Gardening Lake Texoma 2014




For those of us who live in Southern Oklahoma or North Texas and consider ourselves full-time "Texomans" it's the end of another year of gardening at Lake Texoma.

Most of us were too busy gardening and putting up the harvest throughout the season to do much blogging about it, so here's a little summary of our gardening adventures. Please comment and post photos of your gardening this year, too!

Spring found us harvesting mustard greens, collards, kale and swiss chard.  I rinse them (usually in the bathtub because there is too much to fit the kitchen sink) and steam blanch them briefly, then freeze in little packets for quick use in soup and casseroles all winter. Same with fresh green beans.

Yellow crookneck squash and zuchinni came on next, and filled the plastic tubs that make for easy harvesting, tossing them in as we move down each row. This year I froze some in quart bags, after harvesting and cooking both kinds of summer squash together. And I also cooked up big batches of tomatoes, summer squash and herbs from my little strip garden by the driveway, including parsley, rosemary, oregano, cinnamon basil and pineapple sage. After cooling, I ladled it into pint containers and froze it for soup.

And then the tomatoes, peppers and okra ripened and demanded attention. We experimented with a weird (that's what my husband says) variety of tomatoes this year - a few heritage varieties of purchased plants, roma tomatoes we started from seed in our mini-greenhouse, and most exciting to me, the new variety that's super-nutritional called Indigo Rose. It appears very dark in the photo below, almost black, but it's actually purple and green as it's ripening, and then purple and orange-red when fully ripe.

We also experimented with a variety of peppers this year, too. Anaheim, Jalapeno (including one variety that's not very hot, called Surprise Jalapeno), Serrano, Green Bell, Yellow Bell and the weirdest of all - Chilhuacle Negro, a rare and delicious, deep purple/black, bell-shaped pepper that's medium hot and makes DELICIOUS enchilada sauce. Oh yes, we make our own at home!

You'll see my photos of dehydrated peppers and then the ground-up mixture after putting the dehydrated pepper mix through the blender. I call it Pepper Palooza, and it's perfect for sprinking on pizza and adding to homemade salad dressings.

OK, your turn!  Tell us and show us what you grew in your Texoma garden this year by posting below.




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Lake Texoma Current Weather Alerts

There are no active watches, warnings or advisories.

 

Lake Texoma Weather Forecast

Tuesday

Chance Thunderstorms

Hi: 89

Tuesday Night

Chance Thunderstorms

Lo: 75

Wednesday

Slight Chance Thunderstorms

Hi: 89

Wednesday Night

Mostly Clear

Lo: 75

Thursday

Mostly Sunny

Hi: 91

Thursday Night

Mostly Clear

Lo: 78

Friday

Mostly Sunny

Hi: 93

Friday Night

Mostly Clear

Lo: 77


Lake Texoma Water Level (last 30 days)


Water Level on 7/8: 618.88 (+1.88)



Lake Texoma

Fishing Report from TPWD (Jul. 2)

FAIR. Water stained; 84 degrees; 2.44 feet above pool. Striper fishing is good on ledges and humps. Fish are moving quickly on contour in 15-20 feet of water, or suspended 30 feet down on deep humps in 50-70 feet of water on live shad. Topwater baits will be hit-and-miss in the mornings and late evenings before dark. Channel and blue catfish are great on points and ledges in 25-30 feet of water using punch bait. Bigger blues are roaming deeper water flats in 50-70 feet of water, cut shad and whole gizzard shad are working. Bass fishing is good near docks and rocks on crankbaits and quick moving baits. Look for pockets of clearer water and fish to be suspended. Report by Jacob Orr, Lake Texoma, Guaranteed Guide Service. Striped bass are tough with an inconsistent bite. The flood gates have been closed and the bite should improve as the water settles. Best bite has been with live bait or trolling 20-30 feet of water. Some reports of catches anchored in deep water. Still waiting for the small threadfin shad to run midlake. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors. Anticipate increased boater traffic this weekend as we celebrate our Nation’s Independence Day.

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