enough for all.  

Class 8 is well underway, and soil samples are due at the next class on November 14th. Entomology and Integrated Pest Management is the topic for that class. Molly Keck is passionate about bugs, so you’re sure to enjoy the class! Don't forget to bring your soil samples!

The Gonzales Master Gardeners are always interested in improving things at PACE, and many project ideas have been floating around recently. If you have an idea that you think would really improve things, and help further us in our mission to serve our community, feel free to explain it best you can in an e-mail to one of the board members.

With the end of the year comes one more thing for the Gonzales Master Gardeners - Membership Dues. Don't forget to bring your $20 to the Winter Social, or mail it in, if you haven't already. Dues are due by Dec 31st.

SO.. Christmas, there, I said it.. it is far away, and us guys have at least 7 weeks before we start thinking about shopping or anything... BUT, if you count back 6 weeks from the glorious day.. you get November 12th. That is supposed to be the day to repot any Amaryllis bulbs you have hiding in a cool corner of your fridge, at least if you try to get them to bloom for Christmas. Choose a nice big heavy pot, new potting mix, and leave about 1/3rd of the bulb exposed. water it well, and give it the best sun you can. Just as soon as it starts showing signs of sending up leaves, start with the nursery trick of weakly fertilizing weekly, with liquid fertilizer, and maybe with luck, you will have that beauty blooming for Christmas morning!

Ok, so there IS a lot going on in November, but there was no mention of the vegetable garden, lol, surely, it's done for the year... Sure, the Spring garden is long gone, but this is Central Texas, it's always time to plant something! Carrots, Chard, Collards, Lettuce, Multiplier Onions, Parsley, Radishes, Spinach, and Turnips can be planted still. You might even have time to put out Broccoli Cabbage, and Kohlrabi transplants, if the weather is nice... While you’re in the spirit, clean up the greenhouse.. you’re gonna need it real soon! 

Ok, it's time for me to get some breakfast before the Sun comes up so I can Buzz around and do some of these things!

Our Master Gardener Classes continued this month with a how to on Vegetable Gardening presented by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Bexar County Agent David Rodriquez. It was held Jan 17th.
 
Feb 1, we start the month off with a free seminar held by Jacob Carter of Gonzales Outdoor Power from noon to 1 (lunch will be served). His topic will be "Preventive Maintenance and Proper Care of Lawn Equipment". The event is open to the public and will be held at the PACE bldg. (located at 623 N Fair St.) 
 
Our monthly GMG member lunch meeting is scheduled for Feb 2nd and will be hosted by Nancy S and Melissa.
 
Feb 7th, Texas AgriLife Extension Horticulturist Bill Welch will teach our new MG students about Southern Gardens.
 
Looking forward to our first Master Gardener Home Fruit Specialist Southern Texas Training Program to be held on Feb 9th and 10th.
 
The MG class, to be held on Feb 21st, presented by Texas AgriLife Extension Plant Pathologist Kim Cochran, will teach Plant Pathology and how to identify plant problems.
 
And as always there are all sorts of things happening behind the scenes like planning new programs, preparing and growing plants for the Spring Plant Sale and so on. For more on that and many gardening tips be sure to check out our monthly Newsletter. To do so just click on the "More" tab above and then click on Newsletters.
 
Happy Growing!

Wanted to let y'all know this may be the last weekend to show support to those Master Gardeners at the Gonzales Farmers Market this season. Saturday 9:00 am til noon located under the portico at Laurel Ridge Antiques, 827 N. Saint Joseph St. Farmers Sandy, Mike and Cindy have lots of tomatoes, preserves, eggs, squash, onions, peppers, eggplants and more! Come on by and grab some goodies!

