The weather

Although the winter here was a lot colder than we were expecting and we've had more frosts compared with California, today it is a delightful 85F with only 48% humidity. That's not bad for the end of February. I am a happy camper!

Due to the weather, we also get 2 tomato growing seasons. I started of seedlings a few weeks ago but they have been less than successful. They put all their energy into growing tall and not a lot into their roots. I only have 8 survivors but they're looking strong. I also managed to get the grid that showed me which varitey is which wet, so I have no idea what kind of tomatoes I have left!

They could be either of the 2 types of hybrids, black russian, tigerella, cherry or brandywine. It's anyones guess at this stage!

As an experiment, I have these cages that hang from the back fence. The tomato grows from the bottom with the fruit hanging down. We hear Texas is pretty bad for bugs that like tomatoes so we thought we'd try this as one way to keep them bug free. The only problem so far is that the squirrels seem to think the bowl full of water in the top of the cage is their personal drinking fountain! :) We have to get some stronger brackets as these current ones bend under the weight of the squirrel and tomato.

We also have our veggie beds set up. They are down the side yard near the pool equipment. So far we have a couple of basil plants and an 'early girl' tomato planted.

I started some peppers from seed not long ago and they will go in these beds too. Of course, I no longer know which variety of pepper is which but I have started of Pablano, Thai Dragon and the infamous Tepin - or "Atomic" YAY!

We had these in California as well, but with the hotter climate here I am hoping for more heat from them.

We have also planted two dwarf citrus - a lemon (left) and lime (right). We figure with the amount of margarita's we drink, it's best to have our own limes. In time, they will also make a natural divider between the pool and the garden/equipment area.