The Life and Times of the Marshall's

Try to Catch a Live Rat in the Grill

2013-05-26T09:56:00.003-05:00

We Stained our New Cedar Fence

2013-04-21T20:48:00.001-05:00

So we have decided to go ahead and stain our new fence. We waited about a month for the wood to dry out, as it will shrink as it does. We have two estimates for a company to do it for us, but ultimately we did it ourselves and SAVED tons of money! We then did research on the different stains that are available and keeping costs in mind. We ultimately went with the stain where we also purchased our fence supplies from. It had good review and was also made locally.

BEFORE

Applying the Stain...

FINISHED!

We Built a Cedar Privacy Fence!

2013-04-06T21:14:00.000-05:00

So after many years of hating our old chain link fence, we are going to build us a Western Red Wood Cedar Privacy Fence! Check out the journey in the video or scroll through our photos of the massive undertaking; huge project! And we SAVED a ton of money by doing it ourselves too!!!

The backyard after we bought the house; notice you cannot see the chain link fence with all the brush around it. We slowly cleaned it out over the years, but unable to get all of it with the chain link fence there.

The OLD fence is GONE!!

The SUPPLIES have arrived!

Time to set 45 post in CEMENT!

CEMENT! Time to mix by hand!

After digging the holes, mixing the cement, and setting the posts; they are all FINALLY in!

700+ Cedar Pickets!

3,000+ Duo-Fast Nails!

The pickets are slowly going up....

Time for the top layer of pickets (board on board)

WE ARE DONE!! ...and the dogs can run free again!

FYI: Much more work than the pictures can portray!

Build a Garden Potting Work Table for FREE out of Old Wood Pallets!

2013-01-04T22:39:00.002-06:00

We built a FREE Gardening Work Table out of old wood pallets. Meredith found this idea on Pinterest. Looked easy enough. So we went on a scavenger hunt for wood pallets around the city and found a few place that were giving them away on Craigslist. PERFECT Free will work! Check out the video below to see more details of the project.

Free old wood pallets & crates!

We now time to break the pallets apart...no easy feat. Ended up cutting out the nails, as they would not come out at all!

Slowly put it together piece by piece.

Then found some stain that only cost us $3.....

Finally finished!

Christmas at the Clary House!

2012-12-27T16:46:00.000-06:00

This Christmas we went to my Mom's Bed and Breakfast, The Clary House, to celebrate with my immediate and extended families. What a great few days we had down in Aggieland. We went early Christmas Eve to help prepare food for our Christmas Dinner with family. Christmas Eve night we went to A&M United Methodist with my brothers, parents, niece, and nephew. A great Christmas Eve service to help us all remember the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas morning was filled with presents, toy playing, and apple pancakes. Christmas night my extended family came over for dinner and our annual Christmas gift exchange. What a great Christmas we had celebrating with my family.

Santa Came!

Cherry Pie made by Chef Brandon

Everyone gathering to exchange gifts in the Grand Clary House.

We missed you Ketrons! Brian and Genevieve we missed you too!

Good to have Grandpa back for Christmas from the land down under.

Planning & Starting of our Spring Vegetable Garden

2012-12-23T09:32:00.000-06:00

So it is the end of December and time to start planning next spring's vegetable garden. Before you know it it will be time to plant our onions in January & Potatoes in February. If you don't want to watch the detailed videos below...We have ordered our seed from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds that we will be growing. Not buying transplants at the nursery this year which lets us grow a greater diversity of vegetables that you cannot find in garden centers. And we have ordered out seed starting supplies from Greenhouse Megastore to get our seeds off to a great start! FYI--12 different tomato varieties! YUM!!! Next up --time to get the garden ready and amend the soil for optimum organic growing results!Check our our video of the Compost being delivered!

Here is what we growing the Spring 2013....

