12/11/5
I see its been awhile since I posted here.
Unusually cold weather.  We had a killing freeze several weeks ago and 
we've just come off of a several day cold spell; low about 22 deg.  We 
had about 15/100 of freezing rain and it stayed below freezing for 
nearly two days with everything covered with a thin layer of ice.  
Winter is not yet officially here and we have been colder than we've 
been in the past few years.  We continue very dry; we've been getting 
less than an inch less often than every two weeks.
Nothing much to sell.  A little broccoli, plenty of arugula, the deer 
have left me just a few carrots, though we have quite a few carrots 
coming that are planted in the protected area.  I'm pulling a few 
bunches of green garlic even as we continue to plant garlic.  Still not 
enough spinach to pick.
I shredded down the okra a few days ago and we are devoting our efforts 
to preparing ground for planting, both winter and spring.
Potatoes in storage continue to decline in quality and I look forward 
to beginning to plant them in a month or so; since I have such a good 
supply of seed, I'll make a very early planting.  The small amount of 
Fall potatoes I planted produced nothing; Not many came up and those 
got frozen down before they made anything.

11/14/5
We have been picking a few green beans, a handful at a time.  I think 
we're ready to pull some carrots.  Okra continues to recover from the 
freeze, but is producing little.  We will probably have another freeze 
in the next couple of days.
A lot of spinach is up.  And carrots; I planted several rows that are 
protected from deer.  I continue to assume that deer will not eat 
spinach.  Did I mention that deer are now eating lettuce?  I don't have 
enough protected land to maintain decent rotation of spinach; I need 
about 30 acres to rotate spinach in, but only a few acres for most 
other crops.
Highs have been in the upper 80s and, since we've turned the ACs off, 
we've been dipping regularly.  Today is proably the last dipping day.

11/8/5
No crops to speak of, so I'll talk about dipping.  "Dipping" is getting 
wet when it is hot.  Usually, our dipping season ends around September 
or early October.  I dipped yesterday.  And the day before.  And the 
day before.  The water is bracing, but our air temperatures approach 90 
deg.
Beans have been blooming and we have 1/2" pinto green beans.  Picking 
in a week or so.  Okra has been thriving in the warm weather; starting 
to bloom a little.
We had three heads of broccoli for last Saturday's market; we should 
have about 10 next Saturday.
Finally getting some spinach up; about 30-40 days until picking.
We have plenty of arugula, mustard and Tokyo Bekana to pick.  Wish I 
could sell it.
Ray has decided to let David continue the Sunset Valley a while longer.

11/4/5
The freeze has left us almost nothing to sell.  Either to grocery 
stores or at the Sunset Valley market.  I cut three heads of broccoli 
today for Sunset Valley tomorrow, but significant broccoli is still 
several weeks away.  Still about 3-4 weeks away from spinach.  Green 
beans were probably least damaged by freeze; if we go two weeks without 
another freeze, we may have beans.  We would be pulling carrots now had 
deer not cropped the tops.
6/10" of rain a few days ago.  Still very dry.
Ray is back from his 5,000 mile Idaho motorcycle trek!  David will do 
Sunset Valley again tomorrow and Ray will probably take back over the 
next week.

10/25/5		FROST!
All frost tender crops are severely damaged.  At least.  Tomatoes, 
peas, okra, peppers, beans, eggplant.  Over the next week or so, we 
will be gleening stuff that may have been protected by foliage.
I was hoping that we might be picking hot weather stuff into December, 
considering the late heat wave we've had.  Tomatoes were quite a ways 
from producing anything.  Green beans were about two weeks away.  I 
expected to get many more sweet peppers.  Last planting of blackeye 
peas is a total, or near total, loss.  Let me look at previous news 
columns and see the dates of other first frosts......
12/1/2004, about 12/1/2003, 12/6/2002, ~11/29/2001, 11/14/2000, 
11/3/1999.
Judging from my comments in 1999, there is some hope for some recovery.

10/22/5
Economics:
1) I figure diesel to get the Dodge to and from Sun City is now costing 
me about $30.  Last week's sales were not much above $200.  I believe I 
can maximize my income by not going to Sun City.
2)  I'm in the hay business!  It's almost as good as the 
fruit/vegetable business.  I paid $975 to get about 600 bales baled.  I 
put about $1200 into fertilizing a few months ago.  I can expect to 
sell about 300 bales of the better quality hay for $2.50/bale.  The 
rest will probably become mulch.  At a cost of about $4/bale.

