The San Antonio Something

The San Antonio Something Your weekly guide to living in San Antonio — local stories, events, people, and places that make our city worth knowing.

08/12/2026

We talk a lot about fixing compacted soil.

Aerate it. Amend it. Work it harder.

But maybe the better answer is roots.

The right plants know how to open soil in a way machines never really can. They push down, hold on, make room for water, bring in bugs, build relationships underground we barely see.

That’s the shift Danny is talking about here.

Not planting flowers.

Not even planting plants, exactly.

Planting roots.

Because the first season isn’t always about what looks good above ground. It’s about what’s getting established underneath, quietly setting the whole landscape up to become more resilient later.

It was great to join Danny from Native Son Gardens on a tour of one of his recent projects. The full video I made of my time with him, on YouTube now!

08/10/2026

What if the reason the w**ds keep coming back is because we keep giving them the perfect place to grow?

Pull a w**d, open the soil, let in air and light, and suddenly the seed bank gets another invitation.

That doesn’t mean doing nothing.

It means doing less of the wrong thing, and more of the slow work: planting roots, watching what happens, trimming instead of scraping, and managing the landscape with a lighter touch.

Maybe the best native yard isn’t the one we control the most. Another gem from my time with Danny of Native Son Gardens.

07/21/2026

What would Texas food look like if we paid more attention to what already grows here?

Prickly pear across the ranchlands. Persimmons loaded in a good year. Agarita berries tucked into the brush.

These plants aren’t waiting to be rescued. They’re still here and still producing plentifully.

Maybe the work isn’t starting a new food story. Maybe it’s rejoining one.

Featuring Dr. Gary Nabhan, ethnobotanist, author, and heritage foods advocate.

Watch the full video on YouTube. Link in bio.

07/20/2026

Chili pequin has been growing around San Antonio for at least 6,000 years. The peppers are tiny, round, and unforgiving to anyone without a spice tolerance.

In 1812, seeds from the pepper were sent to Thomas Jefferson, who later passed them along to Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon. McMahon had never seen the plant growing wild in Texas, but he named it the “McMahon’s Texas bird pepper,” a name that still appears in many seed catalogs today.
Plants endure. Foods are shared. Traditions travel. But the story can get reassigned to the person who documents it last.
Featuring Dr. Gary Nabhan, ethnobotanist, author, and heritage foods advocate.

Watch the full video on YouTube. Link in bio.

07/15/2026

In South Texas, javelinas have been around long enough that the thornscrub, cacti, and other native plants have adapted to their presence despite the damage they cause.

When a species enters a place that didn’t evolve with it, the consequences are severe.

Botanist Joey Santore illustrates the point with two chestnut species. The Chinese chestnut spent millions of years evolving alongside the chestnut fungus. Over time, the fungus became more virulent, and the tree became more resistant. The American chestnut never underwent that evolutionary process. When the fungus arrived from Asia, it spread rapidly through American forests and devastated the nation’s chestnut trees.

Guest: Joey Santore, botanist, illustrator, and creator of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t

Watch the full video on YouTube. Link in bio.

07/10/2026

Most people drive past South Texas thornscrub and see dead brush.

But that’s not what’s happening here.

Guajillo and many other native South Texas plants have adapted to survive long periods without rain. Instead of dying, they go dormant. Just as trees in colder climates lose their leaves for winter, these plants become drought-deciduous, dropping their leaves to conserve water until the rains return.

Once you understand that, this landscape stops looking barren and starts looking remarkably alive.
Guest: Joey Santore, botanist, illustrator, and creator of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t.
Watch the full conversation on YouTube. Link in bio.

07/08/2026

After a trip to Gorman Falls, we did what you do in the Texas heat: we went looking for water again.

We ended up at Spicewood Springs. Part of the Colorado River, these springs are smaller and quieter than Gorman Falls. They are also easy to miss if you’re only chasing the main attraction.

The same mineral-rich water that builds Gorman Falls is working at your feet, forming little stone ledges and clear pools you can step into. The park is full of life if you slow down for it.

What are some of your favorite hidden gems in Texas?

07/06/2026

My family and I drove three hours to see Gorman Falls, a rare waterfall that builds rock instead of wearing it away. We were not entirely sure what we’d find. As we set up camp at Colorado Bend State Park, the nearly empty campground and late-spring heat had us wondering if we’d made the right call. Then evening settled in.

Fireflies flickered through the trees and the sounds of toads and crickets coaxed us to sleep. Raccoons rustled through camp. All around us, the Hill Country came alive in ways we hadn’t expected.

By morning, we were ready to make the hike to Gorman Falls.

07/02/2026

This waterfall doesn’t erode the rock beneath it; instead, it builds more.

The water at Gorman Falls is loaded with calcium carbonate. As the spring water flows down, it leaves a thin crust of limestone behind, coating moss and maidenhair ferns. Over time, the old growth becomes stone, and new greenery emerges on top.

Most Texas waterfalls vanish when the rain stops. This one runs all year. It measures about 70 feet, and it is still growing.

06/30/2026

How many places in Texas have made you stop and think, “Wait… this is here?”

Colorado Bend State Park did that for me. Watching a waterfall build itself, swimming with my kids in crystal-clear springs, and hiking through a canyon carved into ancient limestone, I kept catching myself thinking, “This isn’t Texas.”

Then it hit me: the thought shouldn’t be, “This isn’t Texas.” It should be, “This is Texas, too.”

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