Whatcha Up To???

[Mr_Yan]

I always end up drooling when I read @w_r_ranch's posts here.

Sunday started at about 39 F and was another long day of work:
mowed and trimmed my own lawn
wrangled kids
sifted compost and mixed more potting mix

used child labor to start more seeds
6 pumpkins (Musque de Provence)
5 butternut squash (waltham)
2 zucchinis
3 sugar baby watermelon
3 cucumber (marketmore)
potted up my tomatoes & peppers

When mixing the potting mix we needed heavy equipment

And someone got a little over excited and feet left the ground

 

[w_r_ranch]

Got another 0.03" yesterday & 0.61" thus far today... more is forecast for tonight.

Replaced mower blades on the garden tractor after scrapping the deck clean & spraying it with WD40. The new blades are Oregon Gator G5s (tungsten carbide cutting edge). After that, I changed the oil, oil filter & greased all the zerk fittings. Now I'm ready to roll if the rain ever stops...

 

[w_r_ranch]

Somehow we dodged the rain last night, but we aren't going to get lucky again... They're saying 3.3", it is about 10 minutes away. Pretty dark outside right now. Batten down the hatches Wolffman, you're in the path too:

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We are currently in a clear spot & have received 2.56" thus far... with more heading this way. Once again, the garden was flooded between the rows (this is a tough year for gardening).

Cleaned/refilled the hummingbird feeders.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Made a loaf of enriched sandwich bread, hamburger buns & a loaf of cinnamon/raisin bread (for Mrs. Ranch).

Refilled 2 of the hummingbird feeders that they sucked dry during the rain yesterday... Rather than get wet, they just stayed on the porch & on the crape myrtles that are under the eaves of the porch.

Finished filling in the holes from the old towel racks with a final coat of patching compound. I'll sand/prime them in a couple of days.

 

[Mr_Yan]

49 F when I left for work got up to about 72 F.

Tomatoes hardening off outside.

The in ground beds at the community garden are tilled so I hope to plant my potatoes tomorrow. I need to read @w_r_ranch's post on growing potatoes. Think I'll cut them into chunks tonight.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Cut the grass.

Refilled the hummingbird feeders again.

Weeded another row in the garden.

Maintenance of all the computers (updates & backups).

 

[Mr_Yan]

Last night I cut up 10# of seed potates and dredged the cut sides in ash.

Today we went to the community garden and got to work. Started the day at 50 F and got up to 78 F.

Found my actual in ground bed is 30' x 46' with the 46' axis running east-west.

The southern 8' x 46' will be squash and pumpkins and the other 22 x 46 were divided into 5 regions. We planted two other regions of the bed with:
60' of potatoes.
20' chard
20' mustard
20' beets
20' kale

Now I have three regions 10'x22' to figure out. Plans include:
watermelon
tomatoes
zucchini

After 4 hours of "helping" me and "digging up dinosaur bones" my kids were tired.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Oh yeah. I got sun burnt today too.

Just don't think about sun screen when you're telling the kids to put on sweatshirts

 

[Mr_Yan]

Lots of puttsing around my home garden.

About to go mow the community garden.

Grilled chicken leg quarters for dinner. Used @w_r_ranch's chicken rub for this (can be found in this thread)

These guys are skinless and went about 80 minutes on the grill.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Tied up the tomatoes again.

Weeded another row in the garden.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Took the truck in to the dealer for it's yearly state inspection & an oil/grease job.

Did our weekly grocery shopping & then stopped to pick up various herbicides.

Started grinding/curing our newest kitchen tool (a black basalt Molcajete). I started by grinding the interior with my drill & a wire wheel for an hour... Now I've started the week-long process of grinding rice & rock salt into powder...

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[Mike]

I'm on vacation this week, so I've been soaking up the rays at the beach.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Made a double bath of the ancho pepper marinade for this weekend.

Made a loaf of Italian bread & a small load of garlic bread (for tonight's supper)

Smoked a couple of brisket points for supper... I decided to do one with my normal BBQ rub & the other with the ancho pepper marinade (to see how it works on beef).

Refilled the regular bird feeders. The hummers apparently moved on as there are only a couple here now...

 

[Mike]

This was dinner... and boy was it good!

 

[RLwhaler]

View attachment 2329
This was dinner... and boy was it good!

Super nice, Mike!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Harvested 3 more cucumbers & some radishes.

I continued working on the Molcajete by grinding a few batches of dry pinto beans into powder. I do believe it's ready for the next step, as there are no longer any high/low spots... I cleaned it & let it dry before seasoning it with a combination of onion, garlic, cumin, cilantro, oil & a few peppers. This paste was spread over the entire interior, as well as the 'mano' (pestle) & left to dry in the oven at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. After it cools, I'll clean it & it will be ready to go!!!

 

[Mr_Yan]

Broke 90 F here today. Ten days ago we got a hard frost. Somewhere in there we had spring.

First harvest of the season today. 225 grams of spinach that I made into a salad for lunch.

Watered my community garden on the way home. Beets and cole crops that were seeded on Saturday are breaking the surface now.

All my pumpkins and squash have germinated and are outside under the sun right now - these went into the soil (pots) 10 days ago.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Made a pot of pinto beans to go with the last of the brisket for tonight's supper

Went to pickup some stuff at the grocery store, pay the quarterly taxes, renew the license on the truck & get fuel.

It's raining pretty good here... lots of lightning & thunder. I heard they're evacuating part of LaGrange because the Colorado River is at 43' & rising (17' over flood stage). The Brazos River, which is Wolffman's area, is at 55' (5' over flood stage). Lots of flooding going on around these parts...

 

[wolffman]

Ridiculous storm on top of us right now. My yard is a disaster, haven't been able to mow for 2.5 weeks. I'll have to hook up the shredder to the tractor next weekend and start knocking it down. We got lucky, places north of us got nearly 24" of rain in 2 days.

 

[wolffman]

That was probably the strangest storm I've ever seen. It was raining cats and dogs, lightening storm from hell, and the evening sun was out shining a spotlight on all of it.

 

[w_r_ranch]

You probably didn't notice the 'Mammatus' clouds at sunset...

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I took the above pictures from our back porch... These formations are extremely rare (albeit absolutely gorgeous). They are usually composed of mostly ice & as a former pilot, I can tell you that it takes a turbulent atmosphere for these clouds to develop & that they were avoided at all costs... They are often harbingers of extreme weather systems.

For those of you that live within 150 miles of me (Houston, Austin & San Antonio), I suggest keeping the wife & kids close tonight... I'm not kidding you, these can produce very nasty storms & lightning.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Cut the grass.

Put the back porch back together (I moved everything due to the recent storms).

Made a batch of salsa molcajete that will be served with tortilla chips & a bowl of pinto beans for supper.

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[wolffman]

First batch of garlic/dill pickles. My wife uses a recipe that's been passed down for a long, long time. Best dang pickles I've ever had! Hopefully the cucumber plants will keep producing.

 

[Mike]

Fed the pepper plants and spread some mulch around the back yard.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Not doing anything today, spent the morning prepping for our afternoon get together... Made a couple of loaves of bread & got the steaks ready. I still have to make the salsa & avocado dip.

Mrs. Ranch did pick a few cucumbers & radish this morning & then made her Twice-Baked Potatoes.