It's getting dry again.  The long beans are producing a LITTLE better; 
I can sell a few to grocery stores.  I was on the verge of getting a 
few heads of broccoli.  But one of my pickers cut the very tops off 
prematurely.  A lot of broccoli is on the way.  And carrots.  And 
onions.  Haven't succeeded in getting any spinach up yet.  Did get some 
sugar snap type peas up.  Last batch of blackeye peas look very good.  
Likewise, green beans.

Since it gets "only" about 28 mpg, I've almost stopped driving the 
Sprinter in favor of Isuzus.  They get 36-38 mpg.  I paid $52 to fill 
one of them up yesterday.  Tuesday, a Dodge fill up cost over $90; I 
think that's two Sun Citys and two Sunset Valleys.  And STILL 70-80 
mph, 15 mpg SUVs and commuter pickups pass me, brake hard and generally 
waste fuel.

10/16/5
A bit of rain, just over an inch over several days.
Cool enough to slow down the okra.
With the full moon, deer are again after the tomatoes.  Deer hunting 
friends remain all talk.
Long beans are producing, but in disappointing quantities.
Last of the peas are coming, bugs are reducing their value.
The two remaining markets, Sun City and Sunset Valley are both VERY 
slow.
I remain somewhat optimistic on prospects for broccoli, carrots, 
chinese cabbage, mustard, onions.  I still hope for a cool weather 
burst of production from sweet peppers; bagged multi-color peppers are 
in better demand than supply.

10/2/5
STILL dry. Record heat.  All production has slowed due to long string 
of 100+ degree highs.
Planting beans.  More carrots, spinach, broccoli, chard, arugula, etc.  
Hoping heat will break soon.  Still two plantings of southern peas 
coming.  And tomatoes; still more than a month away from tomatoes.
Ray's trek is now being documented at:
http://austinfarm.org/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=1
Ray in currently in Wyoming on his way to northern Idaho.
Next year, I'll probably move this news column to the above phpbb 
thingy; that will allow reader feedback.

9/24/5
The hurricane completely missed us!  Not a drop of rain.
Peas are picking up; we had 80 bags at Sunset Valley today.
Tomorrow, my Sunset Valley and Sun City sales rep is departing on a 
motorcycle trip to Idaho.  If he is cooperative, you can read about it 
at:
http://austinfarm.org/raystrek

9/22/5
For years, I have been posting to this "news" plain text column.  
Now, I'm thinking of setting it up to allow readers to post feedback 
and comments online, in addition to my posts.  Anyone have suggestions 
on a software package (php script, probably) to run on my Linux host?

9/22/5
As hurricane Rita approaches, a reader writes:
>
> I though you put up some Deer Proof fences last year?

And I reply:

The deer fence has been up two growing seasons now and has performed
VERY well.  It encloses about 50 acres, of which about 15 are used for
"truck" crops.

I THOUGHT tomatoes, other nightshades, okra, and cucubrits were immune
to deer damage.  So, I've been planting those in the un-protected
areas.  I'm slowly working deer fence around the ~70 currently
un-protected acres.  Expensive.  Surely, my customers will want to
reimburse me.  :-)

We are reviewing our storm preparedness.  Mail computer has been up
452 days and is likely to go down.  I hope today to fill a freezer with
water jugs.  We can easily draw drinking water from our rainwater tank.

Our house is probably at not much risk for wind damage.  The tin barns,
on the other hand, .....

9/19/5
No rain in weeks.  Well... maybe .4".
Deer are eating tomato plants.  First time I have noticed deer damage 
on tomatoes.  Squash has quit producing, cucumbers have played out, 
newest melon planting has produced little, first long bean planting has 
given out.  Sweet peppers have started their Fall production spurt.  
I've gone about two weeks with almost no peas, but some new plantings 
are now starting.  Arugula and mustard has been doing well, but the 
arugula is starting to bolt.  I do have a second planting coming.  
First onion planting was a failure and I'm trying to find my stock of 
seed.  Carrots are little better.  First planting of broccoli did not 
come up, the the second has.  Up fairly well are beets and chard.  I 
guess things would be doing better if we were having seasonal weather; 
the highs have been near 100 while we expect upper 80s this time of 
year.  Planted four rows of sprouting potatoes, but they haven't 
surfaced yet; planted some throw away crops on top just in case the 
potatoes don't come up.

