SAND FLAT FARM: January 2013

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

It's OFFICIAL!!!

GARDEN 2013 HAS BEGUN!!!

It's that time of year! Still winter, but spring is around the distant corner and it's time here in E Texas to put the onions in the ground! Ever heard of "Noonday Onions" and the "Noonday Onion Festival"? Google it if you're interested. You can even order an official Noonday Onion Cookbook from Amazon and AbeBooks. I learned that the Noonday farmers around our parts plant their baby onions between Thanksgiving and Christmas for softball-sized big-uns - here's ya a link...

http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/industry/noonday.html

http://tastingspoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/noondayonions_thumb.jpg

http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=TP&Date=20090504&Category=BUSINESS01&ArtNo=905040306&Ref=AR&MaxH=300&MaxW=330

Where we lived prior to the farm was about 10 miles from Noonday, which is within the 10 mile radius of official Noonday Onion growing. I suppose we're too far away now to be official Noonday onion farmers, but I'm still raising Noondays.

Anyway... here's one of my buckets of starts.

They are about 6" - 8" tall right now. Sometimes I've gotten them around 3" - 4" tall, but these babies have already got a good start on 'em. I will set out about 250-300. Dad's raising them, too. We love lots of green ones so they won't all make it to maturity. They were scheduled to go in the ground this past weekend, but it rained and was nasty outside, so I've put it off til HOPEFULLY this weekend. I feel like I'm late to the party on getting MY onions planted! I'd like to get some cool weather greens out, too. We did break ground on the garden, but still have some tilling to do - that's the plan anyhow. Yesterday and today the temps are around 75-76. (can you believe it?) I turned on the A/C to clear the stuffiness. It's about 98% humidity, too. Good ole sinus headache weather... And it swells up the old wood doors in this little farmhouse and they don't wanna shut OR open.

Shout out to Kathy B. at Cedar Pond---- it's gopher season!!! Well, it is on Sand Flat Farm all year long, but it seems that the gophers (bless their lil ole hearts) are being very prolific here lately and it's time for me to get out there and get to trapping! Tony has kind of designated that as MY job. He can do it, but I guess I do it better. (Why did I do that??? hmmmm...)

The chickens are pickin' up on their laying, too! The hideous molt is over and the days are slowly but surely getting a teeny bit longer - which makes them lay more. I did not light their coop through the winter - just gave them a rest. We got 6 eggs yesterday from 10 hens! They're all laying a bit EXCEPT the Ameracaunas. Altho they are pretty and I love the green eggs, when I go to replace hens, next time I'm hanging with the Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks. My RIR has laid all winter long, thru the molt, AND her eggs are HUGE jumbo sized. She's scraggly looking still, but she's the best layer I've got. I don't know if all RIR's are like that or if she's just a great layer. (I don't know - maybe I'll keep an Ameracauna - just GOT to have some green in the mix...)

Tony asked me the other day if I still liked my chickens. I gave him a resounding YES. They are not pets (only one of them has an official name) but I have really enjoyed them, enjoyed taking care of them and learning all about raising chickens, handling eggs and all that stuff. I haven't asked him, not one time, to do anything for the chickens. It's been totally MY responsibility and I've been glad to do it. Don't even mind cleaning out the coop! I keep it as clean as possible, doing a light clean-up every other day or so and once a week a good cleaning. When the weather warms up a bit, I'll empty everything out and wash it all down and start all over again.

Well, it's supposed to rain later today, possible storms coming this way, so... Luckily I'm home today, I'm cutting back on work again from time to time. I'm trying to get some painting done, and am working on a couple of paintings for my husband's office. Fossils. (He's a geologist) Yep, that's right - fossils. Pictures to follow in another post.

Hang on to them skirts today girls- it's a windy one!

If interested, hop over to my art blog - a few new paintings for you!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Happy January 2013!

Morning, my peeps! How's the new year treatin' ya? I hope all's well, and everybody had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season! I hope that new memories were made, all your loved ones were kissed and hugged many times over and that you're ready to face 2013 with hope and faith and determination to reach your goals! And, I hope and pray that the flu-bug is staying well away from you and yours!

Me? Well, we had a great time, too. It was bittersweet, tho. We lost two wonderful Christian brothers over the holidays, but new babies were born into our church family, too. One of the brethren we lost to an aneurysm and he went be with the Lord on the day after his great niece was born. Lots of family and friends at the hospital to see both. Does it ever seem to y'all that when someone dies that a new soul is born to replace that one? This man was 63, had a wife with several grown children, grandchildren, and was a faithful member and elder of the church. The other brother and elder that died had leukemia and it took him quickly at the ripe old age of 56. He had a big family and grandkids, too. It was very sad to lose both these faithful Christian men, but I know that they are glad to be where they are now!

So rejoicing all around for these two families! Isn't it wonderful that we can look at it that way???

Saturday past, we made a trip to Austin, TX, to see my 56 year old cousin get married. He married a sweet Greek lady that he'd been dating for a few years and they finally decided to get hitched. ('Bout time if you ask me) Seen the movie, "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding"? My cousin's wedding was that movie made over. Well, it was interesting to say the least! And the venue was beautiful, too. I'd never been in a Greek Orthodox church before, but it was awesome. I managed to take a few pics of the church before the wedding started...

Lots of buildings are made out of this limestone rock which is so plentiful down in the hill country. I'd love to have a home built with it....

The virgin Mary, the apostles, many, many saints are depicted throughout the church paintings, and...

Of course you'll fine in the ceiling dome in the auditorium, Jesus and lots of angels. It was truly awesome and beautiful. I visited with one of the members, and she told me that there was an artist, a Greek man, that came and painted all the murals. With me being an artist, I can imagine how long it must have taken him to do all these renderings.

OK, now on to other stuff... You may or may not know, but we got snow late Christmas afternoon!!! They said we could get a dusting, but we got a few inches! It was beautiful! My two kids that were home celebrated the snow the way country kids do nowadays...

Pulling each other on the Mule all around the pasture on a cardboard box!!!

Now how "RED" is that!!! LOL!

Had kind of a 'white-out' for awhile there - couldn't see any of the neighbors. You Texans out there know how RARELY do we see snow - so it was quite enjoyable.

FOR THE FIRST DAY. It stayed cold enough that the snow stayed on the ground for a couple more days. I could NOT live up north. It's not the cold. It's the mess it makes - tracking it in the house, making mud everywhere, re-freezing at night. Just a big mess. So I got a few pictures, and then I was ready for it to melt and go away. Then, our power went out. We spent Christmas day night in a freezing house all bundled up. The worst part? Not having my box fan to sleep with. The next day, we were having Christmas at mother's, and some of my food I was making to carry over there did not get made. We went early to mom's and showered and got ready. All was well, and we had plenty of food to go around! But we were tired and tempers got a wee bit short! haha!

It was fun to watch Tank in the snow - his first. He and Gypsy had a ball. They didn't seem to mind the cold at all. Of course, when Tank came in, he brought all kinds of wet, muddy filth in with him. Gypsy comes in for a bit, but she wants back out - she's got lots of hair and gets hot in the house.