I was vegetarian for 11 years, fully plant based for 2, and I did cook meat at events with people who ate meat. No demographic is a singularity, though, and there are many veggie folk who wouldn’t, either on ethical grounds or on grounds of having no bloody clue how to cook meat properly.

Thanks!

The goji were from Baker Creek seeds this year, but next year it’ll be from cuttings. I thought I killed all the goji I got as cuttings last year, but one was just hiding under the chicory. Cuttings apparently start fruiting a year or two faster, and I’ll need to hack it back in the Winter anyway, so win-win.

Chard is totally underrated, both as food and an ornamental. I grow red chard, and in the late fall it turns the most unearthly dark-green/purple with glowing red veins. I keep the pink chard towards the front of the garden because it looks like someone’s goofing around with the saturation, but in real life. I also grow white chard (Lucullus) for eating, and last year the leaves were delicious the whole Summer here in the high desert and literally the size of my five year old. Like, the entire kid. In the Winter some of the outer leaves die off, but the bulk survives, so it’s great for visual interest in the front yard during the cold months. Big fan of chard

I lined my disused enclosed chicken run with compost, mulched it with burlap, and planted the whole inside perimeter with a bunch of varieties of pole beans hoping that they’ll grow to the sloped roof and hang down for easy harvest. They’re just starting to grab onto the walls now. I also shook a large packet of bunching onions around the perimeter. No idea how any of this will turn out, but I’m hoping it’ll get completely overgrown, turn into a cave, and be a fun place to hang out in with the kiddo when the heat gets (more) extreme.

Related adventure: this year I grew about a hundred and fifty extra seedlings to give away in front of the house, and they’re almost all gone after half a week. I thought about it for the last few years and finally decided to just do it. Lessons learned: cherry/pear tomatoes were unsurprisingly popular, and I overestimated how many people like eggplant. Next year I need to grow way more culinary herbs and novelties like roselle, ground cherries, artichokes, and goji–those all disappeared fast. I also put out seeds: everyone loves sunflowers and tithonia, but literally no one wanted to grow chard.

I’ll have to check that out! There’s also Cachalot by Alan Dean Foster, which is an old favorite of mine. Humans give cetaceans their own planet and–without spoiling too much–shenanigans ensue.