This weekend is the Hill Country Lavender Festival. There are 5 farms that will be open on Saturday, Oct. 3 starting at 10 a.m.-6p.m. There will be farm tours, music, demonstrations, workshops, crafts, food, plants for planting. There is NO ENTRANCE fee to the farms. For maps go to www.johnsoncitytexaschamber.com.
The following are the participating farms:
Becker Vineyard's Lavender Farm: 830-644-2681 or www.beckervinyards.com
Chantilly Lace Country Inn & Lavender Farm: 830-868-2767 or www.chantillylacesoaps.com
Hummingbird Farms: 830-868-7862 or www.hummingbirdlavender.com
M&J Lavender Farms: 830-696-6624 or www.mjlavenderfarm.com
The Meadows at Flat Creek Lavender Farm & Ranch or www.lavendermeadow.com
Miller Creek Lavender Farm in Johnson city will be closed due to a death in the family. Please keep Karen and Don Roets in your thoughts this weekend.

These are just a few of the members of the Texas Lavender Association. See a complete list of members at the web site www.texaslavenderassociation.org.

Lavender is an easy plant to grow in the Texas Hill Country, however, many home gardeners I have spoken with during the educational programs I do for area garden clubs have had problems growing it. What I am discovering is that most often folks are being way too kind to this tough
plant that originated in the soils of is Israel. My suggestion for this weekend is to take a trip to visit at least one farm and see what varieties they are growing and how they are growing them. Lavender has many uses in crafting and cooking...yes cooking. More on our farm and the many uses of lavender in a future blog.

Herb Gardening Road Trip

I have this fantasy that we are going to create the ultimate herbal demonstration garden here on our hill so that we can bring people to our property to study the many uses these plants provide. It is turning out to be a long term project. We are putting off building the new raised beds until the roof gets fixed and the road gets repaired. This has not yet deterred me from starting to collect the herbs I envision in these gardens! It just means a they will have to live in pots for a while. I love the thrill of the hunt!

As much as I love collecting herbs and flowers (and I am a true collector!) I love photographing them. So, in order to add to our inventory we traveled to Austin on Saturday. This is reason we started the day (very early) and traveled to the Arnosky Flower Farm. Visit them on line at www.texascolor.com. I have watched this family grow their business for years by growing flowers and herbs for the HEB's Central Markets . I had not been to the farm stand in about 4 years. I wanted get there when they opened at 9 a.m. to take pictures of the flowers at a time day when the light was rich with color. We arrived and found that they had received at least 7 inches of rain in the past week and the fields were very muddy. I managed to make it to one area before I realized that it was not worth getting my clogs stuck, not to mention the car. The flowers, however, did not let me down. They also have a few perennial plants and well as some fall lettuce starts. We also picked up some squash and goat cheese for dinner and their new barn is gorgeous. The few shots I got were worth the stop!

We then traveled on to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market (www.sunsetfarmersmarket.org) and found lots of treasures to bring home. We picked up fresh okra, lamb shanks, grass fed beef, homemade wheat berry bread. There was even a couple selling dried herbs and teas. I did not see any other fresh herbs other than fresh basil. I see a business opportunity here people!!!
It was a beehive (yes the pun is intended here) of activity! Yes there was fresh honey too!

After a quick lunch to a great Cajun place called Evangeline Cafe (www.evangelinecafe.com) we were off to visit a nursery we had not been to in a long time that has a great selection of hard to find herbs ...It's About Thyme (www.itsaboutthyme.com). They have antique roses, herbs, perennials and tropicals. I love seeing the birds in the greenhouse (no shop cat here!) and the demonstration garden out back. I did not have enough room in the car to pick up the plants I wanted so we will have to make a return trip soon. I loved the mint hanging baskets!

We finished the day by heading over to The Natural Gardener where the focus of the day was fall veggie gardening (www.naturalgardeneraustin.com) and the square foot gardening technique. We left here with tools to clean out our own beds, a few fall bulbs and some seeds to get in the ground. We love coming here because the staff always is pleasant, knowledgeable and helpful. They have a great selection of herbs here too. I really like their "herb garden" as it is a garden planted with herbs and perennials.

Next weekend we have the Hill Country Lavender Festival to look forward to. Six farms in around Johnson City & Stonewall are celebrating the fall bloom with farm tours and activities. For more detailed information go to www.johsoncitytexaschamber.com and go to the calender of events page.

