by Texas Homesteader ~
A friend’s father who was an avid veggie gardener passed away suddenly. As they were going through his things she decided to give me all his veggie seeds. What a special gift! I’m touched that she’d be thinking of me during such a trying time in her own life.
~TxH~
by Texas Homesteader ~
I jokingly refer to our yard as the ‘Botanical Hole of Death’ since I struggle to get plants to live right around our home.
But I’ve found scrappy plants that thrive even in our difficult growing conditions!
by Texas Homesteader ~
Usually by August the vegetable garden is burned up & gone. I’m typically all too happy to let it go instead of fighting and still losing the fight. But although it’s been hot & dry here in NE Texas, between me breaking my “no potable water on the ground” rule because of the cistern mishap this year (our hose split & emptied all the irrigation rainwater from our 18′ deep cistern), plus the fact that there have been just enough sporadic short showers to keep everything limping by, I’m still harvesting heavily every day.
by Texas Homesteader ~
Summer is hot & humid in our part of NE Texas & I’m doing all I can to keep my plants watered. A cistern mishap involving a split hose drained all the rainwater from my 18′ deep cistern. WOW! So I’m trying to conserve water as much as possible.
I came across a large-mouth bottle with a built-in grip on the handle and a metal-center lid. Then the thought occurred to me – maybe I can use this to keep my container garden of spinach watered.
You remember my battle cry, “Use WhatCha Got!”. Check out this homestead hack.
by Texas Homesteader ~
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WHEW – the temps have really heated UP here in NE Texas! As it typically does during our summer months, the forecast has lots of 3-digit temps promised and no rain for weeks on end. I’m doing what I can to keep everything watered, I’m using a *terra cotta stake using a repurposed water bottle to keep the porch planters watered, my rain barrel is so far keeping the back yard trees watered, but a mishap involving my cistern hose splitting and draining the entire rainwater content of our 18-ft underground cistern means I may have to amend my strict ‘no potable water on the ground’ rule. So far other than the whole rainwater thing, the garden’s growing GREAT – come check it out!
by Texas Homesteader ~
Sing it with me, y’all: “The Corn Is As High As An Elephant’s Eye!)
DANG, my corn has never grown this tall before!
~TxH~
by Texas Homesteader ~
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I tested a plant watering system that uses a porous terracotta stake & a repurposed water bottle or empty glass wine bottle to hold the water.
Well color me intrigued! But how did it work? 
by Texas Homesteader ~
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Well, garden season is in full swing in NE Texas. It’s the season all gardeners have been dreaming about for weeks. Much work has gone into planning, seed-buying and dreaming.
One of the things I still needed for my garden was plant markers. I’d love to have an easy way to identify plants in their teeny-tiny stage as I’m strolling through the garden. But you know how strong my #UseWhatchaGot drive is!
Thankfully I’ve found an easy way to repurpose items I already have in my home to use for the actual plant markers. Using these markers helps me to remember what I planted where without having to come inside & look it up. Check it out!