Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[Western]

Is it just me, but it seems that rain water does a better job watering the grass than my well water, or rather, the grass seems to respond to it better. Thats what I have been "speculating", but the rain may just have better coverage, I don't know, I can sure see a difference though.

 

[Bird]

Is it just me, but it seems that rain water does a better job watering the grass than my well water, or rather, the grass seems to respond to it better. Thats what I have been "speculating", but the rain may just have better coverage, I don't know, I can sure see a difference though.

I've heard some speculation that it's because the rain water doesn't have flouride or other chemicals that are added by our water treatment plants, but if that were the only difference, I don't know how you'd account for the difference with your well water, so maybe it is better coverage, as you mentioned. I've also heard that lightning puts nitrogen in the ground. But for whatever reason, I agree that a good rain helps more than any watering we can go.

 

[jinman]

Dennis, I'm no expert, but the perfect even coverage of rain and the deep soaking it provides are two major factors in watering grass in my opinion. I can have sprinklers going 24/7 in the hot summer and the water evaporates before getting to the roots. That's why nighttime watering seems to do better. Besides, since rainwater is free and I don't have to drag hoses around the yard, I'm gonna say it's much better anyhow.

 

[blueriver]

I can pump water out of the pond to irrigate 1" on the bermuda field ... get a 1/2 inch of rain and see the results ... no chemicals in the pond water. So, I guess mother nature rain is way mo' beta !!

 

[Western]

I agree, day time watering in Texas during the summer with hoses is mostly "convenient". I try to water at night, or at least in the evening as much as possible. Since I work nights it is a bit easier.

I wonder if the water from a well, or as in BR's case a pond, may have contaminants in enough concentrations to hamper good growth? like lime deposits from our rock strata or just stale water from the wells. Also wonder if there is a higher concentration of "salts" since the Red River has a substantial amount north of us?

I dont know, but I can tell a difference.

 

[pacerron]

I agree, day time watering in Texas during the summer with hoses is mostly "convenient". I try to water at night, or at least in the evening as much as possible. Since I work nights it is a bit easier.

I wonder if the water from a well, or as in BR's case a pond, may have contaminants in enough concentrations to hamper good growth? like lime deposits from our rock strata or just stale water from the wells. Also wonder if there is a higher concentration of "salts" since the Red River has a substantial amount north of us?

I dont know, but I can tell a difference.

Dennis
Has it stunted your growth?
Back when my kids were little we were stationed at Myrtle Beach AFB
for a while. You were not suppossed to let kids drink the water because it was extra high in flouride. About the only bottled water then was for using in steam irons.. If you could find and drink the stuff everybody runs around with today you were a sissy.
Anyway my kids drank mostly the high flouride water and milk. There teeth are nice and white and have never had a cavity in over 40 years.

 

[Western]

Ron, it effected me mentally:laughing: I cant remember bottled water until maybe in the last 10-15 years. Wonder how many bottles it would take to water my little yard

I am in Houston this week (if it doesn't rain) The humidity is nasty, at 2am everything that isn't moving is wet.

 

[pacerron]

Ron, it effected me mentally:laughing: I cant remember bottled water until maybe in the last 10-15 years. Wonder how many bottles it would take to water my little yard

I am in Houston this week (if it doesn't rain) The humidity is nasty, at 2am everything that isn't moving is wet.

Dennis,
Thanks. Now I can blame my mentality on "flouride" Never thought of that one:laughing:
I meant to say in regards to your question about salt hurting grass; it probably does, but the base housing at MBAFB was a road width and some beach from the ocean. The air even tasted salty but the grass was the greenest I've ever seen and usually had to be mowed twice a week.
We have about 3 types of grass/weeds up here. You can see them thriving and dying as the season continues. Fall grass is more like wiregrass but it's better than bare dirt

 

[jinman]

Not to change from a depressing subject (watering. . .yuk!), but let's brag about gardens. Last night we had squash, tomatoes, onions, new potatoes with snap Bush beans, freezer pickles, and raw banana peppers all from our garden. To round out the meal, my wife warmed up some ribs I smoked awhile back and baked a pan of cornbread. I sure was happy faced :licking: by the time I finished eatin'. We've been giving away yellow squash and cucumbers for over a week now. The freezer pickles came from my FIL/MIL. My FIL especially likes to make the freezer pickles and they are delicious.

 

[pacerron]

Not to change from a depressing subject (watering. . .yuk!), but let's brag about gardens. Last night we had squash, tomatoes, onions, new potatoes with snap Bush beans, freezer pickles, and raw banana peppers all from our garden. To round out the meal, my wife warmed up some ribs I smoked awhile back and baked a pan of cornbread. I sure was happy faced :licking: by the time I finished eatin'. We've been giving away yellow squash and cucumbers for over a week now. The freezer pickles came from my FIL/MIL. My FIL especially likes to make the freezer pickles and they are delicious.

