Webmaster’s Note: The CMG Volunteers at the Vegetable Rose Garden (VRG) are again going to document their work and harvests in the AgriLife Vegetable Rose Garden (VRG) to help new veggie gardeners (or those new to Comal County). They’ll provide weekly updates on what they did the past week in the garden and what they planned to do the following week. We hope you’ll log on each week, follow along, and learn from the experts! The garden layout is HERE and their planting plan for the Spring 2024 garden is HERE. The current weather at the garden is HERE, courtesy of the 2022 intern class.
Happenings and Harvests in the Vegetable Rose Garden (VRG)
Week of: 04/07/2025 – 04/11/2025
Happening this week:
- Finished putting up the t-posts and clothesline through the tomato cages in New Traditional.
- Tended to the roses.
- Watered tubs and troughs.
- Side dressed the squash.
- Fertilized the 1015 onions in the greenhouse tubs.
- Talked about the fall schedule.
Friday
It was a great morning to be in the garden with 62 degrees and clear skies.
No rainfall this week nor was any harvesting completed quite yet.
Work completed today:
- Blew out amphitheater.
- Wiped down all surface areas.
- Mowed and weed eating in and around amphitheater.
- Asparagus cut (not much).
- Weeded around garden area.
- Interns seeded and watered in Pecos cantaloupes in row 8.
- Michael spoke with interns about pruning fruit and peach trees, interns received cuttings of peach trees.
Week of: 3/31/2025 – 04/04/2025
Happening this week:
Wednesday
Quiet morning in the VRG. All the plants are looking good and growing as expected. There are no empty spaces, so now it’s all about reaping a big harvest. The greenhouse crew is off duty so that area looked lonely.
Harvested and delivered 1.5 lbs. of onions and herbs to CRRC.
We:
- Removed suckers and lower branches off all the tomatoes.
- Planted bell peppers in RB 1-4 where there were still holes.
- The Amphitheatre was cleaned up for AgriFest.
- Roses were carefully tended.
- Watering was done.
- Added another level to the 3 potato experiments by the back grape vines.
Harvested and delivered 1.5 lbs. of onions and herbs to CRRC.
Friday
It was a good overcast morning to be in the garden today. Although not much to do as everything planted is growing strong and now it’s hurry up and wait to harvest! With the open house tomorrow cleaning up and getting ready was on the agenda.
Work completed:
- Moved carpet strips to behind workbench.
- Treated ant beds around the amphitheater and surround areas.
- Moved mulch around to cover muddy areas.
- Fixed irrigation blow out in front bed.
- Interns had fun thinning radishes in raised concrete beds.
- Michael discussed trimming fruit trees from above and below the root stick of trees.
- David gave a detailed lesson on how to utilize the strings and trellis pull system for the tomato plants in demo bed 4.
YTD harvest: 131.75 lbs.
Week of: 3/24/2025 – 03/28/2025
Happening this week:
**Monday**
We successfully repaired the malfunctioning sprinkler system, ensuring its optimal operation. Damaged tomatoes were replaced, and marigolds were strategically planted around the edges to enhance aesthetics and pest management. Additionally, we improved the functionality of the new wind barrier near the grilling area.
**Wednesday**
Creeping thyme was planted in the cinder block holes around Demo 1, and the irrigation system was significantly enhanced. Dead broccoli and cauliflower in Raised Beds 1-4 were replaced with healthy basil and various pepper plants. In the New Traditional garden, we upgraded our tomato selection by substituting several varieties with Roma tomatoes provided by Rachel.
For the Demo 4 trellis project, we efficiently hung the tomato plants and removed the suckers to promote optimal growth. We also implemented strategic enhancements to the Square Foot Garden (Demo 3) and redesigned the irrigation system for improved efficiency. The team has diligently mulched each rose, ensuring they are among the best-maintained in the area. Our fruit trees are thriving and displaying abundant blooms, and plant propagation continues at a commendable rate.
We plan to enhance our potato project by adding another level of frames to increase productivity.
**Friday**
The scheduled workday was canceled due to rain.
