I hope you were able to see the lunar eclipse Sunday – it was amazing!
For us here in west Texas, beginning about 15 minutes before sunset until sunset was the most dramatic view. As the moon moved in front of the sun it appeared as if a bite were missing from the edge of the sun.
Finally, the moon was in the center of the sun making it appear as if the sun had a hole in it – you could just see the outline of the sun.
As the sun sank further, it appeared as a flame sinking into the horizon.
 Once again we are reminded of our wonderful Creator!
The different storm clouds passing over have given a beautiful view for all of us here in West Texas. Like the sunsets, you can see the whole horizon of clouds. No trees make for a nice view!
May has brought wonderful rain – 3.4 inches of it! That brings our total rainfall for 2012 to 7.4 inches!
It has also brought wind which knocked out our wireless internet – Again!
But, even with the headaches that country living can bring sometimes, I would not change a thing!
I hope you noticed the moon Saturday evening. It was not only a full moon but reached the part of its path which is closest to the earth called the perigee. Because of the variability of the moon’s orbit, this orbit was the closest of all the perigees this year – the result was a huge golden moon. Since there were no trees blocking our view here in West Texas, it was gorgeous!
I love the springtime – even here in West Texas.
Or, maybe I should say, especially here in West Texas! After such cold, brown winters (compared to lower Alabama), the green of spring is a welcome sight bringing with it hope and a new beginning.
Once the vineyard begins to bud and grow, it seems as though everywhere I look, there is green.
The new grapevines (Petit Verdot and Moscato Giallo) which were planted a couple of weeks ago are in varying stages of budding.
In the field, even with the drought last year and only 4 inches of rain so far this year, we have wildflowers. My favorite are the daisies, yellow black eyed Susans.
In the garden the beans are coming up.
So are the peas.
And, don’t forget the asparagus we planted last week – the little crowns are peaking up through the soil waiting to be covered further. They actually look like miniature asparagus!
Everywhere I look, evidence of new growth and life are around.
What an amazing Creator we have!
One way our family has saved quite a bit of money is to have our own vegetable garden. Not only do we enjoy fresh vegetables throughout the summer but I also freeze vegetables to enjoy in the winter. I am very serious about putting vegetables up in the freezer - we have 3 chest freezers and by this time of year, they are almost empty! So, with the end of last year’s bounty almost gone and the very warm spring weather, I am planning the garden.
To further the savings, we try to start many plants from seeds. Right now we have tomato, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper and eggplant seeds started.
Starting your own plants from seeds is much more economical that buying plants. It is also alot of fun to watch them grow! It really is very easy. We use egg cartons, plastic ones that will not dry out so quickly. Simply fill the egg cups with potting soil, sow your seeds and lightly cover with soil. Don’t forget to mark the carton with the type of seed you planted!
We put our cartons in front of a sunny window and keep them watered. I must confess, though, we had 3 more cartons to begin with than we do now. They were all planted and resting comfortably on a table outside. The days were warm so we would open the tops to allow the sun in. At night the cartons were closed to protect the seeds. Unfortunately, a west Texas wind storm came up and blew 3 cartons away – never to be found – and two others were turned upside down! But, our quick thinking 12 year old merely flipped them back over and brought them inside. They are now healthy bell pepper and jalepeno plants! I have ordered more seeds to replace those “gone with the wind”.
Seeds are available in many local stores. There also are several online companies from which you can order seeds. I have purchased tomato seeds from both Tomato Growers and Territorial Seed. I really like the San Marzano and Principe Borghese varieties from Tomato Growers. San Marzano is great for making tomato sauce and very tasty just to eat. Principe Borghese is a good grape/cherry tomato which also dries very nicely. I use Territorial Seed for most other seeds. With shipping, both are comparibly priced to the seeds available locally and I think they yield more produce. Territorial Seed has also sent replacement seeds for some pumpkins that never germinated!
Soon, we will be transplanting the seedlings to a larger area for further growth before subjecting them to this west Texas wind.
If all goes well, by the time they must fend for themselves, they will be much larger.
*I am in no way affiliated with either Tomato Growers or Territorial Seed – I am just a satisfied customer and wanted to share my experience.
We finished pruning our 20 acre vineyard last week and began helping our oldest son (Tyler) and his wife (Jessica) prune their 25 acres. They live about 15 minutes from us so we do not have too far to travel. We normally get to the vineyard by 10:00 am, work until lunch and then continue working until dark which is about 8:30 pm. It makes for a long day but we have a lot of fun working together. The time passes quickly with conversation, jokes and movie lines.
