You Me and The After: PATH LESS TRAVELED - SOME GARDEN HARVEST - BREAKFAST PATTIES - FIRE ANTS - OPEN MARKETS

East Texas field

Seen in an open field next to the highway. Sad, yet beautiful. 1950 Chevrolet Deluxe I think.

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HARVEST

An example of why the window for harvesting radishes is small. The large radish was from the first planting and not harvested. The smaller radish is from the second planting and harvested the day I took the photo.

Radishes that get too big become punky/soft and hot to eat. Smaller radish is perfect in crunch and flavor. Lettuce was harvested on the same morning. Also has a short window for harvest.

Next season I will plant radishes two weeks apart and in smaller quantities. Also more lettuce as it grows easily. "Just put it in the ground." Quick advice when all is said and done.

Her and I are back on better diets again. Radishes work as a snack for me.

Salads every day for lunch and/or dinner. The lettuce has a sweet flavor right out of the ground. Seems easy to grow.

Ready to eat.

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FIRE ANTS

Not a good morning find while checking the garden. Fire ants started their takeover of the strawberry bin. I dug them out as best as I could. Lost two plants. Killed the ones dumped on the ground outside the bin and sprayed the remaining with plant friendly bug killers.

Refilled the hole and am hoping for the best.

Also found a small hill in my onion patch. Pulled the onions out and plan to put cinnamon down. Apparently that is a user friendly way of removing them.

Ant killer products also kill the ground for growing/harvesting any eatable foods.

Fire ants are bad news. Their bites sting and itch beyond crazy. And the itch lasts for days. The only remedy I have found that works is a dab of honey on the bite, but requires a band-aid as honey can get messy in an instant. But it takes the sting and itch out and lasts.

I did not see ant hills becoming an issue with the garden this season. Weeds yes, but not ants.

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A horse and a tractor.

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EAST TEXAS ZUCCHINI/YELLOW SQUASH BREAKFAST PATTIES

“Would you like to split the last one?”

“Yes,” her said.

And there it was, her “two thumbs up” breakfast review of this experiment.

Wife told neighbor that our yellow squash and zucchini were coming on and will be overloading next week. Neighbor replied that she uses hers to make “zucchini/yellow squash patties, like salmon patties, for breakfasts.”

Point being is what to do with garden harvest when it comes on. Can't really share with neighbors as theirs is coming on, too. Going to waste is absolutely not an option. Dehydrate, freeze, but eating what is coming out of the garden each day needs to be put into action.

The experiment

One large zucchini grated into a bowl

One small garden onion with greens chopped

Pepper and mix

Seasoned bread crumbs, maybe 1/3 cup.

Two medium eggs whipped and added.

Ingredients folded together. Bread crumbs added a little at a time in the folding.

Can Cooker all purpose seasoning, two small shakes. (We order this from Tractor Supply – seriously) Excellent seasoning for everything.

Mixture a little wet.

Fried in a small skillet using a pad of butter and touch of bacon grease.

Medium high heat, spooning medium scoop and flattening in the pan.

Maybe 2 minutes then flipping.

Maybe two more minutes and turning the heat down.

Her started to rave. Excellent, add nothing, can you do this again and finally an insistence that I never ever experiment further as it will wreck what I just accomplished. Damned serious she was. But all of this begs with wanting more experimentation.

Her wants a stack tomorrow morning. Like pancakes. These are light, fluffy and will for sure help the daily consumption of garden grown veggies.

Properly plated.

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Saturday markets

Weekend markets are on now with local farms and merchants selling their goods. Local market yesterday morning was also joined by a classic car show.

The very best table of home grown veggies at the market. An opinion. We crunched on a bundle of these fresh carrots like candy. Onions rocked and we gifted a bundle of turnips (above onions) to our neighbors.