Selling the farm

photos © Mark M. Hancock and The Dallas Morning News

Carol King (left) talks with family as Bob King (right) listens before an auction at the King family farm in Celina on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009.


Carol King (right) tries to cheer up Bob King (left) before an auction at the King family farm in Celina. The King family auctioned all their farm equipment now that Bob King's sight has declined.


Bob King (left) talks with his niece Mary Wade (right) as her grandsons Grant Creach, 2, (center) and Wade Creach, 5, (lower, right) listen before an auction at the King family farm.


Carol King (right) tries to cheer up Bob King (left) before an auction at the family farm in Celina.


Bob King (left) watches as pieces of his farm are auctioned in the rain at the family farm.


Auctioneer Jim Stafford (top) with Bob Mitchell Auctioneers barks out bids during an auction at the King family farm in Celina.


Farm equipment withstands the rain and settles into the mud before an auction at the King family farm.


Plants continue to grow during an auction at the King family farm in Celina.

Please read, "Farming family in Celina forced to let it all go" by Sam Hodges / The Dallas Morning News

Making dirt

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Eddie Wharton talks about his compost process at his home in Port Neches on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. The compost is made of organic materials including leaves, grass, rice hulls and even fruit mixed with manure.


Eddie Wharton shows the level of development in part of his compost process at his home in Port Neches. He rotates the mixture through different phases to prepare it for eventual use in his garden.


Eddie Wharton examines the compost in his home garden in Port Neches. The retired DuPont engineer has applied science to the garden and created a winning combination for his plants.

Please read, "Dirt done right..." by Jane McBride.

Texas trailing phlox slideshow

Photos & music by Mark M. Hancock / photos © The Beaumont Enterprise

Conservation organizations work with forest management companies and the government to reintroduce the endangered Texas trailing phlox plant in Tyler County on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007. The plant is only known to grow in four Texas counties.

Doguet Rice Farm harvest slideshow

Photos and music by Mark M. Hancock / photos © The Beaumont Enterprise

Farmers faced a tough year after extensive rains during planting season and now have been hit by Hurricane Humberto. Rice crops in particular are expected to suffer the most from the recent hurricane.

Please read, "Heavy rains, hurricane put rice crop in jeopardy" by Emily Guevara.

Jasper fish hatchery

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Fish ponds are mostly empty at the fish hatchery near Jasper on Thursday, June 21, 2007. The state will truck and release about a million fish fingerlings into Steinhagen Lake near Jasper this week.


A carp eats floating vegetation in Steinhagen Lake. Steinhagen Lake near Jasper was refilled with water after it was drained to kill invasive plant species. During the draining period, many of the lake's fish also died.


Fish ponds are mostly empty at the fish hatchery near Jasper.

Gator Grabbin' Contest

Video © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

Each year, alligator wranglers gather at Gator Country in Fannett, Texas to see how many gators they can grab from a pond in 15 minutes. The gators are later tagged and released back into the pond.

Gary Saurage, co-owner of Gator Country and opening narrator, gets bit at about 2:00. Since folks across the pond are unaquainted with the reptilian man-eaters. I cut one scene and deleted the comment and response.

Gator Country has a special license and is responsible for the safety of each animal. They have a high-quality show and the animals are well maintained. This is part of why they must tag them each year. The tag actually protects the gators during floods.

This is part of the "Movie Mondays" series. Please take a moment to click the Google Video link on the video player and vote for this video (or my others). Even if it's only worth one star to you, please vote. A video's overall rank is determined by how many people vote at all. Thanks. :-)

Steinhagen's salvinia

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Ray Linderman (in water) and David Weeks (in boat) secure a separation boom near an outgrowth of Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta) on Steinhagen Lake on Thursday, June 21, 2007. The Cherokee Unit boat launch of Martin Dies Jr. State Park has been closed until the Giant Salvinia is removed.


