The Food and Oxygen factory Illustration and Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider By Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardener   Before I retired, I taught science to fourth graders in Midland’s GT program.  As a scientist myself, I wanted my students to love science as I knew it:  asking and answering questions about big ideas.     And one of those big ideas was looking at how our world functions:  Where does the energy come from that keeps most living things on earth alive?  How is that ene

Picture by Bradley Ward By Debbie Roland, Master Gardener   Do you miss having fresh produce, herbs, and flowers in the winter?  There is a solution. One of my kids lives in a condo in central Texas.  Because he travels and isn’t home much to water plants, he decided to try an indoor tower garden.  I have to admit that I was skeptical.  He invested in a vertical, hydroponic growing system that lets you grow herbs, leafy greens, and even some fruits indoors and year-round with

Chicory and Garlic Growing with Native Sunflowers, Helianthus annuus Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider By Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardener As a member of the Texas Native Plant Society, I always enjoy reading their quarterly publication.  On page 20 of their 2025 Summer issue of Texas Native Plants, I found Martha Whitehouse’s article Where  Salsa Meets Sage Edible Gardening with a Texas Twist .  See https://www.npsot.org/resources/member-magazine/ . Her article confirmed somethin

Fall Prerequisites Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider By Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardener If you garden, especially if you have a native yard, you can see and feel the changes that tell you fall is just around the corner.    Although we are accustomed to the terms spring, summer, fall, and winter, technically there are two ways used to describe these same seasons.  Meteorologists use temperature to define seasons; at the other end of spectrum, astronomers use the Earth’s position