Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[foreman Etexas]

Well got another 1/4 inch of rain today,this has been nice,pastures are looking great...

 

[farmgirl19]

Glad to hear it, foreman!

 

[bindian]

We got 1.1 inch downpour in a storm around 1pm. It woke me up. Small pond up about 3 inches. Bigger, island pond is up about a foot when I looked at 2pm and road ditch runoff was still going strong. No runoff from the neighbors woods beside me. So it is still dry here.
Totals for the week is 2.2 inches. Bring on the steam.
hugs, Brandi

 

[txdon]

I saw rain clouds towards Giddings yesterday, Kyle did you get the rain?

 

[farmgirl19]

We got 1.1 inch downpour in a storm around 1pm. It woke me up. Small pond up about 3 inches. Bigger, island pond is up about a foot when I looked at 2pm and road ditch runoff was still going strong. No runoff from the neighbors woods beside me. So it is still dry here.
Totals for the week is 2.2 inches. Bring on the steam.
hugs, Brandi

Nice to hear some Texans are getting rain. Looked like a good shower east of Dallas, yesterday afternoon.

And bindian, isn't it always "steamy" where you are? My mom's family lived in Beaumont, and even if it was a "dry spell", it was always HUMID.

I got out and mowed the lawn with the push mower, this morning. The dew was really too heavy, so took more effort and time than it should have. I'm going to remove the plastic discharge piece, because I think it will let things get out from under that mower better. It really is a bad design anyway.

I'll pick the garden, this evening, and weed eat in the morning. I have to get myself put together to go to "work" now!

 

[jinman]

I got out very early at the crack of dawn yesterday to pick beans before it got hot. The vines were soaking wet with dew, and I didn't get hardly enough beans to make a single meal. The vines are blooming like crazy, but just not setting beans in the heat. I think the beans have turned into green shrubs in my garden. Also, if you move the vines around to look for beans, some of them just snap off at the ground. I think my 2013 bean crop has to be considered history.

I did pick a bucket of squash and a few tomatoes and cucumbers. I made sure everything was picked over well because I took my grandson to the Texas Rangers' Game last night and I don't feel like going to the garden this morning. We had a terrific time at the game and the fireworks afterwards were spectacular. Too bad the Rangers lost, but they couldn't turn any of their 9 hits into runs. I had my binoculars and noticed that George Dubya was sitting near Nolan Ryan, but neither wife was in attendance. My grandson loved it.

EDIT: I forgot to add that our friend's son, James Boyd, the deputy from Montague County who got shot by the fleeing murderer from Colorado was in attendance and threw out the first pitch. He threw a good pitch close to the strike zone and the crowd gave him a rousing standing ovation. Even though James was shot, he called in a description of the vehicle and was responsible for the guy getting stopped and shot dead in Decatur.

 

[bindian]

And bindian, isn't it always "steamy" where you are? My mom's family lived in Beaumont, and even if it was a "dry spell", it was always HUMID.

My ex was from Beaumont and the only time I liked the weather there was when I was indoors. Here, anything less than 50% humidity is nice.:thumbsup: Of course, my place is almost all shade by huge oaks. My outdoor temp gage says it is 61% humid today.

When I was younger, my cousin and I would play tennis while the temperature was 102 in Shattuck, OK. 18% humidity in Fairbanks, Alaska in December was nice also, at -20 degrees. Especially after it warmed up from -30 below Zero.

Today, again, I was woke up by thunderbumpers. Little RED rain storms all around us on radar.
hugs, Brandi

 

[jinman]

I have a big 3-gal pot of tomato-basil Italian sauce cooking on the kitchen stove. I ran out of room in the pot before I ran out of tomatoes. My whole house smells like Jim's Italian Kitchen.:licking:

 

[pacerron]

The vines are blooming like crazy, but just not setting beans in the heat. I think the beans have turned into green shrubs in my garden. Also, if you move the vines around to look for beans, some of them just snap off at the ground. I think my 2013 bean crop has to be considered history..

Jim,
Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Same thing happening to beans up here. We had a heat wave the last week with temps in the 90's but feels like 105 because of the humidity. It broke today with 1.5" of rain and the temp is down to 72 but still humid.
When the big rain went through the clouds/fog was on the ground going across the upper field in front of the house.
Ron

 

[farmgirl19]

Driving in from work an hour ago, I went through a shower in Aledo. Scattered showers on the radar, mostly south of I-20.

