Stone Soup

Is everyone ready for a big pot of stone soup? Last time I saw Brian he asked me to let everyone know it was just about time to get together and make a big pot of stone soup to share.

You know the story... A traveller shows up in town late at night, and the suspicious villagers won't give him anything to eat. "Nope," they say, "we don't have any food here." So he says "No problem, I'll make my stone soup, out of this magic stone here." And he puts his stone in a big pot of water.

All the villagers gather round. "Is it ready yet?" they ask. "Is it good?"

"Just about ready," says the stranger. "It'll be fine soup. My magic stone is working. It will be even better with a carrot, though. Too bad I don't have a carrot."

"Hmm... I think I might have one small carrot left" says First Villager. And she scurries off to get a carrot. The villagers crowd around and watch the carrot go in.

"Great!" says the traveller. "Now it's just about perfect. The stone is working its magic. The only thing missing is a potato."

"Wait, I have one potato left!" says Second Villager. And she runs to her cellar for a potato. Plop - in goes the potato.

And the villagers look curiously at the soup. And wait. Then the stranger says, "I can smell the magic working. It is nearly ready. All it needs now is a bit of bone for some flavour."

Third Villager slips off to her cupboard and brings out a ham bone. "Here is a bone, it still has a little meat left." In it goes, along with the potato and the carrot and the magic stone.

The stranger stirs the soup and says, "Good thing I brought this magic stone along. We'll all have soup soon. What fine soup it will be. If only there was a little bit of celery, it would be just perfect." The villagers all look at each other, and Fourth Villager says quietly, "Well, I have a piece of celery. If it will help the magic work, I could spare it." So he goes to get his last piece of celery and throws it in the soup.

The traveller stirs the soup again and they all wait. After a little while, the magic works, and the stone turns a pot of water into a big pot of soup. With only a little help from all the villagers and their cupboards.

So Brian thinks it is time for a little stone soup at the Hummingbird Garden. There are plenty of magic stones in the earth, and each of us villagers has one or two vegetables we could throw in the pot to help the magic along.

Maybe it will even be this weekend! Watch for magic happening at the garden...