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Old 07-11-2017, 04:41 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
George Shirley[_3_] George Shirley[_3_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2014
Posts: 851
Default Where is everyone?

On 11/7/2017 8:37 AM, Frank wrote:
On 11/7/2017 8:23 AM, George Shirley wrote:
Surely we Texan's are not the only gardeners still gardening! We are
still getting warm days here in early November. Today at 0710 the
temperature is 72F and expected to rise to 82F.

Some of the spring/summer garden is still growing and producing and
our (winter) garden is also growing and producing. We have to mow the
grass every two weeks whether or not we want to or the busy bodies
start calling about "sloppy" yards. Yes, even Texas has these people,
both male and female, most of whom have people come in weekly to mow
and trim and fight to get the beloved "Yard of the Month" sign on
their front lawn.

We may be getting some days soon in the low sixties but I have yet to
see anything on my weather app that says freeze or hard freeze, or
even rain at this time.

Mean time we are still on air conditioning most of the time but
generally can turn it off at night as we still have some low seventies
to enjoy the saving of electricity for a bit.

The Rat Terrier seems to think she will freeze to death at temps below
80F so seeks her blanket a lot of the time. She is getting a bit old,
turning ten years in May of this year and her muzzle is getting white
too. The great grands pet her occasionally and she likes that plus
she's shedding her summer coat so I have to brush her daily. At least
the plant on the back porch enjoys the brushing too. The dog hair goes
into "Herman's" pot and the hair has a good bit of protein in it so
the plant grows as the dog shrinks. G

Our fairly large family is talking about who does Thanksgiving this
year. Luckily, as the senior portion of the family, we only have to
bring a couple of lemon meringue pies that Grannie makes and then we
get to eat a lot of good food that all of our kids, grands, and even
the elder great grands cook up. And, now, the doctor has put me on a
diet, need to lose 20 lbs off my 208 and, so far, have lost four lbs
without starving to death. G The dog misses the leftovers too.

George


Season over and next big job is leaves.Â* Going to wait until they all
fall then call my tree man to take out a couple and clean up others.
Grass cutting is over although I might use it to help remove leaves.

The kumquat, pear, and fig tree all still have leaves. The kumquat are
slowly turning orange so we can pick them. The pears, the second crop
after losing the first crop in January, are still small but are ripening
anyway. The first really cold day the fig will drop its leaves quickly.
The kumquat doesn't lose leaves all at once but does drop a few along as
it goes.

Coming from a home in Louisiana that had old growth oaks, etc. we miss
the leaves for our composter. Nowadays we just get grass, the kitchen
trash that is useful, and, of course, lots and lots of newspaper, etc.
going through the shredder. I have four bags full now, waiting for the
stuff in the composter to finish and go into the garden.

In a small city lot, 6500 square feet, you have to scramble to get stuff
to feed the gardens. I'm awaiting early spring to redo the back fence,
which was badly built to start with, not my fault, the former owners.
Seems most of the fencing people in Houston area don't like to work in
the winter, even if it's still like summer. Or, they may be busy
rebuilding the fences eaten by the hurricanes earlier this year. My two
eldest grandsons keep telling me they can build the back fence but I
haven't seen any movement there. One drives for UPS and the other is an
elevator mechanic and often works twelve to sixteen hour days repairing
the many elevators in Houston area. I want to do it right this time but
have to go through the ~!@##$% HOA group that are particular. This time
I'm wanting to put in galvanized steel posts and cedar boards, still six
feet tall though. I miss the country where we have mostly lived for the
57 years we've been married. We are close to our grands and great grands
and that's somewhat of a good thing.