Wow!
You are making me drool more than I do during my mid day nap:licking:

We finished eating the last of our 10 pound planting of fresh green onions a week ago. Nothing else will be ripe for about a month, if we keep watering. We only got one rain in the past 25 days. It was a few days ago and only 0.5 inches here in our gauge, which is all that counts. The weathermen on TV are in the big cities which often have more rain because of the heat buildup from the large artificial ground masses.
When the stuff does ripen we eat a lot of it 2-3 times a day and my precious wife cans and makes pickles for weeks. She picked 12 cups = 3 blueberry pies this morning from one bush and I spotted wild raspberries ready for picking along the edge of the field I was working in this morning.
Time for a nap and dreaming of vine ripe tomatoes and corn a few minutes between picking and eating, cause that's what makes it good.:licking::licking:

 

[Western]

Not to change from a depressing subject (watering. . .yuk!), but let's brag about gardens. Last night we had squash, tomatoes, onions, new potatoes with snap Bush beans, freezer pickles, and raw banana peppers all from our garden. To round out the meal, my wife warmed up some ribs I smoked awhile back and baked a pan of cornbread. I sure was happy faced :licking: by the time I finished eatin'. We've been giving away yellow squash and cucumbers for over a week now. The freezer pickles came from my FIL/MIL. My FIL especially likes to make the freezer pickles and they are delicious.

Jim, what is a "freezer pickle" never heard the term before, is it literal like pickling in a freezer?

 

[jinman]

Jim, what is a "freezer pickle" never heard the term before, is it literal like pickling in a freezer?

Dennis, the cucumbers are partially peeled, sliced and mixed with onion and sometimes peppers in the sweet pickling brine. Then they are put into the refrigerator for a couple of days followed by into the freezer. As they get cold, they draw in the pickling solution before freezing. When they thaw, you immediately have great pickles. They are normally crisp, fresh, and very tasty. I don't care for cucumbers, but I love freezer pickles. There are several recipes online if you do a search.

BTW: My inlaws partially peel the pickles to get rid of the skins, but I like the skins on just fine. The pickles are a bread & butter style sweet pickle with low salt. My neighbor who must limit his salt due to excessively high blood pressure can eat these pickles just fine and he loves them. We always take a couple of frozen tubs to him each year.

 

[Western]

OK, thanks for the explanation. Sounds good, like Vlasik pickles I cant ever recall having a "pickle" with the skin cut off, I kinda like the "crispness" the skin has, or seems to have. I remember as a kid at the county fairs, all the ladies would bring pickles for the food contest, man there where some wild tasting pickles.

Hard to beat a large "barrel" pickle and a turkey leg from the county fair:thumbsup: OH yeah, cant forget "funnel cake

 

[jinman]

Hard to beat a large "barrel" pickle and a turkey leg from the county fair:thumbsup: OH yeah, cant forget "funnel cake

Knock it off! You're makin' me hungry! I LUV those big ol' pickles. . . but I'll pass on the funnel cake. For dessert, I'll have a Fletcher's corndog with a big ol' dollop of mustard.:licking:

Got 2/10" this morning around 4:30 AM. Woohoo!:thumbsup:

 

[Western]

Knock it off! You're makin' me hungry! I LUV those big ol' pickles. . . but I'll pass on the funnel cake. For dessert, I'll have a Fletcher's corndog with a big ol' dollop of mustard.:licking:

Got 2/10" this morning around 4:30 AM. Woohoo!:thumbsup:

Oh yeah, I forgot about the corn dogs!!!!

Still stuck in Houston. Spoke to the wife this morning and it was raining, she said the gauge was over 1/2" by 7am. My night ended up a mess, I almost started a thread, but didn't want to "highlight" my obvious stupidity. One of those days at work you wish you stayed home:laughing::laughing:

 

[Bird]

Knock it off! You're makin' me hungry! I LUV those big ol' pickles. . . but I'll pass on the funnel cake. For dessert, I'll have a Fletcher's corndog with a big ol' dollop of mustard.:licking:

Got 2/10" this morning around 4:30 AM. Woohoo!:thumbsup:

And my favorite pickle is still the pickled okra; just had a half dozen pods this afternoon. Incidentally, Jim, I came across a tough pod today; first time I've ever found a tough one in any of these big Members Mark jars.

And I awoke to thunder and lightning about 5:30 this morning and might have gotten as much as 0.02" of rain. But I reckon it's better'n nothin'.

 

[jinman]

And my favorite pickle is still the pickled okra; just had a half dozen pods this afternoon. Incidentally, Jim, I came across a tough pod today; first time I've ever found a tough one in any of these big Members Mark jars.

We have lots of jars of pickles of all kinds and I think a big jar of the MM pickled okra in our cubbard. I'll have to check, but hate to open another jar when we have so many others. I now have competition in the house for pickled banana peppers. My grandson loves them.

Gosh! It was hot/humid yesterday down in my pond. I'm digging it about 2" deeper along with sealing the sand leak. I have a wide trench about 2' deep and 8' wide around 2/3 of the pond. I've been digging/chipping through solid caliche and it is slow going. If we get rain today, maybe I'll have an excuse to rest up. If not, I'll be wearing the teeth down on my backhoe bucket. The sound the teeth make in caliche is like chalk squealing on a chalkboard.:thumbdown:

 

[Western]

Getting light rain right now, radar shows storms building. Jinman looks to "score" some of this too1!

Had to add Bird should get what just left me, got 3/10ths out of it.

 

[jinman]

Haven't checked gage, but it's been pouring outside for about 20 minutes. Woohoo!

 

[Bird]

I still have sunshine, but the looks of the radar make me glad I mowed yesterday.