by Texas Homesteader
May is typically a great month for veggie gardening in NE Texas. In May the temps usually haven’t heated up too drastically. And in a normal year there’s still spring rains swinging through each week so you don’t typically have to struggle quite as much with your garden maintenance workload.
C’mon and walk with me through the garden & let’s see what’s “growing” on these days.
by Texas Homesteader ~
We’re (once again) in the grips of a drought. It seems most years in the past 7-8 our little homestead has struggled with terrible drought conditions. The weathermen are finally predicting precious rainfall to bless us for the next several days. Oh it won’t break our drought, but at this point we’ll take that tiny 1/8th inch that falls – ANYTHING!
I’ve got an easy way to track our rainfall which I find quite clever. Oh sure I could measure the rain gauge contents and jot them down. Then I could make note in a calendar to track. But I just never find time to enter it all or even remember to enter it. But this Homestead Hack assures I’ll be able to easily document and track our rainfall throughout the year.
by Texas Homesteader ~
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Our great state of Texas has been hit hard by Mother Nature. Hurricane Harvey barrelled onto shore, leaving devastation in his path. Streets were impassable and the damage was great. Even if a home was undamaged, thousands were without electricity for several days. Some are still without electricity and have no idea for how long. These natural disasters get me to thinking about emergency preparedness.
by Texas Homesteader ~
Our fellow Texans to the south of us on the Gulf Coast really took a lashing when hurricane Harvey came to shore. He powered to shore at 9:45 Friday evening as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane just northeast of Corpus Christi. It looks like Rockport, TX took a direct hit. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that his primary concern remains “dramatic flooding” as the storm treks slowly inland. Homes & business are completely destroyed, electricity is out for thousands. Many roads are impassible and damage is severe.
But Harvey doesn’t know you don’t mess with TEXAS. We’re all one big family and we’ll band together to get through it…
If you’d like to help show your love to those affected by Hurricane Harvey you can donate through the American Red Cross . At their site you can also find out where to give blood or volunteer.
~TxH~
by Texas Homesteader ~
Although we now enjoy smart phone capabilities, RancherMan & I resisted getting one for quite a long time. We just couldn’t justify the cost of it, including the increased cost for data usage. We kept saying to ourselves “I only need a phone for calls, not for text or surfing the net!” Everyone told us once we did get a smart phone we’d wonder how we ever got along without it. But still we resisted. For years! Then it happened, my brother was upgrading and he gave us his old iPhone 3GS. Well, if the phone is FREE, maybe we should check it out & see what all the buzz is about.
Yeah, they were right – several years down the road and we’re certainly wondering how we ever got by without it! But it’s not just for fun or convenience reasons, there are several ways having a smart phone has been really helpful on the homestead.
by Texas Homesteader ~
Spring is coming!
#NoFilter
~TxH~
by Texas Homesteader ~
Working on a ranch means that RancherMan & I are outside day in & day out each & every day working on fences, immunizing calves, mowing the pastures, gardening and more! Since our jobs require us to be outside all day long we take sun protection very seriously. Sunscreen is touted to be a safe and effective way to protect your skin from the sun but I don’t like the feel of it on my skin, I don’t like the cost of it and since we’d have to use it so often I don’t like the trash that constantly buying sunscreen would create.
(And to be perfectly honest I don’t know how I feel about slathering chemicals on my skin each and every day)
Although sunscreen still has its place in my sun protection arsenal, I recently wrote a piece for Mother Earth News outlining the 7 easy ways that we protect our skin without resorting to sunblock.
by Tammy Taylor
In our area of NE Texas it’s generally recommended not to plant the veggie garden until Easter or after – this is why! Hopefully this is the last frost of the season, I’ll be planting soon.
~TMH~
by Texas Homesteader ~
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I have a healthy respect/fear for tornadic storms! Last year RancherMan arranged to have an underground shelter installed for me so I can feel safe when those winds start blowing. How much do I love him for that!!? I’ve written about the installation of our Storm Shelter. So if you’re thinking of having an underground shelter installed be sure to check that post out to see some of the considerations we made. I also published another post about what we decided to Stock In Our Storm Shelter. If you already have a storm shelter this post shares what we decided to store down there (and what we decided NOT to store). But now that the shelter’s been installed & stocked, what kind of upkeep does it need? C’mon & I’ll show you what I’m doing now to prepare for those spring storms!
by Texas Homesteader ~
The weather is very raw today – blustery, damp & cold. So I’ve got on my thinkin’ cap making plans for a bone-warming supper for RancherMan & me. What’s my motto, y’all? That’s right, “Use What Cha Got!”
So I’m pulling out the ingredients I have available to work with, including leftover smoked sausage from a larger package of sausages, some of my home-canned chicken broth and the last of our fresh potatoes & onions. The big soup pot is at the ready, today I think a comfort-food meal of meaty potato soup is in order!
