Hey Stone!
You would like Montague County. And Bowie is one of those rural areas that time seems to have avoided - when you drive down Wise Street in the center of town, you see the old, mostly abandoned, brick facades of a wealthier time. Even the red dirt of the Oklahoma countryside north of the Red River isn't found here - here it's mostly limestone outcrops and gravely soil that at one time was probably the bed of the Red River itself. Where we live is on the top of one of the many limestone ridges, along with several varieties of white and red oak trees, and huge, beautiful native Pecans down by the creek - all great for Texas barbeque but not much else. There's not much dirt for growing vegetables at all... and the ubiquitous Texas wild hogs will tear up five acres in a single night when the pecans are in season. The name of the road we live on is "Bugscuffle Road" - now how county is that?
So we've had to make our own dirt by hauling in horse manure some of my neighbors have kindly gifted us with, and composting it with wood chips from trees we have gleaned from our land. It's a slower process than we thought it would be, and as we have found, doesn't produce much nitrogen to speak of.
Nevertheless, it is some of the best and most beautiful cattle range land in Texas, therefore the world. Bluestem does well here. Ranchers live much as they did 100 years ago, struggling to make a living from their cattle, and respecting old-time frontier values. Our neighbors are amazing, dignified people who just want to be left alone mostly, but who would come to my aid in the middle of the night every time. Nothing woke here. No neo-pronouns.There are 12 churches in Bowie, all well attended of a Sunday morning.
Having chickens, something that really attracts us, is unfortunately impractical to even consider. Between the resident foxes, bobcats, and coyotes, they wouldn't last long.
We're delighted to have found this website, and to be able to learn from so many talented and knowledgeable gardeners. We hope we can be worthy of your company.
And now you've got us thinking of chickens again...
BW--
