Wayne Newton’s Gift and Watching the Girls
Wayne Newton hired Jamie Phillips, after her equine apprenticeship program, to run his Arabian Horse Farms. Jamie says Wayne is a nice, generous man. She still sends him pictures of her kids at Christmas time.
Wayne made his wedding gift to her Ali Design, an Arab horse. Ali, like most Arabs, is friendly and would love to come in the house and sleep at the end of their bed. Bedouins raise their horses to live inside their tents.
That was 15 years ago now, before her two children and the “girls” arrived in her life.
Jamie and her husband bought a farm in Rock Creek so Ali would have room to run. It is located at 3948 State Route 45.
The “girls” entered Jamie’s life as an alternative to a day job.
Even early a few chickens were running around the yard. Folks would stop and ask if they could buy eggs. From this grew Phillips Egg Company.
The girls are Golden Comets, and each can lay 360 brown eggs a year. Jamie’s chickens, who she calls, “her girls,” go out a lot when the garden is not yielding. If it is, they have to stay in their yard, as the garden is a real magnet for them. So you could say the “girls” are a combination of “pasture raised,” and “free range.” They are always “cage-free.”
The girls chase and catch frogs and whatever they can find. In the summer they peck at the toes of visitors, too, being especially attracted to painted toe-nails, especially red ones.
Raising chickens and eggs commercially was easy to do, Jamie says. The inspection to be certified was free. The food inspector man came out, looked around and signed off. Jamie rigorously follows the rules, labeling instructions on the cartons of eggs, typed and printed out on recycled cartons. The only other requirement is having a thermometer in her refrigerator.
Jamie has also had Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Barred Rocks but prefers the Comets. The flock is not as pretty but their personalities are friendly and they are very, very brave. When she goes out to clean the coop as many as four chickens will try to ride on her because she appears to be roost-able.
The business is growing. They are branching out with their garden, cut flowers, and meat chickens. And every day has its little adventures with the “girls.”
New Peach Varieties Available In Texas
Peach tree blossoms in the research plots of Dr. David Byrne in College Station, Texas. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Kathleen Phillips)
COLLEGE STATION – Southerners who have been anxiously awaiting a peach tree that will produce in warmer climates – just chill.
Four new varieties being released for production in nurseries this year will soon be available for growers where cold temperatures – a necessity for peach trees – are less likely, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Research stone fruit breeder Dr. David Byrne.
“This is a first,” Byrne said. “These are unique because there are few low-acid white peaches available to be grown in our adaptation zone.”
Most white flesh peaches found in the produce section in grocery stores are grown in California, he said. White fleshed peaches are preferred in China, Japan Taiwan, and white fleshed peaches were initially planted in California to supply those markets.
According to the California Fruit Tree Agreement statistics, white fleshed peaches began to appear as a niche product in the U.S. market by 2000 and are now commonly found in grocery stores throughout the season.
“The four varieties — called White Delight series — are named for their excellent flavor and color of their flesh, which ranges from creamy white to as much as 80 percent striped red or orange-red,” Byrne said.
Three of the new varieties are clingstone while one is semi-freestone, and they ripen consecutively from late-May through mid-July, Byrne noted.
The seed for these new crosses were originally planted in 1998 and had shown consistent production in three locations – Fairfield and College Station, Texas, and Fresno, Calif. – since 2006. Fruit from the research trees scored high in taste tests, Byrne said.
Nurseries can obtain budwood under a license agreement with AgriLife Research.
Peach tree blossoms in the research plots of Dr. David Byrne in College Station, Texas. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Kathleen Phillips)
Getting More Texas Wind Power On The Grid
Wind turbines near Sweetwater, Texas. The Center for Rural Affairs says more high voltage transmission lines will help get wind generated electricity on the grid. — Photo By Sheila Scarborough
AUSTIN, Texas – There is a treasure trove of renewable energy in the U.S., but the obstacles and barriers to getting it on the grid are many. Johnathan Hladik, energy policy advocate with the Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA), said the biggest hurdle right now is the lack of high voltage transmission lines. Adding to that infrastructure would allow for the use of more renewable resources, he said, while helping with rural economic development.
“There is so much opportunity associated with increased property tax paid by wind-turbine owners and by those building transmission lines, with the actual construction jobs associated with both the wind turbines and the transmission lines,” he explained. “We’re looking at a good way to rejuvenate a lot of our smaller communities.”
Currently, less than 1 percent of the country’s transmission lines with the greatest capacity are located in the states with the most wind-energy potential.
The problem, Hladik pointed out, is that when lines were built historically, they focused on one big power plant, serving one large municipal area, while smaller lines were put up in rural areas.
“This old model led to a situation where the only high-capacity transmission lines in the United States, quite literally, are located in areas of very high population density,” he said “which are the exact opposite areas of where our wind resources are most robust.”
As for Texas in particular, Hladik said the wind energy potential is very rich.
“There’s been so much effort to really develop the wind resources in Texas and a lot of that has been successful,” he said, “but they’re running into serious brick walls at this point with that transmission bottleneck, with not having enough transmission to tap those resources.”
