We had a great turnout of members. This is the season of the year to gather the nuts so they can be prepared for the students to plant in their classes with Gonzales Master Gardeners. The black walnut trees have played a part in the Gonzales County history. We are proud to have an opportunity to work with the youth of Gonzales to educate them about the black walnut tree history and to plant and raise seedlings. The seedlings are made available to the community through the AgriLife Extension office at no charge. They are distributed annually to those who sign up in advance. Tree distribution this year is November 12.

On September 24, 2019 Gonzales Master Gardeners celebrated their 10th year gardening and working in the Gonzales community.

WOW!!  The 2019 Spring Children’s Garden produced a lot of carrots this year. They were not ready to harvest back in April when the first graders came to harvest their lettuce, spinach and radishes so they were left to grow until the end of the school year. These were harvested, cleaned up and taken to East Avenue Primary School the day before the last day of school, May 23.  The students were super excited about getting a bag of carrots to take home. Thanks to all the Master Gardeners who helped with the Children’s Garden this spring. 

​Well, another year is nearly in the books, and the highs and (ahem) lows of the gardens (at least MY gardens) are fortunately, soon to be forgot... For now, I am content to have this small break from canning more Salsa Verde from the veritable unending supply of green tomatoes, just to sit here and peck out this post.

I sure hope you had many enjoyable moments from your gardening ventures this year, and if you’re like most of us, you learned a few things along the way. 

Here at the Gonzales Master Gardeners, we had our Winter Social, which was a great success, and well attended despite the threat of poor weather. There was a wonderful spread of good food, as usual, and many smiling faces. I have to think we have a collection of some of the better cooks in the area, and we sure do benefit from them when it is time for a feast! After the meal, we had a meeting, and ironed out some of the plans for the 2018 Spring Plant Sale.

I was lucky enough to attend 2 classes recently, Drip Irrigation, and Practical Fruit at Home. They were captained by Jim and Gail Johnson, respectively, and both very informative, and judging by the attendance, very popular. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage veteran members to attend some of the classes when they can, since they do change from time to time, and the Fruit and Nut class was a good example of that. As part of the Drip Irrigation class, Jim also had some new planting calendars he put together that should be a great help.

Myself, I will be getting a few things started in the greenhouse this weekend already.. Some cuttings from tomatoes I might try to over-winter, some asparagus seeds, pepper seeds, and eggplant seeds for my spring garden. as well as some chives, onion, and leek seeds. (The seeds for the Spring Plant Sale need to wait a little still.) I will be planting some of my plants out in the garden before the sale, and I have to kinda shuffle seed flats since I have only one heat mat. In the garden, I'm planning on planting some kohlrabi, spinach, lettuce, chard, turnips, and rutabaga.. with row covers, I should be able to get some of them to produce before January is over. With the weather crazy and warm as it has been, they should sprout fine and if they are warm enough to sprout, they should be fine.

The 3rd grade Black Walnut Classes went off very well. Many happy 3rd graders passed through the PACE building, as they participated in their 3rd project with the Gonzales Master Gardeners in so many years. They learned a bit of history of the region and the Black Walnut trees. They learned about Natural Resources, Renewable, and Sustainable Resources, and they planted some Black Walnut trees. A lot of Black Walnut Trees. Congrats to the efforts of Donna Bell, and her team for a successful day with the kids. As far as I could tell, everyone enjoyed it, and the kids seemed interested and eager to learn.

I will sign off here for this post, and until next year.. Have a fun, Merry, and above all, safe, Christmas and New Years!

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!