Re-Green the Green

"Have you ever noticed how easy it is to grow stuff in Louisiana?" A friend observed. "If it falls on the ground in Louisiana it will just grow!" Grass grows here. We are in the middle of the grass-growing season. Another friend could not attend excercise class this morning because he had to stay home and mow his grass. Our back yard stays so wet from the sporadic rains that we cannot mow the grass. The crawfish and moles compete for space there. Then when it dries out, the sunshine makes the grass grow. Before the earth dries enough to mow the grass, the grass is waist high.

I read about somebody in the North who let her grass grow a little higher for Easter so her grandchildren could hunt eggs. That tactic wouldn't work here. Saturday before Easter the backyard grass was so high and thick that we would have lost not only the eggs but also the children.

All over the civilized world, especially in our dear nation, we are spending a fortune mowing grass. Think of all the money and resources spent on gasoline, electiricity, or human strength to cut the grass. My mother and father used to have me push a girl-powered mower. They called that kind of energy fuel "elbow grease."

Riding through the neighborhood, we noticed today that more and more people are tilling up large sections

I'm not sure how many people had victory gardens in WW II, but more and more people have them now. Growing garden is actually less work than mowing grass.

Wherever you live, it is possible to grow stuff. Don't forget to grow collard greens. Collard greens are almost perfect food. In the cool climates, they grow beautifully in the warm weather. In the warm climates, they grow best in the cool water. They are prettier than many of the plants that are considered ornamental. Also it's easy to grow onions, turnips, lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes.

Get your plants, garden seeds, gloves, and spades here:
http://www.1newmall.com/nh

We have shared more of our thoughts about this practical way to improve the world in The Collard Patch.

Picking and Fixing Collards

Paul Elliott is the co-author of The Collard Patch. He loves to pick collards, cut them up, cook them, and eat them. I wash them. Get your own collard-cooking manual to learn the best ways to fix collards.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON88q82BQq4

Top Secret Green Beans Recipe -- 25 Servings

I overheard the recipe for church beans! And here I'm sharing it with you. This is top secret. I'm sharing this with you so you can make some outstanding beans the next time you have to carry a covered dish to a fellowship.

In addition to what I overheard, I suggest you add a teaspoon of garlic powder, a generous shake of red pepper, and two generous shakes of black pepper to the sugar and butter mix. (Only if you are a spicemouth.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1/4 of a small bag of brown sugar and two sticks (1/2 pound!) of salted butter in a saucepan. Cover that with water, not too much. Heat that until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, not too much.

Place an institutional-sized can of cut green beens in a big pan. (Don't drain them. You will have to be careful not to spill them on the way to church.) Pour the sugar and butter mix over the beans.

Cut a pound of bacon in pieces -- about 1-1 1/2 inches long. Spread the butter over the top.

Bake the beans 30 minutes or until they bubble and the bacon is cooked (not crsip).

Cover it and take it to church. You will have enough beans for 25 people. Don't even think about the number of calories or fat grams in this dish. Beans are health food, aren't they?