Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[Bird]

Just happened to notice the story Grasshoppers Chewing Up North Texas Crops in the news this morning. So Alan isn't alone by any means.

We've talked before about the prices of corn on the cob, and all I've bought before today has been one of the varieties that has both yellow and white kernels. But this morning, in the north Denton Walmart, I picked up 10 ears at 20 cents each. The stocker was just putting out a bunch more and I got my 10 directly from the box he was unloading. I didn't notice until I got home and shucked it that it's all white kernels; Silver Queen?? maybe or something similar.

 

[jinman]

5 ears/$1 is what I ended up paying at our Walmart. Actually, their corn was the worst I've seen in a long time. It had been out so long the shuck was very dry. I bought 20 ears and 5 of them had spots of mold we had to cut out and about half had mold on the silk end. It just looked like it had been sitting out too long and probably misted a few times to keep it moist. It will be okay, but far from the best corn I've ever bought.

 

[Western]

Seems to be more "miss" than "hit" for us when looking for produce at Walmart. Veggies usually are good, but the fruits are less than great quality. We usually go by a Brookshires, Kroger or other chain grocer and find in better shape fruit. I don't know why that is, walmart has huge buying stock so maybe there fruits get picked early and some even chilled, but you'd think the same with stores like Kroger which has far more stores than walmart.

Best Corn I have ever had is Olathe sweet corn, grown in Olathe Colorado, sometimes you can find it here in Texas. My friends that have had it say the same thing.

 

[Bird]

5 ears/$1 is what I ended up paying at our Walmart. Actually, their corn was the worst I've seen in a long time. It had been out so long the shuck was very dry. I bought 20 ears and 5 of them had spots of mold we had to cut out and about half had mold on the silk end. It just looked like it had been sitting out too long and probably misted a few times to keep it moist. It will be okay, but far from the best corn I've ever bought.

The white kernel corn I got was fresh, and cold enough that I think it just came out of the cooler. I haven't eaten any of it myself, but my wife ate one, said it was pretty good, but not as good and the yellow & whilte that we've gotten in the past. I noticed that Albertson's had some that was all yellow today on sale at 5 for a dollar. And while Walmart's cherries were $2.48 a pound, Albertson's and Kroger's had them for $1.99 a pound. I bought cherries at Kroger's.

 

[pacerron]

5 ears/$1 is what I ended up paying at our Walmart. Actually, their corn was the worst I've seen in a long time. It had been out so long the shuck was very dry. I bought 20 ears and 5 of them had spots of mold we had to cut out and about half had mold on the silk end. It just looked like it had been sitting out too long and probably misted a few times to keep it moist. It will be okay, but far from the best corn I've ever bought.

Might make you rethink your garden versus store theory:cool2:

We are just glad to have power restored today after 5 days of running the generator a couple hours at a time to get water, get a shower, and check the TV for how many more days before everybody is restored around here. We even had to wait in long lines to get gas for the generator after clearing our road ourselves so we could get out. The house roofing has to be all replaced and we will be cutting down broken off trees the rest of the year.
Anybody that thinks living off the grid is neat should have this experience first.
I guess I'm just getting to be an old wimp, but I'll take high line power any day it's available. :drink:

 

[jinman]

We are just glad to have power restored today after 5 days of running the generator a couple hours at a time to get water, get a shower, and check the TV for how many more days before everybody is restored around here.

Ron, after the news video we have seen. I'm just glad to be hearing from you and others. That storm really messed it up for lots of people. I hope your recovery isn't too stressful. At least you have your health and sense of humor.

 

[bindian]

Might make you rethink your garden versus store theory:cool2:

We are just glad to have power restored today after 5 days of running the generator a couple hours at a time to get water, get a shower, and check the TV for how many more days before everybody is restored around here. We even had to wait in long lines to get gas for the generator after clearing our road ourselves so we could get out. The house roofing has to be all replaced and we will be cutting down broken off trees the rest of the year.
Anybody that thinks living off the grid is neat should have this experience first.
I guess I'm just getting to be an old wimp, but I'll take high line power any day it's available. :drink:

Ron,
Glad to hear Y'all are okay and back on the grid. Living off a generator is not fun at all. We have done it three times since Katrina and Rita came through followed by Ike and a local storm that knocked out out substation. Each time I see a propane powered Generac, I think how nice it would be next power failure, not to have to worry about getting more diesel for the generator or running extension cords.
hugs, Brandi

 

[pacerron]

Ron, after the news video we have seen. I'm just glad to be hearing from you and others. That storm really messed it up for lots of people. I hope your recovery isn't too stressful. At least you have your health and sense of humor.

We were very lucky compared to the folks in the Colorado fires and other places. The storm lasted about 15 minutes but what a wind. 70-90mph mostly straight line. Broke trees off about 20 ft in the air. One of our 5 high tension power line poles broke in 2 places from a tree coming down on the line and the pasture fence. They are so short on poles and time/manpower even with many crews in from other areas the temporary fix here was to cut the trees off the wire and re-tension by cutting about 20 feet out of the wires to get them up to a safe height. The pole will be replaced in a few weeks as they get to it.
The rain was only 0.30 inches but it has done another .020 since in new storms. Good ole USAA had an adjuster here on Monday and we had a local contractor put 12 big tarps and a bunch of new temporary shingles down the same evening. It is required, of course and logical, to try to protect whatever is left from further damage. I told my wife, this is probably about when the satellites will redo the Google images here.

There was so much airborne tree debris that about 100 feet of the "Jinman" deer fence was literally ripped off the T-posts and luckily got stuck in the grass down toward the pond. We got it untwisted and tied back on the poles just by dark. The deer would have wiped out the beans and lots of other stuff by morning if we hadn't fixed the fence that night.:confused3:
The filament in that fence is so strong I think it would cut your fingers off before breaking if you pulled hard enough, so that wind/debris force was really something.

 

[pacerron]

Ron,
Glad to hear Y'all are okay and back on the grid. Living off a generator is not fun at all. We have done it three times since Katrina and Rita came through followed by Ike and a local storm that knocked out out substation. Each time I see a propane powered Generac, I think how nice it would be next power failure, not to have to worry about getting more diesel for the generator or running extension cords.
hugs, Brandi

Brandi,
Our little 6200 watt generator is gasoline. Would have been great had it been diesel. I have a big stand mounted tank of that. My wife noticed last night that even the hinged fill cap on the big diesel tank had been blown open. Something else to wire shut
Years ago, they made generators with PTO shafts to run off the back of tractors. I always figured it would be too expensive to run a tractor
engine just to run a generator, so went with the little portable gasoline types as they are handy for field work as well.
It sure would be nice though, since we are dependent on electricity here for everything, to have a generator big enough to run the place somewhat normal.
Ron

 

[bindian]

Brandi,
Our little 6200 watt generator is gasoline. Would have been great had it been diesel. I have a big stand mounted tank of that. My wife noticed last night that even the hinged fill cap on the big diesel tank had been blown open. Something else to wire shut
Years ago, they made generators with PTO shafts to run off the back of tractors. I always figured it would be too expensive to run a tractor
engine just to run a generator, so went with the little portable gasoline types as they are handy for field work as well.
It sure would be nice though, since we are dependent on electricity here for everything, to have a generator big enough to run the place somewhat normal.
Ron

Ron,
Bad thing about tractor PTO generators is they take your tractor out of action. I have found I depended on my tractor the most right after a storm.
hugs, Brandi

 

[pacerron]

Ron,
Bad thing about tractor PTO generators is they take your tractor out of action. I have found I depended on my tractor the most right after a storm.
hugs, Brandi

Brandi,
Your point about taking a tractor out of service for other things while running a generator is an extremely strong one. Thanks for bringing that up for any folks who might be considering a PTO generator. I did everything, including cutting, tedding, raking, bailing and hauling hay, for 20 years with just one tractor and it was quite a hassle sometimes, particularly when racing the weather. I have two now days but wouldn't want to tie one to a generator. We have put them both to a lot of use the past few days. We just finished repairing and retensioning the main horse pasture fence before lunch. You wouldn't believe the running, jumping, and bucking going on in happy anticipation of that pasture gate swinging open.
( And that was just from my wife ):dance1:

 

[Western]

You wouldn't believe the running, jumping, and bucking going on in happy anticipation of that pasture gate swinging open.
( And that was just from my wife ):dance1:

But did she "roll in the dirt"??? The true sign of contentment! Glad you guys made it through with minor "scratches" too. When We had our Ostrich farm, I had installed a 20k generator that would run the hatching facility, and our well. Since we where so remote , I had it connected to a 250# propane tank. For a bit over $7000 at the time, it was a nice unit, but probably way overkill for a single family residence.

Weatherman Pete Delkus said we are now listed in the moderate drought zone again, I figured it wouldn't be long. Has been very dry here, most of the vegetation had begun to wilt and dry up around my place. Hopefully the rain chances next week pan out for a few of us in N Texas.

 

[bindian]

Weatherman Pete Delkus said we are now listed in the moderate drought zone again, I figured it wouldn't be long. Has been very dry here, most of the vegetation had begun to wilt and dry up around my place. Hopefully the rain chances next week pan out for a few of us in N Texas.