Week of: 3/17/2025 – 03/21/2025
Happening this week:
Wednesday
- Planted squash in the remaining traditional bed rows.
- Replaced tomatoes.
- Secured some tomato plants using string.
- Greenhouse: general work plus screen installation over the louvers.
- Water repairs in the rose bed.
- Planted radishes in Luz’s caskets after adding soil.
- Watered.
- Rose maintenance continues.
- Dug post holes for a future wind barrier near the BBQ grill.
Friday
- Greenhouse watered, upgraded basil, and Westside Community Center picked up their plant starts.
- Moved the remaining mushroom compost from the parking lot into tubs in the garden.
- Added soil and framed the potato bed at the end of the arbor.
- Asparagus was clipped
- Removed our accumulated stick pile to the county brush yard.
- Watered & mulched the artichokes.
- Pruned the plum tree and demonstrated how to air-layer the fig tree.
- Repaired the broken irrigation in the traditional bed.
- Hand watered and weeded pots.
- Lima beans are sprouting.
YTD: 129.8 lbs
Week of: 3/10/2025 – 03/14/2025
Happening this week:
Monday
We:
– Repotted tomatoes in the greenhouse.
– Went into battle against bug-mangled broccoli, swapping in some stealth cauliflower for a surprise twist in a few weeks.
– The okra patch got a much-needed weeding.
– Worked on the mysterious magic tomato contraption (patent pending).
Wednesday
We:
– Planted 4 varieties of lima beans in Demo 1. white, Mayacopa, Christmas, and Scarlet Runner each in a corner.
– Planted Blue Lake and Contender bush green beans in RB 7 and 8.
– Cut back all the grape vines and worked on fruit trees.
– Planted Baxter Bush tomatoes in the 6 tubs located back in the middle behind the grapes.
– The greenhouse cartel carried out orientations and serviced a treasure trove of lucky plants.
– Worked in the Square Foot garden and contemplated a new and improved watering system.
– Roses continued to be composted, which looks like a tedious activity I’m glad I’m not participating in.
– The Demo 4 tomato trellis system is ready for planting.
– Cabbage(1) from the Square Foot 1.4 lbs.
– Onions from RVE Onion Farms 6.8 lbs.
Friday
– Got a donation of 5.8 lbs of bunching onions.
– Took onions to CRRC.-
– Baxter Bush tomatoes planted demo bed 4.
– Planted 3 varieties of tomatoes (Early, Doll, 42 Day tomatoes, and CL tomatoes) in even-numbered rows of the new bed.
– Interns planted tomatoes in the new trellis bed.
– Seeded bush & pole beans in raised beds 5 & 6.-
– Cut a small amount of asparagus, not enough to weigh.
– Mounded the potatoes.
– Laid irrigation lines and planted the germination test Tatumi squash beans in traditional bed row 5.
– Laid drip lines for long bed 2, to plant next week.
– worked in the rose garden.
– Hand watered as needed.
– Interns did on-site greenhouse orientation.
Harvested: 8.2 lbs
YTD: 123.2 lbs.
Week of: 3/03/2025 – 03/07/2025
Happening this week:
Monday
– Worked with the young plants in the greenhouse and gave orientations.
– Repaired wind damage and then prepared the 6 tubs for the coming Patio tomato plants.
– Worked on a bad timer and other water issues.
– Planted more plants in the square-foot garden.
– Did even more pruning in the rose garden.
– Asparagus was harvested.
– Sifted compost.
– Continued constructing the tomato trellis project in Demo 4.
Friday
– Gave first-visit interns a tour.
– Sifted 6 bags of compost from piles outside the fence.
– Greenhouse orientation.
– Replaced windblown and roly poly-eaten cabbage & broccoli plants with the same plants and some cauliflower.
– Watered the potatoes in cement troughs near the back gate.
– Continues the arbor construction.
– Tilled mushroom compost into the soil in the barn bed.
– Planted artichokes in the tubs by the front gate.Trimmed grapevines.