9/4/5
.4" rain yesterday; first in several weeks.
New tomatoes are coming along very well; no blooms yet.
I've got a lot a sprouting potatoes in storage, I may as well plant 
some.  Last year, I planted Fall potatoes and got almost none.
Arugula and mustard are doing astonishingly well considering the heat.
Bugs and deer have gotten most of the cucumbers; I didn't know deer 
would eat any cucubrit.  Live and learn.
Blackberries are growing well out of their mowing.
We have an interesting and amusing peddler situation in all three 
markets we are attending.  Be wary of pretty tomatoes at this time of 
year.  I will probably post details on the website soon.
Long ("Yard Long" or "Asparagus") beans are both doing well and selling 
well. Quite a surprise.  The first planting of long beans is about 
done; the second is coming and I will make a third in a few days.  
Planted at the same time as the first long beans are some "Winged" 
beans; they are growing vigoursly, but not blooming.
Peas are on hiatus.  Last week, we were covered up, this week, we have 
very few.  More coming, though.
First planting of broccoli failed.  Onions, carrots, and chard are much 
more promising.  Made the second planting of arugula a few days ago.
Will probably plant some real green beans as soon as we get a day or 
two with highs in the 80s.
Second cantaloupe planting is producing.
We continue to try to plant squash; several HEBs are willing to buy 
more than I have now.
Being next to the Burger Center, we expected to see a lot of Louisiana 
evacuees at the Sunset Valley Market yesterday.  We tried to give $20 
to anyone who could show a drivers license with a New Orleans address.  
Only found two; a disheveled couple apparently living out of a car.  
They seemed real pleased to get a little cash.  Will probably try again 
next Saturday.
The Sprinter is now costing me more than $.10/mile for fuel; I get 
about 28mpg.
I picked up the first load of this year's blackberry jelly.  We should 
have about 180 cases altogether.  We're currently selling less than a 
case a week. :-(  Hope it picks up.

8/12/5
No rain to speak of out of this recent wet spell; .6" one time and .2" 
another.  We slowed irrigating, but did not stop.  

The Round Rock market ended last Saturday, so we are now down to three: 
Sun City, Georgetown, & Sunset Valley.  Since Randalls cut me off, I'm 
much more heavily dependent on the markets; I am selling to two of the 
HEBs and the two Sun Harvests.  

We are in the process of planting about 2,000 Fall tomatoes; they might 
produce sometime in October.  Sorry looking tomatoes continue to 
trickle in from old plantings.  Juliettes continue to recover, but 
slowly.

Pea supply is good; I was depending on Randalls to buy any that 
couldn't be sold at farmers markets.  I am now offering the peas at the 
farm for $2.50/bag, quantity ten or more.  By appointment only.

Grocery store demand for squash has been very good, so I'm planting 
more.

We are getting a pound or two of okra a day off of a few volunter plants 
and hope that the "on purpose" planting will start yielding some soon.

One speculative row of "Yard Long" beans has been a pleasant surprise.  
They are producing well and selling well at a good price.  These are 
"cow peas", closely related to Cream, Blackeye, etc, but making nice 
snap type beans.  Like other cow peas, they thrive in heat, much unlike 
regular snap beans.  I hope to get more planted before we lose our 
heat.

Labor supply continues pretty good; I have five field hands and one 
packer working in the barn.  But, we are still not keeping up with 
weeding; everyone spends most of their time picking.  And, I'm a bit 
behind planting.

I have been working on the berry patch; I mowed down all the berry 
plants and herbicided the weeds.  Trying to keep the middles disked.  
All hedges will be only knee to waist high next year.

7/29/5
Rains of 1 to 2 weeks ago did much damage.  Tomatoes are nearly gone, 
though Juliettes are recovering.  Many melons also ruined.  Peas badly 
damaged, but recovering in our current dry weather.  Now getting good 
volumes of zucchini, eggplant, and peppers.  It seems we have missed 
the moisture opportunity from the current cold front; we are starting 
to irrigate again.

