Glen Brammell Journal

With the summer months coming on, we have been doing a lot of planning for our garden. I have the grounds laid out and tilled and we are deciding what plants will go where. It’s a fun project for my wife and I and I think the kids will be glad to help out now and then as well. We have some great plans for this year’s harvest.

One idea I am interested in is called rain harvesting. That’s when you harvest the rain that runs off your roof into what is called a rain barrel. The water is stored there until you need to use it. I thought it would be the perfect way to save on our water bill. Instead of paying for water from the tap to water the plants, we can use the water that is captured in the barrels.

I went online in order to investigate the situation and I found a great site where they have rain barrels for sale. Although there is an initial investment, it will save me in the long run as well as being environmentally friendly. I believe we will have on heck of a garden this year and I am very excited about that. We will be able to put our own produce on our dinner table. Now that’s a good feeling.

The weather in some parts of Texas has been especially hot this year. That coupled with a lack of rain has equaled out a drought. This has affected the growing and selling of Christmas trees. The farmers are not having a good year.

Many trees are dying from the intense heat. Trees are being imported from other areas of the country in order to meet demand. The effect on the local Texas economy is expected to last for several years as many saplings have died as well. I hope they get a break soon.

The weather here in our part of the world is beautiful today. I just came inside after working in the garden for a few hours and I am happily dirty. I did some weeding and watered the plants. I also fixed the fence where it came down in the storm last week.

Anyway, I was happy to be out in the sun and even got a little bit of tan already. I think I’ll make a nice lunch and relax for a few minutes. I guess I’ll be going back out after awhile and see what else I can get done.

The University of California has been working on a long standing problem. That is, how to keep people from being bitten by mosquitoes. What they have discovered is that there are at least three odors that mosquitoes don’t like. The odors essentially block the ability of mosquitoes from knowing that a human is near. This in turn keeps them from sucking the blood they crave.

Scientists are working on the problem of turning this knowledge into a practical compound that can be used by humans to keep the mosquitoes off. I hope they get it working soon!!

We’ve hit 80 degrees a couple of times already, so I’m starting to think SUMMER. As much as I like the beach, sometimes you don’t want to deal with the parking issues, the long hike, and the sand in your shoes just to get some swimming. There are plenty of days when I would really like to get home from work, throw on my swim trunks and jump in a swimming pool.

Our neighborhood does not have a community pool – one of the drawbacks of living in a house instead of an apartment. So, we’ve been looking at above ground swimming pools to fit in a corner of our backyard. Both of our neighbors have installed high privacy fences, so all we would have to do is put up a fence cross the back – for safety.

I know the neighbors would want to get to be better friends if they thought we would invite them over for a swim in our backyard pool. And we could have some righteous pool parties on Friday nights, with the barbecue grill smoking and some ice cold beverages. Maybe even some string lights around the edges and a couple of outdoor speakers for good music. It’s starting to sound like a really good plan to me.