Late-fall demands of nature have kept us busy down here on the One Acre Ranch, what with freezes and thaws and exposed water pipes and still probably a couple hundred tender tropical plants complaining of too much cold and then too hot and damp and then cold again. Yet I still find myself actually sitting [...]
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Our first freeze of the year arrived last night, one night earlier than predicted by the weather guys but still anticipated well enough in advance that we harvested some good stuff from the garden before they got zapped. This included a couple dozen Jamaican Hot Chocolate habanero peppers, most showing plenty of green instead of [...]
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Whatever’s left after flood, fire, famine or freeze, nature picks up the pieces and carries on. Like this loquat tree, the central crown of which died in the summer drought (and I still haven’t gotten around to cutting it out and hauling it off). Yet the half-tree that remained alive has burst forth with clusters [...]
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Rains came at 5 a.m. yesterday and again late in the morning, the second time lasting hours, interspersed with gentle thunder. Real rain, two and a half inches worth, filling every dry crevice, even pooling a bit in the back yard as if these were normal times again. Big enough rain to knock the devil’s [...]
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Farmers in three Texas counties (Matagorda, Colorado and Wharton – where we’ve been looking for land) account for 40% of the state’s rice crop, about $75 million worth. But not this year. Thanks to the worst drought since Texas started keeping records, the governing body that decides such things is seriously considering asking the state [...]
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We enjoyed about a 10-day respite from 100+ degree heat here, and at night it was great, dropping from about 90 to the low 60s. The bad part is that the cooler air also was incredibly dry, and sucked away what little moisture our soil had managed to retain. Suddenly everything became browner and drier, [...]
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A couple of days ago the weather shifted and high temperatures around 90 replaced daily highs that had consistently hit 104 or more in the shade. You would be amazed at the amount of stress that took off of the garden and tropical plants here. However, what looked like a sure rain-relief thing in the [...]
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| Today | Saturday |
|---|---|
 Partly Cloudy 86°/66° | Partly Cloudy 86°/68° |
Bad Food Recalls: