Texas Fall/Winter thread!

[Western]

I can remember when I was a kid on the farm, wild sunflowers were a hated nuisance just like Johnson Grass in the garden.

Bird, I think you right in terms from a farmers perspective, but these day's if they have a field full of Wild sunflowers, they lease it to dove hunters. Since I only use my land now for mostly wildlife I plant my food plot with Millet and Sunflower in the Spring, deer usually mow the plants down when they get up to around a foot.

FWIW, for lack of a name, I gave them one. I've been calling these "Peppitos" for about 30 years, ....Unless someone else knows what they have been called longer than that.

If you have the time, place them on a piece of foil off to the side and "smoke 'em" until they are cooked. Prime eating!

Kyle, that is how we do it, in foil. Much more tender I think that way. I have always heard them called "Dove wraps", but honestly never thought about it, I guess there should be a term.

 

[jinman]

Well, today is the last day to work on my pond dam before the rains come. If it doesn't rain, I'm okay with that, but it it does, I want to ready. I've raised my dam up about 4' and need to go another couple of feet to be on the safe side. I'm starting to be "clay poor." I've used almost all of my stockpile and have to find more before finishing the dam. I know where it's located, but just hauling from a stockpile is a lot quicker than digging and then hauling. I'll try to get a few pictures by the end of today.

Time is a wastin'; I have to go get fuel. . . :thumbsup:

 

[Western]

Jim, you act like your "re-tired" posting on TBN at 8am when you have work to do!! 70% chance of rain after midnight and 80% tomorrow and they say this storm system could have severe weather in it. I can do without the Severe part, and could use Friday to work on projects, like you need to do, but a few area lakes need topped off, so...
Wonder if they make a Blue pill for that!

Mid 70's again today, we are averaging 10-15 degrees above normal, almost gives me "premature" gardening fever.

 

[Bird]

But Punxsutawney Phil says we're in for another 6 weeks of Winter. Of course, if it's the kind of Winter we've had so far, who cares?:laughing:

And like you, Dennis, I figure more rain for these lakes would be good, but severe weather we can do without.

 

[bigbull338]

i hope we dont have much winter left as the winter grass is growing real good.

 

[Western]

Today I went to the lumber yard to get material for another small job, (Hometown building supply) ,they have onion sets out, but they really didn't look to good. Last time I bought some that looked that way there, (very little green and "weak looking" they did poorly. I know it would be cheaper to buy onions but hey......

I just hope the growers in the Valley get some decent weather, so the price of produce will come down some. Canning is a word that is getting tossed around my house quite a bit here lately.

 

[Bird]

i hope we dont have much winter left as the winter grass is growing real good.

I went to donate blood (double red) at shortly after 10 a.m. this morning, then came home and mowed, edged, and trimmed our yard and the next door neighbor's. Whew, his was bad. So I spent about and hour and a half with the string trimmer, then only a little over 35 minutes on the ZTR mower.

But we're ready for the rain now.

And yep, Dennis, it's just about the time I usually set out my onion plants.

 

[jinman]

Jim, you act like your "re-tired" posting on TBN at 8am when you have work to do!!

You betcha I'm reeee-tired. The hardest part of my day is deciding whether to have one mug or two of coffee in the morning.

Pond building uses a lot of fuel. My neighbor bought me 20 gallons of fuel a couple of weeks ago as a pay-back for jobs I've done for him. Since then, I've bought another 20 gal and yesterday 20 more gallons. Even so, that's cheap payment for what my backhoe does for me.

I got my pond excavated enough to be ready for rain. I didn't take time to pretty-up things, but most of that I can do from the bank after the pond floods. My dam is up except for the final 3 ft. The middle of the dam (16'-20' wide) is solid clay. I added clay about 6" at a time and then packed it by driving back and forth over it with my 20k lb backhoe. I started adding excavated soil on each side of the clay so that the dam is about 40' thick at the base. I think it will hold just fine.

Here are some photos. Notice the spot with red clay on the right side of the first few photos. I can take about 8-10 more yards from there by sloping the bank, but after that, I'll have to move to another clay spot. I've used up every bit of my clay stockpile on the dam. The last photo is my grandson on top of the filled spot where all my spoils went to fill in another huge gully washout. He's 5' tall, so you can see how much I've filled this area. At some point, I'll have to add topsoil and get grass growing in all these slopes. If I can get the topsoil, I'll probably get the slopes hydro-mulched. I'm sure not walking up and down with a seed/fertilizer spreader.

