Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[Western]

FG19, not as bad as reported, but not good either! Cucumbers look pathetic!, corn is likely a total loss. Okra of course loves this heat. I may be able to save the melons,cantaloupe and Israel melons, but that is TBD. I was so tired yesterday, I almost said "shred it", but I am to stubborn after the effort so far. I will try to get it back in order, but the plants that dont respond, will be taken out.

I guess I have been fortunate, since I moved it (garden) to a new spot and plowed and planted in a hurry. Virgin soil , which is always a gamble.

 

[jinman]

My first picking of blackeyes this morning yielded a rounded full 8 quart bucket. If I'd have picked by Bird's formula, I could have had a bushel. I'm thrilled to report that most stems have 2, 3, or 4 pea pods; most 8" to 10" long. They are really producing nicely and nowhere near to their peak production. I'm hoping to fill our freezer with blackeyes. I love them all winter long with frozen squash and beans too. I'm gonna make and freeze salsa too. I have to or be covered in tomatoes. The only thing left to produce is my okra, but it is healthy and happy. I expect to be picking it the week after the 4th of July. My main challenge now is watering enough, but not overwatering.

Dennis, my cucumbers really wilt down in the hot sun, even with overwatering. They just can't take up enough water to keep all the leaves from wilting. However, I think that makes them produce blooms more. I have so many blooms on my plants that under the canopy of leaves is a canopy of yellow blossoms, most male, of course. I've also noticed that I cannot overwater my squash. The more water I give them, the more they bloom and produce. It also seems I have my bug population under control. . . knock on wood.

 

[farmgirl19]

I think I'll be freezing tomatoes over the July 4 weekend. I am still getting a large bounty, and I like to use them in soups, stews, and spaghetti sauce, etc., in the winter.

I managed to do 4 hours of brush hogging today. I have 1/3 of the cattle pasture finished. I'll try to finish that tomorrow, so can mow the horse pasture and calf pasture next weekend. If we don't get a rain, maybe the weeds won't grow so quickly! I keep trying to mow before they go to seed. I'd rather have the rain though. And while it might not be triple digits, 96 was warm, when I got off of the tractor!

 

[farmgirl19]

I gave up on growing cukes, because they wilted with the heat, before I had all that I wanted to pickle. I just buy them by the bushel basket, for that purpose now. Will buy a bushel of those, and a half bushel of peaches, before the 4th, so I can spend time getting things put up, after mowing. Only reason it is a holiday weekend is I don't have to leave the house for work!

 

[farmgirl19]

More than a 6 pack and you might be mowing the neighbors pasture! Of course they may not mind under the circumstances!!

When one has been out in the heat, and the beer has been buried under 40 lbs of ice, for 7 hours, I think it evaporates quickly. Open one, and it is empty before I turn around! Same thing with the second one! I hope the third one lasts a little longer, before it "evaporates". Therefore only a 6 pack won't work here. :laughing:

 

[JazzDad]

 

[jinman]

Last Wednesday when I went to take veggies to my brother in Whitesboro, I stopped off in Muenster on the way home and bought 3 lb of German sausage (uncooked). Yesterday I cooked it in three bottles of Shiner Bock beer. Well. . . it was 1-1/2 bottles for the sausage and 1-1/2 bottles for the cook. I put the beer in a big flat bottomed frying pan and brought it to a boil. I added the 3 lb of sausage and turned the heat down to slow cook the sausage without causing the casing to burst. I did 15 min per side and the sausage was perfectly cooked with beer still in the pan. So, I took out the sausage and added a 2 cups of chopped onions (including green tops), a cup of chopped bell peppers, a cup of fresh diced tomatoes, two diced cloves of garlic, a teaspoonful of caraway seeds, and a tablespoonful of molasses. I let this simmer and reduce the liquid until it was cooked. Then, I added back 1 lb of the sausage cut into 3/8" to 1/2" thick slices. After mixing in the sausage, I covered the whole pan with about a pound of drained sauerkraut. I covered the pan and turned the heat down to simmer and let that go for another 1/2 hour. When the sausage was about finished, I popped a couple of au gratin potatoes from Omaha Steaks in the microwave and had those as a side dish. My neighbor gave me those for doing some gravel work on his driveway. Otherwise, I'd never pay that much for potatoes.

My wife doesn't eat spicy food and she and my grandson had been gone all day. He talked her into getting him something at Taco Bell on the way home, so I had this dish all to myself.:licking: Yep! I did have 2nds. I wrapped the extra 2 lb of cooked sausage 1 lb to the package and put it in the freezer for future use. I have a dish of leftover sausage and kraut that I'll have tomorrow because we are going to the Bowie Rodeo tonight.

 

[farmgirl19]

Yummy, jinman! I like hot and spicy. I too have used the beer to flavor the sausage, as well as keep the cook happy! :laughing: You'll have good meals to enjoy yet again!

 

[Western]

Jim, you had me hungry until you got to the molasses:laughing: I thin k I got burned out when I was a kid and we put up 30 acres of Sorghum every year. Still love the cane though!!:thumbsup:

 

[farmgirl19]

Looks like we'll need sweaters. Only got to 98, (so far) today. :laughing: And rain chance has increased to 30% from 20%. Maybe I'll be cleaning house, instead of brush hogging tomorrow, due to things being wet. (X-fingers!) Hey, 30% is about as good as the chances get in late June and into July!