·         Reisetomate Tomato
·         Tomato Yellow Brandywine
·         Tomato Pink Brandywine
·         Tomato Black Cherry
·         Tomato Cherokee Purple
·         Red Grape Tomato
·         Rutgers Tomato
·         Tomato Costoluto Genovese
·         Chocolate Stripes Tomato
·         Tomato Hssiao His Hung Shih
·         Dr. Wyche’s Yellow Tomato
·         Ferris Wheel Tomato
·         Tomatillo Grande Rio Verde
·         Litchi Tomato or Morelle De Balbis
·         Pepper – Quadrato D’Asti Rosso
·         Pepper Italian Pepperoncini
·         Pepper Black Hungarian
·         Pepper Hot Bhut Jolokia
·         Pepper Hot Lightning Mix
·         Cucumber Boston Pickling
·         Cucumber Lemon
·         Lettuce Little Gem
·         Lettuce Black Seeded Simpson - GreenLeaf
·         Lettuce Tom Thumb – Butterhead
·         Bean Blue Lake Bush 274
·         Beans Calima Bush
·         Herb – Lemongrass
·         Herb – Cilantro
·         Herb – Slo-Bolt Cilantro
·         Herb – Parsley – Giant of Italy
·         Herb- Genovese Basil
·         Herb – Emily Basil
·         Squash – Butternut Rogosa Violina Gioia
·         Squash – Straightneck Early Prolific
·         Squash – Early Golden Summer Crookneck
·         Squash – Fordhook Zucchini
·         Squash Golden Zucchini
·         Watermelon - Ali Baba
·         Broccoli – Calabrese Green Sprouting
·         Cabbage- Henderson’s Charleston Wakefield
·         Eggplant Aswad
·         Carrot – Amarillo
·         Carrot – Atomic Red
·         Carrot – Danvers 126 Half Long

Find this seeds starting equipment below here....

Our Holiday Photos!

2012-12-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

We had a fun time taking holiday photos! Here is some of our favorites. It was a crisp cool evening as the sun was setting at White Rock Lake in Dallas.

5x7 Folded Card

Ice! 2012 Gaylord Texan - DreamWorks' Merry Madagascar

2012-12-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

An amazing display of hand-carved Ice sculptures made my artisans from China brought in just for this magnificent display each year. Made with over two million pounds of ice. It is very cold inside at only 9°F.

We have been to every ICE! Exhibit since the Gaylord Texan first started it in 2008.

At the end of this post you can find the links to the previous years ICE! Exhibits.

Check out the previous year links below to see the different themes...

2008 ICE! Gaylord Texan Resort

2009 We Froze the Grinch! Ice

2010 ICE! Gaylord Texan - A Charlie Brown Christmas

2011 ICE! Shrek The Halls @ Gaylord Texan Resort

Prepare Asparagus Beds for the Fall & Winter

2012-12-01T21:39:00.000-06:00

Asparagus Beds in the Fall & Winter:
How to prepare your bed for a great crop next spring!

Fall Vegetable Garden Survives Frost in December

2012-12-01T21:30:00.001-06:00

Crazy Texas Weather --nearly 80°F in December!

Beet - 'Detroit Dark Red' & Tomato - 'Improved Porter'

Beet - 'Detroit Dark Red'

Tomato - 'Improved Porter'

Preparing for Thanksgiving

2012-11-21T23:13:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Pie & Apple Pie

Thanksgiving at the Trammell's

Harvesting our Fall Vegetable Garden YUM!!!

2012-11-10T10:00:00.001-06:00

Here is the latest on our Fall Vegetable garden that is grown all organically with not pesticides or chemical fertilizer and more nutrient dense with compost and rock dust. Fall my be the best time of the year in Dallas to grow a vegetable garden. Its starting to cool down but still warm upper 80's and 70's and cooler at nights. That means less watering than in the summer when its over 100ºF and much more enjoyable to be outside enjoying the bountiful harvest. Also have notice much less to no pest in the garden this fall also.

Try and grow so veggies, you can always start small and increase when needed. Everything you see here is done only on the weekends!! As I have little to no time to work out in the garden during the week. I too have a very full time job. The most time required is when you first plant everything. Right now we just let it grow and pick when ready. EASY!!!

State Fair of Texas 2012 - Big & Bright

2012-10-15T18:15:00.000-05:00

So of course-- we went to the Texas State Fair. It was a lot of fun. We didn't watch many shows this year. However, we did eat a Fletcher's Corny Dog, looked at my new vehicle a GMC Terrain (one day...), checked out the live stock, saw Big Tex, and walked through the Chinese Lantern Festival. We also tried Fried Pumpkin Pie and Fried S'mores. I have to say the s'more was delicious, the pumpkin pie not so much. If you ever come to Dallas in October and haven't been to the Fair you must go.

