Radishes

So, we still don't know who gave us the tree, although there was an interesting development today. The neighbor we most suspected (because he posts paper signs in his yard warning people to pick up after their pets), strolled by with his dogs this evening and R mentioned that someone had given us the tree. The neighbor seemed confused, and remarked, "Oh, like an anonymous gift? Trees aren't really my thing." Then he walked away…suspiciously! (Roland says it was not a suspicious walk, but rather the cold & distant gait of a semi-stranger who's just been accused of gifting someone a tree).

R took this whole interaction as proof that this neighbor did not give us the tree, while I'm more convinced than ever that he did.

1. He suggested it was an anonymous gift. Which it was.
2. He carries around plastic bags & twistie ties (dog owner)
3. He's got a penchant for paper signs.

The only problem with my theory is that he's not our direct neighbor -- he can't see our front yard from his house. I suppose it's still possible that it's someone else, but I'm not counting this guy out.
 
In other outdoor news, we got a huge radish yield from our backyard garden this weekend. We chose radishes because they take only 21 days from seed to harvest, but the problem is that 21 days after we planted them, we had a 10lb bag of spicy, bitter radishes. We tried sautéing them with onions and butter, but they just weren't as fun to eat as they were to grow.


So, what to do with a bunch of radishes? Feed them to Roland's sister's chickens, of course!

    

They seemed skeptical and frightened at first (Roland says chickens are always skeptical and frightened by everything), but eventually they pecked away at the greens. R is confident that if one of them decides that the radishes are safe, the rest will follow suit.

This morning we bought some okra seeds to replace the now-empty radish rows in our garden, which is fine. I never had or saw okra before moving to Texas, but it's tastier than it looks. Still, the one plant that I'm really counting on in that back bed?



Watermelon!!