I will be putting in more tomatoes in the next couple of weeks.  Also 
on the horizon: more peas, more squash, cucumbers, more melons.  Even 
though it's a bit early, I seeded some mustard and arugula yesterday.  
New okra is up and doing well.  Okra in probably 45-50 days.  I'm 
thinking about onions, broccoli, cabbage, salad greens.

Randalls has stopped buying again, probably permanently this time.
Randalls and and their earlier incarnation of Tom Thumb has been a 
great customer for about 20 years.  This "cut off of local buying" I 
have feared since Safeway bought Randalls several years ago.  
I need to develop more HEB customers.  Or retire.

Farmers markets continue to do VERY well, though Round Rock will end 
soon and Georgetown may.

7/13/5
Tomatoes are tapering off; I expect that we will quit selling #1s to 
grocery stores within the next week.  We are still getting plenty of 
the small romas ("Juliette").  We recently started getting some 
cantaloupe and watermelon.  Okra continues to frustrate me; I decided 
that the seed I planted about two weeks ago was too old.  I have 
ordered, received, and planted new seed.  Several week old squash is 
doing very well; we hope to be picking it in a couple of weeks.  We 
continue to pick and plant peas.  The first batch of Purple Hull is 
about finished, but we are picking the second batch.  Been getting fair 
volume of Cream, though lack of labor has prevented thorough and 
frequent picking.  That should change as tomatoes decline.  Several 
more batches of peas in the pipeline and more to be planted.  Need to 
get more cantaloupe and watermelon planted.  May try to get more 
tomatoes to plant.
Farmers markets are all doing better than in previous years.  Sun City 
and Westlake/SunsetValley have been spectacular.

6/26/5
I just declared our PYO blackberry season to be over.  Today's pick was 
14 gallons, yesterday's, 15 gallons.  We will continue to have 
blackberries for farmers markets and some grocery stores for another 
week or so.  Some picked berries will be available at the farm.  All 
sales now by appointment only.
Peas are looking really good; we've picked Purple Hulls several times 
and Creams are not far away.  We continue to plant and expect a fairly 
steady supply for several months.
Peppers and eggplant also look very good; we are picking a little of 
all types of peppers and eggplant.  We are trying to get hay mulch out 
on those crops.
Also planting cucumbers, squash, and cantaloupe.  And some oriental 
beans.  Don't know how well any of that will do in our expected extreme 
heat.
I've given up on the okra.  We got a very sparse stand and the deer 
have been eating what little is there.  In the next few days I will 
make another planting in the protected area.  If it does well, I will 
be ~50 days away from any productions.  And, I'm adding okra to peas 
and beans in the list of crops that must be protected from deer.  
Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant), cucubrits 
(watermelon, squash, cantaloupe, cucumber), and onions can be grown 
without protection from deer.
The Westlake/SunsetValley market has been doing extremely well, by far 
our best market.  Georgetown used to be our best market; it is now our 
worst.  Both Round Rock and Sun City are doing better than Georgetown 
even though Georgetown is the "parent" market.  That's not to say that 
Georgetown is a poor market; we have just gotten very hard-nosed in 
making decisions on how our marketing time is spent.  We have stopped 
going to Killeen, Elgin, Bastrop, Taylor.

We have been about a month without rain.  Our rainwater system is about 
1500 gallons down out of our 10-11,000 gallons of storage.  We can 
endure another 6-7 months without rain.  But, we don't want to.

6/17/5
Things are pretty hectic here.  Blackberries are declining but should 
last another week or more.  Tomatoes are coming on strong.  We just 
picked our first sweet peppers.  Should pick the first purple hulls in 
a day or two.  We still have a variety or two of peaches to go; we have 
had peaches continuously since FlordaKings in early May.  We should be 
out of peaches in about three weeks.  Many peaches were poorly thinned 
and consequently have small fruit.  Maybe we'll do better next year, 
but that's what I said last year.
We are STILL trying to find time to get the onions harvested and the 
potatoes sorted and both in storage.
Still trying to get some cucubrits planted in potato land.  Still 
trying to get more peas planted; we did plant three more rows this 
morning.

6/7/5
After a two week hiatus, Randalls is buying again.
Blackberries are peaking.
Tomato production is rapidly rising.
Potatoes are all dug.  We're trying now to get the onions in.
First planted peas are blooming.
Markets are all doing VERY well.
No freestone peaches yes; still picking LaPercher and SouthernPearl.  
Semi-freestone Idlewild is about to start.
Days are long; time is short.