I don't have any mud anymore here. It is dry, once again.

 

[robbyr]

Nice rain this afternoon. Got about 7/10's. Bought some fertilizer in hopes of getting it put out before the rain. Didn't happen, so I got soaked on the tractor but got that fertilizer out. Afterwards, I drove up in yard and the wife walked over with hose to rinse out 3pt spreader. Of course, with tractor in nuetral I eased off the clutch so the 'spinner' got her good and wet. She had the hose so guess what happened next.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I have a big 3-gal pot of tomato-basil Italian sauce cooking on the kitchen stove. I ran out of room in the pot before I ran out of tomatoes. My whole house smells like Jim's Italian Kitchen.:licking:

Man that sounds like it smells good. Jim's Italian Kitchen has a nice ring to it.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I saw rain clouds towards Giddings yesterday, Kyle did you get the rain?

Only a few drops yesterday evening and a few more today. While most of the area has rec'd about 3" or more, we've only got maybe 1.5" or so in the last week. Better than nothing, but I'd love to have another 3".

 

[farmgirl19]

robbyr: Isn't playing in the water a summer tradition, in Texas?

Glad that you got your fertilizer out!

No rain here yesterday, but the coyotes were singing last night. I went out to look at the stars, and they sounded like they were 50-100 feet away. I never do see them at night, when they are singing.

 

[jinman]

I got my spaghetti sauce finished last night just before 10 pm. It was so thick that I could stand a spatula on end in the middle of it and the spatula would just sit there sticking straight up. We filled 8 1-qt freezer bags. Today we have to finish processing the half-bushel of Parker County peaches my wife bought at the Bowie Produce Stand and then I can maybe make more sauce or salsa. One thing for sure, we're gonna eat good this winter.

 

[Lou66]

For the last five days we have had no rain with the forecast as high as 50 to 70%,, Now we a forecast of 30% and it been raining here for about 6 hours now,, good slow rain just what I need.:cool2:. I thinking lower the forecast number,, more rain.:confused3:. I better check on my flood insurance because it drops to zero chance in two days.:thumbsup:. that's happy sarcasm Lou

 

[Lou66]

It been so dry here that I went out to check my rain gauge and it has a crack in it.. :laughing: true.. Lou

 

[jinman]

Lou, a rain gage is like a foundation. You have to water it regularly to keep it from cracking.

 

[robbyr]

Jinman, I have steamed and peeled tomatoes left over from making picante sauce and thought I might make a couple jars of spaghetti sauce. Also have onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, basil. Would be interested in seeing your recipe as I've never made a spaghetti sauce before. Rob

 

[jinman]

Jinman, I have steamed and peeled tomatoes left over from making picante sauce and thought I might make a couple jars of spaghetti sauce. Also have onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, basil. Would be interested in seeing your recipe as I've never made a spaghetti sauce before. Rob

Rob, you have everything you need for making spaghetti sauce except for some bell peppers. You can use bell peppers or sweet banana peppers. I tend to just use what I have available at the time instead of sticking to a specific recipe. I do make sure I use 1-1/2 cups of chopped onions and and two cups of chopped peppers in every gallon of sauce. I also use about 6 cloves of garlic per gallon and a teaspoonful of thyme and a quarter teaspoonful of oregano. Basil is to taste, especially with fresh basil since it adds alot more flavor than dry. I mix fresh with tomatoes in my food processor so it chops instead of clumping. Salt is to taste, but I use two tablespoons per gallon and then add to taste. I also add 1/2 to 1 cup or sugar per gallon if you like it sweet. Toward the end, add 1/4 bottled lemon or lime juice, more if canning in jars. That's about it. Mostly I make it to my taste with what I have available using as much fresh ingredients as possible and I add canned tomato sauce and/or tomato paste to aid in final thickening. I swear that every batch is a little different.

Edit: I forgot to say that a couple of bay leaves while cooking add a nice subtle flavor. Remove the leaves before transferring to your container. Also, some people like to use 1/4 cup of olive oil per gallon. I think it's optional, but I add about 1/2 that amount.

Edit 2: We had spaghetti for dinner tonight. I'm gonna definitely say to hold off on the sugar and also to add at least a can of tomato paste for every gallon. The tomato paste gives a rich tomato flavor that is hard to get by reducing your sauce. I add both tomato sauce and tomato paste, but didn't have any tomato paste today. I definitely missed it in the final product. It was delicious, but could have been better.