THE BLACK DIRT IS IN AND THE SAHARA BERMUDA IS PLANTED

I understand why families decide to hydromulch rather than hand-sow grass seed.  But.....because we are people who want to do everything ourselves because labor is so expensive, we decided to go the hand-sow route.  $80.00 for seed versus $2000 at least for hydromulch. 

After doing some research, I decided to go with Sahara Bermuda.  It is supposed to be drought resistant and hearty.  This is important in the rugged West Texas heat.  Worse case scenario....we've lost $80 on grass seed and a couple of weeks with a muddy loblolly.....and we have to call in the experts. 

This is before the black dirt is trucked from a fertile swag in the pasture....

This is after.....

And here is a garden update......everything is growing....we should have our first produce by the end of next week.  Notice the corn stalks in the back left corner....That is CORN on the top. 

I smushed two more gigantic green horned tomato worms.  I picked them...bare handed....from the tomato vine and stepped on them.  It was empowering... ;-)  These grape tomatoes will be the first to ripen.  They are beautiful.

See the damage the tomato worms have done to this plant?  They are really becoming a problem.  What to do......I guess this will be my next research project.

THE CANDY CORN AND BLACKEYED PEAS HAVE "BROKEN THROUGH"

Not only do I have 18" sweet corn stalks, I now have 4" candy corn stalks and the blackeyed peas have poked their little green heads out of the ground in the garden.  PLUS, I planted an experimental crop of candy corn and blackeyed peas in my 10-acre wheat field.  The field crops will depend solely on rainfall....we planted this crop right in time for the forecasted rains....that have yet to come.  Maybe tonight. 

Then there is the field.  It has been planted with wheat; however, it now has corn and blackeyed peas at the end.  We marked our rows with piles of rock...so we can find the produce amongst the cow feed. 

Pray for Rain....no tornados....and no hail....

MY YARD IS GOING IN....HOPE THE RAIN DOESN'T WASH IT ALL AWAY....

I thought I was going to have to wait another season to get my yard in.  But....after constant wrangling with dirt contractors, we got started today.  Man....everything costs an arm and a leg.  We are providing our own dirt and it is still costing over $3000 to get 8" of dirt on the yard....some contouring work done....and all of our flowerbeds filled.  And the economy is bad?  And we got 4 bids???  Wow!!!

The retaining wall looks great....the flowerbeds around the back porch may need another level of cut stone.  The dirt guys put dirt inside the stair area....but this will be replaced with professionally installed stairs...depending on the price! :-)

All of this dirt work was done in one day...I think the dry-stacked retaining wall is amazing.  Honestly, this was erected by two teenage boys and my husband....back-breaking work that was bid out at $3600.00!  Can you imagine?  Manual labor...teenage boys....$360.00!

Furthermore, the professionals wanted to dig a trench...pour a footer....then build a masonry retaining wall.  The man who rocked my house told me..."retaining walls not built on virgin soil will crack and crumble and your hard-earned money will be wasted."  So we dry-stacked....smart and asthetically appealing to me.  When my home is completely finished, it will look like it has been here for 100's of years....

SUNROOM / GAME ROOM / ???

This is my favorite room in the house.  When I was designing, I had plans for this to be a game room....pool table...poker table....a game room.

However, I had all of this awesome authentic Davis Furniture Company Ranch Oak that came straight out of my grandparents' ranch house.  I also ran in to this awesome wall hanging last summer and decided that whatever I did, this wall hanging would be my inspiration for color and theme.

So....because I have so many western antiques, it ended up a television room and my favorite room in the house.  The only thing it is missing is a fireplace.  The thing is, during design, I put the fireplace in....took the fireplace out....put it in...and finally, took it out.  Oh well, we have a family room, complete with double-sided fireplace, that needs to be used. 

You will be hard pressed to find furniture like this coffee table with hand-carved longhorns all around.  The cowhide rug adds the finishing touch in front of a black leather loveseat with recliners.

This corner...is where the fireplace would have gone...it is also my favorite corner of the room.  On the right are my dad's boyhood chaps and belt.  The little red boots were mine, and the bronzed baby shoes...made into book ends....were my dad's.  He wore these in 1936.  Honestly, this is why my Tuscan-inspired home is quickly becoming Western heritage...it is what I know and it is what I'm proud of.  These things don't belong in the storeroom.

This next piece of Davis Ranch Oak is one I have never seen anywhere else.  This lamp stood beside my grandfather's chair all of his life.  The wagonwheel is edged in copper, and the shade is made up of old family photos.  Incredible!

