Texas Spring/Summer Thread

jinman · May 26, 2013

mikim said:
Jinman----Bernice picked 2 big bowls of beans out of her little patch .....I AM NOT GOING TO SHOW HER YOUR PICTURES!!.....she'd die of envy. and then she'd start taking notes with a heading "things for mike to do when he gets better"

I wish you were closer so we could share, Kathy picked a gallon of sugar snap peas yesterday. Last night while watching a movie, I had a bowl to crunch on. I don't mean to be cruel, considering your present eating difficulties, but I love the raw peas. Some people eat raw beans too. Fresh beans and peas are two of my springtime favorites. While putting up my nets yesterday, my grandson saw a ripe cherry tomato. I picked it and offered it to him. You should have seen the face he made. I told him that I wasn't going to give him a 2nd chance and popped it into my mouth. Mmm! There's something special about that first tomato out of your garden. Having it in May is even better yet.

Lou66 · May 26, 2013

I live on the gulf coast and I don't have flood insurance,, I am not in the 100 years flood plane,, but I do have hurricane insurance, which is 1800 dollars a year plus I have home owner insurance which is another 1200 dollars a year.. my home elevation is 16 ft above sea level,, the land I own is 7 miles north of me as the crow fly its 22 ft above sea level now if I decided to build on the land I will have to have flood insurance,, because it is in the 100 flood plane.

. Lou

Western · May 26, 2013

When we where going to get our building loan in 08, then after the market crashed, we bought a re'poed double wide instead, both times we had to address the 100 year flood plain. @ years ago when we "refied", it was addressed again at the title company prior to the loan closure. Since we where not in the flood plain, the bank did not require the added insurance.

BTW I still have custom house plans I would sell copies of, 3400' :laughing: We where 1 hr away from signing the construction loan paper work and I got "cold feet" because the market trends where getting "scary", told them I wanted a week more to think. Sure, I wish we had the house, but when the markets crashed, the company's we worked for cut back 80% of the work and we lost our backside. Life is full of twist and turns, so you do what you can to survive.

Jim, garden looks GREAT!!, dont think I would go further than my "T" post and wire cages, but yours sure looks "fancier":laughing:
BTW, I tried finding Spinosad, locally. no one even knew what I was talking about?, may just have to order the concentrate on the web. Reviews and specs, sure do look promising for it, thanks for the recommendation:thumbsup:

farmgirl19 · May 26, 2013

Hey boys! Look what I picked this morning!

Oh, and Western, our local feed store has Spinosad. Green Light makes it, as do others. Might even be a TSC.

Guess what I had for lunch, besides squash....Yep, TOMATOES!

mikim · May 26, 2013

Lou66 said:
I live on the gulf coast and I don't have flood insurance,, I am not in the 100 years flood plane,, but I do have hurricane insurance, which is 1800 dollars a year plus I have home owner insurance which is another 1200 dollars a year.. my home elevation is 16 ft above sea level,, the land I own is 7 miles north of me as the crow fly its 22 ft above sea level now if I decided to build on the land I will have to have flood insurance,, because it is in the 100 flood plane.. Lou

.......imho.....anywhere in Brazoria County you should have flood insurance. I lived in Angleton - not in flood zone - but I was able to carry over insurance from previous owner and glad I did. You have land 7 miles away with a grand difference of 6 feet of elevation....that's why I have my opinion of that county/flood insurance. It's also why I'm glad we don't live there anymore.....too flat! and too close to hurricane landfall.

Western · May 26, 2013

farmgirl19 said:
Hey boys! Look what I picked this morning!

Oh, and Western, our local feed store has Spinosad. Green Light makes it, as do others. Might even be a TSC.

Guess what I had for lunch, besides squash....Yep, TOMATOES!

I looked at TSC, Walmart and Lowes in Decatur and 3 feed stores in Springtown, nadda. What feed store is it??

Lou66 · May 26, 2013

Mike I live in Lake Jackson and have 70 plus acre on the south of Angleton with 18 of it in the city limits.. I was going to build on it but I would have to put in a retention or detention or retaining pond (what ever they call it) to collect storm water runoff,, I can set one acre a side but I will have to dig a retention pond equal to the slab, driveway and sidewalks I pour,, and I would want them to be concrete in that location of town,, six thousand square feet is 60 x100 holding tank that I don’t need or want,, it only has to be one or two feet deep if I remember right,, it can have a drain pipe and valve on it,, a lot of added cost..

the city land has water, sewer and natural gas,, I only have electrical service in the back,, what I am getting at,, is I can’t put the pond in the back or county because the house would be in the city,, so the depression would be in one of my jig hay fields in the front.. now does that make sense it is the same piece of property..

