We’ve given a lot of them away . . .  hate to see them go to waste – but we’ve still got a huge bowl full and a grocery bag in the fridge full. Haven’t tried my hand at making jelly or preserves – somehow that doesn’t interest me. Probably because I’m afraid I wouldn’t do it right and  might end up poisoning  us with some sort of bacteria.   So we’ll just have to eat what we can, give the rest away and share what’s left with the birds.

Have to say – again – that the garden is doing well. The coffee cans seem to have stopped the moles and the plants have never looked better.   I’ve got squash, tomatoes, beans, peas, cucumbers (the little pickling kind) and green peppers. We’re having to water quite a bit – it has been unseasonably hot (over 100 a couple of days already) – but luckily we have a well. If we didn’t I don’t think we could afford to water as needed.

What with the afternoon temperatures being so high, working in the yard has been an effort. We’ve been drinking a lot just to stay hydrated. I know Gatorade is good for that but I don’t like the taste . . . so I add a little lemonade to it to make it more tasty. David even likes my remix and will drink it. We use the dry Gatorade because it keeps better  and can be mixed in whatever amount needed –  but this concoction will work with the bottled kind too.   

In a regular sized glass put 1 envelope of Sweet-n-Low (optional) along with 1 level teaspoon of the ‘dry’ Country Time Pink Lemonade mix. (I find the pink tastes better – go figure!)  Pour the liquid Gatorade into the glass and stir it all up. Add ice and enjoy.  

I’ve also read that Gatorade is good for headaches – so if you’re prone to getting a headache while working in the sun – this might help with that too.

I’ll be adding 2 new recipes to I Can’t Believe It’s Sugar Free a little later this week so be sure to look for those. Haven’t decided which ones to put up – but with things as hot as they are bet they’ll be something cool and delicious.

Did manage to get my garden almost totally weeded. I’ll be ready to start planting in a couple of weeks. I learned long time ago – don’t plant until after Easter. Had to do a little damage control on the pear trees – the deer got to them and ate all the leaves off!   One was pretty much just a stick – the other lucked out and had a few leaves on top. Guess the deer were too short to reach them. So David and I put up wire fencing around them to keep the deer from gnawing them down to the ground – like we did for the raspberries. While I was working in the garden, David was working on putting some piping underground. Putting a water line out to the orchard and another one to the back porch so I can water my plants. When he gets that finished, he’s going to extend the piping outside the fence to the car port so we can wash the cars a little more easily. Lots of work!!! 

I did a little reading in a book I bought when we first moved up here and found a couple of ‘tricks’ for keeping deer from eating on the trees

• Hang a bar of Irish Spring bath soap in the tree (this works, I’ve used it before)
• Hand a fine mesh bag of blood meal in the tree or dust the leaves with it (works but smells bad)

Also had a couple of hints I’d forgotten about for fighting the moles:

• Plant daffodils around the areas you want to protect, moles don’t like daffodils.
• Place small portions of a limb/branch of a thorny plant in the tunnel – they don’t like getting scratched. Roses, barberry or anything with thorns would work. I’m definitely going to try this one.

We’re supposed to have a nice week – so maybe I’ll have time to get out there and finish up my garden. The potatoes and sweet peas I planted are coming up – so I’ve got my fingers crossed that everything else will do well too!

We took a drive down some East Texas country roads until we found a nursery (recommended by Cousin Joe) that sold fruit trees suited to this area. The old gentleman running it had all kinds of trees – pear, plum, peach and apple. I didn’t know you could grow apples here in Texas. He took us out into the ‘patch’ where he had them growing. Coming from the city, I’m used to buying my trees, plants, etc. from the nurseries there in pots – big pots! Not here. These trees appeared to be growing right in the ground. Hmmmmm…surely they MUST be in pots in the ground, I just couldn’t see the pots….right? Nope. When we picked our trees he yanked them right up – roots and all! I was stunned. There was a little dirt hanging on to the roots – but he make quick work of that and washed it right off!! OK, so now we’ve got pear trees with no limbs and naked roots. They look like walking sticks that need to be trimmed. The whole time I’m wondering…’can these things survive?!’ The old gentleman running the shop – seemed confident they would – so we brought them home. On getting home (power is back on – yeah!!) we immediately set out to plant our two stick pear trees. It is supposed to start raining and getting really, really cold, and I’m not letting those roots be exposed to any more air than necessary. We put them in the orchard area and planted them according to Mr. Russel’s directions. So right now my pear trees are planted per instructions, getting soaked in the rain and likely to freeze tonight. I have high hopes for them though. When they start producing they’ll have crisp pears (don’t like those mushy ones) and be good for eating or cooking.

