Hello from Floresville, TX. :)

HA! When we were looking at houses in Floreville a little while back, the kids decided to occupy themselves by building a sand castle on the front yard.

As much as I'd like to try prickly pear fruit, I never have. Is it hard to peel? Even the fruit has spines! And I agree that they're pretty plants. I'd be tempted to plant one, but I hear that once they get established, they're darn near impossible to get rid of! There's a state park near here (Government Canyon-- lovely hiking-- do visit if you haven't yet). The rangers and volunteers are trying their mightiest to restore the land to it's original form, as it was ranchland for a long time, and the brush and cacti have taken over. I hear the prickly pear are pretty much the bane of their existance.

Thanks, Pastor Dave. Honestly, I would LOVE to raise meat animals but I just can't. I tried with meat chicken about 3 years ago. Started with 6. When it came time to butcher them it took me about two weeks to get up the nerve. I finally did 1. I cried for days and the others just lived out their lives. *sigh* I am a wimp. I have no problem over its dead. ..hand me a carcass and I will give you meat. It's the getting it dead part I just can't manage.

I grew up in North Arkansas, so was supposed to have 4 distinct seasons, as well. However, like you say about there, it was too hot or too cold most of the time. Fall is my absolute favorite season and down here I generally get 2 or 3 days a year that feel like fall, a week or so of 'winter' (we actually dropped into the 20's one night this past winter) and a lot of Summer!

It sounds like you have a pretty good set up there. I would love to have maybe just one more acre. I don't want a lot to take care of alone and the boys are growing up fast and won't always be here.

Again, thanks for the welcome! Sorry it took so long to reply. My tail is dragging and I seem behind on everything so far this week.

LMK17, that's too funny about the kids making the sand castle. I am really glad mine isn't the only one!

Yeah, it is pretty awful that even those pretty fruit will poke you. One little easy trick I learned is to get a bbq lighter and quickly burn them off. I then peel them the same way I do a kiwi (cut of the ends, slit down one side, peel off skin). I don't like them by themselves...they are really sweet. They are wonderful in things though. I love to boil them down and make a syrup (for ice cream, waffles, mixed drinks...) and, of course in smoothies. You can eat the seeds or get rid of them. The color is the best part, they are so bright and pretty, but you have to be careful because it stains bad! I know I hear a lot about them just talking over and judging by the roadsides here I believe it. I have mine well contained in a bed at the back of my house though and don't foresee them getting unruly.

I will have to check out Government Canyon...it sounds like my kind of place.

@LMK17, you have to singe the spines off the prickly pear fruit. It isn't easy and it seems to me no matter how you do it you still end up with little spines in your hands. I use to use BBQ tongs and hold the fruit over an open flame just long enough to get the painful parts. I've heard you can rub the fruit with burlap bags, and while that may work it seems like an invitation to a handful of nearly invisible spines. Again no matter how you do it, with or without gloves, you are going to get the spines in your hands. I think it may be something similar to a magnetic attraction for the spines to human flesh.

The prickly pear fruit makes a beautiful colored jelly that is nice with any meat.

I'd rather just have some horrible disease come and kill all the prickly pear and mesquite on our property. It certainly can be confined to just here as there are others out there that like both mesquite and prickly pear. Not me.

@Newgoatmom If you check out Gov't Canyon, go see the dinosaur tracks! It's about 2.5 miles each way but well worth it! Some nice Geocaches along that trail, too. We let the kids Geocache along the way, and they handle the hike much better.

And burning the spines off the fruit makes total sense... Man, this landscape is brutal! One has to wonder how the early hunter gatherers made it! Seems like everything wants to bite, sting, or prick you. To say nothing of the blasted sun in the summer... It was quite the eye opening experience when I first got down here...

As the saying goes... Texas is good for men and dogs but hard on women and horses.

Oh wow, Government Canyon definitely sounds like my kind of place! I will have to take my boys there soon!

One of my sons' ex girlfriend always said Texas is the Australia of the US...everything here wants to kill you and has the means to! I got attacked by fire ants a few days ago just trying to take a picture of one of my roses.

Ugh, sorry about the ants... Terrible little buggers!

I can always tell when someone is new to the area and from up north because they don't take the ants seriously. Several years ago, I was at a park and watched one little boy, about 18 months, toddle off. I warned his mom, "Careful, I saw some ants over there." She was like, "Oh, OK." "No, you don't understand, there are ANTS over there. Fireants." Then I had to explain to her what that means! LOL Turns out, her husband is in the military, and they had just moved from New York state or something.

Of course, I did the same thing when I first came here. We were at one of the SA Missions, and there was a sign warning of wildlife. It was something to the extent of, "Beware of mountain lions, venomous snakes, wild hogs, and fireants." I thought that including ants on that list was the stupidest thing ever. Then I had my first encounter with them.

LOL about TX being the Austalia of the US! Makes sense to me! Although I know a lady here who is originally from Austalia. It's pretty funny; she posts pictures of TX wildlife on her Facebook page, and her friends back in Australia post things like, "Oh my! That's scary!" Or "Ewww! What is that?!?" Just a matter of perspective, I guess...

Newgoatmom said:

Hi! I am very new to any sort of herd animal and decided I need a good source of information. I used to spend a lot of time on backyard chickens so knew this was just the place to go.

I currently just have two precious little girl goats. Anabelle is about 5 months old and 3/4 Boer 1/4 Spanish. Eliza is about 7 months old and 3/4 Nubian and 1/4 Nigerian Dwarf. She is going to be my milk girl though I plan to try milking Anabelle, as well, and see how it goes. I had no clue how wonderful and addictive goats are. I want more! Lol These had neither been handled much when I got them and I am working toward building their trust. I am just getting them to where they will let me reach under and rub their bellies so they should be used to the idea by the time they are old enough to breed and milk.

A bit more about me, I am a single mom of 4 boys ages 19, 17, 15, and 6. We try to stretch our one acre to provide as much as possible with planting, chickens and ducks, and now the goats. I work nights so keep a pretty odd schedule and you never know when I will be on here reading and learning as I go along.

Thanks for reading! I can't wait to get to know the people here and learn from all the knowledgeable people on this site!

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Hi, and Welcome from Canyon Lake, Tx! I recommend Rabbits for Meat. Theyre High in Protein, but do need a Supplement because they dont have Much Fat. I myself am 17, I have Rabbits, and Chickens. California's, Rex, NZ's are great for a Starter in Meat Rabbits. I have 2 California's(1 Buck(boy), 1 Doe(girl).) 1 NZW Doe(girl), and 2 Lionhead's(1 Buck, and 1 Doe). The California's and Lionhead's will be Pedigree by Next January. The Lionhead's will be Pets mainly.