Cool Houses Austin » Organic Gardening

Home Depot’s Do-It-Herself Workshops

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:22:17 +0000

Hey want to attend a really cool workshop and learn about how to make your outdoor area a very cool and beautiful oasis this spring and summer? Well, check out the workshops that Home Depot offers to “women- do- it- herselfers! This Thursday night at 7 pm, at Austin area Home Depot stores, they will be teaching about outdoor plants in the Central Texas area, organic gardening, and much more: From their site:

Yard and Garden Maintenance

This month, our FREE Do-It-Herself workshop focuses on your outdoor space. Join women in your community as you learn all the skills you need to unlock your creativity while you grow and maintain a yard that reflects your style.

Workshop Highlights:

Effective watering and fertilizing techniques
Creating colorful accents with containers and baskets
Go organic and grow your own vegetables

Thursday, May 14, 2009 from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

What is Organic?

admin — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:05:39 +0000

We read about the word “organic” as a label applied to food all the time? But what does it reallymean? According to US Dept. of Agriculture, organic means “meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products which come from animals that are not given antibiotics or growth hormones”. Organic food or produce is produced “without using pesticides or fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering or ionizing radiation”. Sounds pretty scary, doesn’t it? Just the thought of eating vegetables grown in sewage sludge makes us pretty queezy…let alone radiation of plants? So where to buy organic in Austin? Most of our local supermarkets carry an organic produce section and we have a plethora of specialty markets for our Austin area like Central Market Westgate, Sun Harvest, Newflower Farmers Market , and of course, the wonderful flagship store of Whole Foods (located downtown on 6th and Lamar) where you can eat in one of their incredible cafes, have a cooking lesson, listen to live music, and shop organic til you drop! And if you are downtown on a Saturday, don’t miss the Austin Farmers’ Market every Saturday from 9am to 1pm on 4th and Guadalupe….yummy treats! And so good for you, too!

Sustainable San Marcos

admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:49:02 +0000

Last Friday night found me at the San Marcos Public Library watching a very enlightening documentary film entitled, The Future of Food, by Deborah Koons Garcia. The film was hosted by Edible San Marcos, a new organization promoting local food and gardening. For those of you interested in learning more about organic gardening, local farmer’s markets, community gardens, bee hives, seed exchanges, and much more, they will meet at the library on the 2nd Monday of the month. Their next meeting will be Sept. 15, 2008. For more info, you can check out their site at htt://ediblesanmarcos.wikispaces.com The film was very informative and after exposing the fact that large corporations are now growing most of our wheat, corn, and soybeans with genetically altered strains, we saw the hope and the power of the American consumers who are demanding more organic products, and non-engineered foods. And we learned that these so-called “super foods” aren’t so super after all;in fact, they are banned in certain countries like Canada and Japan, and in the European Common Market, ALL gene altered products must be clearly labeled as such..We have no such requirement in this country…You have to ask yourself why is it that in our own country where genetic alterations were developed, the FDA did not require human trials or even labeling before allowing them to be used by such companies as General Mills, Nabisco, etc. The good news is because of the popularity of locally grown produce, organic farming is a booming industry. Consumers are turning to organic products and non-gene altered farm produce in droves! In our own area (in a 40 mile radius) we have 13 Farmer’s weekly markets! For a complete list, go to http://edibleaustin.com and buy local whenever you can and support these wonderful individuals in their efforts to provide us with a safe alternative to genetically altered food products. And as for me, I am going to try my hand at growing some wonderful arugala and butter lettuce with the free seeds that I was given by Edible San Marcos and I will definitely see you around at the Wimberley Farmer’s Market held every Wednesday afternoon out on FM 2325 … See you there!

And for a delightful treat, take yourself and family out to the Smiley Dog Farm, a natural vegetable farm located just 10 miles southeast of San Marcos in Martindale, Tx. where they offer weekly bags of freshly picked pesticide free locally grown vegetables! For more visit their website at www.smileydogfarm.com