As one of the well-established community gardens in Houston, Westbury Community Garden has been appointed to be an Urban Harvest HUB garden site. There are several Urban Harvest HUB gardens around the city. A HUB garden serves as a regional center for newer community gardens to meet for Urban Harvest education and other events. There […]
Archive | Gardening
Starting the Spring Garden
Thinking about your spring garden? Here is a check list. Winter plants removed. Weeds removed. Soil loosened to aerate it. Don’t plant into hard compacted soil. Microlife fertilizer worked in. Maybe a bag of composted manure will help. Soil raked smooth and well watered. Garden plan drawn on paper. Markers for seed rows and plants. […]
Using the Gas Powered Tools: Get Exercise!
We encourage garden members to learn to use the gas powered tools to do common maintenance jobs around the garden. We have a Stihl Trimmer and a Stihl Edger. The trimmer is used often in trimming around fruit trees, sheds, and along the butterfly garden as well as any other place a mower can’t reach. The […]
Winter Harvest
Lookie, Lookie! Check out the fall and winter bounty at Westbury Community Garden. Kat Elder harvested turnips, onions, Mizuna mustard, Cressida cress, bok choy, lettuces, Tuscan and Red Russian kales, Bright Lights chard, cilantro, eggplant, radishes, snap peas, black beans, thyme and dill with beautiful Zinnias and Rudbeckia for the table. There are a few garden […]
2016 Tomato Tasting Results Are In
On June 4th we had to reschedule the 3rd Annual Tomato Tasting because of the week long deluge of thunderstorms, but June 11 proved to be a bright sunny day and the grounds were dry! Shifting the date also meant our volunteers had to commit to two Saturdays and out tomato growers were not able to supply […]
Roy and Shelly Johnson: The Great Tomato Partnership
The kale from Whole Foods tastes very much like the kale snipped from its stalk in any Westbury Community Garden bed. And many other garden fresh veggies are comparable in taste, if not in nutrition, to the ones bought in stores. Except tomatoes. There is no comparison between the sun-ripened deliciousness of a fresh, homegrown […]
Wishing For Cooler Weather? Time To Plan Your Fall Garden
Tomatoes, squash and peppers are done and it’ll soon be time to prepare for fall planting. Fall seed packets are available for $12. Ask a garden member or contact Seed and Plant Chairperson, Ray, to get your seeds. The 2015 seed packet includes these herbs and vegetables, selected especially for the Houston winter climate. Arugula […]
Black Rot Disease in Brassicas
What is it? Black rot is a bacterial infection that affects the vascular system of members of the Brassica (broccoli) family. It is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. Which plants are affected? All cruciferous crops are susceptible including arugula, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage (including Chinese cabbage), cauliflower, collards, garden cress, kale, kohlrabi, mustard (including mizuna), radish, rutabaga, and turnip. NOT AFFECTED seems to be nasturtium (it must be far enough away on the family tree). Where did it come from? We don’t know the origin of our current outbreak. The bacterium infects all parts of host plants, including seeds, so it could have come in on a seed or on a commercial transplant. There are also some Brassica family weeds that can harbor it in the wild. Why is it such a problem now? We have had the perfect warm, humid weather for it to spread and multiply these past few months – temperature has been between 50-75, it has been breezy and wet. It wasn’t until Wayne saw the same pattern on several of his plants that he brought it to Ray’s attention. We’ve probably been living with it for months without realizing it, which allowed it to spread widely. How is it spread? […]
How To Make Decisions On What Vegetable Varieties To Grow
By Education Committee members, Wayne Slaiku and Ray Sher Figuring out what vegetable varieties to grow is a fun and interesting thing to do, but it takes a lot of time, and seed catalogs always make every variety sound good. To sift through the information, there are key things to look for, which makes decision […]
Winter Wonders
Just a quick peek at what’s growing in our gardens…