The easiest way to get to the Fair!!

A MUST have at the Fair!

Meredith Dreaming of her new vehicle!

Borden's Elsie the Cow

Texas Honey - Nothing Better!

TX -OU Weekend

Texas State Animal (large) - Longhorn

Southwest Dairy Farmers

Dallas Mounted Police Unit

I AGREE! Everything you could dream of, but FRIED! YUM!!!!

Photos of Big Tex taken 6 days before he died in the fiery inferno

Chinese Lantern Festival

Fletcher's Corny Dog

Carl and Neil Fletcher invented the deep-fried corn-battered hot dog in their kitchen in Dallas and sold it for the first time at the State Fair of Texas in 1942.

Texas Star is the tallest Ferris wheel in North America!!

'THE END'

Trip to Michigan

2012-10-14T10:33:00.003-05:00

Last weekend my Mom, Aunt Velma, Aunt Sally, and I took a trip to Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan to see my cousin and her family. We had a fabulous time together with her, her boys, and doctor Lowell. We didn't see Lowell much being he is in residency and works really long hours. What dedication he has. The first day we got there the boys were in school so we went to Northville, Michigan a quaint little town for lunch and shopping. They had an exhibit called Skeletons Alive! Skeletons were outside around the town depicting images of what goes on in the shops. These were a couple we saw. We also saw another part of Northville which had and old one room school house and old church for tourist to see. Loved the beautiful fall colors in Michigan, have never been anywhere to see the colors on trees really change.

The next day we took a short trek from Michigan to Canada. We literally were there in 45 minutes. We went to a few wineries close to the border. Had to capture the flag picture to prove how close it is to where they live. Pretty cool.

On Sunday we watched Spence and Everitt (Jill and Lowell's twin boys) play soccer. They were fun to watch. Then we all went to see Edsel and Eleanor Ford's house, the son on Henry Ford. The creator of Ford automobiles. They had lots of beautiful acreage and a massive house with 60 rooms and over 31,000 square feet. Here are a few pictures of their property and the garage full of old Ford automobiles. The little race cars were cars for their children that had real engines. I think Spence and Everitt would love to have one of those.

We had such a great time and I can't wait to go back! Love you, Ketron Family.

Growing a Fall Organic Vegetable Garden in North Texas

2012-10-12T11:10:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest our our Fall Garden.! YUM!!!

Growing Garlic & Shallots in Texas

2012-10-07T06:58:00.001-05:00

This is our first year to grow both the shallots and garlic. Fall is the time to plant garlic! Found to it takes a while for them to grow, so we created a new bed that will not be disturbed through the seasons. Just like there are many types of apples, there is also many types of garlic with a varying taste profile of each. I think we have probably planted over 180 cloves of garlic and shallots in the new garden bed.

The key to any successful garden in the soil, especially here with our thick clay gumbo. I would say I have added well over 7 inches of composts & amendments to the native soil, and then tilled it all into the soil very well. I have added the following soil amendments to our clay soil...

Cow Manure Compost
Mushroom Compost
Organic Soil Conditioner
Sphagnum Peat Moss
Cotton Burr Compost
Expanded Shale
Azomite (rock dust) - Why...because your plants need more than N-P-K
Organic Fertilizer
Cedar Mulch (on top for weed barrier, moister control, and freeze protection)

In this video we have planted...

Plano Balloon Festival

2012-09-23T20:23:00.004-05:00

This weekend we attended the Plano Balloon festival for the first time ever. We went early afternoon, which was way too early. Not a lot going on until the remax parachute team and balloon launch. Soon trucks started arriving with hot air balloons and began to set them up. Some brave people who paid for a ride got to go up into the sky and float across trees. I would never do this, eventhough, Brandon said he would love to one day. It was a neat experience watching the balloons being inflated, take off and float across the sky. Later that evening after the sun went down they had character balloons and some of the previous balloons come back to do a balloon glow. It was really neat to see all the character balloons and the glow. Here are a few pictures from the balloon festival. Would definitely recommend it!

Red Bull Soap Box Race DFW

2012-09-16T11:24:00.001-05:00

What a fun and hilarious time we had at the Red Bull Soap Box race this weekend! There were tons of people out there and so much fun to see all the races and skits. The best part watching all the crashes!!! WOW I bet that hurt!!