This past weekend it was time to hit the nurseries and find some things missing from my garden. I wanted the fall herbs such as dill, cilantro, fennel, and parsley. These babies prefer cooler temperatures and if you planted them in the summer (especially this summer) they went to seed as soon as the temps rose above 80 degrees. It was not your fault they croaked, they are just picky that way! We planted parsley and the butterflies forgot to share this year! Plus it is a Biennial. Which means it was time for it to go. Parsley does grow like a weed in our limestone soil so as soon as the rains have stopped I am sure we will find it cropping up again, literally everywhere.
We started our journey at the Antique Rose Emporium in San Antonio for thee "ART in the Garden" show. All though we did not come home with any art, I was lusting after some great pieces! They also have some adorable fall decor that just arrived which is sure to liven up any front porch or garden. The flowers and butterflies were also doing their thing and it was really nice to see things perking up after all this rain.
Every good nursery has a working CAT and this fella was doing his best to keep the lizard population under control. But they really out numbered him because the lizards were everywhere this day. I also found a rare treasure that is in the ARE gardens, the white flowering Comfrey. This plant is best known for having been developed for Sissinghurst Castle in England for their famous White Garden. We visited there this summer (that is the subject for another Blog). Here we found some herbs and lettuces to get us started on our own fall veggie garden.

We then went Shades of Green and missed the beginning of the Bob Webster's Veggie Garden talk. We hope to catch the one at the Natural Gardener this weekend (Sat. at 12 noon).
Starting in the parking lot we noticed this lovely Crinum Lilly blooming and one of my favorite annuals, the Candle Tree. Shades of Green also had some great garden art as well. There was also a great selection of herbs that had just arrived. I found things I could not find anywhere else. I also found a new product called "Thrive". This is one Howard Garrett has been talking about and now sells on his web site. It is the Micorizal Fungi product designed to assist plants in avoiding stress. I used a similar product this summer and had green plants all summer long that needed very little water. My friends were all amazed at how green things remained during the drought. I swear by this stuff!
Shades of Green also has a CAT on duty and he has SIX toes on each foot. He was tackling some catnip someone had kindly left him on the iron bench. My favorite plant of the day was Cape Honeysuckle. A brilliant red flower that I know our Hummingbirds would love!
We enjoyed our day in town but we love coming back to the hills. Now to get all that stuff planted that I bought!

This blog is supposed to be about how I manage to fit herbs into my daily life and today was a really good day. First of all it is raining! We are in a drought and any moisture has been appreciated but this week we are looking at a whole week of the wet stuff. So for me, cold rain means SOUP! After a summer of 100 degree days all summer we are at 64 degrees at 7 p.m.! It is a joy. But I "made" soup today. I opened a can of store bought Fall Vegetable Soup and it looked pretty sad looking in the pot. I wanted more of an Italian twist. So I took out most of the carrots (I don't like cooked ones and they are high in sugar) and the white potatoes (also too high in sugar) and added some canned Cannellini Beans and Italian Green Beans. I then went to the garden and got one sprig of Rosemary and three kinds of thyme and a little of the Garlic Chives. I also added some left over brown rice and chicken from previous meals. I then crushed the herbs and finely chopped them to be sure and release the essential oils. My Italian inspired soup then simmered for about 15 minutes.

The Thymes I chose were French, Lemon and a new one called Hot and Spicy Thyme. The French Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) is a lovely blue green color, is sweeter than English Thyme and is the traditional one used is Bouquet Garni. Variegated Lemon Thyme (Thymus citroidorus variegata) is one of my favorite for containers and cooking. It trails and makes a nice addition to chicken or fish dishes. The 'Hot and Spice' Thyme is a new one that I picked up recently and will have to give you a report on it in the future. In the Italian tradition I topped it off with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a little Parmagiano Reggiano cheese. We had the opportunity to visit a Parmigiano Reggiano factory in Italy and it was an amazing experience. But that is for another Blog!

After lunch I had a flower arrangement to complete. I picked up one of the amazing bouquets of Frank and Pamala Arnosky's at Central Market in Austin. It was fulled with zinnias and sunflowers. It was less than full for the vase I wanted them to be in so again I went to the herb garden. I added flowering Sweet & Thai Basils and long stems of Gorizia Rosemary (Rosemary officinalis 'Gorizia'). This plant grows to 5 foot and has long limbs great for using for shish kabobs. It is a variety brought over from Italy by Tom DeBaggio of DeBaggio's Herbs in Virginia. It is a great one for the Tx Hill Country because like all rosemary's deer will not eat it, laughs at the heat and drought and gets huge without even looking at it! My kind of plant.

So over all it was a nice herby kind of day!

My computer has had the flu! I've been away from it for so long and sooo very much has happened since my last post.

