Barry My green-throated orange brug seedling does not have these symptoms (responding to your emails, dear!) Sorry you plant looks like this. Now, I do have several others that looked terrible but not exactly like your leaves. They are pulling out of it. I find it quite interesting that the book you quote states that the diseased brug can assume normal appearance during the rapid growing months. So, do some of us have diseased plants and they get all better in appearance in the summer, and we think they are okey................. and they are not???!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes! I did send two leaves from two different affected brugs to our state testing lab, and still am waiting for the results. I will post them when I get them! Barry, do you have any county extension office near you to drop off samples for testing? Nominal fees! And let them figure out what is wrong, don't suggest to them what you think may be wrong. Brenda

Babs, your comment on the 'photo' thread, about no holes in my Kale....I had other Kale starts in 2 different beds that were eaten down to stems. Not sure why the Kale in the photo was unmolested. As for the Smoothies, we usually have it for breakfast a few days a week, especially on busy days and a substitute for lunch is a great idea too. Anyway...The Sausage Soup recipe, is a take on the soup you can order at Bertucci's. DH really liked their soup so we tried to find a recipe and found one that is a healthy version of it. Bertucci's-style Sausage Soup Ingredients 1 cup raw Brown Rice 3 links Italian turkey sausage, sweet or hot, casings removed 1 large onion, diced 8 cloves garlic, minced 6 cups low-sodium, fat free chicken broth 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, no salt added 6 oz. baby spinach leaves, washed, dried and torn or chopped coarsely (substitute Kale) 1 Tb. minced fresh basil leaves 1 tsp. fresh coarsely-ground black pepper (or to taste) 8 Tb. freshly-grated Parmesan cheese Directions Prepare the brown rice according to package directions but omit the butter, use extra water and cook it for only 25 minutes on the stovetop or only 17 minutes in the microwave. Not all of the water will have been absorbed, so drain the rice. When the rice is about halfway through its cooking time, heat a stock pot with as small an amt of olive oil as you can get away with. Crumble the turkey sausage meat into the preheated pot, add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the turkey loses its pink color. Add the minced garlic. Continue to cook and stir for another 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, stir in the partially cooked rice and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 5-8 minutes or until the rice is cooked to your desired doneness. Add the spinach (or Kale), basil, and freshly-ground black pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes longer, just until the spinach starts to wilt. (You want the spinach to be wilted, not cooked.) (We cook the Kale to soft and tender) Serve with 1 Tbsp. of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese per serving. Makes 8 servings Nutrition Info: Calories: 209.0, Fat: 6.8g, Carbohydrates: 23.6g, Protein: 13.5g

I agree with most of the posts I have read. Even the seemingly contradictory ones. I believe that all of us, wherever we are and however we can, have a responsibility to help others. Like anything, there are better and worse ways to do that, but that does not make any well-intentioned effort wrong or useless. A lot of people don't think through the logic of how to help. My kids preschool had a canned goods fundraiser after Katrina, and then needed to raise $1500 to rent a trailer to get it there. A church I once attended did a clothing drive for their shelter and got prom dresses. I recall scores of coats that had to be received, transported and warehoused when misguided donors sent winter coats after the Tsunami hit. My one kid's school does a turkey drive, and those turkeys go to immigrants who don't particularly like turkey, don't have a roasting pan, and may only have a hotplate. Christmas toy drives have lots of toys for "desireable" little girls, and almost nothing for teen boys.At the schools we support in Cambodia, they used to have tourist groups drive up in buses and throw candy out the window; to kids with no dental care. And yes, white westerners have committed a heck of a lot of sins under the guise (or genuine ignorance) of helping the less fortunate and less "enlightened". It does serve us all well to think very carefully about economically efficient and culturally sensitive ways of giving back. Usually, TBH, that means giving your money to a locally run organization that is "of the people" and that runs with low overhead. "Foreigners" (whether literally foreign or just from a totally different demo) swooping in with grand gestures tends to reinforce dependence and can be counterproductive. All that said, who is to say what is a worthy cause and what is not? Only you can answer that for yourself. I sometimes try to weigh the moral math in my head ... curing childhood cancers ... educating Rwandan orphans ... feeding elderly ... preserving the environment. I end up just supporting a lot of causes because I don't know of a mathematical answer. Back to the sweet little lady. I have literally been around the world, and I am struck by how ubiquitous Western clothing is. It has not been my experience at all that it is rejected. Might something else serve better? I think it would amazing if she could make dresses in colors and styles that might be more indigenous; she might think that is fun too. But I personally believe that what she is doing is still a wonderful thing. I remember one NGO worker saying that just knowing that someone across the world, a total stranger, did something for you, is a very special feeling. A validation.

It took me a while to get going on the White Bean Soup project. Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions. Isley, I looked up that interesting Garbure and found a video and recipes. Maybe in the future. By the time I got around to making the soup, the ham-bone was left but DH had been snacking on most of the ham because I didn’t make it clear that I was planning on using maybe a cup of that in the soup. But I got a few pieces and I used a ham bone for flavoring as well as hand broth that I had made earlier. (Whenever I get a ham shoulder or smoked ham, I usually cook it. I rinse it off then I usually cook it. Simmer it several times not too long on low heat and get broth that way, then I freeze this broth.) So I started as most of you would probably begin making soup. I made a sautéed about a cup or so of mirepoix. I had soaked 2 pounds of dry white beans overnight so I drained these rinse them and added these and added hand broth and some garlic. Then I let this simmer for quite a while. I got sleepy and had to take a nap, but DH finished except he’s not used to cooking dried beans and he often under cooks them. I also had him include about three or 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley, ground black pepper, a little bit of thyme, a little bit of sage maybe something else. The next day I tasted a bowl of it, but the beans were a bit too firm and the flavor. I wanted to have a little bit more ham flavor so I asked him to add a teaspoon or so of the better than bullion ham flavor. And we have to cook the soup another couple hours to soften the beans more. There are pieces of ham as well. Here is what the soup looked like yesterday; you might notice that the beans look a bit too firm ;) Good, but not there yet. Thanks for the caution not to add too many carrots. I wanted to in lude leeks, but did not have any on hand and it may be too late now unless I sauté separately then include. I think one great things about soups like this is you can continue adding to it and have it evolve. So a leek or two and some tomato pieces might find thereway into it. It is raw and rainy today and the aroma of this soup adds to the coziness of the fireplace wood stove and secure, dry home. I will check it again in an hour.