Dirty Story with a Happy Ending

I am lucky to have a space where I can garden. Everyday that I go out there brings me joy.  I didn't even mind when it started pouring while I was transplanting strawberry plants. A good raincoat was one of the best things I've bought even if it was from the Burlington Coat Factory.

Growing your own food is one of the most satisfying things you can do. It enables you to detach yourself from the computer, get outside, hopefully compost, eat something you grew and maybe even share produce if you are capable of this trait.
Touching dirt can also be beneficial to your well being as there is a bacteria in soil called mycobacterium vaccae. The microbes in soil cause cytokine levels to rise which results in production of higher levels of serotonin so if you run out of Prozac you may want to grab a handful of dirt and get happy.

I Cover the Waterfront

My friend got a Taylor Dunn Cart in exchange for painting another Taylor Dunn Cart. Last night we
took it for a joyride along the sidewalks of the Embarcadero, through Pier 39's back road, around Fisherman's Wharf and the pier where the crab boats come in. I had never seen this pier before. They actually do a lot of crabbing judging by all of the round nets that were neatly stacked in tall cylinders along the pier.
We almost ran over a rat that ran in front of the cart. It looked like it had spiked its hair with gel.
We ended up at the crab stands in front of Aliotos, parked the cart and got crab cocktails. They weren't great.
We headed back to my friend's shop at pier 33. He was driving on the street facing oncoming cars. As a car approached us he quickly grabbed the Brodie knob (a knob attached on the steering wheel to enable the driver to do one handed turns easily) and made a sharp left up a handicap accessible 
sidewalk.  I flew partially out of the cart but luckily I was holding on to a rope handle that was 
attached to the dashboard.  "Duuuuuude!" I yelled.  I was terrified for a brief moment.
"Can you buy adrenaline?" my friend asked me.
"No"
"There you go" he said.

Free Food, Drink and Tip

 

I've been recently surprised by things I've been harvesting that have been growing outside of my garden beds and amongst the rest of the "weeds".
The other day I picked a bunch of dandelion leaves. I  sautéed them in olive oil with an anchovy, garlic and chile.  It was quite good but next time I'll use 1/3 less garlic.
I have also been picking the nettles that pop up every year.  The first nettle harvest was added to a meatloaf but lately I've been making a nettle tea which I steep over two days and resembles polished green glass that you would find at the beach. It has the consistency of something that would be syrupy sweet yet it has a clean, nutty and grassy taste. There's also a bit of danger as I always wonder if one of those little needles from the nettles will get caught somewhere in my throat. It's always best to use a fine strainer before pouring it in a glass.