 

[Western]

You betcha I'm reeee-tired. The hardest part of my day is deciding whether to have one mug or two of coffee in the morning.

Very important management decision, that will decide how the rest of the day goes:thumbsup:

Here are some photos. Notice the spot with red clay on the right side of the first few photos. I can take about 8-10 more yards from there by sloping the bank, but after that, I'll have to move to another clay spot. I've used up every bit of my clay stockpile on the dam. The last photo is my grandson on top of the filled spot where all my spoils went to fill in another huge gully washout. He's 5' tall, so you can see how much I've filled this area. At some point, I'll have to add topsoil and get grass growing in all these slopes. If I can get the topsoil, I'll probably get the slopes hydro-mulched. I'm sure not walking up and down with a seed/fertilizer spreader.

Jim,, I think discovery channel should get rid of "Gold rush" series and have a "Clay dig" show at Jim's, thats allot of digging and you actually have something to show for it!!

I don't know where all the "severe " storms went they predicted, but so far I might have got 1/10th if I squeeze the leaves real hard.

 

[Western]

I went to donate blood (double red) at shortly after 10 a.m. this morning, then came home and mowed, edged, and trimmed our yard and the next door neighbor's. Whew, his was bad. So I spent about and hour and a half with the string trimmer, then only a little over 35 minutes on the ZTR mower.

But we're ready for the rain now.

And yep, Dennis, it's just about the time I usually set out my onion plants.

Bird, I wish you where my neighbor:laughing: If I gave 2 pints of blood, I'd use that excuse for about a week:laughing:

Seriously, I know your neighbor is older and it's a blessing he has you for one.

 

[EddieWalker]

You betcha I'm reeee-tired. The hardest part of my day is deciding whether to have one mug or two of coffee in the morning.

Pond building uses a lot of fuel. My neighbor bought me 20 gallons of fuel a couple of weeks ago as a pay-back for jobs I've done for him. Since then, I've bought another 20 gal and yesterday 20 more gallons. Even so, that's cheap payment for what my backhoe does for me.

I got my pond excavated enough to be ready for rain. I didn't take time to pretty-up things, but most of that I can do from the bank after the pond floods. My dam is up except for the final 3 ft. The middle of the dam (16'-20' wide) is solid clay. I added clay about 6" at a time and then packed it by driving back and forth over it with my 20k lb backhoe. I started adding excavated soil on each side of the clay so that the dam is about 40' thick at the base. I think it will hold just fine.

Here are some photos. Notice the spot with red clay on the right side of the first few photos. I can take about 8-10 more yards from there by sloping the bank, but after that, I'll have to move to another clay spot. I've used up every bit of my clay stockpile on the dam. The last photo is my grandson on top of the filled spot where all my spoils went to fill in another huge gully washout. He's 5' tall, so you can see how much I've filled this area. At some point, I'll have to add topsoil and get grass growing in all these slopes. If I can get the topsoil, I'll probably get the slopes hydro-mulched. I'm sure not walking up and down with a seed/fertilizer spreader.

Congratulations on your progress. Looks like you are getting close. How does the spillway run? It's hard to tell in the pics where the overflow is going to be.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

I don't know where all the "severe " storms went they predicted, but so far I might have got 1/10th if I squeeze the leaves real hard.

I think I beat you, Dennis. I'm pretty sure I got a good 0.11" of rain last night. But a bit of mist this morning and actually a light rain 2 miles south of us, so maybe it'll get up here.

 

[Western]

I think I beat you, Dennis. I'm pretty sure I got a good 0.11" of rain last night. But a bit of mist this morning and actually a light rain 2 miles south of us, so maybe it'll get up here.

I don't know Bird, I just looked at the radar and it looks like it did all last summer, you know, when Jim was watering his yard:laughing: At least the Temps are pleasant though. Looks like Eddie and TBN'ers East, may fare better on the moisture this time around.

