Great tip on making veggy stock. The strangest thing I ever had offered to me as a child was Sheep's Head Broth. The old woman who offered it to me had all the hair of it burnt off before boiling it. I can't begin to describe the smell of it while cooking. Arhhh!
As I ran out of the house, I could hear the old lady laughing in the kitchen. Old people would turn up at her place to savour it.