The window behind the lamp is about 10 feet wide.  It needs some kind of accent around it.  I don't want to cover the windows....I want to make them look finished.  Maybe I will find some light-weight burlap to frame the window....I like texture and I like different.

Finally, this phone actually worked when I was growing up.  It did not call out on Ma Bell...it did, however, call the other house in the pasture behind headquarters.  The "All-Day Roping" sign is real and was produced to advertise the annual roping held at the ranch when my dad was a teenager....and the metal string of stars go up and over the patio doors that also lead out onto the covered porch.

PLANTING MY PATIO FLOWERS...FURNITURE ASSEMBLY TOMORROW!

After several trips to the nursery, I about have my patio plantings finished.  This hanging pot is my favorite....my first spaghum moss basket and I think it turned out pretty good.

The basket is planted primarily with geraniums and sweet potato vine.  I love the vine because it falls over the edge of the basket and will grow to the ground.  The geraniums are bubble gum pink and in the middle is a spiky grass.

Here is my favorite planter.  I bought this frog several years ago and he always wears an heirloom daylilly...it will eventually look like he has big hair and a bow!

Frog is talavera pottery made deep in Mexico.  Because we live close to the Mexican border, we had easy access to pottery.  Now, with the drug cartels wrecking havoc in Mexico, no talavera is coming out of Mexico.  The trip, 22 hours from the Texas-Mexico border, is just not worth the risk.

And here are my tried-and-true red geraniums.  I have several of these pots for my porch and the brilliant red is the first thing people see when they drive up.

  These talavera pots have antique petunias....a petunia I have never raised before....but they are gorgeous.  The other flowers are a cascading flower that are very dainty and go well with these petunias.

This wall will also have a hanging metal hose hanger.  Hopefully tomorrow while we are assembling the patio furniture!

MY "NEW" DINING ROOM FURNITURE -- PRICELESS!!

I have shopped and shopped for the perfect dining room furniture.  Everything I find is extremely expensive or not fitting for my high ceilings....textured walls....and ornate doors leading out to the front porch.  Tuscan, Old World lends itself to bold, massive furniture with metal accents...I thought.

I found a few suites I liked...either they were extremely expensive, the buffet did not fit in the 66" opening on my shorter wall, or the buffet was exquisite with an ultra-disappointing china cabinet.

Sooooo....My sister just bought a home that does not have a dining room. Honestly, times have changed and there are more and more homes that feel like their square footage is better utilized without a formal area. My sister's home is awesome...Texas Hill Country....gated community....but no dining room.

"Yes, Little Sister, I will store your furniture for you....

Well, here it is, and it looks pretty good in my dining room!

I do want to explain that these 8' doors are not the entry doors.  I designed my house to have a medium-sized dining room that would open up to the expansive front porch when entertaining.  The purpose is to better utilize the front porch by being a part of my home's living area....genius....right?? :-)

Soooooo....Why you understand now why my furniture is new and priceless?

It is my SISTER'S!!!!

And it looks great!  No more dining room stress for a while....Now we can move on to another room.

Now we have to decorate!!!!

Soon.......

We aren't going to tell her that the trip in the gooseneck trailer took its toll.  She should know that traveling in a real livestock trailer is going to result in cow manure to be stuck to the bottom of her ivory silk-covered dining chairs and a few bumps and bruises elsewhere. LOL

RAIN....RAIN.....GIVE ME A BREAK....I NEED TO PLANT TODAY!!

We woke this morning to clouds and mist.  And I sooooo want to plant today.  My garden is thriving because of the rain.  The plants and trees on the back porch are surviving on well water....better than city water....but not the same as good old rain water.

Notice the peach tree on the back porch. It has 3 peaches on it!! Amazing.  I'm not sure if they will mature because even though dwarf fruit trees do mature and produce faster than regular trees, I'm pretty sure they are not supposed to produce fruit the first year.  We'll see! 

Do you see why I am so ready to get these flowers and veggies planted?  Notice the squash plant....twice as big as when I bought it.  And the antique petunias are beautiful.  I have a spaghum moss hanging basket for these.  Does anyone know what kind of flowers are beside them....they are going to really complement the petunias because they will flow nicely over the side.  Finally, I will add sweet potato vine to the hanging basket.  It will literally touch the ground before summer is over, and it is bright light green.

My best buy has to be the two grape vines seen in this picture.  They were reduced from $10 to $1 each because they really looked dead.  Not dead!  They are looking great!

