By RICK BICKLING After playing basketball for the past 45 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that my knees are much better off gardening than they are jumping and running around on a hard surface. With this realization in mind, and with the kids pretty much grown and done playing basketball, I now have a […]

By RICK BICKLING Carrots (Daucus carota) have been grown as a food crop for more than 2,000 years. They were brought to the early United States colonies in 1609. They are rich in carotene (a source of vitamin A) and high in sugar. Carrots are hardy cool-season biennials that are frost tolerant and can be […]

By RICK BICKLING The extremely hot and dry summers of the past few years, along with the accompanying water restrictions, have made finding plants that not only survive but thrive the never ending quest of gardeners here in Central Texas. Let’s take a look at two plants that really fit the bill. Tecoma stans, also […]

By RICK BICKLING With the rain we’ve had here in Central Texas the past week or two, last summer’s wildfires seem to fade ever farther into the recesses of our memory. But in the words of George Bernard Shaw, “If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning […]

By RICK BICKLING It seems like just the other day that we were talking about planning your spring garden. Well, here it is in the middle of July, and even as the temperatures soar, the excitement of fireworks are still fresh in your mind, and the garden is producing at its peak, it’s time to […]

By RICK BICKLING Just as life has its seasons, so too does gardening. The seasons of gardening are…, well um…, winter, spring, summer, and fall. Hmm, let me try that one again. Just as in life, gardening has its peaks and valleys, its ups and downs, its ebbs and flows. You’ve made it through another […]

By RICK BICKLING Composting is the process of decomposition of grass clippings, leaves, and other organic matter that occurs continuously in nature and results in an organic nutrient rich, soil like material. As trees drop leaves, grasses, plants and trees die, they decompose over time and return their nutrients to the soil as compost. Composting […]

By RICK BICKLING Rainwater harvesting is a technique used to supplement, or entirely replace, the water supplied to a home or business by a municipal water system or well by diverting, collecting, and storing for later use rainwater runoff. The idea of collecting rainwater and storing it in cisterns has been around for centuries. But […]