Crops:
The potatoes are emerging, and radishes in trough A are sprouting.
We harvested about 20 small asparagus spears The first bloom popped on the plum tree.
YTD harvest: 115 lbs
Week of: 2/24/2025 – 02/28/2025
Happening this week:
Monday
Rachel and the Garden Ladies did some top-secret greenhouse operations. I spotted a suspicious amount of tomatoes and other green things thriving in the soil. Meanwhile, the interns harvested 21.4 lbs of onions (cue the tears) and planted sunflowers in Demo 1.
They also bravely took on Demo 4 with some hardcore tilling.
Cheryl was in the greenhouse wrestling with the grow lights.
Richard, our resident Water Wizard, was on plumbing duty. The back line on the work table had a meltdown from the freeze.
He also turned the water back on for the greenhouse and fruit trees, fixing several broken lines.
In highly prestigious news, Richard received an award from the president…
Wednesday
Beautiful morning to spend with a bunch of cool folks in the VG. Nice to not be cold, or wet, or cold and wet.
– Monica replaced all the frozen broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower in RB 1-4.
– Kelly S. planted many cool plants in the square-foot garden.
– Dwayne and Kelly installed shelving and worked on other mechanical tasks in the greenhouse.
– Richard got water running in the greenhouse and worked on other water projects.
– Robert and Jeanette continued the rose maintenance for spring.
– Michael worked with his areas including checking out his rose sticks.
– Plants were replaced in the keyhole and maintenance was performed.
– The greenhouse gang did a bunch of maintenance work.
– Rachel wore herself out talking to various parties.
– New traditional was readied for tomatoes whenever they were ready.
– Water lines have been checked and are grouped at the gate end of the bed along with an extension for the 10th row (hard to explain).
– The greenhouse has now been painted, and it looks very pretty.
Friday
Gorgeous morning in the veggie garden today. It started a little chilly but quickly warmed up.
– Pulled and planted struggling broccoli from the hard freeze in the raised beds.
– Tilled traditional beds 1 thru 9.
– Radishes planted in trough beds A&B.
– Soil test results meeting which says no more fertilizer for now! Retest in about 3 months.
I hope everyone has a great and productive weekend!
Harvest YTD: 104 lbs
Week of: 2/17/2025 – 02/21/2025
Happening this week:
All work at the garden has been canceled this week due to severe weather conditions.
Week of: 1/20/2025 – 01/24/2025
Happening this week:
Friday
Brrrr, a cold wintery morning with a temperature of 27 degrees! There was no rainfall. Nonetheless, the CMG and intern winter Olympic team were training. Today, we harvested and pulled the cauliflower and spinach plants.
-Harvested the red cabbage.
The interns worked on one of their projects: building a wood frame for their fruit tree. Richard and Bruce assisted them.
-We moved pea gravel to the greenhouse work area.
– Emily hand watered.
The “dudes” rotated the tires on the new roto-tiller.
Luz took our harvested crop to CRRC – thanks, Luz! (Of course, the veggies weighed more today since they were “frozen.” )
Spinach 0.6 lbs
Cauliflower 12.2 lbs
Red cabbage 11.2 lbs
VRG Volunteer hours this week: 24.0 hours
Harvest YTD: 90.2 hours
Week of: 1/13/2025 – 01/17/2025
Happening this week:
It was a beautiful sunrise this morning in the garden, complete with a full rainbow and spitting rain.
Harvested:
Baby carrots 1.2 lbs (from tubs near the gate)
We moved pea gravel from the parking lot into the greenhouse & spread it. Rachel supervised. Jeannette & Molly from the rose garden visited. Richard was doing his compost thing. We ate Lori’s yummy coffee cake – thanks Lori. Luz took the carrots to CRRC – Thanks, Luz! Have a good weekend!
Harvest YTD: 66.2 lbs
Week of: 1/6/2025 – 01/10/2025
Happening this week:
Brr it was cold and muddy, (in the north country we called this fold – you can figure out the acronym). It’s a fine day to mud wrestle.
