Spring Gardening Events

The following classes and events are free unless otherwise noted.  Most require advanced registration.  Please leave a comment if you know of any additional gardening classes or events in the area.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Tomatoes by Tom LeRoy

Friday, Feb. 24th from 10 am - Noon

Lone Star College - Kingwood

281-312-1749

Harris County Tomato and Pepper Sale

Saturday, Feb. 25th from 9 am - 1 pm

3033 Bear Creek Dr, Houston, TX 77084

281-855-5600

Click HERE for more information

Spring Vegetable Gardening by Tom LeRoy and Bill Adams

Saturday, Feb. 25th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

Free tomato plant for first 150 people

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Gardening 101 - Spring into Water-wise Landscaping

Topics include: Tree Care, Pollinator Gardening, and Keeping it Green

Saturday, Feb. 25th from 9 am - Noon

The Woodlands Township Town Hall Board Chambers

2801 Technology Forest Boulevard, The Woodlands, TX

281-210-3800

Click HERE for more information

Raised Bed Gardening

Tuesday, Feb. 28th at 7:00 pm

Spring Texas Stake Center

25623 Richards Rd, Spring TX 77386

Gunter's Heirloom Vegetables by Leah and Pam Gunter

Saturday, Mar. 3rd from 9 am - Noon

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Composting

Saturday, Mar. 3rd from 11 am - Noon

Parks, Recreation and Environmental Services Campus

8203 Millennium Forest Drive, The Woodlands, TX (next to the Woodlands High School)

281-210-3900

Click HERE for more information

Container Vegetable Gardening by Jeremy Kollaus

Thursday, Mar. 8th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Where Do We Garden From Here? (due to extreme weather changes) by Linda Gay

Saturday, Mar. 10th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Herbs: Old Friends and New by Ann Wheeler, Log House Herbs

Tuesday, Mar. 13th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Summer Annuals and Perennials by Tom LeRoy

Friday, Mar. 16th from 11 am - 12:50 pm

Lone Star College - The Woodlands

936-273-7446 or mcall@lonestar.edu

Montgomery County Master Gardeners Plant Sale

Saturday, Mar. 24th from 9 am - 1 pm

Click HERE for more information

Texas Wildlife and Woodland Expo

Saturday, Mar. 24th from 10 am - 4 pm 

Lone Star College - The Woodlands

Clinics on plants, trees, water, wildlife and wildfire

936-273-2261

Click HERE for more information

Tough Perennials for Today's Gardens by Dr. William Welch, TAMU and Chris Wiesinger, Southern Bulbs

Saturday, Mar. 24th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Climate-Change Friendly Plants for Southern Landscapes by Dr. David Creech, SFA Univ.

Tuesday, Mar. 27th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Installing a Water System in Your Garden

Tuesday, Mar. 27th at 7:00 pm

Spring Texas Stake Center

25623 Richards Rd, Spring TX 77386

Herbs: Old Friends and New by Ann Wheeler, Log House Herbs

Saturday, Mar. 31st at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Root a Rose by Gaye Hammond, Houston Rose Society

Saturday, Mar. 31st at 1 pm

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Heirloom Shrubs and Vines for Houston Gardens by Dr. William Welch, TAMU and Greg Grant

Saturday, Apr. 14th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Madalene Hill's Herbs by Henry Flowers, McAshan Gardens

Tuesday, Apr. 17th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Basilmania by Ann Wheeler, Log House Herbs and Chef Chris Crowder

Thursday, Apr. 19th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Rainwater Harvesting Workshop 

Saturday, Apr. 21st from 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Thomas R. LeRoy Education Center Auditorium

9020 Airport Road, Conroe, TX 77303

Cost is $50 and includes handouts, CD, and lunch

936-539-7824

Wild About Wildflowers by Cherie Foster Colburn

Saturday, Apr. 21st at 1:00 pm

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Attracting and Keeping Beneficial Insects in the Garden by Skip Richter, County Extension Agent

Tuesday, Apr. 24th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Tropical and Citrus Fruit Tree Sale