5/30/5
Yet another disaster.  After more than 20 years of being a prime 
customer, Safeway/Randalls/TomThumb decided to do no more local buying 
of produce.  This affects me and a greenhouse tomato grower in 
Rockdale.  This was a complete  surprise to me.  All local 
Safeway/Randalls people that I deal with directly seem happy with my 
service and quality.  Even eager to get certain products.
Crops all look really good; I sprayed and cultivated most row crops 
yesterday.  Lots of grasshoppers.  Many of the tomatoes that we are 
picking show evidence of worm damage.  Still only a few tomatoes, but I 
expect a deluge in a few more days.
We've been picking some really nice looking (and good) peaches. 
FlordaKings are gone, Gold Prince (JuneGold replacement) is almost 
gone, in the middle of Delta, LaPercher is just starting, SouthernPearl 
(first white peach) is not far behind.  Right now, demand exceeds supply; 
I'm getting some "drop-ins" that see the peaches while driving down the 
road.
PYO blackberry demand is very low; we are getting only 1 or 2 groups a 
day, sometimes none.  Blackberry pick is around 40 gallons a day.  With 
the lose of the Randalls business, most will probably go to the jelly 
maker.

5/16/5
We opened for PYO blackberries yesterday.  We will be open everyday 
from 9am until 11am through about the end of June.  Berries are coming 
in fairly well; we've had about 5 days in the 15-20 gallon range.  We 
should be peaking above 100 gallons a day in about two weeks.
We picked the first tomatoes yesterday, about half a dozen; we are 
still at least a week away from any significant number.
We now have about 11 rows of potatoes dug; that's approaching 1/2 of 
the total.  We will start harvesting onions seriously within the next 
two weeks.
With a good supply of labor, crops are looking very good.  We will be 
doing the last of the tomato and pepper planting this week.  The first 
of the peas are doing very well; we are putting peas and melons in old 
potato rows.
5/5/5
We now have 3 rows of potatoes dug; the last row yielded about 500lb.  
It is time to get serious about potato digging.  A few days ago, I dug 
a test planting of purple potatoes.  A single seed potato, about 
1/2-3/4lb was cut into eight pieces; the resulting eight plants yielded 
about 11 lb of purple potatoes.  Oddly, all were significantly smaller 
than the seed.
The labor shortage has passed and we are making rapid progress planting 
tomato and pepper transplants and preparing rows for pea planting.
It is easy to find red berries in the blackberry patch, so it will be 
only a few days before we start picking a few.  
We are about half way through the FlordaKing peaches; been picking 3-8 
boxes every two days.

4/21/5
We have now dug a complete row of potatoes; yield was about 250lb.  
I expect the ~25 remaining rows will yield 300-500lb each.  Will 
continue to dig as demand and labor supply indicates.
I have picked about 5lb of FlordaKing peaches; we expect to be picking 
about 1000lb over the next two weeks.  FlordaKing size is spectacular 
considering their earliness; quality is good, but considerablly lower 
than the later varieties.  They are prone to split pits.
Spinach picker reports that there is no more that warrants picking.

4/12/5
Several test digs of potatoes indicates that they are yielding about 
4-5 times the amount planted; the average yield for mature potatoes is 
about 10 time the amount planted.  I will dig about half a row for 
Saturday's Westlake (now Sunset Valley) market.  Tomatoes continue to 
do well and are starting to set a few fruit.  Onions are doing well, 
but are getting overwhelmed by weeds.  Anything needing hand hoeing is 
going un-hoed.  We have about stopped picking spinch in order to get 
tomatoes and peppers planted.  The first batch is in and I hauled the 
second batch this past Tuesday, a week ago today; we have planted only 
a few of them.
We have made progress thinning peaches and are not much behind.  
FlordaKings are in final swell and are changing color; we should start 
picking in a week or so.
Berries are doing well; there are some dime size fruit out there.  
Brazos are about at full bloom, the others are not yet at full bloom.
Primacanes are coming up and need pinching; they are going un-pinched.
Still have only one field hand.
This past winter, my berry patch outhouse blew apart during a 
windstorm.  Check the "Income Tax Time" link for the proposed design 
for the replacement.  I can not understand how we, as a group, allow 
our elected representatives to continue to burden us with our overly 
complex income tax system.

