farmgirl19
Super Member
Makes sense. My garden is fenced away from wildlife, so getting the brush hog in there isn't an option. I'd likely still pull them up, anyway.
Texas Spring/Summer Thread
- Thread starter Bird
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Makes sense. My garden is fenced away from wildlife, so getting the brush hog in there isn't an option. I'd likely still pull them up, anyway.
OP
Bird
Rest in Peace
I got my new one on our house today and they actually went down (if you could call it that) a whopping 0.072%.:laughing: Yep, went down less than a tenth of one percent. But it beats gong up.:laughing:
farmgirl19
Super Member
Western; Had I been at that Lowe's, I'd have bought a few fruit trees too, at that price!
Amazingly enough, I think some of the okra seed that I planted last weekend, is beginning to peek above the ground! I guess it wasn't germinating good when the cold spell hit. I'll be anxious to see how much of the recently planted stuff comes up, with that freeze in there.
And was talking to one of the big peach growers in Parker County last week, and he said that the early varieties will not be available this year, due to the early April freeze. Haven't had a chance to talk to him since this week's cold spell. If the news is that there will be no peaches, I may not want to talk to him!
Amazingly enough, I think some of the okra seed that I planted last weekend, is beginning to peek above the ground! I guess it wasn't germinating good when the cold spell hit. I'll be anxious to see how much of the recently planted stuff comes up, with that freeze in there.
And was talking to one of the big peach growers in Parker County last week, and he said that the early varieties will not be available this year, due to the early April freeze. Haven't had a chance to talk to him since this week's cold spell. If the news is that there will be no peaches, I may not want to talk to him!
jinman
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2001
- Messages
- 21,059
- Location
- Texas - Wise County - Sunset
- Tractor
- NHTC45D, NH LB75B, Ford Jubilee
I went to my high school friend's memorial service yesterday. It was attended by about 100 people and several of my former classmates. It was not a sad event, though certainly tears were shed. Lots of people stood up to speak and all said how even-tempered Cecil was and how he was always friendly and loving. One gent in poor health related how Cecil had called him weekly and just showed up at his house with a several bags of groceries on several occasions. Cecil's former business partner was also Cecil's best friend. I think that says volumes about his character when a partnership can dissolve and the two remain best friends. There were lots of stories about how Cecil gave people jobs in the grocery stores and mentored them on customer service. One fellow whose father owned several stores said his dad used to ask him, "Why can't you be more like Cecil?" Cecil had a broken left arm when he was young. The doctor putting on the cast set it too tight and Cecil's left arm was damaged and never fully developed. The arm was smaller and misshapen, but Cecil used it to its full potential. He played basketball in high school and baseball. He loved sports and didn't let his disability slow him down. Nobody thought of Cecil as disabled.
I guess I'm venting a bit, but in another thread, the question was asked about going to high school reunions. I've always gone to mine and love every one of them. I try to make an effort to stay in touch, but sometimes fall short. I guess what I'm trying to say is I really regret not keeping closer touch with Cecil, and now it's too late to do that. If you have a friend you'd like to talk to or like to see, make an effort to do that. Going to the funeral of someone you wish you'd known better kinda leaves a hollow place in your heart.
I guess I'm venting a bit, but in another thread, the question was asked about going to high school reunions. I've always gone to mine and love every one of them. I try to make an effort to stay in touch, but sometimes fall short. I guess what I'm trying to say is I really regret not keeping closer touch with Cecil, and now it's too late to do that. If you have a friend you'd like to talk to or like to see, make an effort to do that. Going to the funeral of someone you wish you'd known better kinda leaves a hollow place in your heart.
farmgirl19
Super Member
Sorry for the feelings, jinman. It can be hard to lose someone you wish you had known better. consider yourself blessed that you knew him, at all. When one of my bosses died 24 years ago, they had the service at the largest church in Mineral Wells, and it was standing room only, even out in the parking lot. To this day, you can't find anyone who can say anything bad about him. Down to earth, country folks are best!
As far as the High school Reunions, many of us were never that into school back then. Not everyone fits in with a crowd, and some of us were happy to get out and go on to other things.
Just look at this site. See very many gearhead, tractor-minded girls?
As far as the High school Reunions, many of us were never that into school back then. Not everyone fits in with a crowd, and some of us were happy to get out and go on to other things.