Howard Elder, an aquatic habitat biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, talks about the dangers of allowing Giant Salvinia to grow. Giant Salvinia doubles its mass each seven days and kills all other water life.



A sign in Howard Elder's office warns of transporting Giant Salvinia in Texas. It is a federal crime to possess the South American native plant. The plant is a significant problem on other Texas lakes.

See a larger version of this slideshow.

An outgrowth of Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta) is contained on Steinhagen Lake on Thursday, June 21, 2007. The Cherokee Unit boat launch of Martin Dies Jr. State Park has been closed until the Giant Salvinia is removed.
Please see the YouTube version of this slideshow. Please set your YouTube viewer to 1080p to see the show in high definition.

Utterly "used cows"

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Van Vanover poses for a portrait with some of his "used cows" at his home in Sour Lake on Tuesday, April 24, 2007. He hoped his advertisement for "used cows" would get someone's attention. He didn't expect it to be David Letterman.


Van Vanover carries a feed bucket past one of his "used cows" at his home in Sour Lake. Vanover said cows are "used" to mow grass, for hamburgers and other things.

Vanover said a "new cow" is a heifer, which has never had a calf. Therefore, a "used cow" could be a cow with a calf. Both the cow and calf are sold as "a pair." While cattle insiders owners "get" the joke, at least one popular New Yorker didn't.

Please read "Letterman finds material in 'used cow' ad" by Sarah Moore. Also read the transcript of Letterman's show under "Small Town News."

Eat more veggies

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Organic produce is available at Basic Foods in Beaumont on Monday, March 19, 2007. A recent survey stated less 33 percent of American adults are eating the government recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.


Susan Fernie of Beaumont shops for organic produce at Basic Foods in Beaumont.

Barn sunset

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

The sun sets through a barn near Highway 124 between Winnie and High Island on Thursday, April 12, 2007. Many barns near the coast still have damage from Hurricane Rita.

Lenten "mudbugs"

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

A sign invites Interstate-10 motorist to stop for crawfish near Hamshire on Thursday, April 5, 2007. The last Friday of lent is traditionally a high point in the crawfish season. In Texas, this year's yield was good due to several reasons including favorable weather.


A duck floats in a flooded crawfish field at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm near Hamshire. Many Texas rice farms are converting to crawfish farms as the crustaceans have gained commercial popularity.


Crawfish collection boats use a steel-paddled wheel attached to a shallow-water boat (inclusively called crawfish combine) instead of a propeller. The wheel slowly pulls the combine through the mud and shallow water. The shallow water, about two-feet deep, in most crawfish ponds make propeller-powered boats an impossibility while airboats are cost prohibitive.


Dirty crawfish wait in a boat to be placed in purging tanks at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm. Crawfish breathe through gills contained within their shells. A crawfish's ability to burrow into mud and create a water chamber allows it to move inland where other crusteaceans can't. This is why the animal is often called a "mudbug."


Geranimo Vera dumps captured crawfish into a purging tank at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm. Freshly harvested crawfish are placed into purging tanks of filtered fresh water.


Sevando Salinas dumps crawfish from a purging tank into a loading tray at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm. The purging tanks allow crawfish to clean themselves and remove mud from their gills. This process naturally reduces the size of their sand veins and reduces their "fishy" odor and taste.



Freshly purged crawfish are hoisted from a purging tank at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm.


Sevando Salinas removes fish and separated crawfish claws from purged crawfish at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm. Only live crawfish are placed into bags. Dead crawfish should never be cooked or eaten.



A large crawfish tries to escape a bagging tray after being purged at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm. Crawfish take about three months to reach maturity.


Sevando Salinas scoops live, purged crawfish into a bag at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm. Live crawfish are sold by the pound.


Alan Gaulding (left) weighs bags of crawfish while Hal Fischer (right) tags them at Southeast Texas Crawfish Farm. Once weighed, the crawfish are placed into 40-degree Ferenheit coolers.