Guess it is a good time to dig a duck pond. Just finished digging the dam core trench.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Weatherman Pete Delkus said we are now listed in the moderate drought zone again, I figured it wouldn't be long. Has been very dry here, most of the vegetation had begun to wilt and dry up around my place. Hopefully the rain chances next week pan out for a few of us in N Texas.

Guess it is a good time to dig a duck pond. Just finished digging the dam core trench.
hugs, Brandi

 

[jinman]

Guess it is a good time to dig a duck pond. Just finished digging the dam core trench.
hugs, Brandi

Well, I'm wimping out on pond building during this hot weather. It'll be awhile before I'll be building anymore dam core trenches. I know dry weather is the best time to build, but dry and the low 90s is what I'm holding out for. When it's 100+, dusty, and miserable I remind myself that I'm retired and don't have to work that hard.:dance1:

EDIT: Hey! This fits this thread. I just watched a scissor-tail chasing a grasshopper for about 250' at abut 18" off the ground. The bird finally caught the grasshopper and had a snack. Maybe that's why we don't see many grasshoppers. We have about a dozen scissor-tails around out place, the most I've seen in years.

 

[Western]

Jim, this upcoming week sounds like some decent dam weather, based on your "work criteria/conditions":laughing: As far as the Scissor tailed fly catchers, that's great you have some! The wife and I have noticed a lack of them here for some time. They are fun to watch, we used to watch how many "bugs" they would spear on a fence barb, I guess for "later snacking".

Well hired me another "helper" a nephew, for a short work trip back to New Mexico. I ran the last two off:thumbsup: :laughing: I cant tolerate guys showing up for work "under the influence" when it effects my living. They said I was being to "old fashioned and a hardA$$" WTH?? Leave tonight to El Paso and points beyond and the only thing I don't like , I have only seen my wife for 2 day's in 3 weeks and it will be another 12 days. She flew out to Ft Bragg with my daughter to visit my FIL and returns Sunday afternoon. At least I'm working though and we sure GET ALONG when I'm gone:laughing:

 

[Bird]

I haven't seen any scissortails in a long time. As for work in this heat . . . I mowed the yard this morning and that's about my limit. And the grass is growing very slowly, if at all. I guess I'm going to have to water more.

I took the dog for a walk in the woods in our big city park this morning and then along the edge of the woods. There's 2 football fields and I think 6 soccer fields, and of course the city waters them quite a bit. But I was surprised this morning to see two armadillos digging in soccer fields at 7:45 a.m. I've seen what I figured was armadillo diggings in the woods, but had not actually seen an armadillo in the park until today.

And while I frequently see squirrels and occasionally cottontails, I think it was Wednesday when I danged near stepped on a plump snake about 3' to 4' long in the park; first snake I've seen there. There's a little lake or pond in the park and the snake was about 10' from the water, but I think it was a non-poisonous water snake of some kind.

 

[bindian]

Well, I'm wimping out on pond building during this hot weather. It'll be awhile before I'll be building anymore dam core trenches. I know dry weather is the best time to build, but dry and the low 90s is what I'm holding out for. When it's 100+, dusty, and miserable I remind myself that I'm retired and don't have to work that hard.:dance1:

It isn't that dusty. Been getting a sprinkle here and there. I work it so I am under the canopy. Have my straw hat on and Wrangler long sleeve cotton shirt over a t shirt. We have had a breeze or two come through. Remember, I dug the last pond in 40 degree weather starting each day. This vacation was bid last November, so I gotta dig now.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Well, I'm wimping out on pond building during this hot weather. It'll be awhile before I'll be building anymore dam core trenches. I know dry weather is the best time to build, but dry and the low 90s is what I'm holding out for. When it's 100+, dusty, and miserable I remind myself that I'm retired and don't have to work that hard.:dance1:

It isn't that dusty. Been getting a sprinkle here and there. I work it so I am under the canopy. Have my straw hat on and Wrangler long sleeve cotton shirt over a t shirt. We have had a breeze or two come through. Remember, I dug the last pond in 40 degree weather starting each day. This vacation was bid last November, so I gotta dig now.
hugs, Brandi

 

[pacerron]

It isn't that dusty. Been getting a sprinkle here and there. I work it so I am under the canopy. Have my straw hat on and Wrangler long sleeve cotton shirt over a t shirt. We have had a breeze or two come through. Remember, I dug the last pond in 40 degree weather starting each day. This vacation was bid last November, so I gotta dig now.
hugs, Brandi

Brandi,
Even with the straw hat and canopy, if you have fair skin, don't forget the sunscreen. It's hot and greasy but I have a 2 ½ inch scar on my cheek to prove it is needed. I have always worn a wide brim straw hat and have canopys on all tractors, but it wasn't enough. Skin cancer is one of a tractor operators biggest plagues.
Ron