We arrived on Tuesday night...dragging a horse van behind us. It was 10:30 at night.

“Hi, I’m Jean,” said a pleasant woman with a Midwest accent, bright red cheeks and yellow hair.

“I’m going to cook for you this summer.”

You don’t need much to be happy. But a good cook is indispensable.

Elizabeth had placed an ad on the Internet – on Craig’s List. With so many people coming and going, we need household help in the summer. Jean, from Oregon, by way of Iowa, responded. She was already in the kitchen when we arrived and had prepared a dinner for us.

“Everything is from the garden or the farm,” she announced. “The salad, the green beans, the peas, the onions, the eggs...well, not the noodles.

“It’s so nice to have a garden to work with. And Damien (the gardener) is so nice. But I think he overdoes it...”

On the floor were huge buckets overflowing with green beans, peas, onions and other vegetables we couldn’t recognize.

“I’m going to can it...or freeze it. But there’s no more room in the freezer. He overdoes it, but it’s so nice to have fresh food directly from your own garden.”

And here’s a report from USA Today: “Americans are planting gardens to cope with high food prices.”

Yes, dear reader, it doesn’t take much to be happy...or to beat rising food prices. Just begin with a good gardener ...and hire a good cook.

Bill Bonner
The Daily Reckoning Australia

• What a Summer
• Experiencing Hard Work
• Henry Leaves for College
• Unexpected Visitor at the Chateau in Ouzilly
• Soaring Food Prices Force the Poor to Literally Eat Mud