Saturday, Apr. 28th

Seminar at 9 am

Sale Begins at 10:30 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

High Density Home Orchard Management Container Gardening by Angela Chandler

Saturday, Apr. 28th 1 pm

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Summer Survival Tips for the Garden and the Gardener by Susan Wood

Thursday, May 17th at 10 am

Arbor Gate Nursery

15635 FM 2920, Tomball TX 77377

281-351-8851

Click HERE for more information and to register

Pressure Cookers - Your Grandmother's Microwave

Pressure cookers are NOT the scary things they once were, but they ARE just as quick and easy. We had a class earlier this month to learn the basics of using a pressure cooker and I had a lot of fun trying some new recipes! I originally bought my pressure cooker to cook dried beans and until recently, that's all I've used it for. Now I've realized how easy it is to cook all kinds of things - even frozen chicken breasts and meatballs.  And it makes wonderful, easy risotto.

Using the pressure cooker uses less energy since the actual time the stove is on is less.  This is great for everyday use, but it would be even more helpful is you were trying to conserve energy during an emergency situation.  It is also a very nutritious method of cooking since the food is cooked quickly, maintaining more nutrients.

There is a printable handout HERE that covers the background of pressure cookers, what to look for if you're planning on buying one, resources for information and recipes, and some recipes that I've tried and liked. My favorite cookbook for pressure cooker recipes is Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass. It gives wonderful background information on how to use a pressure cooker and great recipes with lots of variations. There aren't any photos in the cookbook, but I still highly recommend it and I've included a few of her recipes in my handout so that you can get a glimpse of how well I think it is written.

Yogurt Making after the Class

I just got some feedback after the first yogurt making class. YOU actually went home and tried to make yogurt. YEAH! A few things ... it may take more than 6 hours to fully incubate especially if not using dry milk. Some yogurt recipes say up to 8 hours. Don't worry! This is why I start yogurt in the morning. Also, if you can stop the incubation process as soon as the yogurt is thick, it is less "tangy." If you want tangy yogurt for use as sour cream, let it incubate longer.

As I was making yogurt this morning for my family, I realized that I use way less than 1/3 cup of sugar. I was estimating when I made my recipe. I use less than 1/4 cup of sugar when I am making it for myself. No wonder the yogurt from class was so tasty! Just know that you can vary sugar or add no sugar to the yogurt. I have also used Agave Nectar, but it does tint the yogurt slightly. To me, the vanilla is essential. One suggestion from class was to try a vanilla/almond flavoring mixture which sounded good to me.

I have another great plan for yogurt - how about mixing it with Ranch Dressing flavor and making a dip? Yum. And HERE are some more ideas of ways to use yogurt.

Yogurt with Church powdered milk: I have been experimenting with using the cannery milk for yogurt to this result - It works great if you use 2 cups dry milk with the 3 3/4 cups water, BUT you CANNOT add vanilla or sugar. Adding vanilla and sugar stops the yogurt process and you will just get yogurt milk!

Also, I have had some feedback that you can incubate the yogurt in your oven with the light turned on. That sounds super easy to me.

Keep me posted on your successes and failures so I can let everyone know.

Paula

Recipe Handout from Other Breads & Milk Class

You can get a printable copy of the remainder of the handout from our class last week HERE. It includes the recipes for

• tortillas
• other bread recipes
• English muffins
• pita bread
• corn bread
• a few dairy related recipes
• and more!

Hope you enjoy them :)

Dehydrated & Freeze-Dried Foods

Our class on dehydrating showed us that making our own dehydrated food is easy and it doesn't take as long as I thought. Kelli had some great dehydrating tips which can be found HERE. She has a NESCO American Harvest dehydrator and has been very happy with it. Another brand she recommended was an Excalibur dehydrator. Some of the new convection ovens even have a setting for dehydrating foods (check your owners manual for details). Kelli suggested you look for a dehydrator that:

• has an adjustable temperature
• has the fan on the top or on the side
• is expandable (can add extra trays)

A mandolin cutter can help you cut food pieces thinly and uniformly.

