Another garden tour

So, yesterday was the first annual Austin Community Garden Tour, and I checked out the Blackshear and Alamo community gardens. The first was a fairly new plot (started 2 years ago) on city-owned land over a storm drain; without the garden, it would have been a blank spot right in the middle of a residential block. Instead, lots of veggies for the neighborhood, and even a little cookout spot. Alamo has been around for about 20 years and was 2-3 times the size of Blackshear. Lots of vegetable beds, some herbs and flowers, and a sizeable compost area for both high-heat and worm composting.

Sadly, I was too busy picking up tips to take any pictures. But I did stop by East Side Cafe for a bit to check out the vegetables and chickens.


Chickens on the move

Rock star hair

And a very cool fence & gate on the east side somewhere between Manor and E 6th St.

Monster parsley and garden fauna

This flat leaf parsley planted itself here with a will and was almost four feet across...and going to seed.


Here's the same bed after, with a ruby okra in the new spot.

These little guys will probably miss the parsley, although the swallowtail caterpillar is technically on the pyracantha nearby.

More nature while walking

Poppies at Shoal Creek


Flora and fauna around Turkey Creek this morning

Afternoon veggies

From the top: preparing beets to be roasted; the roughly square foot garden w/basil, strawberries, onions, salad mix, and beets; bush bean emerging; the catch-all bed w/onions, cucumbers, mint, lemon balm, fennel, and parsley; italian and curly parsley; the last of the broccoli

April showers

What a rainy weekend! But so good for the plants. Here's the front bed from a couple of angles:

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - April 2010

Lots of blooms in the front yard this time. It seems like every day brings a whole new batch of color, with the gentle pink of evening primrose and the dark red of autumn sage most prominent.



First coreopsis of the year unfolding yesterday

Moss verbena comes back every spring

Need to get this gazania planted today!

The backyard's got some good blooms, too, and smells amazing (honeysuckle & jasmine NOT the pyracantha below)




Shallot buds

Eve's necklace

Last of the freesia


This potted succulent is a survivor: drought, freezes, you name it


Okay, it's foliage (canna tropicana), but it's showier than most blooms

Addendum: the rain brought on a sage bloom this afternoon.

Backyard veggies and blooms

tomatoes, pepper, basil, and lemongrass plants for the garden

parsley, fennel, lemon balm, and onions in the bigger bed


spiderwort behind the veggie bed

transitioning the square foot bed from winter to summer veggies:
shallot, freesia, and lacinato kale

salad mix, strawberries, onions, and beets

eve's necklace tree in bloom

honeysuckle is back and bigger than ever