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Researchers today announced in the journal Nature Plants the discovery of the first-ever fossil specimens of an "asterid" - a family of flowering plants that gave us everything from the potato to tomatoes, tobacco, petunias and our morning cup of coffee. But these two 20-30 million-year-old fossil flowers, found perfectly preserved in a piece of amber, came from the dark side of the asterid family - they belong to the genus Strychnos, which ultimately gave rise to some of the world's most famous poisons, including strychnine and curare. Poisons that would later find their way into blow-gun weapons, rat control,...

In April 2012, a Kansas SWAT team raided the home of Robert and Addie Harte, their 7-year-old daughter and their 13-year-old son. The couple, both former CIA analysts, awoke to pounding at the door. When Robert Harte answered, SWAT agents flooded the home. He was told to lie on the floor. When Addie Harte came out to see what was going on, she saw her husband on his stomach as SWAT cop stood over him with a gun.

Ok all, I have 5 Potted Tomato Plants(got then from http://www.chefjeffsgarden.com/ via Bamgaars) how do I make sure that these plants bloom and "create" Tomatoes and just do no "create" Leaves? They all are growing real good(tripled in size in 3 weeks).

Tomatoes - A complete planting guide including state specific planting dates and varieties, tips for soil preparation, planting, watering,fertilizing, insect and weed control...

First Lady and school nutrition advocate Michelle Obama’s stringent lunch guidelines are limiting children to just one ketchup packet per meal. A recent EagNews.com article profiled unhappy Idaho customers of the Obama administration’s revisions to the National School Lunch program, including a parent who called school lunches “not edible” and kids who have stopped eating lunch completely. “Kids can’t take two ketchup packets [for burgers] because that would set them over on calories,” said a Burley, Idaho “district food-service secretary.”

Tomato planting guide with state specific recommended varieties and planting dates...

A Salafi group called the "Popular Egyptian Islamic Association" has warned Muslims against eating tomatoes on the grounds that the fruit is a "Christian food," NowLebanon.com has reported. The group based its claim on the fact that a shape resembling a cross is revealed when one cuts a tomato in half. The association published the warning on its Facebook page with a photo of a tomato cut in half, revealing a cross-shaped interior. A message posted on the page read, "Eating tomatoes is forbidden because they are Christian. [The tomato] praises the cross instead of Allah and says that Allah...

My tomatoes are just producing ALOT of leaves and LITTLE TINY Yellow flowers but NO "fruit" yet. Is this normal? All you FreeRepublic Gardeners have any answers for me? I Live in W/ Iowa(Council Bluffs).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government and Mexican tomato growers reached a tentative agreement on Saturday that reduces the threat of a costly trade war stemming from a U.S. decision last year to pull out of a 1996 bilateral tomato trade pact. "I am pleased that we were able to come to an agreement on fresh tomato imports from Mexico that restores stability and confidence to the U.S. tomato market and meets the requirements of U.S. law,"€ U.S. Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sanchez said in a statement.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle landed near the armoured cars carrying Clinton's delegation in the port city of Alexandria. A senior state department official said that neither Clinton nor her vehicle, which were around the corner from the incident, were struck by any of the projectiles. Protesters chanted: "Monica, Monica", a reference to Former President Bill Clinton's extra-marital...

See the cross? See it? Why are you laughing? Warning! Your salad could be making you into an Infidel! "Salafist group warns tomatoes are 'Christian,'” by Angie Nassar for NowLebanon.com, June 12 (thanks to Lachlan) ...A Salafist group called the Popular Egyptian Islamic Association has come under fire after sending out a warning on Facebook urging its followers not to eat tomatoes because the vegetable (or fruit) is a Christian food. The group posted a photo on its page of a tomato - which appears to reveal the shape of a cross after being cut in half – along with...

A Salafist group from Egypt appears to be trying to retract a post on Facebook that warned that eating tomatoes are "forbidden because they are Christian." However, the Muslim traditionalist group, calling themselves the Popular Egyptian Islamic Association, apparently still finds tomatoes offensive if they are cut in such a way that reveals the shape of a cross, according to the Now Lebanon website. Along with a photo of a tomato cut in half to reveal what could be viewed as a cross, the group originally posted on Facebook: "Eating tomatoes is forbidden because they are Christian. [The tomato] praises...

The mass-produced tomatoes we buy at the grocery store tend to taste more like cardboard than fruit. Now researchers have discovered one reason why: a genetic mutation, common in store-bought tomatoes, that reduces the amount of sugar and other tasty compounds in the fruit. SNIP But the new study, published this week in Science, found that the mutation that leads to the uniform appearance of most store-bought tomatoes has an unintended consequence: It disrupts the production of a protein responsible for the fruit's production of sugar. SNIP The study authors set out to pin down the genetic change that makes...

Biden to 'dull as hell' fundraiser crowd: 'Pretend you like me' By Justin Sink - 04/27/12 12:38 PM ET Vice President Biden ordered supporters to "pretend you like me" after mocking them as "dull as hell" at a campaign fundraiser in Washington on Friday. The vice president was speaking to Turkish and Azerbaijani donors about the potential of the region as a democratic and economic force when he noticed he wasn't getting much of a reception. “I guess what I’m trying to say without boring you too long at breakfast – and you all look dull as hell, I might...

Complete planting guide for Tomatoes including state specific varieties, planting dates, nutrition facts, planting, watering, fertilizing, insect and disease control information...

Are heirlooms really as good and tasty as good old hybrids like Better Boy or BeefMaster? I am growing Old German, Cherokee Purple, Boxcar Willie and several yellows... I've dedicated the majority of my small garden to heirlooms. Hope they are all they are cracked up to be.

. Good afternoon gardeners! After a high of 81 degrees yesterday, we are at 50 degrees today after experiencing high winds and 3 inches of rain last night. Radar would indicate that there is more rain to come, as I see it in Texas right now. I hope that all of our Texas gardeners are catching up on much needed rain! PTL!We have so many new gardeners in our group, in addition to folks with the desire to begin gardening, that I thought a primer on transplanting might be useful. Please feel free to add to the discussion with...

Anyone ever compost tomato plants to use in the next tomato garden? Or is that too 'in-bred'?

What does Korean fried chicken and tomatoes have in common? Shrill protestors attempting to shame large food companies into overcharging consumers for their product in the name of either job protection for the smaller producers or increase wages for "underpaid" workers. Both camps showed a shrewd application of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. Exhibit A: Back in December of last year, Korean food chaebol Lotte started selling buckets of Korean fried chicken in their Lotte Mart grocery stores for 5,000 won each. The Lotte Mart Korean fried chicken bucket quickly gained a good enough reputation that customers stood in long...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Hundreds of marijuana plants were seized by police officers on 4/20, a day celebrated in the drug culture to use marijuana. But when Independence, Mo., police showed up at one man's door looking for marijuana, they found something else. Independence police found a growing operation Wednesday afternoon: a tomato growing operation. "What I saw today was not protection," the man told KMBC's Cliff Judy. "That was harassment, all because of where I made a purchase." Independence police said the Missouri Highway Patrol monitors stores that sell hydroponic growing equipment, and they use those sales to track down...