Just look at this site. See very many gearhead, tractor-minded girls?
Kyle_in_Tex
Super Star Member
I went to my high school friend's memorial service yesterday. It was attended by about 100 people and several of my former classmates. It was not a sad event, though certainly tears were shed. Lots of people stood up to speak and all said how even-tempered Cecil was and how he was always friendly and loving. One gent in poor health related how Cecil had called him weekly and just showed up at his house with a several bags of groceries on several occasions. Cecil's former business partner was also Cecil's best friend. I think that says volumes about his character when a partnership can dissolve and the two remain best friends. There were lots of stories about how Cecil gave people jobs in the grocery stores and mentored them on customer service. One fellow whose father owned several stores said his dad used to ask him, "Why can't you be more like Cecil?" Cecil had a broken left arm when he was young. The doctor putting on the cast set it too tight and Cecil's left arm was damaged and never fully developed. The arm was smaller and misshapen, but Cecil used it to its full potential. He played basketball in high school and baseball. He loved sports and didn't let his disability slow him down. Nobody thought of Cecil as disabled.
I guess I'm venting a bit, but in another thread, the question was asked about going to high school reunions. I've always gone to mine and love every one of them. I try to make an effort to stay in touch, but sometimes fall short. I guess what I'm trying to say is I really regret not keeping closer touch with Cecil, and now it's too late to do that. If you have a friend you'd like to talk to or like to see, make an effort to do that. Going to the funeral of someone you wish you'd known better kinda leaves a hollow place in your heart.
Agreed Jim. Well stated. Sounds like your friend Cecil was one of "the good ones".
bindian
Super Member
Jim,
One day you will meet up with him again. Gone but not forgotten. I need to visit my friends more.
As for reunions, I only have went to two of them. I found myself each time talking with friends I need to visit with more often. The rest of the attendees were the same as high school......always looking down at you. I don't need those folks.
Farmgirl19,
Guess I am a gearhead. I always thought gearheads were the ones making their car go faster and at the drag strip every other weekend. I knew I was different when I kept taking Dad's wore out lawnmower engines apart, just to see what made them tick.
hugs, Brandi
One day you will meet up with him again. Gone but not forgotten. I need to visit my friends more.
As for reunions, I only have went to two of them. I found myself each time talking with friends I need to visit with more often. The rest of the attendees were the same as high school......always looking down at you. I don't need those folks.
Farmgirl19,
Guess I am a gearhead. I always thought gearheads were the ones making their car go faster and at the drag strip every other weekend. I knew I was different when I kept taking Dad's wore out lawnmower engines apart, just to see what made them tick.
hugs, Brandi
farmgirl19
Super Member
Brandi;
I always wanted the fastest car, and the fastest horse! And then I wanted to drive the tractor. Nice to know I am not the only one!
I always wanted the fastest car, and the fastest horse! And then I wanted to drive the tractor. Nice to know I am not the only one!
txdon
Super Star Member
Went to a family reunion today and got to talk with my cousin that lost his wife in February in a hit and run auto pedestrian accident. It seems this is truly a bad year for him. He was working in his flowerbeds on his hands and knees and felt a sting of bull nettle on his leg. He remembered thinking that he had no bull nettle in the flowerbed and the sting turned to fire and then he realized that he had been struck twice by a copperhead right below the knee through his bluejeans. He found the 18" copperhead, killed it, put it in a container, and called his mother to take him to the hospital. He called the hospital in route so they would be prepared.
His leg started to swell below the knee all the way to the foot. At the hospital He had 12 vials of anti venom. He said that for a lot of the hospital workers this was the first time they had seen a copperhead. The swelling topped at 6 hours and leveled for 36 hours. It was very painful. He was hospitalized for 3 days. After 10 days he is still limping bad and walking with a cane. Not a good year.....
His leg started to swell below the knee all the way to the foot. At the hospital He had 12 vials of anti venom. He said that for a lot of the hospital workers this was the first time they had seen a copperhead. The swelling topped at 6 hours and leveled for 36 hours. It was very painful. He was hospitalized for 3 days. After 10 days he is still limping bad and walking with a cane. Not a good year.....
farmgirl19
Super Member
My accountant was bitten by a Copperhead last year, while working in her flowerbed.
I am sorry your cousin is having such a bad year, TXDon.
