getting nosey

Just happen to see Dave's post at Jacksonville, Texas not College Station. Have you moved again? Getting into the part of Texas that has the best nursery growers.

Yes, we live in Jacksonville now. We've been here since October, but I only recently updated my preferences. :)

Well welcome to North Texas - if we knew you lived so close now we would have had you come out to Waxahachie to join in on the fun.

Thank you for the offer.

Jacksonville is considered East Texas BTW

We claim everything North of Austin and South of Kansas ^_^

Well at least you got closer to heaven.

Snicker...not until he moves back to "God's Country", or - as the rest of you call it - Tennessee ;o)

Ya'll are funny.

Actually, Jacksonville is almost identical to east Tennessee, in terms of flora. I have plants and trees on my property that I haven't seen since leaving Knoxville.

I have sassafras, red buds, river birch, bois d'arc, honeysuckle, lilacs, roses, blackberries, walnuts, pecans, oaks and pines, and all the usual texas wildflowers. I bought a few tulip poplar and maple trees to round it all out. :)

I'm happy with our little 90 acre ranch in East Texas. I doubt I'll be leaving this one; we're even building a house.

Here's our north pasture from early February, when it was just starting to green up for springtime.

What a beautiful place to raise a family!

That was my exact thought the first time I saw it. :)

Glad you have found a place so beautiful. Check out Douglas Plant Farm, 650 US Hwy. 175, Frankston TX 75763. I have never been to the nursery but often go to Canton First Monday specifically to buy from them. Very healthy stock.
names are Benny & Donna Douglas. I think there are plant nurserys tucked down almost every dirt road for about 100 miles in any direction. Best land for sweet potatoes in the US---and sweet corn---and tomatoes---and onions--and--and

Trees, in Texas...cool.

I never pictured trees in Texas, I really need to do some traveling.

Glad you've found your own personal Eden Dave ^_^

Goodness, girl. East Texas is also timber country. Will try to find stats on Texas timber land. We have, not some, but lots of everything. hahahaha "the biggest braggers to boot).

threegardeners, you have to go WAY west to see the kind of Texas that most non-Texans have an image of.

Everything east of Austin (half the state) looks just like the rest of the southern United States.

What a pretty place! And complete with cows, too.

I, too, always pictured Texas as seen in the western movies, open land, few trees, etc. That pasture surrounded by the trees looks like the place to be. (And those dark rain clouds moving in surely helped to green up that pasture I bet.)

Congrats, Dave and Trish! Ya'll got room to go horse riding now while checking on the "north 40" and such.

Shoe

Just think, Dave has moved and likes the place so much he is building a house. Whatcha livin' now, Dave? A tent?
I had noticed your new address but as far as I was concerned you had just moved to the next county since I don't know where much of any place is except San Antonio, Dallas, Denton, Ft. Worth and Mexia.

Ann

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/county/smith/industry/industry.html
This isn't exactly what I was looking for but it will give you some idea of the area of East Texas.

West of Ft. Worth there is a drastic change. From Abilene to Lubbock in the panhandle is the area you are thinking of. Actually, Shoe, it is doubtful any movie about Texas was actually filmed here. The picture of the boots and suit is kept up by the Texas politicians for the same reason---it presents a false picture.

When flying from DFW to LAX, the first 1/3 or better of the flight, you're still over Texas. Dallas/Ft.Worth/Houston/Austin are all cosmopolitan cities that look a dozen more anywhere else. San Antonio encourages the ethnic look of the Mexicano because it stands out as a tourist attraction.

The area called Hill Country can't be beat for beauty. Edwards Plateau starts about 6 miles from my home in Dallas and meanders on down to the valley. Very pricey real estate. Austin is right in the heart of it. I live in a town of 50,000 and less than 10,000 are native Texans. Seems everyone wants to live here. And we welcome every single one.

The Gulf of Mexico is covered by a good bit of the Texas land line. Another entirely different world.

Can you tell I love my home state. I do and think everybody ought to try being a Texan just once in their lives. hahahaha

No offense to anyone. Please come visit as soon as you can. Dave might even put you up on that spread of his.

(of course, anything under 50,000 acres is not a ranch)

LouC

Thanks for the great info. LouC!!

Someday I might just get to visit South of the border...

Congrats on the new digs, Dave! Glad you found a place to put down roots in!

And, of course, any and all photos are appreciated--it's lovely! :)

Congratulations on your new home Dave & Trish! Now, I have been through the Southern end of Texas @ 39 years ago when my husband had to go to school in California for a few months for the military. I loved the drive to California .. but coming home I thought we'd never get out of Texas ... a very Big state! Of course hubby drove straight from San Antonio to Orlando Florida non stop @ 36 hrs if I remember correctly! He would stop to get gas and tell me if I had to go, to go ... would get snacks and food in the little stores and off we'd be .... can you tell he couldn't wait to get home to Florida? I remember we hit the Florida state line and he said: " Home, we're home!" But, it was still a looong way from the panhandle down to Orlando! He would NEVER ever do that again with me in the car! I would be finding the closest airport to catch a plane back home!

We LOVE Tennessee .... vacation in the Smokies every chance we get and I would love to retire there or the Blue Ridge area some day if I can ever talk hubby into retiring! We would have to live there in the summer though and come back south during the cold weather. We are wimps when it comes to cold!

I just love the photo's of the pastures and the cows! Very cool! I always wanted to live on a farm or in the country and have cows, horses, chickens and such! Oh yeah ... and a huge red barn! To me 9 acres would be country ... 90 acres would be heaven! I guess I will have to live vicariously through other's photos and my country magazine!

