Free Republic

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won't be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

But last month, police in Italy nabbed 7,000 tons of phony olive oil. Much of it was bound for American stores. The oil was from North Africa, deodorized with chemicals...The scam was cooked-up by organized crime. Mafia copies of fine olive oil, wine and cheese have fueled an explosion of food crime in Italy. It's estimated to be a $16 billion-a-year enterprise. The Italians call it "Agromafia"...what would it be in the U.S.? Tom Mueller: Up around 75% to 80%, easily.

After more than a decade of wrangling, Congress repealed a labeling law last month that required retailers to include the animal's country of origin on packages of red meat. Lawmakers said they had no choice but to get rid of the labels after the World Trade Organization repeatedly ruled against them. The WTO recently authorized Canada and Mexico, which had challenged the law, to begin more than $1 billion in economic retaliation against the United States.

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won't be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

Students from Winnipeg, Canada recently discovered a stash of 800-year-old seeds while on an archaeological dig. The mysterious seeds, once planted, grew into a rare species of squash that has been extinct for hundreds of years. While we don't know if the seeds themselves were safe to eat, the squash that they harvested was absolutely delicious. Check out the images below to see the rare gourd for yourself and learn more about this discovery.

Patrick Brown is on an improbable mission: Make a burger Americans love, minus the meat. Veggie patties have been around for decades, but Brown and others want to make foods without animal products that look, cook and taste like the real thing - and can finally appeal to the masses.

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won't be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

Have you heard? The GOP is declaring war on science again. In February, a government-appointed nutrition advisory panel said Americans should eat less sugar and red meat. It also suggested that environmental considerations should factor into a healthy diet, which livestock producers understood as an attack on their industry. Republicans in Congress think the guideline process is out of control and are now trying to rein in the panel. By their lights, nutrition scientists should concern themselves with nutrition -- not sustainability. Critics say they're pandering to special interests. The funny thing is: Both sides may be right. For decades,...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won't be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

If you're a white-tailed deer in Milwaukee County, odds are you live in or near the county's park system. The 15,000 acres of parks and parkways provide more than 90% of the deer habitat in the county, according to an assessment by the Department of Natural Resources. That's a lot of land, but not enough for a deer to hide in. Especially if you're a big-racked buck like "Bow Tie." Bow Tie was a very well-known white-tailed deer that was frequently seen in Milwaukee County. Randy Crawford of Wauwatosa is a wildlife photographer and hunter who enjoys viewing and capturing...

Founder of today’s China killed 45 million of his own people (TibetanReview.net, Sep05, 2010) Recently declassified Chinese Communist Party archives show that the Great Helmsman, Chairman Mao Tsetung's regime cased the greatest "man-made famine" the world has ever seen, reported the ANI news service Sep 3, citing a new publication from Hong Kong. Mao's Great Famine, by Frank Dikotter, Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong, is reported to show that 45 million Chinese people were killed between 1958 and 1961. Chinese propaganda posters of the late 1950s show smiling young workers marching jubilantly towards unity under the...

An investigation by the city attorney's office has led to misdemeanor convictions against eight sushi restaurants whose "lobster rolls" apparently lacked a key ingredient. Investigators bought the rolls at a sampling of restaurants and then sent them to a laboratory for DNA testing. The results revealed that less-expensive seafood, including crawfish or pollock, had been substituted for lobster.

I have always been a rib-eye fan. That was my favorite cut of steak.But a few weeks ago, I came across a "chuck-eye" steak at Walmart. It looked like a ribeye at half the cost...so I grabbed it.When I did an interweb search, I found many who bragged about its flavor and low cost.I grill another one tonight.Beautiful steak. $5 total cost.This cut is called the poor man's ribeye. But it is just as good at half the price.Just thought my fellow Freepers might want to know.

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won't be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

I have to admit that with Christmas coming, and work issues, I'm so busy right now that I've got little for you this week in terms of recipes. But I've been thinking of some things that I remember from my childhood Christmases. As I've mentioned before, I was largely raised by my paternal Grandmother, who was born in 1890. Her own childhood took place at a time when not many people had Christmas trees in their homes; I remember Granny telling us that in the 1890s the Christmas tree, for her small-town Virginia area, would be in the Church, or...

<p>The World Trade Organization ruled Monday that Canada and Mexico can slap more than $1 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation for meat labeling rules it says discriminated against Mexican and Canadian livestock.</p> <p>At issue were U.S. labels on packaged steaks and other cuts of meat that say where the animals were born, raised and slaughtered.</p>

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won't be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

Ethanol, which is produced from corn, is commonly-used as an additive in engine fuel as a way to reduce harmful emissions and scale back U.S. reliance on foreign oil. But since ethanol is an oxygenated fuel, its use results in a lower energy output, as well as increased damage to engines via corrosion. But now a research team, led by William Jones at the University of Rochester, has developed a series of reactions that results in the selective conversion of ethanol to butanol, without producing unwanted byproducts. "Butanol is much better than ethanol as an alternative to gasoline," said Jones,...

I'm always looking for new and different things to do with vegetables in a low-carb way. I found a recipe and tinkered with it the other day, and the result was very good: Summer Squash Casserole 1 lb Yellow Squash, or mixture of Yellow squash and Zucchini ( 2-3 med) in 1/4 inch slices (can use frozen) 1/2 onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 cup shredded cheese, plus extra for topping 1 egg Beau Monde seasoning, Season-All, or seasoning mix of your choice 1/4 to 1/2 Cup chopped Pecans Steam squash onion and garlic together until...

Rotten pears, burned pizza, and fat-filled chicken patties and burgers. Those are just some of the unappetizing, often unhealthy lunch items being served to teens at Roosevelt High School on Chicago’s Northwest Side—and some of the students have had enough. Starting Wednesday, they plan to boycott the gross cafeteria food, and they have launched a petition demanding that lunch offerings be improved. The effort, called “The School Lunch Project: Culinary Denial,” was created in November by civics students at the school. They hope to educate the public about the problem with the food they are being served and mobilize the...