Prairie Winds Farm

Ameraucana Rooster Strutting his stuff Is this my good side??? Its been a while since I have had laying hens and a rooster.  Went to Wabash Antiques and  Feed Store in Houston  http://www.wabashfeed.com/ a few years ago and acquired an Ameraucana rooster http://www.ameraucana.org/scrapbook.html and two red laying hens.   Little did I know after taking them home that the rooster actually required a harem of hens to keep him from increased copulation with the two hens.  So... I went back and purchased four more hens and then things settled down a bit.  At sunset each day, the rooster would gather the hens up from free ranging by spreading out his wings to his sides and they would run with him into the coop.  The coop was actually an 8' by 10' hurricane fenced dog run with a screen mesh over the top. Inside the coop I placed some cinder block into two columns and made nesting shelves with hay. The soil was covered in hay so ...

Now is the time to attend Fruit Tree plant sales in Houston and surrounding communities. The next one I know of is the Fort Bend Master Gardener Fruit Tree Sale @ the Ft. Bend County Fairgrounds, 4310 Hwy 36 S, from 9-1 on the 12th of Feb., 2011. Go to the web-site for the Fort Bend County Extension Office to get more info or learn how to become a master gardener. http://fbmg.com/ This is a photo of buds on our Meyer Lemon tree. I harvested 89 large lemons year before last from this tree but last years freeze limited this years production. I have pruned the branches and am anxiously awaiting arrival of the buds and the bees. And of course it is important to remember that the citrus tree is also a host plant for the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly as mentioned in previous blogs.

A few years ago my husband built a grape arbor for our garden. Here is a picture of the fruit in the Summer of 2010. The vines are not yet producing enough to make Muscadine wine or jelly but when they do I'll let you know. I purchased the vines from Treesearch Farms in Houston.

Dreaming of the Fall Season The only thing a gardener can do in Houston, Texas in the heat of the summer is to plan the Fall garden. By preoccupation with planning and preparation on paper, one can avoid the dreaded humidity, rain, mosquitoes and sweltering heat of summertime in Houston. Once the rain subsides and the breezes begin to gently arrive much to your surprise you tend to forget the heat of summer. I love the thought of Fall. I love the colors, the pumpkins,the colored corn , the hay-rides and the Fall blooming perennials and most of all the nights spent on the back porch sipping a warm cup of coffee. I will miss the 8:30 sunsets I have witnessed this summer. I am certain I will not miss the heat.