A SOUTHERN DINNER (AT NOON)

Our dinner today was almost all from the first fruits of our garden. Fresh red, ripe tomatoes, an old heritage strain of Mississippi field peas (seasoned with bacon, salt, and pepper and cooked for a couple of hours), a small pone of cornbread cooked in an old black iron skillet, and fresh cabbage (seasoned with black, white, and cayenne pepper, and a little bit of sugar and bacon grease). Oh, and those peas and pot likker were served over the cornbread. That's the gourmet way of doing it!

It is remarkable how good real food tastes! I'm glad no one was videotaping me; I ate like a hungry barbarian.

Soon, God willing, my okra and Mississippi pink-eye purple hull peas will be ready. We've already had a good crop of blueberries, and the muscadines are plentiful for the autumn harvest.

So far, I've shot two rabbits that were eating in my garden. The second kill was a head shot--using iron sights--from forty yards with an old Springfield .22 rifle given to me by my grandfather when I was ten. I used .22 long rifle hollow points. I am justifiably proud of that shot! The target was only partly visible behind a large tomato plant. I can't shoot a pistol very well, but I am still deadly with a rifle (and have been since all those childhood hunting trips with my Daddy, Granddaddy, and Uncles).

I hope you all eat well from your gardens this summer (and into the fall and winter, if you put things up). And watch out for those pesky rabbits. Live well . . .