Llano River is beautiful still despite near stagnation from the drought

I couldn’t bring myself to photograph all the dead and dying trees on our recent trip out to the Hill Country around Mason. I’m still in shock that we may be witnessing climate change and whole ecosystem changes over the course of one summer. Or so it seems. I remember visiting family in the 80s when there was a drought going on, and someone saying that the desert of West Texas was slowly creeping that way.  Mason is definitely on the border between Hill Country and West Texas, but I fear it will become like Arizona, or worse, at least for awhile.

Is anyone else documenting the drought? I wonder if I should document the landscape before it changes to desert.

Log your miles this month on the Austin Commuter Challenge site.  Still not comfortable riding in traffic?  The Austin Cycling Association has a Traffic Skills 101 class several times a month.  For help with finding the best route to work, check the Austin Bicycle Map (available at bike shops or online in PDF form)  or attend a Scout-a-Route ride (part of ACA’s “hosted rides” – see rides listed in blue and green) to explore good commuting routes.

Funky bikes in front of Amy's Ice Cream on South Congress May is Bike Month.

In Austin, the City has put together a calendar of Bike Month events here.

You can also track your mileage and trips by signing up for the Austin Commuter Challenge.

Bike to Work week is May 17-21st. And Bike to Work Day is May 21st – there are usually lots of places that offer free breakfast and similar things for people on bikes.  It’s a good time to work on your employer and co-workers to encourage more biking.

So if you haven’t been riding, now is the time – just do it!  Regardless of what kind of bike you ride…

According to my uncle Jeb, who scanned in this and other family photos, this photo was taken at a nightclub owned by Al Capone.

Aunt Dick left a number of her personal diaries, which my cousin transcribed. I will have to try to find any reference to Mr. Capone.

My great aunt Ruth was a trailblazer in her own right

This photo was taken sometime in the 1920s, I believe.  My grandmother, who was much younger than her older sisters Dixie, Ruth, and Benellen, must have learned some of her bohemian ways from being raised by these strong women.

The winter garden in our front yard has kale, various lettuces, mache, lavendar, brocolli, spinach, bok choi, and Italian parsley. There are some carrot seedlings coming up, too. I put this together in September when it was still pretty hot. I just finished the Citizen Gardener class and learned some things I could do better, including leveling the garden bed, putting in a cardboard weedblock, and adding a bit of vinegar to the water, which is very alkaline (veggies like slightly acidic).

I then recalled that my own grandmother had often voiced her fear of someday becoming homeless herself.  She kind of romanticized it, probably having grown up in the era of the hobos, but I’m sure she really did worry about it.  She befriended several homeless women who lived on the Drag near the University when she lived near there, one of which had been a doctoral candidate and the other a dance instructor from which my mom took classes in the ’60s.

The fact is, many people are incredibly close to being homeless, especially if they have any kind of mental illness for which treatment is nearly non-existent in Texas (here’s a great snapshot of what that means in Harris County for their county jail).  And that real estate bubble hasn’t helped, as the 44-lb. cat in New Jersey recently found out.  Two kinds of fat cats here in the land of the free – and both are losers.

Markie [Markham] raved about the depression, and how terrible times are; they’re going to have a special session of legislature this month to forbid the planting of cotton this fall*, and all the state employees salaries will be cut 15% or more.  Ruthy is simply sick about it, but she’s lucky to have a job at all, as it’s getting to where they just can’t be had.

Markie is a family friend and Ruthy is her sister.  They were living in Austin at the time and Ruth worked at the Capitol.

*UPDATE: The Handbook of Texas Online says that the Texas Cotton Acreage Control Act of 1931-32 was an effort to control the falling prices of cotton, due to overproduction, by limiting the amount of acreage being cultivated for cotton (not a complete ban) as well as to institute some soil conservation measures. This command-and-control-type measure was struck down in the courts in 1932.  I doubt the Texas Legislature of today would never do something like that!

Yet, I sometimes kill houseplants, so how am I going to do with vegetables?

Thus far, I have more or less determined the best area in our back yard for vegetables, which need at least 6 hours of sun per day. The back yard gets more morning sun than the front, which tends to be better (from what I’ve gathered). Some of that prime sunny spot is unfortunately also where the gas and electric lines are, so a raised bed is necessary. I think the only problem with a raised bed in the Texas heat is that it might dry out a bit faster than a non-raised bed garden, but hopefully the good solid wood of the old doorframes (rescued from the remodeling project next door, see pic) I’m using, plus lots of compost and mulch, will help with that.

I’ve begun prepping for a compost pile. Some more rescued wood from next door may become a compost bin. I have been collecting kitchen scraps (all vegetable matter) and putting it in plastic bags in the freezer until I’m ready for the layering process – more or less equal parts brown (i.e., dead leaves or dirt) and green matter (such as wilted lettuce).

Next, I need some soil and then some plants. It’s too late here for anything but fairly large plants that can hold their own in the Texas heat. Probably some tomatoes, squash, maybe some watermelon…. whatever will live through the summer! And I will continue to try to get what I can from the downtown Austin Farmers Market.

Some great local resources on gardening:

• Travis County Ag Extension planting schedule
• South Austin Community Gardens – (they don’t have a lot of info online – may have to actually go to a meeting and meet some folks in person. Gasp!)
• KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener blog
• The Natural Gardener’s links page

I’m so ready to get this party started, but I know it will be a process and will be an adventure. More on my plans for getting rid of the St. Augustine grass, planting some lavender, and the trees in our yard and neighborhood later…

]]> http://austinative.com/2008/06/11/austinative-garden/feed/ 2 lauratex I used two old door frames to form the beginning of a raised bed garden in our backyard.