​Congratulations To Us!!! 
​
The Texas Master Gardeners Association 2015  Awards were handed out at this year's State Convention and the 2nd place awards for the "Outstanding Individual Master Gardener" (medium size group) goes to Gail. Way to go Gail, you Rock! The awards for the 1st place "Outstanding Education Program" (medium size group) goes to our Second Grade Program with GISD students lead by Dee and Gail. WOO HOO! The awards for the 2nd place "Outstanding Written Education" (medium size group) for our Website goes to Jo and Gail, great job ladies! Special thanks and recognition goes to Arline for presenting the GMG submissions in accordance to the entry guidelines. You are Awesome! And for all those members who make our organization what it is today, we wouldn't be here without you. Here's to another year of hard work and dedication! Congratulations to all!!!

May 10th we held our 2nd annual Gonzales Master Gardeners Home Garden Tour! This year we toured three homes outside of Gonzales.1st stop, Nixon, where I happily showed off my little vegetable garden and I had the opportunity to pick David's brain with various issues. He has so much knowledge to share this quickly became a learning tour for all. I also welcomed visitors into my 1900 Victorian Farmhouse for a snack and tour of our never ending restorations. 2nd on the tour, Belmont, where we saw Gail and Jim's beautiful oak tree filled ranch, gardens, orchard, awesome renovated home and enjoyed a delicious lunch topped off with an ice cream treat. Next we went to Shiner and toured Jim M's very whimsical garden and sweet historical Victorian home filled with many antiques and treasures. Wow! Truly a wonderful day! Our gardens are all so different and show our unique personalities, so much fun to see and explore!

May 12th we enjoyed a very informative and entertaining Compost class with Gail! We learned much about the various types and methods of making compost and compost tea. Most importantly how to make compost correctly! We also learned about farming composting worms for their nutrient rich castings to collect and add to our garden soil! Jennifer received a cool door prize of an actual worm farm! 

On the 17th. we will celebrate our new graduates with a tour of the Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farm and a ceremony followed by a burger lunch served at Fran's home! All members welcomed but please RSVP Fran if you will attend.

On the 18th there will be a planning meeting for next years MG training class #7 starting at 9:30 am at the PACE bldg. All members welcomed for your input!

So we had a great class with Baron Rector! He had everyone’s attention and kept us guessing and laughing with his sarcastic humor.  I have to admit though, I could not remember much of his class from last year, not much to say about my short term memory, but I will not forget this one!  He speaks with so much passion about environmental horticulture.  Wow, have we, “as in” human made so many mistakes with this awesome land God has provided for us!  One thing for sure—he is the perfect speaker for our final class.  We may not have learned everything there is to know about gardening, but what we did learn are real, proven, up to date, researched facts about gardening.  And yet there is soo much more to come.  Live, learn and keep growing!

So yesterday's members meeting was awesome! We couldn't wait to hear just how well we did with our Spring Plant Sale! It was our best yet! Congratulations and a Big Thank You to all involved including the Anchor Club volunteers! We talked a little about some ideas to improve the sale next year and how some of our best sellers were the vegetables. Sandy treated us with a delicious homemade soup and salad along with a yummy chocolate cake and there were cookies too! She even brought fresh homegrown heads of cabbage to share with us as well. Mike showed up with more of his awesome tomato plants which quickly disappeared at the end of the meeting. The rest of the leftover plants in the greenhouse were offered as gifts to all. Dee shared with us of the upcoming and last of this years 2nd grade class to be held next Thursday, April 14th at the PACE bldg,beginning at 8:00am. Carl shared some info on Mason Bees and how we could make homes for them to attract them to our gardens. And if you have never attended a members meeting then you should know David always brings some special gifts as "door prizes"! After every attendant signs in, there is a drawing of names for whom receives the gift. This time he had no gifts, but Sandy came to his rescue and offered fresh "free range" eggs from her chickens! Shirley and Julie were the lucky winners. FYI, the next class #6  will be a field trip to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center where we will enjoy a walking tour and lecture with Guadalupe County Master Gardener Deedy. We will meet at 9:00am in the front parking lot. All are welcome to attend, there is a $10.00 fee unless you are a new GMG student, for more info check out their website here  http://www.wildflower.org/   Looking forward to seein' ya there!