Tag Archives: spring

All our favorite posts about spring in Northeast Texas including gardening, photos & more posted on TexasHomesteader.com

Vegetable Garden Update: May

9 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~

Well, it’s been a pretty strange spring so far for us in NE Texas.  Pretty strange indeed!  Many areas all around us have received plenty of spring rains but for some reason it always seems to miss us here on the homestead.  Although May is our rainiest month of the year we have areas in our backyard that are pretty bare where the ground is parched & cracked.  Scary!  Hopefully that’s not a sign of things to come this year.  I’ve been watering with a 2-gallon watering can which takes a lot of time and doesn’t water as thoroughly.  But RancherMan set up the cistern pump for me today so I’ll be able to use that rainwater captured in the 18-ft deep cement cistern from now on.  If we get any rain at all in the coming weeks that cistern will fill back up!  With the cloudy & cooler weather we’ve had, the garden has really been slow in taking off.  But I’ve had some successes too.  C’mon along with me for a stroll through our garden.

With the cloudy & cooler weather we've had, the garden has been slow taking off. C'mon along with me for a stroll through our garden. #TexasHomesteader Continue reading →

Homestead Hack: Cute Container For Herb Cuttings

2 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~

The herbs are going well in my Edible Landscape so I thought I’d take a few cuttings & try to root them in my kitchen window. I have a repurposed short, squatty, wide-mouth glass jar that I can use. 

But I’ve always heard that when you’re rooting cuttings, a see-through jar can cause problems. It’s said that inside the jar should be dark. A dark jar keeps algae from growing in the water and also helps the roots do their thaaaang.

Some suggestions are to paint the jar or to wrap it in scrapbooking paper or something similar.  Hummm…

So what did I decide to do? Say it with me kids: “Use Whatcha Got!”  That’s right. 🙂 Check out this Homestead Hack.

I took some herb cuttings to root in my kitchen window. But the jar needs to be kept dark. Check out this cute Homestead Hack idea! #TexasHomesteader

Continue reading →

Beekeeping: Catching A Bee Swarm In A Tree

15 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~

RancherMan came in from the pastures & told me it was time to suit up, we’ve got a bee swarm to catch. Woo-hoo! 

Apparently he saw a swarm of bees about 15-ft up in a tree right near our pasture gate. We’ve never captured a swarm before so here’s yet one more opportunity to learn something exciting about beekeeping! And maybe get to add a new hive of bees to our group as well.

We recently got the opportunity to catch a bee swarm high up in a tree. But we were able to capture it from the ground! #TexasHomesteader

Continue reading →

Brand New Baby – Y’all Name The Calf!

7 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~

Well, well, well, April-the-Giraffe’s baby was finally born. Have y’all watched the live video for the past month? I popped in from time to time but didn’t have enough time to watch too much. But now they’re having folks submit suggestions for the baby’s name.  Guess what – this pretty girl was born on that same day too!!

We're excited about a new baby calf. Howzabout a little fun? I'll let one of you name her! #TexasHomesteader

Continue reading →

Lowering Food Waste – Plant Your Compost!

4 Replies

~Texas Homesteader ~ 

You buy produce with the good intentions of enjoying it with your family.  But THEN it happens…  Your produce goes past its prime.

Now back ‘in the day’ I’d sigh and toss it into the compost.  Yes composting it is better than just tossing it in the trash, but these days I go one step better. I PLANT my compost!

That too-far-gone produce then produces fresh food for my family. MAGIC!  Recently I wrote a piece for Mother Earth News about just that. Check it out, y’all!

If your produce goes past its prime, don't toss it into the compost. PLANT your compost! #TexasHomesteader

(Read More)

Save

Save

Easy Low-Tech Way To Kill Weeds With Vinegar/Water Spray

8 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~

Something with a single long taproot seeded itself prolifically in my front ‘flower bed’ last year. Now that spring is just around the corner, they all sprouted with a vengeance!

So that it doesn’t become a bigger problem I started digging out all the plants that I could reach.

But I was dismayed to see how thickly they were sprouting in my rock feature at the downspout. That digging stick wasn’t as effective in the rocks as it was in the soil.

And ugh, my aching back. What a pain!

I killed weeds growing in the rocks in just minutes. Gotta love a cheap, fast, non-poison way to kill hard-to-dig weeds! #TexasHomesteader

Continue reading →

Beekeeping: Doing A Walk-Away Hive Split

9 Replies

by Texas Homesteader ~ 

When RancherMan & I first started beekeeping, we found a local beekeeper who sold established hives. Her hives were sold complete with a deep hive box containing frames of honey, brood, bees and a queen.

It’s recommended that you have a minimum of 2 hives so we bought two and started our new beekeeping endeavor.

There are many ways you can obtain your first set of bees. You can buy a Nuc which is a queen with a small amount of bees. Or you can buy a package of bees to put into a full hive box. Or, like us, you can buy established hives.

But sooner or later there comes a time when you’ll need to perform a split. That’s when you split one hive into two. There are several ways to do that, today I’m talking about a walk-away split,

Our hives made it through the winter fine. Now that spring is around the corner production is ramping up. It's time to do a hive split! #TexasHomesteader

Continue reading →