Monday:
Broccoli 1.4 lbs
– Picked broccoli, pulled the plants
– We placed compost bins behind the GH area.
– Richard & Kelly could pump air in 1 tire of the new rototiller.
Harvested:
Broccoli: 1.4 lbs
Broccoli was taken to CRRC by Vickie.
When it was over, we all looked like we had joined the CMG WWF mud wrestling team.
Now we are all waiting for our fingers and toes to thaw! Y’all have a warm day.
Harvest YTD: 64.7 lbs
Week of: 12/30/2024 – 01/03/2025
Happening this week:
Monday
It was a misty, cool morning in the garden. We checked on the greenhouse progress and then got to work.
Sharon installed a shoe/boot cleaner near the main gate.
Removed yellow & brown leaves from the ground & lower parts of broccoli.
The cauliflowers were placed in compost bins.
Rachel, Richard, Kelly & Dwayne supervised the greenhouse construction crew.
The north windows were installed.
Walter showed up to check on things.
New greenhouse as seen from the back.
Harvested
Green tomatoes (ripened at Emily’s house) 9.0 lbs
Red cabbage 1.6 lbs
Green cabbage 5.0 lbs
Cauliflower (gold & purple varieties) 7.8 lbs
Broccoli 3.8 lbs
Carrots 1.4 lbs
Onions (green) 5.6 lbs
Spinach 0.1 lbs
The produce was taken to CRC by Georgia – Thank you.
Harvest YTD: 34.3 lbs
Happenings and Harvests in the Vegetable Rose Garden (VRG)
Week of: 12/23 – 12/27/2024
Happening this week:
Monday
Work Accomplished:
– Painted ramp.
– Tilled RBs 1-7
– Watered as needed
– Harvested:
Tomatoes 56.6 lbs(green ones that were ripened)
Cabbage 2.6 lbs
Cauliflower 1.6 lbs
Broccoli 3.0 lbs
Wednesday
Cancelled for Christmas
Friday
There’s not a lot to be done in the garden these days as it is pretty well bedded down
for the winter; but, we
– Harvested:
Onions 7.4 lbs
Tomatoes 40.6 lbs(harvested earlier in the month and ripened at Emily’s
house plus some donated by Richard)
Mixed Herbs 0.8 lbs (donated by Luz)
Spinach 1.2 lbs
Broccoli 5.6 lbs
Carrots 0.8 lbs
Cauliflower 5.6 lbs (1 beautiful purple head cabbage – see picture below)
Cabbage 2.8 lbs
Mustard Greens 6.0 lbs(donated by Rachel)
Turnip Greens 10.2 lbs (donated by Rachel)
Butter Crunch Lettuce 1.4 lbs(donated by Rachel)
– Luz delivered the veggies to Sattler. Thanks, Luz!
– Richard added horse manure to the compost bins holding the old tomato and
pepper plants.
– Larry N. Worked on the armadillo trap.
– Larry and Dwayne cut some decking “wood" blocks for new row numbers
for the Traditional Bed. (Dewayne plans to router the numbers into the blocks….. It sounds
like a long-lasting fix. Thanks, Dwayne.)
– The guys working on the new greenhouse were there when we left…progress report
on Monday, please.
– James our CMG Treasurer, was very popular in the garden this morning.
– Emily brought in the results for the soil sample testing from Long Bed Back 1 – see
picture below. Our soil (in that bed, anyway) is in great shape!
Happening Next Week:
we are still harvesting a few veggies and doing general garden maintenance.
VRG Volunteer hours this week: 48 hours
Harvest YTD: 5,533.1 pounds
Week of: 12/16 – 12/20/2024
Happening this week:
Monday
It was a cool wet morning. We had a little rain over 0.39” for an annual total of approximately
31.3 inches YTD.
– We harvested:
Broccoli 7.0 lbs
Turnips 2.8 lbs
Wednesday
Big day in the VG!
We:
– Lowered the level of the road base inside the foundation by 3” to prepare for the final pea gravel
floor. The road base was relocated somewhere in amphitheater land.