4/1/5  April Fool Day
I dug the first potatoes yesterday.  Two plants yielded about 4oz, 
about twice the amount planted.  Several more weeks before the yield 
will justify digging them for sale.  GOOD eating, though.
We're a bit more than half way through planting the first batch of 
tomatoes; I need to pick up the second batch early next week.
For the Westlake market, I have been pulling immature garlic for 
several weeks; it is showing some sign of bulbing.  As are the onions.
Already WAY behind thinning peaches; we will probably be selling small 
ones again this year.

3/25/5
Tomato planting is underway.  All potatoes are up and doing well.  
There is no labor for weeding, so everything is looking pretty weedy.  
Spinach production continues as well as can be expected.  I've started 
thinning peaches; need to do MUCH more.

The McKemie Curse on Texas City
With my mother and father, I briefly lived in Texas City in late 1946 
at age about 3.  As a child, I was told how fortunate we were to have 
moved from Texas City just months before the famous explosion in April 
1947.  A week ago I visited Texas City for the first time since 1946; I 
was looking for tracks we may have left, maybe telephone book listings.  
I have recently read two books on the Texas City Disaster and my 
interest level is high.  It seems my father, fresh from WWII Army 
service, was working for American Liberty Oil Company.  AMLICO had 
recently sold their Texas City refinery and daddy was working on the 
transfer.  I believe that the BP refinery which just had the fatal 
explosion is the American Liberty refinery.  I was surprised to find 
that Texas City, despite the surrounding chemical plants, is a very 
pleasant town.

Jean tells me I should explictly make these points:
1) A few months after I/we were in Texas City in 1946/7, the place blew 
up.
2) Almost 60 years later, a week after my second visit to Texas City, 
there was a major refinery explosion.
Jean suspects you readers may be dummies.  I have more confidence in 
you.

3/17/5
FREEZE!
We had pretty heavy frost this morning.  Much of it formed right at 
dawn.  Temperature reading was 32 deg at the house and 34 deg at the 
barn.  Worst damage was to five flats of tomato transplants that were 
sitting out.  Slight damage to potatoes and planted tomatoes.  Probably 
no damage to peaches, though they could use some thinning.
While doing some recreational weeding this afternoon, I found a hand 
crafted stone point.  Maybe a couple of inches long and one or two 
ounces.  We have had Indians trespassing on OUR land!  We find these 
semi-regularly.  Mostly on freshly plowed ground after a rain.  Some 
obvious points and more chips.  Made from probably not native flint or 
chert.  I estimate that there are hundreds if not thousands yet 
un-found on our place.  Makes one wonder: are the artifacts spread 
uniformly over a wide area?  Or, do we have a concentration?  People 
were here before us.  Two hundred years ago?  Five hundred?  A 
thousand?  I suspect not densely, but probably consistantly over a long 
period.  Was the point lost?  Discarded?  Carried off imbedded in an 
animal?  The one found today is probably too heavy to be an arrow point; 
it may be a spear point.  Judging from the chips that are found, it 
seems the flint/chert stock material was carried here and the points 
locally chipped out.  I wonder what will be thought of the artifacts I 
leave?

3/15/5
Same deal on spinach.
I pick up the first big batch of tomato transplants tomorrow.  Then, we 
will have to soon plant tomatoes instead of pick spinach.
First field of potatoes is well up; the second is starting to come up.  
Everything looks very good except for being weedy.  Fellow farmers 
marketer Gayla Lyons was on 36 news a few days ago commenting on the 
trouble wet conditions cause us growers.  The wet condtions have not 
caused us much trouble recently.  Wetness does destroy many crops near 
harvest, but it didn't much hurt our spinach.
Most peaches are blooming or have bloomed; we will need to thin 
FlordaKings soon.
Pears are spectacularly blooming.
Winter crop planting is completely finished; the last of the broccoli 
went in a few days ago.  Tiny chives can be detected amongst the weeds. 
Shallots planted a couple of months ago have divided and look good.  We 
are selling bunches of immature garlic at Westlake.

3/6/5
We continue to pick only 10-20% of the available spinach.
Potatoes are coming up well.  First plantings of corn and okra is 
coming up; yesterday, I planted more green beans, corn and okra.
Bugs are ruining mustard, chinese cabbage (the prime ingredient in a 
very nice salad mix we've been selling at Westlake), broccoli, and 
spinach.  Chives, sage and other herbs not yet up.  The few tomatoes 
I have out are doing very well despite being constantly wet.

