Austin Edible Gardens

06/12/2025

Tired, sunburnt, itchy - creek work by day, gardening by night. Hauled all this plus tomatoes in my shirt from the community garden today. I planted rows and rows of melons in March and they are taking over . I cover the ripe fruit when I can find them amongst the vines. Grateful for the rain this spring. The veggies and pollinator garden are so happy.

01/06/2025

If you are designing or implementing a native garden, check out this article that features tangible advice from me and amongst others and a beautiful before and after garden from . In my new house, I am prioritizing a CenTex perennial and native grass garden over my raised bed, edible gardens. I have lots of St Augustine grass to remove and I’m brining in the trees and layers to bring interest to a very flat, boring yard. I miss all the wildlife from my old gardens. Thanks to for inviting me to the wildlife garden design conversation. Read all about it here: https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2025/Winter/Gardening/Wildlife-Landscape-Design

05/10/2024

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-water-customers-3000-landscape-conserve-water/269-68d85ed0-7d3b-461b-8d38-6eb128330736?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3DWlU0_HoyqEcloaxh7eGpozeaOlLfVCQ6Z2rLDV9hjsWtJ_39eQYHmRQ_aem_AStiCrLPkXeHKdDlf7CKWAPIv4P8Ohh8ipWTV_B4yRAARDIc0QgKkCbR_01uZZyrifBBflYqjFWG-GT1osOEE8oQ

As Austin has experienced drought conditions for several years, Austin Water is asking residents to change their lawns so they don't use as much water.

12/13/2023

I’m making it official - December is my favorite month in Austin. The trees still have their beautifully colored leaves, the sky is blue but the sun is less intense, making the light so much better. It’s also dark and cold which I actually love. (But still pleasant during the day). The gardens are just rolling along all on their own, which is how I wish edible gardens behaved a little more often 😏. The harvests are plenty now too - broccoli, kale, collards, lettuce - all the favorites. How about you? Do you have a favorite month?

07/17/2023

Good tips for helping our plants during this heat.

07/08/2023

Let’s talk raised bed options…You have decided to start a garden and figured out where to place it. Now comes the fun part of deciding how you are going to create and lay out the raised beds. I always design edible gardens in raised beds because they allow you to control the soil, keep out weeds, bend over less, and they add form to the space. Cedar, limestone and steel are popular custom options that usually require a contractor to install. For a super easy, affordable, DIY prefab option, I recommend modular beds. They provide endless options for size and layout, they are lightweight yet sturdy, and and they look modern. They have a huge site-wide (up to 40% off) sale going on now and they are giving you an extra 10% off with my code - austinediblegardens10%off . (Through 7/17. Link in bio). If you want to plant in September, this is great timing for setting up the garden. If you use Vego Garden beds, let me know in the comments. I know a lot of you do. Do you like them as much as I do?

07/07/2023

Definitely not the prettiest post I have ever shared, but I have been noticing a lot of spider mites in gardens so I wanted to share it here in case you are experiencing it too. Last summer spider mites were bad here and it looks like we’re going to be dealing with them again this summer. Spider mites thrive in hot, dry conditions which these last two summers have been. To combat the problem, keep your garden well watered and clean up any plant debris or infected leaves quickly. The best/least toxic treatment for them is predatory mites but they are expensive. If you notice the tell-tale webbing or mottled leaves, remove infected plants or blast them with a strong water stream from a hose. You can also use insecticidal soap and/or neem oil if you choose. All of the plants in these photos were removed from the garden. They were also on the tomato plants and we removed all but one of those. It’s hot out there y’all. If you choose to garden this time of year, add supplemental water to really soak the soil deeply. If you choose to conserve water and take a break from gardening, good on ya.

06/12/2023

Sakura is almost too pretty to eat. The flavor and production is better than Sun Gold for me this year but maybe I just want to have a new #1. 🏆 Hope you all are enjoying your tomatoes too. If I have been quieter than normal, it’s because I’m super busy with planning a move, and I’m also enjoying some time away from social media but I’ll be back soon!

05/22/2023

Only if they’re homegrown potatoes. Then yes.

I'm in.

04/23/2023

An edible garden can be as beautiful as it is productive. This corner of my garden is showing off some nice combos right now. It’s packed with kale, squash, carrots, artichokes, alyssum and nasturtium. These three landscape design principles make it work:

1. Mixing leaf texture and size like round nasturtium, lance-shaped kale, bold squash and artichoke leaves and frilly carrot tops make it VERY interesting to the eye.

2. Complimentary colors, orange and blue create high contrast while also stimulating different parts of the eye so they look GREAT together. Purple and yellow are also great color combos.

3. Different heights let ALL the plants be seen. Border beds with low growing or trailing plants and let the tall ones grow in the back, or use a vertical structure for vines to climb on.

04/05/2023

A couple things about growing squash ….

1. The squash vine borer is a real nuisance in the southern US. You’ve probably heard of it by now if you garden in a zone within the insect’s range. The adult is a red and black moth that lays her eggs along the stem of the squash plants. The larvae then burrows into the hollow stems and kills the plant. It’s a nasty little alien-like worm bu**er. (I hear they are high in protein though 🤔). To keep your plants from succumbing to this pest, you have to be preventative and diligent. (Read: not a super fun, easy crop to grow). One way to combat the SVB is to cover your plants with insect netting. This light weight mesh keeps flying insects off , but lets light inside. The only caveat is that you need to either hand pollinate the flowers or take the mesh off when the plant starts to flower so the pollinators can get in there and do their jobs. Now you now have to be on the lookout for the moth and her eggs. This gardener is using the super hoops that we use in the winter to hold up frost cloth to drape the netting over. It is clipped to the raised bed to secure it.
2. Many squash plants have beautiful variations on their leaves like this yellow squash here. The grey and silver markings look like powdery mildew but they are totally normal and natural. No need to worry or break out the sprays to put on the leaves. Squash don’t like wet leaves, so you could be doing more harm than good. If you’re not sure if the leaves should have color variation, just google the variety of the plant you are growing and scroll through some images. Almost all of the squash I grow have some silver on their leaves. I think they are absolutely gorgeous !

03/07/2023

Floating Garden Beds…
These beds were designed with slanted sides to compliment other steel features in the existing deck and hardscaping in the yard. Designed by me and custom built by . The vegetables are very happy, seemingly floating above the limestone gravel. More photos to come as the garden continues to fill in. Thanks to for the excellent name suggestion of floating beds. Other good ones were Slanter Boxes, Boat Beds, and Food Pyramids. I loved reading all of the suggestions.