It’s pretty apparent that we’ve made it into the "Merry Month" of May, and though we fairly well missed our April showers, we might still have some appearance of May flowers. The front that came through our fair valley of the Pecan this past Sunday & Monday had rain in front of it, as well as more rain behind the front line. Daddy’s gauge over at the Home Place registered an even two inches, while the one on Lady Z’s fence between our house & the Onliwon measured 1.80". The one on the fence at the Garvin on

Johnny Brown Lane looked like around 1.75", but I haven’t heard from Emmitt Lee to see what he got around the corner at the Grumbles. I think Richard Barker indicated he got about an inch & three quarters out between Liveoak & Fairview which will go well on the Coastal fields & pasture. Tom Epperson &

John Long seemed sort of dismayed as they reported right at .45" down on Cherokee Creek and Rough Creek. I heard that Jackie Brister said about the same from down at Barefoot Camp below the Bend. Clay Spivey hasn’t put up a gauge as of yet, so we got no report from the Colony. Ms. Sue reported half an inch from the Cherokee Store, but added that they got 1.90" out at their place at the turn off of the Shaw Bend Rd. T. Noel turned in one inch for Algerita on Richland Creek, but Roger Edmondson measured about an even 2" for Harkeyville. Winston Millican might be leading the pack for our area as he reported 2.75" on the Risien at Pecan Grove at the confluence of the SanSaba & Col- orado. Whatever the amount, there were still a lot of smiling faces around town on Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully, this is a start of our "rainy" season.

Back on the gardening scene, we talked about some "do’s" in the vegetable garden in the last edition, and I said we would list some "don’ts" for this week’s Column. Bear in mind that this following list is of things not to do in your garden. Therefore, please do not depend upon varieties not recommended for our area, but it’s OK to try limited amounts of newly

released varieties. #2- Plant so closely that you have trouble walking or working in the garden. #3-cultivate so deeply that plant roots are injured. #4-shade smaller plants with taller growing crops. #5- water excessively or in late afternoon. #6- place fertilizer directly in contact with plant roots, seed, or leaves. #7- allow weeds to grow large before cultivating. #8- apply chemicals or pesticides in a haphazard manner or without reading the label directions. #9-use chemicals not specifically recommended for garden crops. #10-store left-over spray materials already mixed. Hopefully, none of these "don’ts" apply to you but you might have a neighbor that could use some helpful instruction. I trust that your Okra is coming up and remember to be a glad gardener!

We really had a well attended workshop at the Pecan Field Day down at Mill Pond this past Monday. All the participants on the program presented illustrated talks with interesting and useful information and the commercial

exhibitors were helpful, as well. Larry Stein and Bill Ree were timely with their recommendations regarding cultural practices and Integrated Pest Management, & Scott Anderson does about as good a job on laws & regulations as one could hope for. Betty Ann and her able crew did a bang-up job with the Fish Fry Lunch, and I think I heard her say that they served right at 115 plates. Dr. Tommy Thompson came in from College Station and gave us a run-down on aspects of recommended varieties, as well as an up-date on some of the more recent USDA varieties that have been named & released for propagation. It is a fairly refreshing sight to see such a good number of younger producers that are carrying on with Pecan production in and around the San Saba valley. John Byrd and this humble scribe took some time this past Saturday evening to survey his orchard plantings & gardening program in the Byrd Bottom up at Sloan. He & Jimma have really added a lot to the orchard and garden, as well as initiating some innovative cultural practices to their agricultural operation. Byrd also took a 5.25 lb. Black Bass off his fishing pole that he had staked out on the sand bar below the crossing. We noticed that there were a lot of catkins being blown around up there as there surely were out around—

Harkeyville!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!