At this writing, it appears that we’ve not lost our "rabbit’s foot" regarding rain in our fair valley of the Pecan. I’m not particularly informed on how much we were forecast, but it doesn’t take much the keep things wet, in regard to recent moisture conditions. If you happen to doubt the amount of moisture & mud we have around the County, take a trip around some of the County roads, as well as noticing the ponds, tanks, Creeks & Rivers while you out & about. Bubba Barber called me from Tow Valley last week and indicated that Buchanan was filling steadily at the rate of around an inch a day. I imagine that the LCRA has a formula for it, but if you figure the surface area of the Lake and factor in the inch, that would amount to a lot of acre feet. Those folks down there should be very proud of our San Saba River as it’s flow of springs keep the mark up on the wire all the time.

Folks around Town and the County are about to run out of patience waiting for the gardening season. We see a lot of vegetable transplants out on the shelves of the nursery, feed stores, & garden centers all ready. The folks that garden smart have planted some items that can withstand cold & frosty weather. You know, things such as onion sets, radish, certain greens, and Cole crops as in Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Brussel sprouts. If you want a pleasant surprise, plant a few Brussels and see how they grow. Anyhow, what I’m mainly alluding to, is to not jump the gun and put out your tender crops yet. If you cannot wait, then I’d advise you to have a frost protection plan handy so you can try and save those tomato plants or whatever you plant too early. Momma never liked to put out her tomato plants until after Easter and we get that date fairly early in the month this season. If you want to try something worthwhile in the mean time, try looking for some of the recommended varieties of tomatoes, while trying to get some of the newer releases, as well. Some of the tried & true varieties that the good gardeners like would include Better Boy, Celebrity, Homestead, Improved Porter, Jubilee, Roma, and Rutgers. Some of the new releases you might look for include Red Brandymaster, Sugar Plum, Celebration F1, Early Doll, and Phoenix. Whatever you plant, try to have several varieties as they all react differently to adverse conditions and you might mix in a few cherry or pear tomatoes as they will continue to set during the hotter months. Variety selection is one of the most important factors of proper planning in gardening. If you have any questions on varieties give them a call down at the County Extension office and they can come up with a list of recommended varieties that are suited to our area.

Shaw & I have been trying to get some lines out for the Yellowcat winter season and have succeeded sometimes. We’ve been pretty lucky in catching a few fish, but bait catching has proved rather erratic. We did come up with enough fish from the freezer to have a pretty good fish fry this past Sat. Son, Will was in from Waco, along with our Aggie buddy," Teaspoon" Tony Navarra from Kerrpatch, and they took care of the prepping and frying of the fish, taters, pepper poppers, and hush puppies. Shaw & I really enjoyed the whole affair, as did Daddy, and Will did a bang-up job at the fry pot. We heard that he even fried up a batch of wild Turkey breast for Nana’s Sunday dinner. Things like that will get you a gold star even with the Mayor, "Luck o’ the Irish be with ya", & me out around———Harkeyville