Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[bindian]

I went down there a couple of times on business and we considered Houston a foreign country even in the late 70s.:laughing:

That is why I live an hour north of Houston. SW Houston has street signs in English and Vietnamese or Chinese. I can't remember which one.

My daughter and I shopped the baby stores at the San Marcos Outlet Mall last Saturday. The rudest people we encountered where foreigners. I hate crowds. Day traffic in Houston and having to work 5 days instead of 4 nights is why I am still on night shift after 22 years.
hugs, Brandi

 

[farmgirl19]

I hear ya, bindian! I hate crowds AND hate shopping! San Marcos was a nice town, 20 years ago, but I hear it has really changed, and not for the better. Sad, really.

 

[bindian]

Several years ago I watched a fella in an old pickup change lanes so quick behind a dually that he failed to notice the bumper pull trailer! Thankfully it was empty and the only vehicles that got involved were the idiot and the dually driver. I had backed off before it ever happened cause I watched the idiot coming up from the back constantly switching lanes and in way too big a hurry. Something my trucker Dad taught me. In traffic you need to be the driver in every vehicle you can see. Your own training and sense will keep your vehicle straight. Watch the other fool.

Mike,
You are so right about driving all the other vehicles. After a while, you can start predicting what a vehicle might do by the looks of said vehicle.
hugs, Brandi

 

[jinman]

Well, I don't know about Houston traffic, but my blackeyes are cuttin' me off and blocking my lane. I used to have two rows with enough space to drive a ATV according to that parking lot painter down in Springtown. I tell you what, it's frustratin' when you're walking down a row and the pea vine runners reach out and trip you. That's some true garden 'row' rage.:laughing:

Check it out. There USED to be space between these rows.





My tomato vines are escaping out of my net trellis. These sweet 100s will just keep growing and growing. My grandson picked more than a gallon of cherry tomatoes this morning.



Of course, my beans are going strong. We lined between the rows with newspaper this week. . . seems to help hold water.



I have at least a dozen big Israel melons and a bunch more golf ball size ones on the way. These vines just sing with bees every morning.
The sun is on the back side, so it's not a great photo.

 

[farmgirl19]

Looking good, jinman! Of course, triple digits might begin slowing some things down a bit. I watered my garden today, and will likely have to do that every other day, until all that is left for the summer is just the okra.

 

[Bird]

Day traffic in Houston and having to work 5 days instead of 4 nights is why I am still on night shift after 22 years

Even in Dallas, many years ago, I preferred working a night shift; cooler in the summer and less traffic year round.

 

[Bird]

I don't know how you do any harvesting, Jim, with the plant growth so thick.

 

[pacerron]

Well, I don't know about Houston traffic, but my blackeyes are cuttin' me off and blocking my lane. I used to have two rows with enough space to drive a ATV according to that parking lot painter down in Springtown. I tell you what, it's frustratin' when you're walking down a row and the pea vine runners reach out and trip you. That's some true garden 'row' rage.:laughing:

Jim,
Your garden sure shows evidence of TLC and a lot of hours of work:thumbsup:

Now if you just dye your dirt black, you could be on Victory Garden

Every time we go to picking green beans, I wish we had planted the type that is purple till cooked. I start at one end of a row and my wife starts
at the other; we cross in the middle and go to the ends. Even with double picking that way we still see ones we missed that were ready on the next
picking.
Have you ever grown the purple green beans?
Ron

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Jim, your garden looks great. Is it good to have a trellis for the peas, or just fine to let them do what they are doing? Mine are doing the same thing but I only planted 1 row. The nurse at the hospital told my buddy who was in there for a copperhead bite, "You dummy, don't you know you're sposed to kick 'em before you pick 'em!"

The guinea hens I bought will just follow my daughter or me to the garden and dig in. They seem to know when I brush the tops of my dying corn stalks that it's like ringing a dinner bell for grasshoppers. My corn had a dismal year. The drought and grasshoppers were too much. It grew to about 4 feet tall and then it quit raining. I think it's best if you can plant a very large area in corn. The stalks on the perimeter suffer most while the interior does better.

I plucked my first tomato worm off of a tomato plant last night. I'm trying to not use anything to kill pests other than the guineas and by hand. Pretty sure I won't win this war. Already losing the rainfall war.

 

[Lou66]

That is a lot of green Jim,, I know what you mean about the row rage,, my peppers and tomatoes are fighting for that open lane I call the walkway.:shocked:. can't they just get along,, they will be sharing the same jar before long..:laughing:

I live 40 miles southwest of Houston and go there twice a year,, all the way to Hobby airport,, Lou