FOCUS ON TEXAS

Backyard Gardens
By Ashley Clary

Green thumbs abound in Co-op Country! So much so that it was very difficult to decide whether to showcase beautiful flower beds or massive vegetable harvests. In the end, we chose to show the gardens themselves, in all stages, and how a little time and attention really brings forth the fruits of your labor.

Grandpop—Pedernales Electric Cooperative member Joe L. Banda—enjoyed helping his grandson Brice and Harley the pup plant seeds in Banda’s thriving garden in Spicewood.

Flower Mound resident and CoServ Electric member Pepper McCarty said the chickens are always willing to lend a scratch as she and her husband, David, get their garden ready.

Jeannie Ferrier, a Pedernales Electric Cooperative member for almost 20 years, sent us this colorful shot of a bottle tree decorating her garden in Austin.

Thanks to a trustworthy guard over their Comanche County ranch, a bountiful crop of vegetables is on the way for Brenda and John Murphy, Tri-County Electric Cooperative members since 1996.

If you want okra, just ask Bandera Electric Cooperative members Weldon and Glenda Dunn. Even on a ladder, Weldon is still shorter than his 10-foot-2-inch-tall okra stalks in his Boerne garden.


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FARMER’S BOUNTY is the topic for our MAY 2010 issue. Send your photo—along with your name, address, daytime phone, co-op affiliation and a brief description—Barnyard Babies, Focus on Texas, 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701, before MARCH 10. A stamped, self-addressed envelope must be included if you want your entry returned (approximately six weeks). Please do not submit irreplaceable photographs—send a copy or duplicate. We regret that Texas Co-op Power cannot be responsible for photos that are lost in the mail or not received by the deadline. Please note that we cannot provide individual critiques of submitted photos. If you use a digital camera, e-mail your highest-resolution images to focus@texas-ec.org or submit on our website at www.texascooppower.com. (If you have questions about your camera’s capabilities and settings, please refer to the operating manual.)

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