I'm still looking for the sun  --  mist and 58 chilly degrees is not what I was looking for today.

DRY-STACKED FLOWER BEDS

Just like every other home we have ever built, we are having to start from scratch on our landscaping.  In order to even HAVE a yard, we had to take 18 inches of pad out.  Otherwise, when we added dirt and grass, our home would have been below ground level.  Therefore, you can see that the asthetic quality of the house is lacking around the base...with jagged parts of the foundation protruding.  So.....we are masking this with dry-stacked beds around the entire perimeter of the house.  These beds will be filled with easy-to-maintain groundcover.  And like the house, I want these beds to look as if they have been here for hundreds of years.

Dry-stacking is back-breaking manual labor!  After the first weekend, my husband and I decided we needed young, buff teenagers.  I hope we didn't scare them off after today!

Notice that our beds are double-stacked.  Really, as long as you are just dry-stacking 3 stones high, this is not necessary.  However, just to be on the safe side, and just to err on the side of caution, they doubled everything.  In reality, deadmen can be used ever so often for sturdiness.  Deadmen are stones turned with the end out and the majority of the stone's weight back into the bed.  When dirt is added, it adds even more stability.  Notice also that these doubled stones are lower than the front.  Dirt will cover the inside stone and no one will ever know that the wall is 2 stones thick.

Remember when you are dry-stacking stones.  Make sure they overlap in a brick pattern.  More importantly, each layer of stone should be back-stacked a bit which also gives more stability.  Otherwise, the pressure from the added dirt can push a wall right over.  I'm sure that would make a grown man cry!!!

I think they will finish the flowerbeds tomorrow afternoon.  Then on to the steps and the two retaining walls for my terraced yard.  Not long before we can get the dirt moved in and the yard started....

"DO YOU HAVE POPCORN SEED? NO, THIS IS NOT A PRANK CALL!"

I am amazed at the heirlooms and different varieties of vegetables, fruits, and flowers available on the internet and even in the local stores.  I'm also amazed that popcorn is a variety of corn...some popcorn is better for eating and some is better for kettle corn.  There is even red corn and dark blue corn and ornamental corn.  I think I'm going to plant all different kinds!  Early May is the time for planting corn....it likes a really warmmmmmmm ground.  So I have a bit of time to decide on the corn varieties.  Any suggestions?

BTW, the clerk at Palmer Feed really did think I was being a smart-elick when I asked if they had popcorn seed.  I thought she might hang up on me.  I had to explain FAST that there was such a thing!

I called the local feed company and they were out of black-eyed peas...also known as cowpeas in other parts of the country.  Surprisingly, most of the seed companies online were out.  I'm a bit surprised that black-eyed peas are THAT popular, but I'm REALLY being pressured to find some. 

My husband just informed me that farmers plant black-eyed peas to put nitrogen back into their farmland...that makes more sense.

Then there are the watermelon.  YUM!  Black Diamond was my family's favorite when I was growing up; but, we have become spoiled and accustomed to the seedless variety.  My mother does, however, frown upon heirloom varieties (her father was a dryland farmer) insisting they lack hardiness.  So, I will also have to plant some tried-and-true varieties. 

If anyone has any ideas on plant selection, I'm all ears!!!!

GARDEN IS BACK...WINTER IS GONE

So I was a little overzealous when I planted my garden during Spring Break.  I have had to cover plants to protect them from Jack Frost....I've had to cut back frost-bitten leaves and stems....but we have weathered the final weeks of hanging-on cold weather.  The early-planted vegetables will now be my late crop while my early crop will be planted this weekend after all possibility of freeze is gone.  These tomato plants against the tin wall faired better with just this bit of north-facing protection.

The Old Farmer's Almanac says to plant above-ground crops on the 19th and 20th of April. Saturday will be the 16th...might have to be close enough to plant the remaining tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, and squash.

Here is a picture of my garden gate.  It is unique, and it is an antique.  My husband designed the garden to accommodate the 6' gate that was brought from my childhood home. 

Things are picking up around here.  My 10-acre field is plowed and waiting patiently for wheat to be planted.  I'm also planning to plant sweet corn and blackeyed peas on one end of the field.  I even have fruit trees ready to plant.  So check back often! 

Anyone with good relish and pickle recipes are more than welcome to share!

Here comes the rain.....

ONION SETS AND GARLIC PLANTED.....WILDFLOWERS SOWN

I planted my first batch of onions, Texas 1015's and Reds.  It was a bit monotonous, but I came up with a way to not damage the end of the onion bulb and roots.  I held each one with two fingers at the end.  I planted with my fingers and had a system going by the time I planted FOUR bunches.  Will plant more later so they don't all mature at the same time.