– Emptied one of the two trailers of mushroom compost acquired yesterday. LB1 rear is complete.
More went into the RBs. It’s a very stinky, steamy, dark load this time!
– Walter arrived with materials to run the electrical system in the new greenhouse. It was quite an operation.
Getting the old cable pulled from the PVC conduit was a major chore. Luckily, Kelly came to
the rescue by running home and returning with a come-along puller. Lots of old-guy muscle and
leverage eventually won out. Pulling the 4 new wires from the box to the greenhouse went much
more smoothly. We are lucky to have Walter’s vast skillset and can-do attitude as a CMG.
– There was some harvesting:
Tomatoes 33.2 lbs
Broccoli 3.6 lbs
Friday
We
– Harvested:
Tomatoes 45.6 lbs (actually these were brought back from Emily’s where she had them ripening)
Beets 3.6 lbs
Broccoli 5.6 lbs
Kale 2.2 lbs
Peppers 1.8 (donated by Luz)
– I delivered the veggies to SOS.
– Finished emptying the compost into Long Bed Back 2, the Raised Beds, and into several buckets for
Demo Beds 1, 2, and 3 and the asparagus and artichokes.
– Sharon and Luz spread the compost on all the beds…ready to be rototilled starting next week.
– Emily was moving the road base over by the Amphitheater and accomplished general clean-up
around the garden.
– Emily also took more tomatoes home to ripen.
– Hand watered as needed.
Happening Next Week:
Rototilling the mushroom compost into the beds.
VRG Volunteer hours this week: 64 hours
Harvest YTD: 5386.9 pounds
Week of: 12/9 – 12/13/2024
Happening this week:
Monday
– Another beautiful morning in the gardens. The sky has cleared and it is a nice warm
beginning of the week. With that said we may have a freeze come Wednesday am. So
with that, we picked a large amount of green tomatoes. Emily took them home
hoping they would ripen. We shall see.
– We picked and pulled the remainder of the poblanos. After a slow start, they grew very
tall however on the small side.
– We harvested:
Poblanos 22.4 lbs
Swiss Chard 5.0 lbs
Tomatoes 32.2 lbs
Oregano 0.2 lbs
Turnips 18.6 lbs
Onions 7.2 lbs
– The windows of the new greenhouse arrived. Forms are to be pulled today and possibly
Wednesday start framing.
– We received 0.59” of rain (YTD rain 30.6 a bit under our average of 34 ish.)
Wednesday
We:
– Harvested
Cabbage 1.8 lbs
Broccoli 4.2 lbs
Green onions 5.0 lbs 
– Cleaned up around the greenhouse footer.
– Evenly spread the base inside the footer. It’s ready for the framers.
– Built 4 tepees in Demo 1 to support the lima beans that will be growing there next.
The dried okra stalks were used to demonstrate reuse and recycling.
– Discussed a plan by David Green to build a trellis tomato growing frame in Demo 4.
It’s a structure that allows us to attach to the tomato vines from above and manage
them for maximum production.
Friday
We
– Harvested
Broccoli .6 lbs
Red Cabbage 4.8 lbs
Tomatoes 2.2 lbs
Kale 1.2 lbs
Radishes .2 lbs
Onions 4.8 lbs
Chard 1.2 lbs
– Georgia delivered the veggies to CRRC…thanks, Georgia!!!
– Richard turned the drip system back on.
– The compost bins by the amphitheater were tended …sifting and turning
– Emily tended the entrance to the amphitheater and took soil samples from the Long
Beds in the Back to submit to A&M for analysis.
– Larry L. pulled the onion in the Barn Bed and then tilled the empty rows.
– Larry N. Repaired and cleaned the armadillo trap.
Happening Next Week:
Discussion about the tomatoes (to pick and pull or not) resulted in a decision to leave them
as is today since high temperatures near 80 are expected next week.
The run to Gonzales for mushroom compost is scheduled for next Tuesday, so there’ll
be that to work on next week.
VRG Volunteer hours this week: 64 hours
Harvest YTD: 5354.5 pounds