 

[pacerron]

Pond building uses a lot of fuel. My neighbor bought me 20 gallons of fuel a couple of weeks ago as a pay-back for jobs I've done for him. Since then, I've bought another 20 gal and yesterday 20 more gallons. Even so, that's cheap payment for what my backhoe does for me. QUOTE]
Jim,
Good to see your progress photos.
I wonder why you don't have a bulk fuel tank on the place?
Up here the distributors will deliver free for amounts over 150 gallon.
No highway tax makes it a little cheaper too.
The best advantage for me is being able to fill the tractors without lifting four
5 gallon cans over my head or climbing up over the seat with cans and trying to hit the fill hole.
Ron

 

[Western]

Jim,
Good to see your progress photos.
I wonder why you don't have a bulk fuel tank on the place?
Up here the distributors will deliver free for amounts over 150 gallon.
No highway tax makes it a little cheaper too.
The best advantage for me is being able to fill the tractors without lifting four
5 gallon cans over my head or climbing up over the seat with cans and trying to hit the fill hole.
Ron[/QUOTE]

Ron, if you always have fuel, you have no excuse to go fishing!! I had a 500 gallon tank when we had a bigger farm and a few tractors, but for me now, the expense and longevity of the fuel would make it pointless for as little as I use.

There is a nice price break though on the dyed diesel though.

 

[jinman]

Eddie, if you look at the lower left of the photo below, you'll see where the overflow will be. I'll add a couple of culverts here after I build up the dam another 3' or so. I'll have to rip-rap both ends of the culverts, but especially the outlet side to prevent under-cutting. This caliche seems hard, but when you have water flowing over, it dissolves like sugar.

I really don't use enough fuel normally to get a 500 gallon tank. I've been looking at craigslist for 100 gallon transfer tanks for my pickup truck. With the way fuel fluctuates in pricing, I might find it cheaper at normal gas stations than what I paid for 500 gallons of red diesel a few months earlier. The normal stations also have the freshest fuel. I have saddle tanks on my backhoe, so 5-gallon tubs are no problem. My tractor's fuel tank is behind the seat, so I can fuel easily from the rear. The worst part about jugs is you have to keep up with the darn things when they are empty. I have 7 diesel cans and 3 gasoline cans strewn about in my barn.

 

[pacerron]

I really don't use enough fuel normally to get a 500 gallon tank. I've been looking at craigslist for 100 gallon transfer tanks for my pickup truck. With the way fuel fluctuates in pricing, I might find it cheaper at normal gas stations than what I paid for 500 gallons of red diesel a few months earlier. The normal stations also have the freshest fuel. I have saddle tanks on my backhoe, so 5-gallon tubs are no problem. My tractor's fuel tank is behind the seat, so I can fuel easily from the rear. The worst part about jugs is you have to keep up with the darn things when they are empty. I have 7 diesel cans and 3 gasoline cans strewn about in my barn.[/QUOTE]

Jim,
As long as your happy with your method it's nonpareil..
I purchased a 170 gallon tank on a stand with hose and nozzle 20 years ago and have only had to paint it once on the outside and replace the hose once from sun rot. The tanks pretty much last forever with diesel in them. The newer tractor holds 23 gallon from the caution line on the gauge to full. The old one holds about 10 so I'd be making a lot of 15 mile trips using cans spring through late fall. The fuel is what they call "Diesel Supreme" same stuff as home heating oil up here so it is already preped for the weather and it works just fine in the summer if I have some left over awhile before getting down to 150 gallon space in the tank. No water filters on the tank and just gravity fed to the nozzle. I usually do drain a few gallon into a can to get it totally empty and check for water condensation. Never seen any yet. I hope this story doesn't jinx the situation.
Ron

 

[Bird]

I think I beat you, Dennis. I'm pretty sure I got a good 0.11" of rain last night. But a bit of mist this morning and actually a light rain 2 miles south of us, so maybe it'll get up here.

I figure I got another .05" before it cleaned off and the sun came out.

 

[jinman]

I figure I got another .05" before it cleaned off and the sun came out.

We got about 1/10", and then it stopped. I went out to do some more dirt moving and had to alter my plans. With the slope of my land and the wet clay, my tractor just started sliding toward the pond drop-off.:shocked: I quickly got out of there. There was only an inch of clay, but it was like driving on banana peels.

 

[Bird]

Wet clay does one of two things. It's either slick as ice or it sticks to everything and your shoes or tires become loaded and heavy.