December Gardening in Texas

December Gardening in Texas
December 18th 2015

Trading snow during the holidays for 60 degree sunny days has its perks. One perk is the second growing season down here in Austin. This is what I pulled from the garden today, mid-december. That's right, these photos were taken a few minutes ago, not a few months ago.

From left to right: dino kale, purple kale, green kale, MY FIRST BROCCOLI, and Kaleidoscope, a kale and brussels sprouts hybrid.

I have some herbs growing out there:

(and some lettuce sprouting in a pot, which the squirrels can't seem to leave alone, so I had to cover with chicken wire).

Here is a shot of the whole garden, in its protective cage:

From left to right: broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, and lettuce seedlings. Yum!

Inks Lake State Park

Inks Lake State Park
May 30, 2015

An hour outside Austin, we visited this a beautiful park just after it had rained for a number of days, so the wildflowers were out in force. The lake was beautiful, although wide open to motorized sports. I forgot to get pictures of the water.



If you look closely, you'll see a bright green lizard!


Our fearless navigator (directions for hiking could have been clearer).


Taking a break for a snack. What you can't see is that I was sitting at the top of a hill overlooking a carpet of blooming cactus and, further away, Inks Lake.



And the blooming cactus. I think it is a Lace Cactus.

Comanche Bluff Trail, Taylor, TX                                                              

Sunday, September 6, 2015

This trail has a pretty drive past pecan orchards, cotton fields, and other farmland with lots of trees. The drive crisscrosses the San Gabriel River, so there was a surprising amount of green for this time of year.

The trail begins in the Army Corps of Engineer Park, which only costs $4 per car to enter. The trailhead has a restroom, or really more of a glorified outhouse, but it was very clean. About half way through the trail there is another trailhead that also has restrooms.

Most of the trail ran parallel to Grainger Lake, so a nice breeze would waft over occasionally. This also created some dense vegetation! The water did not look swimmable. People were fishing, so that may be something fun to do in the future.

A highlight of this trail are the cool bridges.

Unfortunately there are no special rock formations or vistas, but you can walk down to the lake by the campground.

There was an RV campground by the trailhead. We passed a number of people out hiking that may have been from the campground. It didn’t create a lot of noise and it is mostly blocked from sight on the trail. The campground also has a bathroom for those who forgot at the trailhead.