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It’s fairly difficult to have a conversation with anyone the past couple of weeks without the subject of the heat and high temperatures the we have been suffering as of late. Just in case you feel as if we’re being picked on or targeted around our fair Valley, all you need to do is read the papers, watch the news, or listen to the radio. Much of the entire country has been in a heat wave, and some of those folks are not as acclimated as should we feel. You hear a lot of folks complain about the extremes in the weather, whether it be hot, cold, windy, calm, sunny, cloudy or too wet, to too dry. As I’ve heard said prior, there’s about two things one can do about the weather, & that would be either getting in or out of it. Also, one other quote I’m quite fond of regarding weather comes from an ol’ Range Prof. while Joe Parks & I were down at A&M, one Dr. E.J. Dyksterhaus. Anyhow, he liked to tell us the story of two ol’ Ranchers that were visiting over the fence up in Wyoming and one was complaining of the effect of the drought on the rangeland and cattle. The other rancher calmly quipped, "Well, you’re no darn tourist, are ya"!

Several local Pecan producers really made a good showing at the Texas State Pecan Show held down in San Marcos a few weeks back. I think ten or eleven San Saba entries placed in the top three in their respective class with two San Saba producers bringing back Championship honors. The Reserve Champion Commercial division Pecan entry was a Sioux, shown by Olan Tisdale, Barnett Spgs. Ranch, while The Classic Division Grand Champion was a Nocona entry exhibited by John Byrd, King Crossing Farm up at Sloan. San Saba has been pretty prominent in Pecan showing as long as I can recall, as well as having the honor of the oldest County Pecan Show in Texas. We were proud of the spotted showers some received last week, with some folks measuring upwards of ¾" around town & some parts of the County. Larry Shivener reported more than that. It didn’t rain down at the Colony the 1st time, but got a good shower down that way the following afternoon. I don’t think it even speckled the dust out around Algerita. Guess it’s time to get another hurricane to come into the Gulf and then stall out up here around theseparts.

We are noticing a lot of folks that have given up the garden to the heat, weeds, grass,bugs& other maladies that come along with summertime. There is still time to do some planting for certain veggies that do better in the Fall season. Actually, truth be told, just about all garden varieties do better in the Fall than they fare in the "Spring" garden. We call it the spring garden as that’s when we plant, but mostly it turns into a summertime harvest. There is still time to plant some of the quicker producing bush beans, and some other pretty easy stuff like lettuce, radish, and green onions. Any of the greens can be planted from now through Sept. and I’d say you can plant Swiss Chard just about anytime you want. Fact is, I think you’d have to pull it plumb up to ever get rid of it. Onions need to be seeded around the middle of Oct. and J. Byrd says that’s a pretty good time to plant Garlic, as well. If you want to try any fall Tomatoes at this time, you might consider container grown plants, as they can be moved to shelter for the first few intermittent frosts that should come in early NovemberFall gardening can be very pleasant as you encounter very few of the normal problems of summer gardening, and just being in the garden in the Fall is a whole lot more enjoyable, as well as harvesting higher quality produce. If you need assistance with recommended varieties of certain vegetable, check by the County Extension office in the Courthouse and they should be able to give you a list. August is a critical period for Pecan kernel filling and proper watering is essential. If you don’t get an inch of rain per week or 10 days, one needs to irrigate. With that in mind, the hydrant is already open in the orchard and the Mayor probably has the pump going out around——————Harkeyville!!!!!!!!!!