This link is for a good half-sugar free recipe for a pear crisp. Pears are also good when used in pies with apples, plums and peaches.

And if, you’re looking for an alternative pear recipe, we like upside-down pear cake. Using a store bought cake mix makes it easy. My version is to use only half of the cake mix (per box directions), 2-3 sliced pears, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.

Mix up half (or less) of the cake mix (my secret to a better boxed cake is to add an extra egg, add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon vanilla and use real butter instead of oil).

In a round baking dish or flan pan, place 1 tablespoon of thin butter slices on the bottom. Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar over the butter, shake a little cinnamon over the brown sugar and then lay the pear slices on top in a circle.

Pour the cake batter over the top and bake at 325-330 degrees until done. Allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes and then turn cake out onto a flat plate and enjoy!

The deck kitchen is finished!!!!! David put the last of the quarter-round down along the tile counters Saturday. That has been a 2-year project – so I’m am thankful to be done  and ready move on to something else. Think I might take a rest before we begin anything else big. When we decided it would be ‘fun’ to have an outside kitchen – little did we know what all was involved. David did all the construction and wiring – but to me laying the tile was the most tedious and time consuming. It wasn’t a particularly expensive project. We had a lot of the materials given to us by friends, and we also make a few excellent purchases at auctions. After all is said and done – I think we’ll really enjoy having it . . . if only to sit there and admire it . . and say ‘ Look what we did!’

Got the garden cleaned out and tilled; dug out the grass from around the orchard gate and laid stone pavers there so the gate would open more easily, and continued to work on the last flower bed that’s next to the deck. Even after all that work, there is still more to do to get ready for winter.

Some of my chores left are pretty basic and pretty much what anyone that has a yard or garden will have to do. . .

• Finish cleaning yard and flower beds – don’t let those weeds go to seed
• Use oak leaves & pine needles for mulch. They can be used even though they are acidic. It is better to mulch leaves as this will allow water to seep through more easily and they will decompose faster.
• Plant last edible crop, i.e. onions, shallots
• Have covers ready to protect plants that may be sensitive to frost ( Christmas cactus – these belonged to my mom and they are at least 25 years old and huge!! )
• Cover strawberries with extra straw or cut grass. I don’t use anything that may have seeds in it – don’t want to have a weed patch amongst the strawberries in the spring.
• Leave plants standing that may have seed heads the birds can eat during the winter
• Mulch day lily beds
• Plant pansies or ornamental kale in the yard. Protect with mulch as needed.
• Watch for end of year sales for any garden tools, planters, etc. that I can use next year
• Collect, mark and store seeds for next spring – garlic chives, cypress vine, zinnia, etc.

Sounds like a lot but it really isn’t. I’m hoping for an early frost so that we can hopefully have some beautiful color this year. If we do, I’m hopping into my yellow jeep and taking a ride down the back roads. May even get a few pictures to share . . . or paint.

The crape myrtle blossoms are almost gone with only a few still in full color next to the gold fish pond. And the flower bush I call ’4 o’clocks’ were blooming in the front yard even though it was 9am when I took the picture. I think temperature must be more of a factor than the time – as with the Morning Glories that sometimes bloom all the way  into the afternoon on a cool day.  There is a large rosemary plant in the garden – and it is just covered with tiny little pale blue flowers. We give it a wide birth when walking by because of the strong  fragrance that transfers to our clothes   – David says it stinks and would probably cut it down if given half a chance.     Guess we’ll be working in the yard this weekend – getting the leaves raked and then burning them. Can’t wait . . . nothing smells more like fall than burning leaves.

Woke up this morning to see the sage bush – that we’ve pruned and trimmed to be more of a tree – in full bloom. It is spectacular and full of butterflies and hummingbirds. We planted 3 of the same type of shrubs at the same time – and this is the only one that has blossomed. Oddly – it is the one I thought might not even survive because it is in a cramped location on the north side of the property. It only seems to bloom but when it gets a good rain – and I have to say it out did itself this time. And kuddos to David for taking this beautiful picture for me.

