Rats and Rattlesnakes or Ratatouille
Hello Beautiful Gardeners,
While I was in my garden plot watering my new seedlings, I noticed the "Have a Heart Trap," was occupied by a not so little rodent. Upon closer observation, I saw a rat and it had eaten all the zucchini I had placed into the trap yesterday morning. I couldn't blame him, it was a very tender and juicy zucchini. So, I picked up the trap with the squash loving rat inside, walked out of the garden, went for a five -minute walk and released the rat. Then I walked back to the garden, looked for something to reload the trap with and spotted a half-eaten Beefsteak tomato laying on the ground, next to an almost dead tomato plant. Yes, just what I needed to reload the trap, a big old sweet tomato. I loaded and returned the trap near the shed and left the garden. When I came back the next morning, to do my daily seedling watering, there was another rat in the trap, a bigger rat. AND he ate the whole tomato!
Ok Gardeners, you know the routine; walk at least 5 minutes, release and reload.
So why are there sooo many rodents in the garden? Will snakes come to eat the rodents? Let's have a look at how nature works.
Plants w/ fruit > rodents eat fruit > snakes eat rodents > people step on snakes
I like rodents, they are scavengers, they keep fruits and veggies cleaned up when we don't, but many do carry pestilence. I like snakes.....they keep rats and pestilence to a healthy minimum and I'm sure the snakes don't want me to step on them...So I have this idea, I call it ....
No Rat Ratatouille
Serve this recipe frequently and you'll curve your garden food chain around from feeding generations of rodents and snakes to serving your family and friends delightful in season foods!
This is a simple, traditional recipe. It is also a quick recipe if you have a fast cutting mandolin!
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried parsley, (or 4 teaspoons fresh)
Note: Parsley is an anti-inflammatory, detoxifies and a digestive aid
1 pound eggplant, cut into ½" cubes
Salt to taste
2 zucchinis, sliced ¼" thick
1 large onion, sliced into rings
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 green bell pepper, sliced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 Preheat oven to 350*F. Coat bottom and sides of a casserole dish with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.
2 Heat remaining Tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic, about 30 seconds, till tender. Mix in eggplant and parsley, cook and stir until eggplant is soft and tender, about 10 minutes.
3 Spread eggplant mixture evenly across bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and 2 Tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Continue layering in this fashion with onion, mushrooms, bell pepper and tomatoes, covering each layer with salt and cheese.
4 Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes
Ok, ok it's true, I confess...I infrequently give veggies to the critters....however, I do throw them out of the garden...into critter world:-)
So...Bon Appetite EVERYONE,
Jo Schmidt