I also planted a bunch of garlic that will mature in the Fall.  I wasn't real sure how I went about planting garlic...so I asked a friend....told her not to laugh.  She didn't...she had to ask the first time she did it too!  You really do plant grocery store garlic!  I had three BIG cloves of garlic.  I separated all of them, dug a trench, and buried them about 2 inches deep and 4 inches apart.  It apparently doesn't even matter which end goes up.  Supposedly it is the EASIEST thing to grow.  We'll see....

 See my "topiary tree" on the right?  I planted wildflowers all out in this area....bluebonnets (my favorite...the State Flower of Texas), Indian Paintbrushes, and all kinds of flowers native to Texas.  Can't wait to take a picture of this same tree with wildflowers abloom! 

These wildflowers, once established, will come back year after year.  This is my goal.  I am planning my ENTIRE landscape with perennials.  BRING ON SPRING!!!

RAISED-BED COUNTRY GARDEN

We worked HARD yesterday, but knocked out the hardest part of our new country garden--building and filling the raised beds.  My husband and I built pine beds..30' X 3' X 1' tall.  THEN, we had to fill all of these boxes with rich black dirt.  We're lucky because all of this awesome black dirt came from our pasture.  Most people have to pay good money for this kind of garden fill.  And do you know how much backbreaking work it is to wheelbarrow this stuff?  So we cheated a bit....

All of this West Texas rain has wrecked havoc on our new roads...mud puddles everywhere!  So...luckily, we have a friend who owns all kinds of heavy equipment and is willing to let his guys work on the weekends without charging us oilfield prices.  So...every time we finished building a box, he would come over with a bucket of dirt and fill these things.  It took 2 of these loads per box.  It would have taken us a month of Sundays to manually do what we did today by multi-tasking! 

Here is what our garden looked like Saturday morning.  Notice the high fence?  In order to keep determined deer out of a fenced-in area, the fence should be at least 7 feet high.  So...the bottom 3' is tin....buried just a bit; then a 4' panel; then there will be a strand of slick wire.  The awesome part about burying the tin is...it will be as snake proof as possible.  My husband knows that if I run into a snake, he is going to have to garden the rest of the summer! LOL

And then....here is a picture of the garden area at 5:00 Saturday afternoon.  What an accomplishment!

DILEMMA:  Now that we are this far along, I have several questions for my readers....

1)  Notice the rusty barn tin.  Since this is close to my house, should we spend the money and buy new cream & white tin to match the well house and barn?

2)  Are there any master gardeners out there who can tell me what to plant together and where to plant?  I'm planting tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, okra, peppers, and squash...heavy on the tomatoes and cucumbers.  What about strawberries and raspberries?  Can they grow in pots along the walkway?

It's raining again today.  I guess this means no dirt work in the yard.  As ranchers, we are thankful.  As people with week-day jobs, we wish it would rain during the week instead of on our precious days off. 

3)  Any ideas on an inexpensive composter?  I've always wanted one of those...

Have a Great Sunday!!

SPRING IS NEARLY HERE...LET'S GET STARTED ;-)

I'm so excited about getting started on my landscaping!  The snow was great, but so glad I can nearly see Spring.  I've so enjoyed my new house on the INSIDE....I've so been waiting for NOW to get started on the OUTSIDE.

So...here is my first REAL post on my journey to making my new country house a home.  These are pictures of where I envision (I think I'm going to be using this word a lot over the next year.) a pergola.  I already have patio stone that matches the rock on my house.  So...give me ideas so that when the backhoe is finished with that area...we can get started on bringing that particular area to life!!!

IT IS SNOWING IN TEXAS!!

Can you believe it?  It is snowing in West Texas!!

Let me introduce myself. My name is Paige and I live north of Eldorado, Texas.  My dream house in the country has been in the works for 20 years.  First I had to find a piece of land...it had to be close to town...it had to have a change in elevation (no mesquite flat would do); and it had to have sizeable oak trees.  In 2008 my husband and I found a little piece of heaven--150 acres 4.5 miles from town--close enough for us to commute to school yet far from the lights of town.

Finally, Labor Day 2009, we moved in.  Now I need your help transforming it in to a showplace without breaking the bank.  Tremendously over budget before move-in day, and never one to want something someone else already has, I want to create a unique and impressive home...both inside and out...that I can enjoy the rest of my life!