Here are a few websites that give specific instructions on how to dehydrate fruits, vegetables, herbs, and jerky:

Pick Your Own
FarmGal

You can even make crackers in your food dehydrator! Kelli made some yummy flax seed crackers. She didn't have an exact recipe, but here are some basic directions:

Flax Seed Crackers

1 cup flax seeds, ground (use a coffee grinder or blender)
1 3/4 cup water
seasonings (Parmesan cheese: 1/2 - 5 Tbsp and garlic salt or powder: 1/8 - 1 1/2 tsp; or any other seasonings - you can even add finely chopped or blended vegetables)

Mix the ground flax seeds and water and let sit for 3 or more hours until gelatinous. Mix in seasonings to taste (remember that the flavors will concentrate somewhat as the crackers dehydrate.) Spread mixture as thin as possible (1/4" thick) on dehydrator trays with Teflon sheets. Dehydrate until crisp.

~~~~~

We also talked about the difference between freeze-dried and dehydrated foods. That handout can be found HERE. We then had the opportunity to taste and see the difference in multiple foods. We even tried a few of the Mountain House freeze-dried entrees and they were all quite good. My family uses them when we go camping and they would be wonderful to keep in a 72 Hour Emergency Kit. It would be nice to have a real meal instead of just a granola bar in an emergency.

Here are some photos and thoughts on the food we sampled (you can click on any of the photos to enlarge them):

Pizza from the Pantry

Our Pizza from the Pantry class was a huge success - and delicious too! We even made a pizza with one half grated cheese that had been frozen and the other half rehydrated freeze-dried cheese. We couldn't tell the difference! They both melted equally well and tasted great :)

Here is a wonderful pizza dough recipe from Joeby. Click HERE for a printable copy.

Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water
1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Stir with a fork and set aside for 10 minutes, or until very foamy. Add oil to yeast mixture. Combine flour and salt in a bowl and pour yeast mixture over and mix thoroughly. Let rest for 5 – 10 minutes.

Roll dough out onto an oiled pizza pan (or cookie sheet, etc.) or roll out onto a pizza stone. (I put a little corn meal under the crust - as I roll it out - to keep the pizza from sticking and it gives the crust a great crunch.)

Add your choice of topping ingredients (be creative!)

Bake in a hot 425 degree (preheated) oven for about 20 minutes. I usually start checking at 15 minutes. The type of toppings really makes a difference in how quickly the pizza browns.

Joeby made many creative pizzas, but my favorite was one with pesto, roasted red bell peppers, and diced tomatoes. It was delicious! All the toppings were from jars or cans since we were trying to use only shelf stable items, but of course you can use fresh ingredients when available.

Using Sprouts as a Food Source

Our class on sprouting was very fun and informative. Why sprout? There are many reasons to sprout. Some of these are that sprouts provide incredible nutrition, they contain enzymes which aid in digestion, and by using sprouts you can provide a fresh vegetable any time - regardless of weather or circumstances. Handy Pantry Sprouting's website lists the Top 10 Reasons to Sprout HERE.

We gave participants in the class the option of purchasing a Sprouting Kit shown below.

The cloth bag was included so that it could be slipped over the jar for those sprouts that like to be grown without light. This way the jar can still be kept out on the counter where it will be seen and remind you to rinse more often :) A single layer of fabric mesh screen is placed over the top of the jar and secured using the metal band. The additional screen was included for use as a replacement screen.

A basic sprouting guide can be downloaded HERE. This includes a step by step guide on how to grow sprouts in a jar and how to grow sprouts in a tray. It also includes a few recipes and some ideas for using sprouts for those of us that don't know quite where to begin. More recipes from our class (Soft Spring Rolls and Bean Sprout Salad) can be found HERE.

SproutPeople's website is a great resource for details on how to sprout specific types of seeds and beans. Go to their website HERE, scroll down, and click on the type of sprout you want more information on. When the next web page comes up, click on the name of the individual sprout you are looking for. This will give you information on how much to sprout at a time, method to use, length of time, and even some nutritional information on each sprout type.

Here are some helpful websites on sprouting:

• SproutPeople
• Sproutman
• Handy Pantry Sprouting
• Wheatgrass Kits

Whole Wheat Bread Making Class

