October 1, 2026
October 22, 2026
October Updates
A festive raised bed in Patterson Neighborhood Park Community Garden
Fall season greetings Community,
Please ensure you are distributing this blog to all your gardeners!
In this edition of the Community Gardens Program Blog, we have Orchard Maintenance Plan reminders, Roots & Wings Festival programming event listings, an annual garden potluck announcement, Austin/Travis County Food Plan Implementation Collaborative information, and a pollinator/plant relationship to share!
Blog posts are available in 14 languages other than English by using the tab on the top right corner of the webpage.
Required Orchard Maintenance Plans Reminder
To obtain your Orchard Maintenance Plan template, please email the Community Gardens program at communitygardens@austintexas.gov
You are only required to fill out/update an annual Orchard Maintenance Plan if your garden has fruit trees or is planning on planting them in the coming year. Your Orchard Maintenance Plan must be updated and approved before planting any new trees.
City of Austin Community Garden Program Annual Potluck November 21:
Come hungry, bring a dish, and dine with the community!
It’s time for our once-a-year event that brings all city permitted community gardeners together. Bring your nutritious and delicious dishes to share with everyone! We are excited to see as many friendly faces as possible and to share a communal meal.
This event is for plot holders in the City of Austin’s Community Gardens Program.
Bring your own plate, cup, eating/serving utensils, chair/blanket. Please label your food accurately to accommodate for the different food allergies and sensitivities.
Location: North Oaks Community Garden, 11509 Spring Hill Drive, Austin, TX, 78753
Date: Saturday, November 21
Time: 12:30 PM-2:30 PM
The Austin/Travis County Food Plan Implementation Collaborative:
Get involved!
Austin’s community centered food plan was adopted by the Austin City Council and Travis County Court Commissioner in 2024. The City’s Climate Action and Resilience’s Office, along with many local community members and organizations input, outlines 9 major goals and 61 strategies. The aim of the food plan is to build a sustainable, equitable, resilient food system. There are monthly meet ups involving local organizations, citizens, and city officials, that help organize how to implement such a big plan.
To get involved use this google form:
Austin/Travis County Food Plan Collaborative - Sign Up for Updates
Meetings are language accessible and the sign-up form is available in 7 languages. To request additional languages, contact Amanda.Rohlich@austintexas.gov.
You can also read and learn more about the Austin/Travis County Food plan here: Austin's Healthy and Equitable Food System | Austin Climate Action and Resilience | AustinTexas.gov
Roots & Wings Events:
Oct. 24 | 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Free
Patterson Park Community Garden Fall Festival
Bring the family to Patterson Park Community Garden as we celebrate our annual Roots and Wings Fall Festival! Enjoy crafts for kids, a Monarch butterfly puppet show, and live music for all ages, explore booths and activities led by local experts and organizations about trees, native plants, fungi and more, connect with neighbors and discover ways to nurture a thriving environment and community, and don’t miss our Dia de los Muertos ofrenda while you’re there!
Patterson Park Community Garden
4200 Brookview Rd
Austin, TX 78722
Find directions on Google Maps.
Oct. 24 | 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Free
From Seed to Spoon, and the Pollinators that help along the way!
From a tiny seed planted in the soil to the delicious food on your spoon, every bite that we take connects us to the natural world. Join us at Adelphi Acre for a celebration of the cycle of food and the incredible pollinators that make it all possible. In case of rain, this event will take place on Nov. 7.
Adelphi Acre Community Garden
3701 1/2 Adelphi Ln
Austin, TX 78759
Find directions on Google Maps.
OCT 24 | 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Free
Nature Festival & Spooktacular!
The day opens at 3pm with Aztec dancers honoring the rising sun in a performance of drums, movement, and regalia. Enjoy tree climbs with Austin Forestry, live performances and interactive drumming, facepainting and wing-painting, a live butterfly release, sapling and milkweed adoptions, garden tours, hands on crafts for all ages, library displays, demos from local pollinator experts and more!
North Austin Community Garden & YMCA North Austin
1000 W Rundberg Ln, Austin, TX 78758
Find directions on Google Maps.
Oct. 31 | 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Included with Garden Admission, Museums for All Eligible
Flutter Through The Forest at Zilker Botanical Garden!
Experience guided tree-climbing, a live walk-in butterfly tent, a performance by the Singing Zoologist Lucas Miller, guided nature walks, and tabling from local garden clubs!
Zilker Botanical Garden
2220 Barton Springs Rd Austin, TX 78746
Find directions on Google Maps.
Pollinator/Plant Relationship of the Month:
Bumble Bees!
This month we would like to celebrate our prolific native pollinators, bumble bees! Their genus name Bombus literally means buzzing or rumbling in Latin. Unlike many other wild bee species, bumble bees make colonies as opposed to bee-ing solitary. These colonies are modest in size compared to honeybees, containing 50-500 members. Bumble bees are very docile, but they do carry venom. Unlike honeybees, there are no recorded fatalities from bumble bee stings. There are at least 9 recorded bumble bee species in Texas. In the photo featured here, we have an example of Bombus pensylvanicus, the American Bumble Bee. Bumble bees, use their specialized pollen baskets called corbiculae on their hind legs. They are generalist, which means they visit many different kinds of flowers.
Photo credit to Louis Keller. A Bumble Bee on a loofah flower at Festival Beach Community Garden.
If you want a pollinator (any type of pollinator, not just bees) featured in our blog, feel free to send us your pictures and pollinator ID from your community gardens to communitygardens@austintexas.gov.
For more information on the Community Garden Program, or follow ups from the blog, contact communitygardens@austintexas.gov