Texas Spring/Summer Thread

Bird · Apr 15, 2013

Incidentally, I bought an 8# bag of California Oranges today. They're beautiful and taste great, and are monsters to peel. Maybe because I don't know how???

I mentioned this back on the 29th of last month. And that 8# bag consisted of 7 oranges; biggest oranges I've ever seen. And I did learn to peel them without too much work. But I've not seen anymore of them in the store since. Mostly we've been eating the "Cuties" or Clementines; tiny oranges, but easy to peel and taste pretty good. But the last few days I've noticed Walmart has boxes of Sunkist navel oranges from California; 30 oranges to a box for $5.00. My wife just came in with one of those boxes and I just ate one of the oranges, and I do believe it was the sweetest orange I ever ate.

Western · Apr 15, 2013

Bird, funny you mention Walmart and fruit. My wife had bought a bag of Pink grapefruit at the Azle store, I think they are the sweetest grapefruit I've ever had. I would say where they were from, but she threw the bag away and put them in a large bowl..sorry:ashamed:

foreman Etexas · Apr 15, 2013

Alright guys and gals,whens that 70deg. Nights going to kick in? I'm 2wks off on getting hay meadows fertilized,and haven't had a total of half inch rain in a month. Not looking good...

Western · Apr 15, 2013

foreman Etexas said:
Alright guys and gals,whens that 70deg. Nights going to kick in? I'm 2wks off on getting hay meadows fertilized,and haven't had a total of half inch rain in a month. Not looking good...

Thursday maybe,

Bird · Apr 15, 2013

Dennis, I'm spoiled when it comes to grapefruit. I got started buying the Del Monte Fruit Natural red grapefruit; expensive, but sure is good. It's a little cheaper at Sam's Club than anywhere else.

jinman · Apr 15, 2013

Bird said:
How old is that machine? I know you've got so much more to mow than I do, but I mowed today and had 58.7 hours on my Toro ZTR when I finished, and it's barely over 2 years old. In fact, it'll be 25 months old in another 3 days.

I bought it in April 2008, so it is exactly 5 years old. I'm averaging 35 hours per year. My yard takes 2 hours to mow and I add another 5 hours of miscellaneous tasks like pulling fertilizer spreaders/seeders and aerators. Essentially in two more years, I'll be looking for another mower. I think the next one may be a nice used commercial grade ZTR. I have a good dealer in Bowie and I might even buy a new one from them if I can't find a good deal on a used one.

On the subject of navel oranges. . . I was in the Bowie Walmart last week and they had a box of Sunkist navel oranges for $5. I was shocked. The box was at least a peck and there were 24 small oranges inside. I snapped up one in a heartbeat and now wish I'd bought two. They are delicious and a far better deal than the bushel of oranges I ordered from a California grower last fall. I don't know how somebody can pick and ship oranges for $5 per peck. I am getting all the fresh delicious oranges I can eat. I usually eat two for breakfast and have to use lots of willpower not to go back and get more.

An old bartender's method of peeling oranges is use a spoon with a small rounded handle. Cut both ends off the orange just below the skin. Slightly insert the handle between the peel and orange and turn it in a revolution around the orange. Keep repeating and push the spoon deeper each time. When the spoon is half-way through the peel, turn the orange over to the other end and repeat. You'll have a peeled orange inside a completely free outside peel. You can cut the peel or just tear it off. As a bartender you want long sections of peel to make pretty curly-cues and the full peel is ideal for that. I've done it so many times it is 2nd nature.

EDIT: While posting a thunderstorm developed and has moved over. We are getting a very heavy shower with only pea sized hail so far. I have my fingers, arms, legs, and eyes crossed for good luck.

Western · Apr 15, 2013

My deck reads 100.4*!! I'm sure 3-4* are radiation heat off the deck.

See a storm possible headed towards Jim on the local radar, a little water maybe??

Been a while since I had a really good Orange, last time it was the thin skinned South Texas variety.

jinman · Apr 15, 2013

Well, well, well!!! I should'a crossed my toes too and knocked on wood. We just had one heck of a hail storm.

Most of it was pea sized hail, but lots of nickel and quarter sized hail too. The ground is covered in hail stones and leaves under my trees. The garden is gonna take a setback too. There's another cell on the way. At least I'll get some pond water out of this. I think the garden will be okay, but. . . . photos soon.

jinman · Apr 15, 2013

Of course we went to our favorite greenhouse yesterday and bought annual bedding plants. This morning, we set them out. We were so happy. . . hmm. Most of them were protected, but some petunias may have been bruised a bit.

Here are the photos. Notice in some photos you can see the splash of the big hail stones. The good news is I got 0.81" of rain and more is expected in a few minutes according to the radar. Hopefully no more hail. Also, notice the new leaves covering the ground.