I lived on the Bastrop bayou for 35 years on county road 687 during the floods of 78 and 86.. where we got 27 inches of rain in 24 hours,, it still would had to rise another foot or so to flood me then and that elevation was at 13 feet.. so I really don't worry to much about rising water,, its the wind that I worry about 120 miles plus... Lou

farmgirl19 · May 26, 2013

Western said:
I looked at TSC, Walmart and Lowes in Decatur and 3 feed stores in Springtown, nadda. What feed store is it??

I got mine at Dillard's Feed, in W'ford. Both the RTU, and the concentrate are Green Light Brand. I just double checked. Maybe I can do a web search and find someone closer to you that carries it.

farmgirl19 · May 26, 2013

Here is a link for it on Amazon, Western. At least you can see what it looks like.

I hope to spray the lawn with it, as soon as chances of rain dry completely up, so I can try to move some of the lawn fire ants a little farther out.

I bought the RTU last year, to see if it worked or not, because the cutworms were so bad. One use took care of the cutworms. Bought the concentrate this year, just haven't put it out yet.

According to the Amazon reviews, it is toxic to bees. I figure it is toxic to most "bugs". Needs 3 hours to dry to decrease its toxicity to even the beneficial insects. I put it out, right before I came in for the night, last year. This year, I'll avoid the heavy blooming stuff, and concentrate on the lawn and the areas surrounding the garden.

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Light-Organic-Control-Spinosad/dp/B000BO8XZO

Western · May 26, 2013

Thanks FG! I was looking at this concentrate for use in my pump up sprayer, but if Dillard's has it, I will check there 1st

Garden Insect Spray (Spinosad) | Planet Natural

farmgirl19 · May 26, 2013

The bottle that I bought at Dillard's about 2 weeks ago of the concentrate is 16oz, and makes 8 gallons. Gave $15.95 for it. They have a website, but if you need their number to call ahead before you travel to purchase, let me know.

two_bit_score · May 27, 2013

foreman Etexas said:
I put flood on mine,cause I figured flood meant flood,either by mother nature(not in flood area) or something like a toliet,water was water to me,may need to check further into,thanks

All water is NOT the same when it comes to insurance.

jinman · May 27, 2013

farmgirl19 said:
Guess what I had for lunch, besides squash....Yep, TOMATOES!

Wow! You've got some nice ones, FG19.:thumbsup: Are they early girls? The biggest tomatoes in my garden are better boys. They're the size of baseballs and still very green. All garden tomatoes in May are a cause for celebration.:licking:

pacerron · May 27, 2013

jinman said:
. All garden tomatoes in May are a cause for celebration.:licking:

Geez,
First tomatoes from the garden up here are middle of July to early August.
Our sweat tater experiment is doing well. We saved a couple from last year and put them in a little water on the 23rd of March.
Pulled off starts and put in foam cups with water a week ago to develop roots.
Roots are looking good. Plan to plant tomorrow in the garden if it isn't too wet.
Ron

jinman · May 27, 2013

Wow, those are healthy looking slips, Ron. I can grow good potatoes here, but I don't do it every year.

Western · May 27, 2013

Her tomatoes are nice! I only have green cherries so far (that I've seen)

Ron, those do look like strong slips, I have never grown sweet potatoes since I am the only one that will eat them. We grew them when I was a kid though.

pacerron · May 27, 2013

Western said:
Ron, those do look like strong slips, I have never grown sweet potatoes since I am the only one that will eat them. We grew them when I was a kid though.

We really prefer them over Irish Spuds. Since they don't bloom there are no potato bugs, they keep all winter, and taste great with "can't believe it's not". My real favorite, which Jim probably can't eat anymore, is to candy them in the skillet with brown sugar and butter.:licking:
Ron

jinman · May 27, 2013

As a kid, my uncle used to grow lots of great sweet potatoes in his deep sandy loam soil. They were big and beautifully shaped. Back then, I hated them, but help grub them out of the ground and air cure them. It was in my 20s that I could stand candied yams and in my 30s before I found a taste for baked sweet potatoes. Now, I like them about anyway you can do them and love candied yams at Thanksgiving, but I think my favorite is oven baked so the peel gets crunchy and the middle hot and steamy for some nice butter. Microwaved are good too, but the small ends get a bit overdone.

farmgirl19 · May 27, 2013

jinman said:
Wow! You've got some nice ones, FG19.:thumbsup: Are they early girls? The biggest tomatoes in my garden are better boys. They're the size of baseballs and still very green. All garden tomatoes in May are a cause for celebration.:licking:

Nope. I haven't planted Early Girl in years. One was a Jet Star, one a Red Defender, one Oxheart and one Charger. The Oxheart and the Jet Star were the smaller ones, and had deep red meat and full tomato flavor, especially the Jet Star. The others weren't as good, after having the smaller ones, but were still good, home grown tomatoes. I plant a variety each year, as some do better some years, than others. Weather, rain, even soil differences each year make some happier than others.

I have a dog that loves tomatoes, so he and I are having a race to the plants every morning. He has gone to picking them GREEN and eating them. I keep telling him, it is too early to think about fried green tomatoes!