I am sorry your cousin is having such a bad year, TXDon.
bindian
Super Member
Closest I got to a fast car was putting hand-me-down headers, from my brother, on my 66 Mustang.
My paint part quarter horse and part Welsh pony was faster than a full size quarter horse the neighbor had, that is........................in a short race.:laughing:
Any distance Penny and I were lost.hugs, Brandi
farmgirl19
Super Member
Closest I got to a fast car was putting hand-me-down headers, from my brother, on my 66 Mustang.
My paint part quarter horse and part Welsh pony was faster than a full size quarter horse the neighbor had, that is........................in a short race.:laughing:
hugs, Brandi
Are you sure we weren't leading parallel lives? I ended up with the 5.0 Mustang, with the powerful version, BEFORE they detuned them some in Feb. '79. Mine had come off of the floor, before Uncle Sam said they were too powerful for street cars. They then began using the version that I had in the police interceptors.
And my old QH gelding was faster than anyone else on the short run, and across a pasture!
Funny about you taking the mowers apart. I don't remember any of ours wearing out, due to dad's maintenance of them. I was always under a car or on a tractor with him, doing whatever project he was working on, even from toddler stage! Not something mom was happy about, but dad was happy to have the help.
NativeSon
Veteran Member
jinman
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2001
- Messages
- 21,059
- Location
- Texas - Wise County - Sunset
- Tractor
- NHTC45D, NH LB75B, Ford Jubilee
Thanks Charlie, Kyle, and Farmgirl19. I got the phone number of one fellow and plan to start having a few mini-reunions at least twice a year so we can get together somewhere for a meal and conversation. Our class has a facebook page, and I'll post on there when/where the gatherings will be.
Yesterday was a great day for gettin' stuff done. We have been trying to decide what would work best to hide our aerobic septic tank risers and decided roses would be the most enjoyable and easiest to maintain. I have a ridge to divert water flow off my yard away from the risers, so the top of that ridge was the obvious location. Years ago, I had iris planted there and had transplanted some St. Augustine grass runners with the iris when I transplanted them from house in Grand Prairie. Wouldn't you know that St. Augustine has grown and spread over probably 1000 sq ft or more. In order to preserve the St. Augustine for another area of my lawn, I showed my wife and grandson how to use a short handled flat-blade shovel to cut sod squares and undercut those so they could easily be replanted. After they removed the sod, I used my little cultivator/tiller to dig the holes. The tiller shown in the link has wheels, but the first thing I do with these tillers (I've owned two of them) is remove the wheels. They just get in the way of me using it as what I call a gas-a-hoe. So, we planted rose bushes and then I used the tiller to loosen soil and make wide shallow trenches for replanting the sod. It worked great for that.
I also staked my tomato vines and tied the plants to the stakes to keep the wind from beating them to death and maybe snapping them off at the ground. I'm not ready to put them into cages yet. With the style of cages I use, once I put them on, it's very hard to till the soil around the tomatoes. By using stakes, I can keep the soil tilled around the tomato plants until they are about 2' tall or slightly more. Earlier this year, I bought some of these 3' PVC coated stakes from Amazon. The price was less than the current price and not bad for 48 stakes because they are superb. They are completely coated and have plastic tips on both ends and strong enough to easily push into soft ground. I also found another terrific product for a gardener. It's a soft 1/2" Velcro plant wrap for tying the plants to the stakes. It comes in a 75' roll for around $7 and is extremely easy to cut and use in whatever length needed. It's much better than using tie-wraps to secure plants. Speaking of tie wraps. . . If you need some at an excellent price, Amazon sells a 100' roll of tie-wrap material that comes with a cutter for $3.44. I use it to tie my deer netting fence to my t-posts. The way the package is made, you just reel off the length you need and press down on the cutter to snip it off. Every gardener needs a roll of this stuff.:thumbsup:
Okay, Jim's Garden Tips is closed for this episode. Tune in each week for more exciting details. :laughing:
Yesterday was a great day for gettin' stuff done. We have been trying to decide what would work best to hide our aerobic septic tank risers and decided roses would be the most enjoyable and easiest to maintain. I have a ridge to divert water flow off my yard away from the risers, so the top of that ridge was the obvious location. Years ago, I had iris planted there and had transplanted some St. Augustine grass runners with the iris when I transplanted them from house in Grand Prairie. Wouldn't you know that St. Augustine has grown and spread over probably 1000 sq ft or more. In order to preserve the St. Augustine for another area of my lawn, I showed my wife and grandson how to use a short handled flat-blade shovel to cut sod squares and undercut those so they could easily be replanted. After they removed the sod, I used my little cultivator/tiller to dig the holes. The tiller shown in the link has wheels, but the first thing I do with these tillers (I've owned two of them) is remove the wheels. They just get in the way of me using it as what I call a gas-a-hoe. So, we planted rose bushes and then I used the tiller to loosen soil and make wide shallow trenches for replanting the sod. It worked great for that.