Electricity generation from renewable energy resources in the U.S. is currently at about 10 percent of the total. That is expected to grow to 15 percent over the next 20 years.
More information is available at www.cfra.org.
Wind turbines near Sweetwater, Texas. The Center for Rural Affairs says more high voltage transmission lines will help get wind generated electricity on the grid. — Photo By Sheila Scarborough
Kerrville Folk Festival May 23 – June 9
KERRVILLE, Texas — The Kerrville Folk Festival at Quiet Valley Ranch, nine miles South of the Texas Hill Country resort community of Kerrville, is getting ready for the 2013 42nd annual event.
This legendary songwriter’s festival will run for 18 straight days, beginning Memorial Day weekend from Thursday, May 23, through Sunday, June 9.
Season ticket packages and day tickets are on sale now.
The first weekend’s performers will include Joy Kills Sorrow for their first appearance at Kerrville.
The second weekend brings back Dala, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame; and David Broza back after a long absence. New is Max Gomez, back is Trout Fishing in America, The Steel Wheels, and Bill Staines.
The third weekend will include The Roys whose awards and accolades just keep rolling in. New to Kerrville will be The Stray Birds. Returning to the festival will be Birds of Chicago and Ray Bonneville.
Other performers will be announced later. As usual, the 2013 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for emerging songwriters will be held on the first Saturday and Sunday of the festival (May 25 and 26), from 1 to 4 p.m. From the almost 800 entries, 32 finalists have been selected to perform in this prestigious annual competition, hosted by Steve Gillette and Festival Founder Rod Kennedy.
Several former New Folk finalists and winners include Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, David Wilcox, John Gorka, Jimmy LaFave, Tish Hinojosa, BettySoo, Tom Prasada-Rao, Danny Schmidt, Jonathan Byrd, Tom Russell, Ray Bonneville, Steve Earle, Hal Ketchum, Robert Earl Keen and many hundreds of others.
Held each year since 1972, the Kerrville Folk Festival is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. Over the years it has become known internationally as a Mecca for singer songwriters of varying musical styles… a place where those just beginning to develop their skills have the opportunity to play their music alongside those who are masters.
Emerging songwriters as well as teachers are drawn to the festival’s many learning opportunities, such as the 33rd Annual Songwriters School, the Roots / Blues Guitar Workshop, Harmonica Workshop, Capo Workshops, a Music Law Panel Discussion, and the 12th Annual Professional Development Program for Teachers.
There’s something for everyone at this festival, from camping, campfire jam sessions, concerts and activities for kids, “Ballad Tree” song sharing sessions, Hill Country bike rides and canoe trips on the Guadalupe to Sunday Folk Song Services, Saturday Shabbat Services, and much more.
A complete festival schedule, information, and tickets can be found at www.kerrvillefolkfestival.org or by calling the festival office at (830) 257-3600. Ticket prices range from $25 to $40 depending on the particular day, although savings can be had by purchasing tickets early online.
Campground Access and Parking Lot fees are included in the ticket price.
The Kerrville Folk Festival is owned by the Texas Folk Music Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to the support of emerging songwriters and folk music in all its forms. For more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Producer Dalis Allen, call the Festival Production Office at (830) 257-3600 or e-mail info@kerrville-music.com.
Jet Fighter Wings Into Wind Turbine Blades
This is a huge project and contrary to the current thinking in Washington D.C. which demands more and more privatization, this project should be done with government spending on the scale that occurred during World War II because defeating this problem is just as important as the Manhattan Project and far more moral. There is a research paper at the Institute for Policy Studies website entitled “The Green Dividend” which should be better known.
This report explains how the government could move the money it now spends on weapons systems at large companies like Boeing, to projects that help us get off of fossil fuels. Done right, no jobs would be lost and the industrial part of the military-industrial complex would become less dependent on military contracts; instead those companies would become part of the effort to prevent the worst effects of global climate change. There could even be cost-plus contracts if they are closely regulated. This involves addressing the deeper threats to national security, which are not solely from violence. The Pentagon hurts in this struggle—it is the largest consumer of fossil fuel in the world. It cannot help—firing our expensive missiles into the rising sea levels that will flood our cities or flying sorties against the more and more destructive hurricanes produced by climate change is a silly example of how powerless armed might is against some threats to our national security.
When I worked at Boeing during the Carter Administration, I watched the fabrication of a huge windmill in a building near where I worked in Seattle, the same building where thousands of B-17 bombers were built during World War II. In the 1970s, Boeing engineers also developed solar cells that generated electricity from the infrared spectrum as well as the visible spectrum, but the company sold the patent when the push for diversification ended.
Preventing global climate change would be less expensive than trying to mitigate the effects of climate chaos, e.g. building sea walls around our vulnerable cities. If we do this right, we could have full employment for several generations. There are only two places the U.S. government can get the money to do this: from the super wealthy and the huge Pentagon budget. We did not hesitate to use very steep progressive taxation during World War II to fund our mobilization. We must do the same now and we should not hesitate to shift enough funds from the Pentagon to get this job done.
John M Repp, jmrepp@q.com Seattle, WA, is syndicated by PeaceVoice.