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 Fall 2026 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)

This Week in the Garden

Aug 23-29, 2026

 

Weather

Rain: 0.02

YTD Rain: 18.57”

Avg Temperatures (taken at 7:30 a.m.)

Air: 76.7° F

Soil: 81.3° F 

Harvest Summary

Basil:                                                 6.2

Melons:                                            34.8

Peppers:                                           22.4

Okra:                                                 1.6

Purple Sweet Potatoes:                      13.4

______________________________________

Weekly Total:                               78.4 lbs

YTD Total:                                  2640.4 lbs

 

At a Glance: It was a busy week in the garden, with 78.4 pounds of produce harvested, including an impressive crop of large purple sweet potatoes, and new vegetables started in the greenhouse. Volunteers also prepared beds for fall plantings, refreshed soil, supported and pruned growing plants, and treated aphids on the okra and eggplants. The week’s harvest was donated to CRRC and SOS Food Banks.

Greenhouse

  • Seeded pak choi and broccoli for upcoming crops.
  • Upgraded savoy cabbage, fennel and peppers into larger containers as they developed.
  • Watered and fertilized plants, sanitized pots, and completed a plant inventory.

VRG

  • Continued routine watering, weeding and harvesting throughout the garden.
  • Cement Sink: Seeded lemon cucumbers and planted saffron corms.
  • RB3: Applied foliar chelated iron to pepper leaves to address signs of iron deficiency.
  • Okra & Eggplants: Treated plants with insecticidal soap to control aphids.
  • LB2: Cleared out spent melon vines and prepared the bed for its next crop. Added soil from Troughs C & D and compost, then tilled and installed irrigation lines.
  • TB: Pruned lower tomato branches to improve airflow and reduce the risk of soil-borne diseases from rain splash; peppers were also caged for support.
  • Demo 4: Harvested purple sweet potatoes from approximately one-sixth of the bed—with some large, heavy potatoes in the haul!
  • Delivered produce to CRRC & SOS Food Banks.