Again, Congratulations and Many Blessings to you and your family in your new home!

Lin

It is 1500 miles across Texas from El Paso to Texarkana.

WOW! Now, that is a looong distance! Is El Paso at one end and Texarkana at the other? I think I remember being near El Paso ... is that down in the southern part? I know San Antonio is in the southern area because we stayed with friends for a day or two who lived there. We took I-10 across to California ... except for when we had detours off the Interstate because of the aftermath of Hurricane Camille. The hurricane had come through the gulf states in October 1969 and we drove cross country in February 1970 ...4 months after the storm, and what devastation! I will never forget those sights as long as I live. Gave me a thorough respect for Canes'.

El Paso is the furthermost western edge of the state. Mexico is across the Rio Grande. Texarkana is straight across the map. Part in Texas and part in Arkansas. We are indeed a very large state as to square miles. Should know but I don't. Probably longer mileage from the panhandle to Brownsville (again the Mexican border). Only state in the nation allowed to fly the flag at the same level as the stars and stripes as we were once a Republic also. One of the friendliest bunch of people (natives) you could ever hope to meet. We love everyone. Come back to see us sometime. You are always welcome.

Well, (in my younger, dumber days) I always said I didn't like Texas ... I judged all Texans by one couple we met when my husband was in the Navy. They were stationed in the same city and lived in the apartment above us. Very strange people. But, as I said I was very young and naive ... I now know there are some real doozies in every state, including Florida. I can now even admit to a few in my own family! ^_^ I don't judge anyone anymore, for any reason! I've learned it takes all kinds to make up this big beautiful world we live in. There are some I will never understand but I don't make stupid judgement's now that I am older.

I have a DG buddy who lives in Southern Texas and a few of us are talking about trying to get together to meet in person and spend a few days in the Corpus Christi area this fall! We will visit a few nurseries and just hang out and have a fun time!

Congrats on the new(ish) place Dave! It looks beautiful...and I'm really jealous of how much land you have!

Had a very nice, kind correction concerning the flying of the state flag. Seems it is correct for any and all states to fly their flag even with the stars and stripes. Have heard the myth about Texas flag all of my life. Of course, it was most probably started by a Texan. Thank you, sweezel, for the information. Important to learn something new everyday.

Christi

Lady, we stay in a condo directly on the beach on Mustang Island which is a barrier island to Corpus Christi. Great place. D-mail should you be interested and I will try to give details.

Nice looking place, Dave. Are the cows yours? Have you considered rotationally grazing that piece of pasture? Stan would give me a hard time if I didn't ask.

It's always good to find the place that says 'home,' even if it takes a while.

Yep, the cows are ours, indeed. We have 19 head total: 17 brangus and 2 jerseys. The jerseys are a mother cow plus her bull calf. The calf will go into the freezer this fall.

We actually are going to do rotational grazing. I have some other fencing projects to do first (the priority being to cross fence off the house and garden area) but after that I'll be dividing the pastured into lots and we'll rotate the cattle through them.

We also have 8 goats...

Our son had 4 horses and 6 goats. Got a donkey after the coyotes got two of the goats.

LouC: I just have to ask ... Do coyotes not like donkey's? ^_^ I couldn't resist. I am assuming that the donkeys are loud when coyotes are around, to alert you?

We have coyotes in Florida too ... pesky critters. I've never seen them in my city but saw one once or twice in Ft. Lauderdale area. We have black bears here in Fla too .., just on the news yesterday showing a 350 lb bear in a tree in a neighborhood near downtown Orlando. They tranquilized it and moved it north to the Ocala Nationall forrest because it didn't seem to want to leave on it's own!

: ) Good to hear you're doing it right. Stan has been called a "rotational grazing evangelist" by the NRCS grazing guy. You could say he thinks it's a good idea.

Trish first learned about it from a farming blog that she follows. It makes perfect sense...

Sounds like you have quite the spread there Dave. I am just a little jealous. ;) Is this the first cattle you have had? Glad to hear you are going to use rotational grazing. I have never had cattle myself (maybe one day), but from what I have read and heard, it's the way to go. It's the natural and sustainable way.

Texas entered the other country at the time (the United States) along with an agreement that we could divide into 4 other states if we wished. Of course we never have and doubtless ever will.

lady, if a person has livestock of any kind they are subject to attack by coyotes, especially the newly born whatever. Donkeys and llamas will either run off the coyote or kill it. Perfect guard for the livestock. My community is still developing. Everytime a large parcel of land is cleared the wild animals head for the closest neighborhood for shelter. We are then warned to keep small animals inside, especially at night. This is at 14 miles from the heart of downtown Dallas with the concrete and asphalt. Our gentle little shi tzu has killed two baby possums recently. To our horror she brought one into the house through the pet door. yikes! Besides possum are good for the yard. No bears but for several years there was a mountain lion roaming the creek bed. Two communities even hired a professional trapper but no luck. As usual, I got a little carried away.

Christi

sweezel, we kept a single head of brangus back when we lived in Kerrville, so we have some experience with them. This is our first "herd" though, and it's working out very well. I'm looking forward to having beef for the freezer that "I know what went into 'em"

dave

Cool digs, Dave! Maybe I should update my preferences too and I'll have 100 acres. We practice rotational grazing in my house too - we sit at different chairs at the table each night...

hmm ... Dave, any chance of trading beef for plants? I so agree about beef for the freezer that you know what went into em'! It's getting so scary nowadays with all the antibiotics and other stuff going into our food supply! I worry how it will affect kids as they grow up! So many additives ... it really makes me wonder why.

LOL Victorgardener! Very cute!