Regarding your question about the brisket cook I mentioned - I went with a 12-pound prime grade and trimmed it pretty aggressively to get that even fat cap. Started the smoke at 225 using oak and cherry wood for about 14 hours total. Wrapped it in butcher paper when the stall hit around 165 internal and let it ride until it hit 203. The texture came out like butter, no joke. I used a simple salt and pepper rub, coarse ground, applied about an hour before it went on the smoker. The key thing I learned was letting it rest for at least two hours in a cooler before slicing. Any less and the juices just run out immediately. Also I spritzed it with apple cider vinegar every hour after the first three hours and that bark turned out incredible. Let me know if you want the exact rub ratios I used because I adjusted it last minute and it worked better than expected.

On the landscaping question we discussed last week, I finally decided to go with native perennials for the front bed instead of the annuals we originally considered. The soil there drains pretty fast so I picked black-eyed Susans, purple coneflower, and some sedum for ground cover. I also added a layer of cedar mulch about three inches thick which should help retain moisture through the summer. The whole project took me about two weekends to complete. I did have to rent a tiller for the first time and that thing was a beast to handle but it broke up the clay soil really well. I mixed in some compost from the local nursery and the plants seem to be settling in nicely. If you decide to go the perennial route I would recommend getting them in the ground before the end of the month so they have time to establish roots before the hotter weather arrives. Let me know if you want me to send you the list of varieties I used.