“Rattle Snake Hospitals across Central Texas say they’re seeing an alarming  increase in rattlesnake bites.   Hays County treated five people for the bites  in recent weeks while Travis County has reported 11 rattlesnake bites in the last  3 months.   Experts state that it is mating season, but it’s mostly the drought that’s pushing them into residential areas to find water.  

During the day, you most likely won’t find snakes in the grass, but under  rocks, porches or in drainage ditches trying to stay cool. At night, they are more  prevalent in areas with high grass, near some source of water. Rattlesnakes  won’t chase you, but if someone gets too close and the snake  feels threatened,  it will most likely strike.   

If you get bit by a rattlesnake, it can be deadly.   Experts say to call 911  immediately, try to stay calm and keep your blood circulation as slow as  possible.   The sooner the venom gets to the heart, the less chances of  survival.”

I plan on wearing boots, a heavier canvas-type glove for gardening, and when I’m working around the goldfish pond I plan on beating the ivy with a stick to scare away any snake that might be around.   The pictures will give you a general idea of  the poisionous snakes here in Texas but if you looking for more information – Google ‘Texas Snakes’ – there are a lot of good websites out there with lots of information.

I always marvel a the color and size of  hydrangeas.  I have 3 large bushes and considering they’ve  been transplanted several times since we moved here – it’s a wonder they have survived.   I discovered by trial and error that they do not like the west sun.   When they were on the west side of the house – by 3 o’clock in the afternoon all the leaves looked like limp green wash cloths.  I practically had to drown them in water to revive them – only to go through the same exercise the next day.  That was a few years back – all 3 plants are now situated on the east side of the house where they get the ‘not-quite-so-hot’ morning sun with shade in the afternoon and are thriving beautifully.  The  plant  pictured has a mixture of colors in the flowers and while I’ve read that the soil acidity is the defining factor; I really don’t care what color they are – and you can see a couple of the blooms are bi-color.   All the plants in my yard are low maintenance plants.  I don’t want anything I have to ‘baby’.

I spent some time picking blueberries and will post a great recipe for a banana-blueberry pie later on.  Also spent time weeding the garden – not   my favorite thing to do but the promise of fresh tomatoes, squash and cucumbers keep me task focused.  

Did manage to get into some ants while weeding – and will pass along this helpful hint to stop stinging.  Put ammonia on ant bites – in fact you can use ammonia on just about any bite – wasp, yellow jacket, fire ants, etc. – it stops the sting and if you put it on quickly enough the next day you won’t even know you’d been stung.  We keep a small bottle with a sponge top  filled with regular household ammonia – in the kitchen and in the barn.  Anytime we get a bite, we liberally wet the area with the ammonia.  Works like a charm.

While Ribbon Snakes are not poisonous – I do NOT want to come in contact with it again.  I was very careful while working in the yard over the weekend, especially picking the blueberries.    Living out here in the middle of a hay field is peaceful ‘most of the time’  but every once in a while there is a  ’wake-up call’  reminding me not to get complacent about what I do and how I do it.

When we moved to the country I wanted to have as close to a maintenance free yard as possible – and daylilies fit the bill in the flower department.  They are leafy, offer a variety of  colorful blooms and require no work other than cleaning out the dead leaves from last year.    Just mulch them a little in the spring and they are good for the summer.

I have them in  beds  that get the full afternoon sun and this doesn’t seem to bother them at all.  It can get over 100 degrees in the middle of summer and I wanted plants that were not only heat tolerant but also could also withstand our occasional winter freezes. 

I have tried other types of lilies – Stargazer, Easter, etc. – but find that the moles find them a bit too tasty.  Seems every time I’ve set out something other than daylilies they get eaten up before they can even put out a sprout.  I have tried planting the bulbs inside of open-weave metal baskets and this does help but makes working the bed somewhat difficult.  I have yet to find a good, working mole deterrent.    Anyone out there got any mole secrets?

I enjoy my  daylilies – even though they only bloom for a day and am always on the hunt for new varieties - which isn’t an easy task.  If anyone knows of anywhere to get daylilies or order them – please leave a comment with where to find them.  Thanks !    Jan