Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[foreman Etexas]

I was feeding alfalfa over corn,the price was under corn at the time,60lbs bale and it was 20%protein. I just put the bale out and they would eat on it for awhile. Now I just let them fend for themself and put in a cple acre foodplot in the winter to bring them in.

 

[Western]

Looks like the price still stands! :thumbsup: Academy - Academy Sports + Outdoors Deer Corn

Thanks!! Next time I'm near one I will check it out, problem is right now, I would spend the difference in fuel just to go get it!

Looks like a good chance of rain for North Texas, now changed to 80% tonight...Hopefully I will miss the hail part, but I guess Jim cant have a "monopoly" for hail damage.:laughing:

 

[texasjohn]

Weather underground says 50% chance of rain, .3 in accumulation possible...to me that's a drought prediction:thumbdown:

 

[jinman]

Thanks!! Next time I'm near one I will check it out, problem is right now, I would spend the difference in fuel just to go get it!

Looks like a good chance of rain for North Texas, now changed to 80% tonight...Hopefully I will miss the hail part, but I guess Jim cant have a "monopoly" for hail damage.:laughing:

I'm not sure, but I'd bet the price at Academy is for 40 lb. That's their own brand of corn, so they are getting the best wholesale price. If the corn is 40 lb, that's 21.2 cents per lb. I bought triple cleaned corn today at my local feed store for $11.25 for a 50 lb bag. That's 22.5 cents per lb. I can't drive to the nearest Academy for that 1.3 cents per lb I'd save. Also, I noticed one bag at TSC this last year for $7.99. On closer inspection, it was only 36 lb. The only way to compare is to calculate the per-lb price.

. . . and Dennis, I've learned my lesson. I already have all my tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupes, cucumbers, and squash under pots and buckets. That means the hail will be somewhere else.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

After the storm stopped, the sun came out. Another storm went just north of us, but we got some of its hail. . . golf ball size. Luckily, it was very random and only a couple hundred stones fell in my complete yard. I'd guess 8 or 10 hit my roof, but my 26 ga metal roof just laughed it off. I'll have to check my car tomorrow. I heard several stones hit and my grandson screamed. He had gone outside to collect stones. What a dopey idea. I got so mad at him I was shaking. I almost hit him when his lame excuse was that he was under a tree. Kids just don't think of the danger. I told him to never go out in a thunderstorm of any kind again and that if he went out into hail again I would beat him within an inch of his life if the hail didn't get him. Kids just don't think anything will ever happen to them. I'm lucky not to be in the emergency room.

Be glad your grandson isn't in the emergency room (from lightning, hail, or paddling).

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Argh....just typed up a long post and it got lost by Microsoft. arrgh.

Anyway, was reading about compost and the A&M guy says not to use horse manure. Not sure why. Article did not explain.

Wonder what is in the Scotsmans compost?

 

[Western]

Kyle, I've always heard that the stomach in cows, will not destroy weed seed like the "stomachs" in cows.

Jim, If you hear a nice "rhythm section" tonight in your garden, you'll know the buckets are doing their job:laughing: I brought home steel 5 gallon paint buckets from work last night, so mine may have a soft cymbal's sound

 

[txdon]

Wonder what is in the Scotsmans compost?

Kyle I have 16 bags in the back and all it says is organic compost. It looks like all vegetation (leaves, bark, limbs) chipped small and aged for about 6 months. It's from Powderly TX. It looks like it is good as a top dressing but still would need a year before it would be completed compost. It does look easier that hay to apply and will do the job of retaining moister and preventing weeds.

Giddings and Bastrop are now sold out, you might want to check on-line to see who has it. The price down here is $3something a bag.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

TxDon, did you corner the local markets on Scotsman?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Something to laugh about:

The 1st time I bought cow manure compost at Walmart in plastic bags and loaded about 4 bags in the back of my Suburban. I thought the bags would containg the smell....lemme tell ya the windows were ALL down for that trip home. Glad it was only about 4 miles. Next time, I'll get a can of that strawberry smelling stuff they use in porta potties. jk...I have a trailer, just didn't have it with me. Learned my lesson.

Something to whine about:

Since planting my garden, I've only received about 1.1" of rain over the last month or more. Waaaaa.

 

[pacerron]

Argh....just typed up a long post and it got lost by Microsoft. arrgh.

Anyway, was reading about compost and the A&M guy says not to use horse manure. Not sure why. Article did not explain.

Horse manure is very strong/hot. If you use it before it has set for some time or mixed in the pile, it will burn the plants, just like too much 12-12-12.

 

[txdon]

Kyle, only south of Hyw 290.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Horse manure is very strong/hot. If you use it before it has set for some time or mixed in the pile, it will burn the plants, just like too much 12-12-12.

I thought strong was good for compost??? But I admit, my biochemistry is lacking. Although we now have a business that tests for pathegens in food in our big building at work.

 

[pacerron]

I thought strong was good for compost??? But I admit, my biochemistry is lacking. Although we now have a business that tests for pathegens in food in our big building at work.

Horse apples are fine in the compost pile that is going to sit and work for awhile.
Not good to put directly around plants or a growing garden by itself.
Most folks have at least 2 compost piles. One that is old and ready for use and one that new stuff is put in to cook and decompose.

 

[Western]

I stayed up late watching the West ,TX coverage Death toll this morning is much less than I was expecting, if there is any good to get out of this.

Looks like so far I have received about .80" rain! :cool2: 37* with the wind chill, that is the biggest "change" I felt opening the back door. temp at 45.5*...so thinking this may be a great "sleep" day:laughing:

 

[jinman]

We got another 3/4" of rain last night, but this time no hail. It was windy, but not much other storming. It rained on and off with no huge downpours. We could get another 1/10" of an inch, but the radar looks like everything is moving toward the south-southeast. Maybe you guys in Central Texas will see some of this. Hope so. . .

Yesterday, in my garden, I noticed three cucumber beetles already eating on my squash seedlings. I guess I have to treat with insecticide the day my veggies pop out of the ground. The darn cucumber beetles carry wilting virus and spread it by munching on plants. This is the earliest I've ever seen them. If it's not hail, wind, or freezing, it's the bugs. What's a gardener to do?:confused2:

TxDon: I'm surprised at the price of your compost. I think I paid $2.48 a bag in Bowie. The local pricing must be left up to individual stores. I think I've thrown out my receipt, but I'll check in the store the next time I'm there.

 

[Bird]

We're still getting a light sprinkle, so I haven't gone out and emptied my rain gauge, but from here, it looks like we've gotten just about 1". NWS showed Denton had gotten .73" as of an hour ago.

 

[econometrics]

Such a horrible tragedy in West last night, wow. But so much courage and bravery from the volunteer emergency responders there! God bless them all!

I was set to get on the tractor and do some shredding this morning, but I woke up around 3am and looked at the radar to see that Mother Nature had other plans. Bummer. I was hoping to get the cut in before late morning while it was nice and dry. I guess I will have to wait a couple days for it to dry out now. So it goes...

Not sure how much rain we'll get here in Tyler, but the radar looks good! Moving pretty slowly, so hopefully it will be a nice, steady hard rain.

 

[Bird]

Such a horrible tragedy in West last night, wow. But so much courage and bravery from the volunteer emergency responders there! God bless them all!

Amen.

 

[texasjohn]

West really got hammered, can't imagine a blast heard 50 miles away. Who knew a fertilizer plant was THAT dangerous:shocked: Prayers for all. I heard 5 firefighters unaccounted for.

High winds right now, slight rain has moved through, radar shows wetness east of here and moving further away. Low 50's now. Nap time.