Fall Heirloom Vegetable Garden

2012-08-27T16:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend I decided to do a Fall Vegetable Garden, while Meredith was working on getting ready for a new school year! It was much cooler; about 85°F. When it's 110°F not much fun in a big garden! Started this Fall Garden a little late for tomatoes, but I did find a few to plant. Not sure if they will have enough time to produce before it cools down. For those of you reading this in Dallas I bought all this at one location at North Haven Gardens!

Here is what I have planted...

Broccoli - 'Premium Crop' & 'Romanesco' (*see photo below) & 'Raab/Rapini
Cauliflower - 'Snow Crown' & 'Purple of Sicily'
Brussel Sprouts - 'Jade Cross'
Kale - ' Nero Di Toscana'
Cabbage - 'Ruby Perdection
Swiss Chard - 'Bright Lights'
Jalapeno - 'Mucho Nacho'
Eggplant - 'Black Beauty' & 'Gretel'
Sweet Yellow Pepper - 'Hungarian Banana'
Carrot - 'Royal Chantenay'
Parsnip - 'Turga
Cucumber - 'Burpee Salad Slicer'
Black Beauty Zucchini
Squash - 'Early Prolific Straightneck'
Kohlrabi - 'Purple & White Vienna Blend'
Beet - 'Detroit Dark Red'
Parsley - 'Moss Curled'
Cilantro - 'Long Standing'
Lettuce Leaf - 'Black Seeded Simpson'
Lettuce Romaine - 'Little Gem'
Lettuce Romaine - 'Rouge d'Hiver'
Lettuce Butterhead - 'Tom Thumb'
Spinach - 'Monstrueux de Viroflay' and 'Bloomsdale'
Snap Pea - 'Super Sugar Snap'
Tomato - 'Improved Porter'
Pak Choi - Red & Green
Chinese Cabbage (Napa Cabbage)
Elephant Garlic
Rocambole German Red Garlic (hardneck)
Artichoke Inchelium Red Garlic (softneck)
Music Garlic (hardneck) porcelain variety
Turkish Giant Organic Garlic (hardneck)
Santé Shallots

I might later add in garlic, need to find some to plant Check out the video to see more! Also check out our past very successful Spring garden videos too!

*(above) This is what Romanesco Broccoli looks like!

Below...9 days after plantings...

4th of July Celebration

2012-07-05T17:44:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July! During this day we celebrated our Independence. We would also like to thank those currently fighting for our country and past veterans. I had a lot of fun finding ideas on pinterest for our celebration with Brandon's family. From the cake, to the flowers, to the homemade wreath it was fun to be creative. Brandon contributed as the chef of the day. He made a wonderful brisket, roasted corn, avocado corn salad, BBQ beans, and coleslaw. Boy was the food delicious. Here are a few pictures from our celebration.

Moist yellow cake with a strawberry puree filling. Iced with buttercream frosting and topped with fresh farm picked raspberries and blueberries.

Molly and Jackson ready to celebrate the fourth. Not big fans of the bandanas or fireworks though.

Firework Time!

Gardening with Amy

2012-07-02T09:46:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends ago my brother Matt and his family came up for a visit. We had tons of fun with Matt, Trisha, our niece Amy, and nephew Brett. Amy even decided to help Uncle Brandon pick vegetables out of our garden. She was a trooper in the hot Texas heat. She loves to eat cherry tomatoes. Since she helped pick so many, we sent her home with some. Here are a couple pictures from the harvest.

HELP!! VOTE for "The Clary House"

2012-06-20T18:40:00.003-05:00

Vote for "The Clary House"

Thanks to everyone who reads our blog. Now we need your help!!!

Vote for "The Clary House" Bed & Breakfast for the Best B&B in the Brazos Valley!

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VOTE here...
http://bestofthebrazos.com/vote/11/9

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Happy 5th Anniversary!

2012-06-16T10:53:00.001-05:00

Happy Anniversary to my beautiful bride of 5 years!

5 years ago today

Vegetable Garden Update... We can't keep up!

2012-06-09T18:07:00.000-05:00

How to Make Garden-Fresh 'Fried Green Tomatoes'

2012-05-21T16:48:00.000-05:00