I have had good results using a "hill system" in my garden. To start with, my soil is awful and I wanted a garden without having to ammend a large area. Since the water table is very near the surface in my garden, I needed hills (think of them as small raised beds)so that the plant roots could get some oxygen. I, too, did not have a tiller so I needed to be able to prepare a garden without breaking my back. Make your hills by first digging a hole 18 inches wide by 18 inches deep. Mound the soil around your hole. Now, fill the hole with a good quality planting mix. I have used MG potting mix, bagged manure, and a turkey manure mixture that I purchase by the truckload from a local mulch supplier. I fugure that almost anything I put in the hole is much better than the surrounding soil. Build your hills about five feet apart and you can grow almost any crop that you want on them. I finish the job by covering the whole area with 6 mil black plastic. This gives me a weed free, mud free garden area. This arrangement is ideal for gourds, melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, pumpkins, snow peas, and even pole beans. I even grow collards on hills. I leave the black plastic in place and reuse the hills year after year. Further ammendment of the soil is easy because I only ammend the hills, not the whole garden area. You can start your lasagne system on top of your hills if you like. The hill system is not the best use of space and it does not lend itself to growing row crops like bush beans, field peas, corn, and the like. For most of the vegetables I grow, however, it works very well. Joe

I feel like I'm stealing NancyJane's thunder here but I don't know where she's gone ;) Googling the ingredients leads one to the full recipe instructions and the prep reads as follows : Preparation 1. Combine 2 cups stock and rice in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Place rice mixture and milk in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. 2. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds. Add broccoli and salt; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining 2 cups stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or just until broccoli is tender. Add rice mixture; simmer 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. 3. Place 2 cups soup in blender; process until smooth. Return pureed soup to pan. Add pepper and 4 ounces cheese; stir until cheese melts. Divide soup evenly among 6 bowls; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 ounce cheese.

Phillog -- I think it is posted but for ease here it is: HUNGARIAN TOMATO SOUP 1 c. chopped onion ¾ c. chopped carrot 1 c. shredded cabbage 4 c. beef or chicken stock 1 pound fresh tomatoes or 1 (1 pound) can whole peeled tomatoes, quartered 1 small bay leaf 1 clove garlic 1 t. Lemon juice 1 t. Sugar ½ c. sour cream 1 t. Hungarian paprika 2 t. Flour Salt and pepper to taste 2 c. spaetzle (recipe follows) Combine onion, carrot and cabbage with stock in soup ot. Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour. Add tomatoes, bay leaf, garlic, lemon juice and sugar. Simmer another hour. Remove bay leaf. Puree soup mixture in a food processor. Return to soup pot and bring to a simmer. Combine sour cream, paprika and flour well. Stir several spoonfuls of soup into sour cream mixture. Pour back into soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat to serving temperature. Add spaetzle to soup just before serving. SPAETZLE: 1 c. flour ½ t. Salt Dash nutmeg Dash pepper 1 egg ½ c. milk Combine flour and seasonings in mixing bowl. Stir to combine, then make a well in the center. Pour egg and milk into the well and beat to blend, then stir in dry ingredients until well blended. Batter shold be rather stiff. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Pour batter into a colander. Use a rubber scraper to force the batter through the holes in the colander into the boiling salted water. Cook spaetzle until they rise to the surface of the boiling water and stay there for about 30 seconds. Drain. Rise with cold water and drain again thoroughly. NOTE: These can be made ahead of time to add to the soup just before serving.

This might be a stretch but you could make new white curtains and use part of that fabric for the lower part of each panel. On the striped curtains cut thru the exact center of the blue portion so you have 6 equal pieces that include some plain blue, the red stripe, and equal lengths of the blue stripe. The blue stripes will be the lower edge of each new panel. you’d need to find white fabric the same shade as the current curtains. Maybe Scarlett O’Hara could be called in for design consultation.