I also staked my tomato vines and tied the plants to the stakes to keep the wind from beating them to death and maybe snapping them off at the ground. I'm not ready to put them into cages yet. With the style of cages I use, once I put them on, it's very hard to till the soil around the tomatoes. By using stakes, I can keep the soil tilled around the tomato plants until they are about 2' tall or slightly more. Earlier this year, I bought some of these 3' PVC coated stakes from Amazon. The price was less than the current price and not bad for 48 stakes because they are superb. They are completely coated and have plastic tips on both ends and strong enough to easily push into soft ground. I also found another terrific product for a gardener. It's a soft 1/2" Velcro plant wrap for tying the plants to the stakes. It comes in a 75' roll for around $7 and is extremely easy to cut and use in whatever length needed. It's much better than using tie-wraps to secure plants. Speaking of tie wraps. . . If you need some at an excellent price, Amazon sells a 100' roll of tie-wrap material that comes with a cutter for $3.44. I use it to tie my deer netting fence to my t-posts. The way the package is made, you just reel off the length you need and press down on the cutter to snip it off. Every gardener needs a roll of this stuff.:thumbsup:
Okay, Jim's Garden Tips is closed for this episode.
Tune in each week for more exciting details. :laughing:
txdon
Super Star Member
Okay, Jim's Garden Tips is closed for this episode.
Where's the youtube link for JGT????
That sounds pretty nifty... Maybe pictures as the plants grow will be forthcoming.
We just put a T post at each end of a 50 foot row and a couple in between. Then as the tomato vines start getting taller take some old plastic baler twine and go down one side and back up the other with the tomato vine stems in between. By the time that is done about 3 times 8-12" apart coming up the vines are like trees with the branches holding the tomatoes off the ground.
Nothing fancy, but it works, so we can till between the rows most of the summer.
We just put a T post at each end of a 50 foot row and a couple in between. Then as the tomato vines start getting taller take some old plastic baler twine and go down one side and back up the other with the tomato vine stems in between. By the time that is done about 3 times 8-12" apart coming up the vines are like trees with the branches holding the tomatoes off the ground.
Nothing fancy, but it works, so we can till between the rows most of the summer.
Lou66
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2012
- Messages
- 1,391
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- Brazoria county where Texas began
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I always use sisal hay string for my tomatoes plants,, sense I always have a couple of half role laying around,, at the end of the year I pull what ever is left in the square baler and set aside,, it doesn't do well setting all winter in the wet and cold.. it has weak spots in it.. and it always breaks when you stop looking back.. only a hay person will understand that.. so its either use it on my mata or throw it away.. also works well on green beans or anything else you need to tie up.. it is biodegradable,, Lou
OP
Bird
Rest in Peace
I made up a bunch of cages of rectangular concrete reinforcing mesh for my tomatoes. That worked better than anything else I've seen and was less work for me. The rectangles were large enough to reach through when necessary and kept the plants upright.
Western
Super Member
Bird, that is what I have around my fruit trees, thick and works great,5' tall too. Using 32" field fence left overs for the tomatoes, so far seems to be doing good. I drive a "T" post in then place the wire "basket" over the post and around the tomatoes.
OP
Bird
Rest in Peace
Yep, Dennis, it was partly a matter of using what was available. I found a surplus of the concrete reinforcing mesh in the barn when I bought the place and I had a surplus of 1" x 2" lumber. So I made the cages out of the mesh, then drove two 1 x 2s inside each cage; one on each side to keep wind and such from blowing any cages over. Of course the tomato plants grow out through the mesh, so at the end of the season, I'd use a machete to chop off the growth outside each cage, so I could easily pull the cages up and store them in the barn for next year.
