Texas Heat!

[Western]

Well, we are having just the opposite problem in these parts, only been over 70ｺ here a couple of days.
So my wife posted this to her Face Book page:

INSTALLING SUMMER.....
███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.
Installation failed. 404 error: Season not found.
The season you are looking for might have been
removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
Please try again...

:laughing::laughing::thumbsup: She has a great sense of humor, that was funny.

I always use Splenda as sweetener and sprinkle powdered cinnamon on my bowl of peaches. We like the really ripe peaches for freezing, but when you thaw them, you need to eat them quickly because they will get dark in a hurry. We just use small freezer bags that hold only a couple of bowls full.

BTW: I counted 65 peaches in the half-bushel I bought. All of them were really nice and I didn't see a bruised one in the whole bunch.

Yeah Jim, granny would use the one gallon bags allot and also the qt too. There where 14 of use full time at the farm, so a qt bag just started fights The qt's allot of times we would take to the Sorghum mill for a snack.

i may have to run down and get some, sounds like you made out like a bandit on those peaches!!

 

[pacerron]

Jim,
If your wife can make fantastic, flaky, light pie crust, as mine does, there's nothing better in the winter than a homemade pie using peaches from the freezer... with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream. I guess that wipes out the Splenda purpose though.
I'm surprised you don't have a couple peach trees near your garden, the way you like them. Belle of Georgia is a white naturally sweet peach that is easy to raise and produces well in a couple years. Tree Details—The Tree Guide at arborday.org
Of course the deer love them too.
Ron

 

[Western]

Jim,
If your wife can make fantastic, flaky, light pie crust, as mine does, there's nothing better in the winter than a homemade pie using peaches from the freezer... with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream. Ron

You got that right!! Cobbler is awesome too. Cra% now I have a sweet tooth.

 

[jinman]

Yep guys, my wife makes great pies for me :licking:, but I discourage it except for special events. I haven't had a single taste of ice cream in over a year. I'd love to make some fresh peach ice cream, but I don't dare. I guarantee you that I will gain a pound for each tablespoonful of ice cream I eat.

Ron, I already have a spot picked out for a small 6 to 8 tree orchard. I want peach trees, a couple of pear trees, and some plum trees. The best place for them would be down near my lake, but I'm certain if there, I wouldn't get any of the fruit. All the critters in the area would make my place their home. I have to put the trees where I can keep an eye on them.

 

[pacerron]

Ron, I already have a spot picked out for a small 6 to 8 tree orchard. I want peach trees, a couple of pear trees, and some plum trees. The best place for them would be down near my lake, but I'm certain if there, I wouldn't get any of the fruit. All the critters in the area would make my place their home. I have to put the trees where I can keep an eye on them.[/QUOTE]

Your right about the critters. Our trees and grape vines start not more than 50 feet from the house and go about 100 feet, then some blueberry bushes, and the garden another 80 feet beyond that so they have quite a variety of stuff to tear up and/or eat in close proximity to the house. They like it all as well as the wave petunias and other flowers around the house and even up on the deck. They stand within 50 feet of the tractor when I'm mowing and no bang keeps them away long. We have tried all kinds of things over the years but they get used to each in time. Currently the 4" high strand of electric fence and another about 3 feet high with white plastic grocery bags tied on it to resemble a white deer tail has them bamboozled but the fruit and corn are not mature yet. I'm hoping your deer net fence fabric will be a long lasting deterrent.
You will need to water the fruit trees, spray them with all kinds of pre-emergent and post emergent stuff to keep the bugs from eating them before the deer do, and prune them every year so if you can keep them closer to your house it will be a lot easier. If you could put them adjacent to your garden or around your garden and extend your deer fence to include them
it would be an efficient layout.
Just my thought on the matter. I'm sure you will put them where you want them which is most important.
Ron

 

[NativeSon]

Sorry I'm so slow to report, but we're real proud of the 1/2 inch of rain we got Friday nite. It helped put a little green on the pasture, but we sure need some more. So now it' not only Hot but Sticky. Oh well.

Charlie

 

[Western]

Charlie, 1/2" is almost worth fighting for right now!! I have actually been watering my cedar trees!!! That's bad brother!


One family trying to cool down near Hudson Oaks.

 

[Western]

The above photo was in an article by NBC in DFW online.

Here is the story if you are into wildlife like I am..

Newborn Wildlife Abandoned in Heat | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth

 

[Bird]

And if spite of running up my water bill, my yard looks terrible. I'm just hoping some of the grass survives.

 

[Western]

And if spite of running up my water bill, my yard looks terrible. I'm just hoping some of the grass survives.

Bird, I know what you mean. I would hate to have to still be paying a city water bill. Our well cost us about $30 or less, so I "splurge" a little. When we lived in town for a bit, our water bill would run up $100 at times, of coarse that included the trash pick-up.

