Potatoes

Sawyer and I put got the potatoes planted this past Friday. This year we are planting Red Pontiacs. We had a great time cutting the eyes, turning the soil, and getting the trenches dug out. Most folks in Texas plant their potatoes on Valentines, but it has been so warm for February we went ahead and got them in the ground early! Looking forward to making stews and baking with potatoes from our own patch!

 

 

Squash!!

Picking squash today with my daughter in our garden. We planted Burpee Cooked Neck, Burpee Peter Pan, and Burpee Zucchini Squash. The wet early summer weather has been very favorable for squash in Texas. Some of our plants are 2 feet high already! Squash bugs have been kept at bay by a large leopard frog living adjacent to the garden. We need to give him a pay raise!! Fossil flour is the only deterrent we have had to use this year so far, and it helped the soil PH to. Will post on the tomato varieties and progress soon!

Jack Daniels Smoked Christmas Brisket!

Smoked a Texas Beef Brisket this year for the family in the Master Built Smoker. Cut the brisket in half and hand rubbed with canola oil, black pepper, brown sugar, a bit of cayenne, and sea salt. Smoked it over Jack Daniels wood chips for about six hours on top rack low, and it was ready to go!Cheers! Happy 2016 all!

Lake Palestine!

Spent the weekend on Lake Palestine and it was wonderful. The lake is truly a great destination and the scenery was fantastic. I have enclosed a few pics of the trip!! Hope to get back up there this fall!

Summer Garden Update

Here's a few pics to show everyone what's going on in the garden.The Bonnie Japanese Eggplant has done well this year as can be seen in the first picture. It is excellent sliced into medallions, with light batter, salt & pepper, then lightly browned in olive oil!! The next picture shows a typical trip to the garden by my daughter Sawyer. Bonnie Straight 8 Cucumbers have done really well and so have the Bonnie Crooked Neck Squash. The last picture shows what we have all been waiting for at my house, the Bonnie Crimson Sweet Water Melons, which just started really growing well with the June heat. Can't wait to slice into those!!

Frostfire

Looks like my Oregano, Parsley, and Rosemary have survived the colder weather so far but the Sweet Basil did not fare so well. I know the Basil did put off a bunch of seed however, so hopefully it will come back strong this spring. We used the Basil the most of all the herbs this year, as it goes well with so many dishes. It was perfect with salads, sandwiches, or just leaf thrown into a pot of beans. Often I would just enjoy chewing a leaf while working outside. Hope to find some Cilantro to grow this coming spring as well.

First fire of the year

      It has been a very mild winter in 2014 thus far. At the time of this writing we are just now lighting our first fire. Temps dropped into the 30's in East Texas over the New Year's Weekend with rain, so we finally broke down and burned some wood. I used the True Temper Maul to split about a 1/4 cord of a dead pin oak that I harvested off my land, and then used the Hultafors Bruks Swedish Hatchet to split up some kindling for fire-starter. The pin oak is exceptionally good as firewood. It burns long and hot, and is very nice to split. I have used the True Temper Maul pictured for many years and I have come to depend on it. The head was forged in India, and the heat treat was done very well, as it holds an edge for a very long time. The Swedish Hatchet is fast becoming a piece of trusted kit as well for smaller tasks, and holds an equally keen edge. I hope everyone had a safe New Year's and I will try to blog more in the coming year work permitting.