They can live several days in this environment because they go into hybernation. Once warmed to room temperature, they become active again. Then, they are placed into pots of boiling water with spices and lemon halves. They typically don't survive the final step of the process. ;-}

Please read "Crawfish easier to find than last year" by Mike D. Smith.

Longleaf pine reintroduction

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Ricardo Guerero, left, and Juan Guerero, right, with Valencia Forestry of Silsbee return for additional longleaf pine seedings (Pinus palustris) in newly acquired land of The Big Thicket National Park in Kountze on Friday, Jan. 12, 2007. The project intends to re-introduce native species of plants to the protected forest.


Workers with Valencia Forestry of Silsbee plant longleaf pine seedlings in newly acquired land of The Big Thicket National Park.


A freshly-planted longleaf pine seedling tries to take root in The Big Thicket National Park.


The Big Thicket's fire ecologist Deanna Boensch, from left to right, fuel specialist D.W. Ivans and lead fire effects monitor Iola Hallock oversee the planting of longleaf pine seedlings at The Big Thicket National Park.


Ricardo Guerero with Valencia Forestry of Silsbee plants longleaf pine seedlings at The Big Thicket National Park.

Please read, "Big Thicket stems from one tree at a time" by Jennifer Avilla.
 

Beaver's Christmas Tree Farm

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Robert Beavers inspects this year's crop at Beavers Christmas Tree Farm in Nome on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006. Trees with white tags have already been selected by customers.


Kaden Richard, 2, and his grandmother Febra Boyd of Sour Lake lead Robert Beavers to the tree they selected at Beavers Christmas Tree Farm. Selected trees are tagged and continue to grow until the purchaser is ready for the tree.


Zoe Boyd, 8, of Sour Lake runs through a young crop of trees at Beavers Christmas Tree Farm. The Friday after Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest day on tree farms across the nation.


Mario Rodriguez (left) and Antonio Rodriguez move an imported tree at Beavers Christmas Tree Farm. Some trees are imported from the mountains of North Carolina for customers who moved to Southeast Texas from northern states.


Molly Beavers, 2, (left) and her grandmother Susan Beavers (right) take a ride through the Beavers Christmas Tree Farm. Farm owners Susan and Robert Beavers (driving ATV) said this year's rain made for a good crop of healthy trees. Other Christmas tree farmers in Southeast Texas remain closed or had their tree growth stunted by Hurricane Rita last year.

Please read "Southeast Texas tree farmers ready for shoppers" by Kristina Herrndobler.
 

Texas' first rice mill

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Rice is stored at Beaumont Rice Mills Inc. in Beaumont on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006. Texas rice fields produced above-normal yields this year. However, rice remains in dryers until a dispute over genetically modified rice elsewhere in America is resolved.


A Official Historical Medallion commemorates Beaumont Rice Mills Inc. in Beaumont as Texas' first rice mill.


Betty Stoy mills a rice sample at Beaumont Rice Mills Inc. in Beaumont. The machine she uses separates the rice from the chaff. It was Stoy's last day before retiring after 23 years.


Betty Stoy separates broken rice from long-grain rice in a test sample at Beaumont Rice Mills Inc. The test sample is weighed throughout the process to estimate the results from an entire bag of rice in the larger mill.


Betty Stoy grades a test sample of rice at Beaumont Rice Mills Inc. Any remaining pieces of rice are removed from the long grain rice to keep an accurate sample weight.


Bags of chaff rest on a dock at Beaumont Rice Mills Inc.
 

Treeless garden center

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Kathy Fields arranges fruit at the Beaumont Garden Center on College Street in Beaumont on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005. She said the center sold out of several hundred trees far before expected because Hurricane Rita damaged Southeast Texas tree farms. Many Southeast Texans purchase Christmas trees directly from these farms.


(Right) Raymond Domingue of Beaumont selects fruit to purchase at Beaumont Garden Center in Beaumont. Few wreaths remain for sale.

(Below) A limited number of prepared fruit and nut baskets await customers at Beaumont Garden Center in Beaumont.