We had a great turnout to our bread making classes! The recipe we used is below. (For a printable copy of both this recipe and the entire class handout, click HERE. The handout also includes information about bread conditioners/additives, tips for making whole wheat bread, and health benefits of grains and legumes.)

Favorite Whole Wheat Bread
This recipe makes one 2 lb. loaf and can be made with a mixer or by hand. It can also be doubled with great results.

Combine in bowl:
1 1/3 c. warm water (11 oz)
2 T. plus 2 tsp. oil
2 T. plus 2 tsp. honey
(Check water temp to make sure it is between 115 and 120 degrees.)


Add:
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 T. gluten
1 tsp. lecithin
Sprinkle 1 T. instant yeast evenly over mixture, then stir. Let sit for 10 minutes (sponge.)

Add and mix well:
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. salt


Continue to add:
Up to one more cup of whole wheat flour. This will require mixing with your hands to work the flour in. At first the dough may stick to your hands, but as you work more in the dough ball will start to clean your hands. The dough should be tacky like a post it note and not so sticky that it sticks to your hands and won't come off. The dough ball will start to feel firm and tacky. You can tell when it is done when the dough does not stick to your floured finger. When enough flour has been added - knead for 5 minutes. Let dough sit for 30 minutes. Cover with dry towel or oiled plastic wrap (this is called a first rise.) Punch dough down and knead for 5 - 7 additional minutes (do window pane test.) Let dough relax for a minute or two while you grease your pan. Pat dough into rectangle and "spank." Roll dough up, pinch together ends, rock it to form a smooth top, place in pan. Smash dough evenly into pan then go around edges with your fingers to make it rounded on top. Cover with greased plastic wrap or a towel. Dough is ready to be baked when it has doubled. Usually takes 20 - 30 mins (shows a good inch or two above the top of the pan.) Lower the rack inside your oven so that your bread is in center of the oven. Sometimes, we have our racks in the center and not the bread. It will bake better this way. Bake in preheated 400 oven for 5 mins. Without opening door, turn oven down to 325 and bake for additional 30 mins. Bread is ready when internal temperature reads between 195 and 200. Turn out hot loaf onto cooling rack.
......................................................................................................................
If you are planning on serving this bread with dinner and don't need the texture to hold up to spreading peanut butter on it, you can skip the second rising and make the bread as follows. This allows you to make the bread much more quickly. You can also leave out the gluten and lecithin if needed, but they do aid in the rising, texture, and shelf stability of the bread.

Combine in bowl:
1 1/3 c. warm water (11 oz)
2 T. plus 2 tsp. oil
2 T. plus 2 tsp. honey
(Check water temp to make sure it is between 115 and 120 degrees.)

Add:
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 T. gluten
1 tsp. lecithin
Sprinkle 1 T. instant yeast evenly over mixture, then stir. Let sit for 10 minutes (sponge.)

Add and mix well:
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. salt

Continue to add: Up to one more cup of whole wheat flour. This will require mixing with your hands to work the flour in. At first the dough may stick to your hands, but as you work more in the dough ball will start to clean your hands. The dough should be tacky like a post it note and not so sticky that it sticks to your hands and won't come off. The dough ball will start to feel firm and tacky. You can tell when it is done when the dough does not stick to your floured finger. When enough flour has been added - knead for 8-10 minutes (do window pane test.) Let dough relax for a minute or two while you grease your pan. Pat dough into rectangle and "spank." Roll dough up, pinch together ends, rock it to form a smooth top, place in pan. Smash dough evenly into pan then go around edges with your fingers to make it rounded on top. Cover with greased plastic wrap or a towel. Dough is ready to be baked when it has doubled. Usually takes 20 - 30 mins (shows a good inch or two above the top of the pan.) Bake in preheated 400 oven for 5 mins. Without opening door, turn oven down to 325 and bake for additional 30 mins. Bread is ready when internal temperature reads between 195 and 200. Turn out hot loaf onto cooling rack.

Canning Meat Class

Earlier this fall Sharon taught a class on how to can meat. We were able to sample some previously canned meat including chicken, brisket, ground beef, and pork roast. It was all surprisingly good! Consider adding canned meats to your food supply for days when you are short on time as well as for times when you might not be able to acquire or cook meat easily. You are also able to control what ingredients are in your canned food when you do it yourself.

For a printable copy of the handout from the class, click HERE.