In our vineyard, the varieties of grapes (Aglianico, Montepulciano and Roussanne) have relatively late bud break, meaning the buds begin to open later in the season. Tyler and Jessica, on the other hand, have early bud breaking varieties. These include Vermentino, Merlot, Viognier, Trebbiano, Dolcetto and Muscato Giallo.
With the early spring temperatures of mid to high 80′s, most of the early bud breaking varieties have budded. The above picture shows the buds and leaves popping out. While it looks pretty and lets you know that spring is here, it is also dangerous. We are still 4 weeks away from the average last frost for the west Texas area. That means that there is the danger that the buds will be frozen and fruit lost.
Below you can see the same plant after pruning. Pruning is used to shock the plant and slow down its push to put out buds and grow.
We are 1/4 of the way finished pruning in Tyler and Jessica’s vineyard. Hopefully we will finish by the end of next week!
Yesterday, I awoke to a rainy day! Yes, you read that correctly. Here in west Texas it was raining! The normally dry, desert conditions were completely different – everything was wet! We even had rain running down our windows! Now, we are dedicated workers and even work in freezing weather, but with the rain, everyone went back to bed for some much needed sleep.
About 9:30am however, the rain began to slow and stop. With that realization, we got out of bed and began breakfast. With the last 3+ weeks being filled with pruning our vineyard, the housework has suffered. I decided to take a “rest” day and do some deeper cleaning other that just the maintenance upkeep.
So, while John and the children went to complete the pruning and tying of vines, I kept the two younger children home deep cleaning, organizing and cooking.
While preparing dinner, thinking about tomorrow’s work – we move up to our oldest son’s vineyard and help him prune their 25 acres – I happened to look out the kitchen window. A beautiful sunset was waiting to be admired.
As I watched, the picture changed before my eyes becoming even more brilliant.
What a beautifull end to a productive day!
With all the dramatic temperature changes while pruning, we have come to really appreciate the warm days of early spring. This morning, however, was met with damp thick fog – very unusual for west Texas! Looking from the house, you can see in the picture above, the vineyard is not even visible. My first thought was, UGH! – We have to prune in this!
But, this damp fog turns out to be great weather to spray for weeds in the vineyard. In the last couple of days, we have received 7/10 of an inch of rain which brings our total rainfall for this year up to almost 2 inches!
There is a silver lining to every cloud!
This week has been filled with pruning. From the time we finish breakfast until we stop about 8pm for dinner. Actually, we do not stop for dinner – it gets dark around 8pm so we quit work. We are averaging pruning about 1 1/2 acres per day and have about 4 1/2 acres left.
After a long tiring day, a beautiful sunset lifts everyone’s spirits. I think there are two reasons for this. First, each sunset is different and gorgeous. Secondly, it is time to stop pruning and eat!
Several evenings, almost simultaneously, the moon has risen.
It is quite a sight – the sunset to the west and the moon-rise to the east!
When we moved to west Texas four years ago, one thing we were told was not to fret the weather – give it time, it’ll change. Boy, were they right!
Last week we had freezing weather with drizzle, sleet and snow. Oh, and don’t forget the wind. One day we had 41 mile/hour sustained winds with gusts reaching 50 m/hr – we lasted about an hour before deciding it was a great day for schoolwork! The younger children are the ones who really suffer in the high winds – the dust is being blown around closer to their eye level. Wanting to be prepared, they played around us with their goggles on to protect their eyes!
This week the weather began with temperatures in the high 70′s and very little wind. Monday was such a beautiful day that we had an afternoon snack of apples right in the vineyard! As you can see, most everyone is wearing shorts!
We are now well over 1/2 finished with the pruning. We completed the 7.5 acres of Roussanne last week. Tomorrow we should easily finish the 5 acres of Montepulciano and begin the Aglianico (7.5 acres).
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Grab My Dime! 
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About Me 
God has amazingly blessed me, Dina-Marie, with a wonderful husband and 10 beautiful children. Moving from our "secure" life in Alabama to the "exciting" life of starting a vineyard in west Texas has been challenging to say the least. I have had the opportunity to take a crash course in frugal living and become a real farm girl - complete with milk cow and chickens. I have learned the importance of health from the inside out, "traditional" cooking and cod liver oil!
I hope to encourage you to make the most of where you are and what you have. |
