With the help of a friend, I once put up an elaborate and sturdy frame
for growing 'pole' beans, and didn't read the packet when I planted
bush-type haricot vert at the base. Looked pretty dumb. Although the
beans were fine. It *is* unfortunate that 'bush' landed at the
beginning of a sentence and required a capital letter. No connection
implied.

Well I will be growing my "freedom beans" on your advice!

I believe the US equivalent used to be cooked spinach. Just sitting
there in a gray-green wet mass. They've given up now. The only sign of
veg in school menus is "baby (lathed) carrots with dip' and an
occasional mention of 'steamed brocolli.' After all, a previous
administration declared that catsup was a vegetable...

Aha! Sounds like the kind of beauraucracy we have to put up with in the UK,
too. You should see some of the crazy rules that come out of the European
Union. Madness.

The latest "urban myth" over here is that Kentucky Fried Chicken changed
their name to simply KFC because the meat isn't chicken any more - it's made
from brainless, artificially-grown muscle-protein derived from the moving
bits of ex-chickens, twitching in the labs as they are artificially
stimulated by electrical impulses.

And of course NASA faked the moon landings . . . and Elvis works in the chip
shop just down the road from me.

Just listening to the theme tune from M*A*S*H . . . remember that one? What
a series. Still seems kind of relevant, somehow. Wow, that Major Margaret
Houlihan . . . ;-) They were never too impressed with the cooking, I seem to
remember!

Love, peace and organic kitchen gardening,

Andrew