Country Lifestyles
A Bright Piece of Holland in Texas
By Jessica Crabtree
When it’s spring time in Texas, we expect wildflowers of all colors lining the roads and country side, not to mention our state flower, the bluebonnet. In Pilot Point, just east off of Farm Market 2931, new colors are emerging—tulips!
Yes, you read that right, tulips! In fact there are tons of them in rows of all colors: reds, white, light pink, dark pink, multiple orange colors, yellows, deep purples and more!
As if their beauty isn’t enough, their scent is equally as gratifying. So how did these uncommon Texas beauties make their way here? That story begins 5,000 miles away in Holland, also known as the Netherlands.
Pieter and Petra Koeman operate Texas Tulips with Pieter’s mother, Afra and sister, Cora Bot-Koeman. Nearly 40 years ago Afra and her late husband Piet started a horticulture farm producing leeks, chrysanthemums, irises and tulip bulbs in Holland. Eventually the family operation turned to exclusively growing tulips bulbs in greenhouses and became known for their early-emerging tulips. Production of the bulbs increased to 80 acres and each winter the family grew tens of thousands of tulips. Those tulip bulbs were then sold for wholesale at auction to vendors. To read more pick up the March issue of NTFR.
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- Petra and Pieter Koeman. (Photo by Jessica Crabtree)
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- The Koeman family: Petra, Pieter Jr., Hillary and Pieter. (Courtesy photo)
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- The Koeman’s that started it all, Pieter and Afra Koeman. (Courtesy photo)
Petra and Pieter Koeman. (Photo by Jessica Crabtree)
By Martha Crump
That old adage, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.,” may have some basis in truth when applied to minor situations. However, when what you don’t know is presented in the form of a “Trojan Horse” and is what amounts to an incredible attempt to fleece American property rights, it becomes a different story altogether.
To put this unbelievable tale together, we need to step back to Joe Biden’s 2021 Executive Order which pledged commitment to help restore balance on public lands and waters, to create jobs, and to provide a path to align the management of America’s public lands and waters with our nation’s climate, conservation, and clean energy goals.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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