Salad Greens

This worked well for me for many years - it's a simple, weed-free way to grow lettuce, spinach and even radishes. Take a 2 cubic feet bag of potting soil (I used Miracle Grow), rumple it around quite a bit to loose the soil, poke quite a few holes in the back side for drainage, then lay the bag on a smooth surface that will allow drainage and not get too hot, and cut out the top, leaving about a 4 or 5 inch border all around. Lightly rake through the soil to even it out and loosen it even more, then carefully, and evenly sprinkle the seeds around. I put my salad green seeds in an old spice bottle with large shaker holes, added some cornmeal, shook it all up to mix well and sprinkled them out of it. I put the cornmeal in there to allow me to see that I had covered the soil evenly. If doing radish seeds or spinach, just make lines the depth mentioned on the seed pack, plant the seeds and cover appropriately. For salad greens I sprinkled a lite covering of soil over the cornmeal and seeds and then spray-misted to water them in. I put my bags on metal sawhorses and grates to make them waist level. This kept the bags off the hot concrete and I didn't have to bend over when cutting my salad. When harvesting, just use a pair of scissors and cut what you need - don't pull the plants out. Same goes for spinach - they will grow back almost magically overnight, and you can't tell where you cut. Spray mist the seeds and plantlings at first when watering, until they are established, then you can water more vigorously as the plants mature. You will probably need to water more often, since the depth of the bags are not as deep as a regular in-ground garden. I just kept mine moist, but not sopping wet.

Jigzone Puzzle

Click on it and waste a few minutes putting it back together

Costco Thursday

Friend Peggy takes a few of her Buds who want to, shopping at Costco. The good news is there are many things I really like that I can only get at Costco. The bad news is Costco Thursdays will come to an end when Peggy makes her way back to Nevada and we make our way back to Iowa.
There is a Costco in Des Moines but it is not practical for us to have a membership there. I think I made it to Des moines twice last summer . The fuel spent to get there does not compute to be a practical thing to do. So I will load up here as best I can on the products I love most and  make the best of it.
My Costco list:
Kirkland Fine ground coffee ( I use half the amount because of the fine grind)
Kirkland Albacore Tuna
Kirkland Chunk Chicken
Quinoa and Brown Rice
Fuji Apples
Boiled Eggs
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Kirkland Hormel thick bacon (precooked)
and more that do not come to mind readily.

Greene County meets in Texas

The Greene County Iowa people who winter in Texas get together at least once a season and yesterday was the day at Olive Garden in Weslaco. Some of the comments heard; "Worst winter ever" "I have never made so much soup and chili as I have this winter" " Our golf day is on Tuesday and it is always the worst weather of the week on Tuesday" "I hear the frost level in Iowa is 50 inches deep" "I am not going north too early this year". Everyone agrees it has been a doozy of a year and I think that applies to the entire USA. We all still live with hope in our heart for better days to come.
Sunny South Texas has been once again smacked in the face with a cold snap. Just as we think the last one has made its way through another sneaks its chilly toes in the door.

Peggy's Birthday

We helped Peggy celebrate her birthday at the Riverside in Mission Texas. It is on the banks of the Rio Grande River. Later in the day we enjoyed cake and ice cream at the Stilson residence

 There seemed to be some action of some sort on the Mexican side of the river.

 Pecan Bill and Butch looking things over.

 Peggy received wine holders for her birthday...Gee, her friends know she enjoys a nice glass of wine!

Happy Birthday Peggy!!