 

[markrahn]

We have some bermuda that we are working hard at getting to survive. Also, our watermelons and catelopes arent doing to well. I think we are shutting em down and ending this leg of our growning season. Just too hot and no rain in sight.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Bird, I know what you mean. I would hate to have to still be paying a city water bill. Our well cost us about $30 or less, so I "splurge" a little. When we lived in town for a bit, our water bill would run up $100 at times, of coarse that included the trash pick-up.

Me and 3 of my neighbors on same well,my part is around $18mnth and we split it if well needs any work,we all have plenty of pressure. I didnt see any reason to keep watering yard and just waste water,mine looks just like everyone elses around here anyways (brown).Im more worried about are cattle pastures there running out of grass and mite have to start feeding hay already and usally get 3 cutting now mite note even get the second(30ac.first cutting only made 31 bales).

 

[Bird]

When we lived in town for a bit, our water bill would run up $100 at times, of coarse that included the trash pick-up.

Dennis, our little town looks at 4 months of water use (Nov., Dec., Jan., & Feb.), throws out the highest one, averages the other 3 and bases our sewer charge on that, so the sewer charge stays the same each month for a year. At the present time, ours is $43.54 a month, plus $9.92 for weekly garbage pickup, $5.00 drainage fee, and $0.82 garbage sales tax. So last month, with 10,702 gallons of water for $49.32, our total bill was $108.60. And I've watered the yard more for the upcoming bill; just hope it ain't over $150.

 

[Bird]

Me and 3 of my neighbors on same well

Hmm, I've got a cousin in Freestone County with that same kind of deal. Maybe you're neighbors. Personally, I don't think I'd like that any better than Homeowners Associations.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Here in west KY we have had good rain for the most part until July. We are at 98F at this hour with more to come and not rain in the forecast. What nails us is the clay soil when it is hot and dry after being wet which caused shallow root development.

Still can remember my first summer in Abilene TX in 1977. I thought was going to die. :laughing:

I hope everyone gets some rain soon. The storm working now seems to be heading for England.

Well there will be some storms soon in the Gulf I expect.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Hmm, I've got a cousin in Freestone County with that same kind of deal. Maybe you're neighbors. Personally, I don't think I'd like that any better than Homeowners Associations.

The well thing was kinda a have to but it hasnt been so bad.The community water said that they couldnt handle anyone else been on it.Mabye in the future I can have my own drilled.

 

[Western]

Me and 3 of my neighbors on same well,my part is around $18mnth and we split it if well needs any work,we all have plenty of pressure. I didnt see any reason to keep watering yard and just waste water,mine looks just like everyone elses around here anyways (brown).Im more worried about are cattle pastures there running out of grass and mite have to start feeding hay already and usally get 3 cutting now mite note even get the second(30ac.first cutting only made 31 bales).

My brother is set up that way, good thing is the other 2 are my mother and a cousin, so they avoid some of the possible calamity's that may occur. I'd take this over an HOA any day, at least no ones telling you you can't have a flag or " go paint your wagon Orange" I would never belong to and HOA, ain't no old crow going to tell me how to decorate my yard to go with their "theme"

 

[Bird]

We sure are glad the weather broke the 100 degree or more string of days today. Today it only got to 99.

 

[jinman]

So last month, with 10,702 gallons of water for $49.32, our total bill was $108.60. And I've watered the yard more for the upcoming bill; just hope it ain't over $150.

I've done rough estimations of my water usage when watering my lawn in this heat and I'm coming up with 6,000 to 7,000 gallons every other day. I don't know how accurate that is, so I just ordered one of these meters. I can install it on each hose and measure one hour's usage then multiply by the number of total hours of sprinkler run time. I'll soon know exactly how much water I'm using. What I am certain is that if I were paying for city water, I would have a brown lawn too. There's no way I could afford 100,000 gallons of water a month as I suspect I currently use during this hot dry weather.

Yesterday, it was 105 here and my lawn looked wilted and dry in several places despite having watered so heavily the day before. My wife put out three sprinklers and watered for two hours on the worst areas. I'm ready for this drought to end. We have other things to do than just water our yard all day. It's beautiful, but way too much work. I need a sprinkler system to water in the middle of the night so the water has a chance to soak in before it evaporates.

 

[NativeSon]

Me and 3 of my neighbors on same well,my part is around $18mnth and we split it if well needs any work,we all have plenty of pressure. I didnt see any reason to keep watering yard and just waste water,mine looks just like everyone elses around here anyways (brown).Im more worried about are cattle pastures there running out of grass and mite have to start feeding hay already and usally get 3 cutting now mite note even get the second(30ac.first cutting only made 31 bales).

We've already got some people feeding hay to their cattle. I bought some decent hay yesterday for the horses. I hope I have enough because there's not much out there. I'm glad I got what I got. Usually at this time of year there are hay crews running all over the place. There ain't much moving out there now except to the auction barn.

I'm with you Jinman this drought needs to break......and soon.

Charlie