Dixondale Farms, the largest and oldest onion plant
business in the US. Mrs. Onion showed me around the
packing facility and Mr. around the fields. They grow
onions from seed and pick them for replanting. They
used to grow whole onions but couldn't make any money.
They have a big mail order business and do
drop-shipping for, among others, Johnny's Seeds in
Maine. TRUE FACT ALERT! Onions are sensitive to the
length of the day. Short day onions grow in the south
with about 10-12 hours of daily sunlight. Long day
ones grow in the north with 14-16 hours of sun. And
never the twain shall meet. Seeds to plants, however,
are not day length sensitive so Dixondale grows onions
for all areas of the country. I walked a field that
had just been tilled over looking for orphans and ate
my fill of little sweet raw onions.
Bought gas at a minimart with a drivethru grocery.
Stopped in Del Rio for lunch. Had the best taco ever,
the "Super Taco" with two flour tortillas, chicken,
beef and guacamole. Got chatting with another
customer who said that Del Rio is a baseball town.
Lots of leagues all summer. The best players cross
over to Mexico on the weekends because they can get
paid for playing on semipro teams.
Camping tonight at Seminole Canyon State Park. On a
mesa, bordered by a small canyon overlooking miles and
miles of high desert. Saw a cactus wren. The wind is
very strong and it's getting chilly, though I'm quite
comfortable in the Toaster. Tried to make coffee this
afternoon and the wind kept blowing out the burner.
Had to reposition the trailer to get the back end out
of the wind. Success.
Went for a bike ride, criss crossing the old Southern
Pacific road bed made in 1883 connecting New Orleans
and San Francisco.
Just remembered a story from the Alamo. When Santa
Ana laid seige to the Alamo he sent a messenger with
the terms of surrender. The commander of the Alamo
forces rejected the terms and sent back the message
"Come and get us" or words to that effect. Reminded
me of our own Texan George W's "Bring it on." Maybe
it's the water.
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