h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I made Tuscan soup for supper tonight, and it occurred to me that some greens would go nicely in it. My Swiss chard is growing nicely, so I plucked one leaf from each plant, washed it, and added it to the soup.

None of my other crops is ready to be eaten. The beans have a few small buds, but they're nowhere near big enough to blossom. The cucumbers and zucchini aren't even big enough to *have* buds. The carrots are still quite tiny. No use until October.

Got a couple of Siberian black tomatoes today.

(tuna) Cactus apples are on the pending harvest list.

(Quickly before the birds beat me to them.)

I'll be preparing them after a recipe for watermelon pickle.




The local grocery was out of stew meat, so I got a 3 pound roast instead, liberrally sprinkled with Adolph's meat tenderizer prepared with red cabbage, beets, tuna cactus pads (they taste rather like green beans in soups and stews), yams, carrots, garlic and celeriac slivers, and little chili pepper with a dash of black pepper, simmered overniight on low heat, to accompany a gallon of potato salad.

I have been thinking of building raised beds for a couple of years now. Would save me from crawling on the ground weeding, but more importantly it would allow me to grow something in my garden without fear of poisoning myself. The soil in my neighbourhood appears to have been severely polluted by an neighbouring iron foundry which was torn down decades ago. Apparently pollution does not vanish over night.

Only a couple of days ago I saw a picture of another kind of raised beds: Gutterings recycled as beds on top of a row of poles. Filled with which spilled over the sides and hung in the air so easily to be harvested. Brilliant! I definitely must have something like that!

We have the usual glut of courgettes, which we are eating as fast as we can, and I take bagfuls to work and deposit them in the kitchen for the others to help themselves. Rhubarb is over for this year - I think I made one cake or tart. Strawberries are also no longer enough to fill a large spoon. Raspberries are to come, and then the joy of our own spuds.

Congratulations Paul on your first harvest from your garden. I have managed to grow mustard and cress indoors and a neighbour has cut my grass for me (no lawn mover or strimmer anymore due to both breaking down) and it was horrendous cutting the lawn with it as the ground is very uneven as the soil underneath the lawn is full of pebbles and stones. The Tuscan soup sounds delicious, nothing beats homemade soup.

I just made Spanish rice for lunch. The second harvest took place about an hour ago when I foraged among the raspberry bushes in back of my house. I found a scant handful of red raspberries, but they'll do nicely.