A Renaissance painting reveals how breeding changed watermelons | Raw Sunflower Seeds In Shell

The harvest of Vermont’s first-ever one-ton pumpkin in late September remains a big deal in certain circles.

We lucked out with 4th place at Damariscotta Pumpkinfest.  Our biggest pumpkin in 2018 weighed 1368.5 lbs.  It’s the 3rd biggest pumpkin our family has grown.

The University of Wisconsin has recently hired a new plant breeder, Lucia Gutierrez, who is enthusiastic about bringing in newer, improved varieties to Wisconsin farmers. She understands the lack of good high-quality Wisconsin oat genetics and is working diligently to fix this issue.

To help solve that problem, Wu founded the Center for the Health Impacts of Agriculture. The center tackles global issues, such as antibiotics given to livestock and poultry that seep into soil and nearby bodies of water, and the association between malaria incidence and irrigation patterns in sub-Saharan Africa.

So here is the kicker. The bag was not chewed through or torn in any way. Rather, the chain stitch string had been pulled, as it was designed to do, and that is how the seeds were accessed. I can’t even get those things to work the way they should. Usually I end up just cutting the bag open.

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Stepping into that void is Alcove, the new spot from owner Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, a storied Boston hospitality pro backed by a team of veterans that features exec chef Maxime Fanton (ex-Pagu) and GM Brendan Collins (ex-Island Creek). The space, located in the base of a new luxury condo tower at Lovejoy Wharf, features a cozy modern room in grays, beiges and dark blues with dim light flatteringly bouncing off copper and steel accents and warm woods and comfortable spacing at a big textured-schist bar. A waterfront patio with a breathtaking panorama of the Charles River and the Zakim and Charlestown bridges awaits warmer weather.

Canola should be left standing until 30 to 60 per cent seed colour change, and not swathed immediately after the frost to reduce locking in green seed. Pods can become brittle if frost damaged, which increases the chances of shatter, so swathing should be timed carefully when pods are still wet with dew or rain and more pliable.

These days, like others in their horticultural tribe, they have already turned their minds to Vermont’s next short-but-explosive growing season.

These nutrient-packed nuts grow on a tree (botanically speaking they are seeds, not nuts, and are related to peaches and plums) and are believed to have originated in China and Central Asia, after which they soon spread to the Mediterranean region. They were referenced in both Ancient Egyptian and Roman culture, and were given to newlywed Roman couples as a sign of fertility. In the 1700s they were brought to California by the Spaniards, where they are now part of a thriving almond industry. Nutritionally speaking, almonds are an excellent source of protein, fiber, vitamin E, and several other nutrients. They may also help lower LDL (low-density lipids) cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of developing heart disease. They make a perfectly portable snack, whether roasted, raw, chopped, or ground into some delicious almond butter.

Two hours before dinner service commences, Cygnus 27 chef de cuisine Stephan VanHeulen has deftly inspected the kitchen, marveling at the diver scallops — gorgeous, pearly pink and way more substantial than anything you can buy at a supermarket; smelling the exhilarating earthiness of the fluffy hen-of-the-woods, royal trumpet and white beech mushrooms; and tasting the whipped root vegetable purée. But it’s the massive octopus with eight tentacles, a dangerously delicious beast, that stopped him in his tracks.