The Herb Association of Texas is an organization that was created to assist in the building of an herbal network of businesses in Texas. We have since opened up the organization to anyone interested in herbs and herb gardening.
On Saturday, Sept. 12 we had a small gathering of hardy souls who met to visit two hill country herb gardens. Both hosts and gardens were unique and inspiring in their own right. First we went to EZ Herbs in Austin. Ellen Zimmerman is a psychotherapist who has developed an educational venue for medicinal herbs. Her garden is full of herbs as well as delightful folk art. We enjoyed a morning snack of herb teas and sweets and then took a tour of her lovely garden.

Sara Holland is a member of the Herb Society of American (where I met her years ago) and has recently started a chapter in Wimberley, TX called the Hill Country Chapter. Sara's specialty is in culinary and crafting herbs. Her 3 acre garden is divided into several sections: the Asian Garden, the Mediterranean Garden, the Mexican Garden, and the Veggie Garden. She has also added a shady gathering location for outside talks. We enjoyed a lovely lunch on her screened in back porch which has an outdoor kitchen. A little rain never keeps a gardener from enjoying such a treat! Thanks Ellen & Sara for spending the day with the Herb Association of Texas members!

Visitors to the Garden

About three weeks ago I noticed we had not had a single zucchini from our vine since the mid to late June. I am new at veggie gardening and so I went to visit my local farm stand and asked what I might be doing wrong. The yellow squash was going like gang busters (we now had plenty in the freezer!) but the zucchini was just not producing. He explained that the bees that usually do the pollinating were off cooling the queen bee because of our extreme temperatures over the summer many local farmers were having the same problem. I was going to have to learn to pollinate by hand. Well, I had a better idea. I began by moving the Flowering Almond Tree and the Purple Duranta bush (both in huge pots) closer to the vines. I also ramped up my liquid seaweed application from every two weeks to once a week. This is will induce flowering in most plants. In no time the visitors started pouring in. We have honey bees on the Flowering Almond and the Coral Vine. We have Bumble Bees on the Duranta and the Perennial Morning Glory vine. The Bumbles prefer blue flowering plants according to an expert we met at the Native Plant Society meeting in Austin. There are also lots of different kinds of Bumble Bees and we are attempting to identify the little guys that are now making frequent stops at the garden. We now have lots of zucchini and the Yellow Squash is on its last legs. But that gives us space to plant the Spaghetti Squash plant we just bought!

I also learned that the bees and wasps were drowning in the bird bath. I once came out in the middle of the afternoon to find 10 honey bees sipping water, shoulder to shoulder in the bird bath. I then learned from the Gardening Naturally show with John Dromgoole, that a clean sponge floating in the bird bath can be a "life raft" for the bees and wasps. Since I've added the sponge, no more drowned bees. I also added a gallon jug filled with water and suspended it above the bird bath. We made a tiny hole in the jug and it now slowly drips fresh water all day into the bird bath and the sound has attracted many more birds than ever before. We also have our share of hummers. One frequents the front porch where we have a garden sage mixed with Flame Acanthus. He perches on this little stick as if to say..."I just need a minute please". Another of my favorites in the garden bringing in the bees is an unusual decorative Oregano that is called 'Bristol Cross'. It has a wonderful purple dangling flower that can be harvested and dried for flower arrangements.

My greatest joy is sitting on the porch, sipping my cup of peppermint tea and watching the sunset while listening to the voices in the garden. We have bees buzzing, birds singing and more life in the garden than in years past. The sad part is this is mostly because of the drought. They have no where else to go. But I am glad that there are visitors in my garden sharing their space with me and mine this summer.

We got that rain you saw in the hills!

Yesterday at around 1:30 my hubby and I were going into town to drop off the Willie the Wonder dog at the vet (an upset tummy) and we noticed the sky was really dark. This is something we had not seen in a long while here in the Texas Hill Country. When we got to the restaurant for lunch at 2:15 it was pouring! The storm lasted at least an hour and a half with drizzles for another hour. Poor Willie had to stay at the vet so we ran for home. By the time we got to our house (we live 30 minutes from town) it was gliding off towards the southeast. We hoped our friends in San Antonio would get some of it, but it appears not. We were lucky enough to get 2 3/4 inches. Unfortunately there are lots of trees and broken branches along the roads. They are so brittle from the drought that when these storms come through we have cause for concern. We are very thankful for every drop of the rain! Poor Willie (a 4 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier) is still at the vet this evening (medicated and sleeping) and his pack mate Bertie (an 11 year old Basset Hound) keeps wandering around the house looking for him. Then she sits on the porch barking. I think she thinks he is on a long walk with my husband! She misses her buddies. So do I! More about herbs tomorrow.