Texas WeatherWell here it is the first of November and we have already had a light freeze here in the Hill Country. That first freeze was about three weeks earlier than the average first freeze date of November 15th in the Hill Country. Naturally the weather rebounded from earlier freezes back into the 80’s so all the vegetation is saying “Ah yes we are in Texas”.Cedar Fever SolutionThe male Ashe Junipers (Cedar Trees) are still not loading up with their pollen that causes so many folks allergy problems. Now is usually the time to gather the blue berries from the female Ashe Junipers and prepare the Cedar Tea that Betty Branch is famous for sharing with me and then to you the readers. Take half a cup of berries and place them in a saucepan that has one and half cups of water in it. Bring it to a boil and remove from stovetop and cover till the tea is at room temperature. When the tea has cooled transfer the entire solution with the berries to a glass jar. Put a top on the jar then place in the refrigerator. When the season of pollen begins take one teaspoon of the tea each morning, I place mine in a glass of apple juice or you can use the juice of your choice. Continue this each day till season has concluded. WARNING: Be sure and check with your doctor before preceding with this solution as some folks, though a few, are really allergic and should not use this solution. For those of us who can it is truly a Blessing.Key thoughts; the male causes the problem and the female saves the day! Thank You Ladies!Again, I still do not see the pollen building up and very few berries as I reported last month; maybe the drought brought us another silver lining. Be watchful of pollen buildup, it just might be a delayed season.Not YetThis is not the time to prune any of your trees and particularly Live Oaks. The time to do Live Oaks is when it is really cold, December or January. Don’t prune or cut back any fruit trees till after the first of the year. We will discuss that in a later column. ThanksgivingThanksgiving day as we sit down to dinner with friends and family, let’s remember to ask ourselves to name all those things that we have to be thankful for this past year. Our list should be very long. “Oh, that man would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of Thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing” Psalm 107:21-22Last Chance This is your last chance to plant Wildflowers. Check out the web site www.wildseedfarms.com for seeds and how to plant. Once you are there and have purchased your seeds, planted them, then join others and me in prayer for rain. Most of wildflowers love poor soil conditions. Gee they ought to love the Texas Hill Country. Our Aquifers and Water WellsIf you live in Burnet County, you can go to:www.centraltexasgcd.org web site and check the water wells that are being monitored around the County and see what they are doing in your part of the County. The information is scary and hopefully folks will check it out and be more conservative with their water usage. Those who use Rainwater Harvesting to supplement their watering are really doing everyone a favor and are a blessing to all of us.If you live outside of Burnet County and are in a Groundwater District, there are monitoring water wells that will tell you what the water is doing in your area. Check with your local Groundwater District for the individual sites.Till Next Month! Keep your souls and your soles in your garden!Remember the True Master Gardener: Jesus said, “I am the vine; my Father is the Gardener.” John 15:1Have questions or comments? Contact Bill Luedecke at The Luedecke Group Realtors, P.O. Box 1632, Bertram, TX. 78605 (no Post Office in Oatmeal) or email bill@texasland.net. For additional gardening web sites, go to his web site; www.TexasLand.Net and click on links.

Texas WeatherWell here it is the first of November and we have already had a light freeze here in the Hill Country. That first freeze was about three weeks earlier than the average first freeze date of November 15th in the Hill Country. Naturally the weather rebounded from earlier freezes back into the 80’s so all the vegetation is saying “Ah yes we are in Texas”.Cedar Fever SolutionThe male Ashe Junipers (Cedar Trees) are still not loading up with their pollen that causes so many folks allergy problems. Now is usually the time to gather the blue berries from the female Ashe Junipers and prepare the Cedar Tea that Betty Branch is famous for sharing with me and then to you the readers. Take half a cup of berries and place them in a saucepan that has one and half cups of water in it. Bring it to a boil and remove from stovetop and cover till the tea is at room temperature. When the tea has cooled transfer the entire solution with the berries to a glass jar. Put a top on the jar then place in the refrigerator. When the season of pollen begins take one teaspoon of the tea each morning, I place mine in a glass of apple juice or you can use the juice of your choice. Continue this each day till season has concluded. WARNING: Be sure and check with your doctor before preceding with this solution as some folks, though a few, are really allergic and should not use this solution. For those of us who can it is truly a Blessing.Key thoughts; the male causes the problem and the female saves the day! Thank You Ladies!Again, I still do not see the pollen building up and very few berries as I reported last month; maybe the drought brought us another silver lining. Be watchful of pollen buildup, it just might be a delayed season.Not YetThis is not the time to prune any of your trees and particularly Live Oaks. The time to do Live Oaks is when it is really cold, December or January. Don’t prune or cut back any fruit trees till after the first of the year. We will discuss that in a later column. ThanksgivingThanksgiving day as we sit down to dinner with friends and family, let’s remember to ask ourselves to name all those things that we have to be thankful for this past year. Our list should be very long. “Oh, that man would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of Thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing” Psalm 107:21-22Last Chance This is your last chance to plant Wildflowers. Check out the web site www.wildseedfarms.com for seeds and how to plant. Once you are there and have purchased your seeds, planted them, then join others and me in prayer for rain. Most of wildflowers love poor soil conditions. Gee they ought to love the Texas Hill Country. Our Aquifers and Water WellsIf you live in Burnet County, you can go to:www.centraltexasgcd.org web site and check the water wells that are being monitored around the County and see what they are doing in your part of the County. The information is scary and hopefully folks will check it out and be more conservative with their water usage. Those who use Rainwater Harvesting to supplement their watering are really doing everyone a favor and are a blessing to all of us.If you live outside of Burnet County and are in a Groundwater District, there are monitoring water wells that will tell you what the water is doing in your area. Check with your local Groundwater District for the individual sites.Till Next Month! Keep your souls and your soles in your garden!Remember the True Master Gardener: Jesus said, “I am the vine; my Father is the Gardener.” John 15:1Have questions or comments? Contact Bill Luedecke at The Luedecke Group Realtors, P.O. Box 1632, Bertram, TX. 78605 (no Post Office in Oatmeal) or email bill@texasland.net. For additional gardening web sites, go to his web site; www.TexasLand.Net and click on links.