2/20/5
No movement on the labor situation.  Spinach is going un-picked.
Just planted some chives, sage, basil, and dill.
Ray is back to doing the Westlake/Burger market for me.  It is going 
surprisingly well.  Ray is a better salesman than I am; he's a lot 
nicer.
The first sacrifical tomatoes succumbed to being buried by heavy rain.  
The second sacrifical tomatoes are in the ground.
All potatoes and almost all the onions are in the ground.
A couple of weeks ago, I planted half a row of okra, in case of warm 
weather.  None up yet.  Will plant some sweet corn today.  Big seed, 
such as peas, okra, beans are being planted with a new "Stick Planter" 
that allows me to plant through herbicided weeds and crop residue.  The 
hand planting with the "Stick" is much slower than with a tractor 
pulled planter, but very costly bed top cleaning required for the 
tractor planting makes the hand planting faster and cheaper.  I think.

2/7/5
How time flies while one is having fun.

He is only able to pick about 10-15 
boxes a week.  To do well on spinach, I need at least 100 boxes a week.
The sacrificial tomatoes have not yet been sacrificed.
My Westlake/Burger guy, Ray, has been sick and I have done the last two 
Westlake/Burger markets.
I just made what will probably be my last spinach planting for the 
season.
We still have a few onions and about half the potatoes to plant.
We got about an inch of rain this morning on top of about 1.5 inches 
this past week; that topped off our potable rainwater tank.  I just 
yesterday installed a meter and a 5 micron filter jus downstream of the 
pump.  Now, I'm looking for a second tank so we can go more than two 
months without rain.

1/18/5
We've been picking spinach for more than a week.  Not too much yet.
Just picked up potato seed today; will be planting in the coming week.
Also picked up two flats of "sacrificial" tomatoes.  I'll put 'em out, 
protect them a little, and let 'em freeze.
Garlic is growing well, onions, less so.
Planted one row of a new variety of blackberry: "Oauchita" or however 
you might spell it.
I'm out of spinach seed and it's time to plant more.  Have about four 
acres planted, another acre ready to plant, and need to plant about 
five additional, to make ten.  Behinder and behinder.
Westlake/Burger farmers market continues to do well.

12/30/4
The year is coming to a close.  For better or worse.  It hasn't been a 
bad year for us.  Good to semi-good crops were blackberries, 
persimmons, pears, and onions. OK were tomatoes, okra, peaches, and 
peppers.  We did poorly with fall tomatoes, peas, and potatoes.  A 
highlight of the year was Kitty Crider's mention of our blackberry 
jelly; that really spurred sales at the Westlake farmers market.  For 
the second year, we are doing Westlake through the winter.
It is still dry; we are looking for moisture in the next few days.  I 
have about 1/2 of my onions in the cooler waiting for wetter soil.
The normal winter crops (broccoli, mustard, chard, etc) till have not 
recovered from the freezes of a couple of weeks ago.
We planted some green peas a couple of weeks ago.  It looks like birds 
may have un-planted most of them for me; I won't know how bad it is 
until I get some germination.
My main spinach seed order has been on back-order for several months; I 
am buying relatively small quantities of not the desired variety as I 
need to plant.  I have planted 2.5-3 acres; all that is up and doing 
well.  About two more weeks until the first pick.  Preparation for 
planting is going well.  I have about 2.5 acres ready for more spinach 
and about 3 acres ready for potatoes.  I'll check with my seed potato 
supplier right after New Year.
Have I mentioned the new fence?  Last year, I had Robert Martinez do a 
pipe and cattle panel road frontage fence on the new land across the 
road.  When that came out well, I told him he could do the same to the 
other (old) side of the road.  So, he brought a bulldozer out, cleared 
brush and the old fence, and put in a very nice new fence.  I do have a 
bit of "buyer's remorse" because it was quite expensive and produces no 
income.
I just put in my third 40' shipping container / storage building.  The 
produce people at HEB Buda have been nice enough to save banana boxes 
for me.  I heavily use banana boxes to pack spinach; I might use as 
many as 2,000 in a season.  HEB Buda has been giving me 20-30 boxes a 
week and I had filled the barn with them.  They are now going into the 
new container.