Lasagna Harvest

"It isn't only in Britain that Spring this year has taken everyone by surprise. Here, in the Litchfield Hills, on the borders of Connecticut and Massachusetts, the slopes overlooking Lake Lilinonah have already burst into flower at least a fortnight earlier than usual.

But what, you may ask, has the early and welcome arrival of bees and blossom to do with food? Well, it's simply that the past winter -- one of the mildest in living memory -- has had its effect in other ways as well. Most important of all, it's resulted in an exceptionally heavy Lasagna crop. The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the Lasagna farmer. There's always the chance of a late frost, which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavour, and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets. But now these dangers are over, and the Lasagna harvest goes forward.

Lasagna cultivation here in the Litchfield Hills is not, of course, carried out on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry. Many of you, I'm sure, will have seen pictures of the vast lasagna plantations in the Po Valley. For the Americans, however, it tends to be more of a family affair. Another reason why this may be a bumper year lies in the virtual disappearance of the Lasagna Weevil -- the tiny creature whose depredations have caused much concern in the past ..."

Swiped shamelessly from the classic April Fool's Day Hoax the BBC perpetrated on April 1, 1957 -- Spaghetti Harvest