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| Red Cabbage! |
Anyone who has read ‘Asterix in the Auvergne’
knows that the natives like cabbage. I
had on previous occasion seen the odd cabbage plant in the municipal flower
beds, but since my last sojourn in La Bourboule
the vegetables have really taken over!
The town’s flower beds have literally been turned into vegetable
patches. I saw – and photographed! kale,
red cabbage, mangold/bakh choi, green peppers, runner beans, dill, and even a
marrow. The beans were especially
inspiring, because they grow in profusion at either side of the church.
As usual I quizzed the natives, but they didn’t believe
me. ‘Cabbages in the flower beds,’ they
asked incredulously, ‘surely not?’ Well,
I had evidence, on my little camera! The
beans really cracked them up. I
suggested that the priest had secretly planted all the vegetables and planned
to harvest and feed them to the destitute of his parish come winter time, but
was told, ‘This isn’t America,
the state supports poor people here!’
Then they showed me an article in a local paper about the plans of
Congress to reduce the number of food-stamp recipients. La Bourboule is more up-to-date than I
expected!
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| Kale |
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| More kale |
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| Runner beans! |
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| Mangold |
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| Unknown, but probably very nutritious! Like dock? |
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| Beans in bloom, next to the church |
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| Lots of beans! |
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| Beans on either side of the church entrance! |
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| More beans |
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| Beans ueber alles! |
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| Green peppers! |
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| Marrow |
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| Dill |
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| Just in case you don't believe they all grow in the flower beds! |
