Spring Came Late This Year.......

We got 3.6 inches of rain the other day! Almost what we had for the whole year up to then. We were out of town on a family visit and missed the big event but our good neighbors, Scott and Martha, kept us up-to-date. They understand all too well that we live for the weather report since they do too!

(Photo - one salvia the deer didn't eat!)

Back home this week, I have been out every day in a different part of the property, leaning over close to the ground trying to spot something growing. It requires a magnifying glass at first. But slowly little green forbs and some grass are beginning to grow. In the yard there is a green haze now across the ground. The pastures are slower but starting to make us hopeful. The soil has retained enough moisture to get things going. The difference between 3.6 inches of rain and .1 or .2 inches.




I hope we can get another rain before it goes too dry again and all this dies. The deer will benefit from the winter forbs. And Woodrow and Gus spend a lot of time out of the pen looking for a tasty green treat! With the days getting shorter I'm not sure how much green grass they will have but we are happy with anything.




The trees seem greener and I keep walking up and pulling a branch down to see if they are new leaves. They don't seem to be; just seems likes the tiny ones that were there when the trees went dormant with the drought have greened up more. I went for a walk yesterday and standing on high ground could see across the draw. It seemed like Spring with all the different colors of green! The dead cedars are still there but they almost seem like fall color from far away.

A nice cool front blew in last night and the weather is gorgeous. The garden is happy. Rickie's Russian Kale seeds are up and the green beans are blooming. Our one Cinderella pumpkin is turning orange. The fall aster is blooming and I planted the ginger lilies I brought back from Mississippi and the Winter Savory that tastes so great in hamburgers and pinto beans. Our Winter Savory plant we have had for about 15 years died last winter. Multiple attempts to grow new plants from seed failed miserably but Rickie found some small plants in Austin at Dromgoole's Natural Gardener Nursery.




It has been a long hot summer. (I kept meaning to find that Paul Newman movie and watch it in the spirit of the times.) Many times I have looked out the window with tears in my eyes at the suffering and the dying. But this week I smile. This week I see green and in that green I see revival and recovery. And I see hope.


(Photo - one small tree in yard we watered has acorns)

Fall is in the air....................

We are finally getting some cooler weather and a little rain and things are looking better in the garden. 

The Maximillian Sunflowers are starting to bloom, we have one Cinderella pumpkin, and the green beans are about a foot tall.

The small nursery in Junction is selling pumpkins to benefit the CASA program to purchase Christmas presents for the kids in the program and they have some beautiful pumpkins and gourds. I went into town and got a few to decorate the porch. 

A couple of weeks ago we had a small amount of rain. The clouds were beautiful, although we had a lightning strike down the road and a fire. Fortunately, our neighbors saw it and called it in and it was put out before it caused a lot of damage.