Squash is one vegetable most people like, and which few people hate, presumably because it has no overly strong taste, and is easy to incorporate into just about any soup, rice dish, or stir fry.

Summer squash comes in many varieties: zucchini, crookneck, patty-pan, and more, plus many sub-varieties too numerous to mention here.

There is one vegetable that most people either love or hate. Or, maybe they've never eaten it. It is okra. Eaten more in the southern states, as well as in warmer climates of other countries, okra has one characteristic that seems to annoy many people, and that is the "slime factor". That seems to be the reason given most often as to why people don't like okra.

The Environmental Assessment for USFS Bearcat Hollow Project Phase 2 has
been published. The public has 30 days to submit comments. Comment
period closes on Jan 10, 2012.

Along with the usual logging of thousands of acres, repeated burning of
thousands of acres, and spraying of herbicides over thousands of acres,
the project proposal includes introducing Western Rocky Mountain Elk
onto 38,000 acres in the Piney District of the greater Ozark National
Forest. The project adjoins Richland Creek and the Richland Creek
Wilderness area.

Federal agency finds Ozark hellbender endangered

By The Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A federal agency has declared the Ozark hellbender an endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule on Wednesday that places the aquatic salamander in the endangered category.
The amphibian lives in streams in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri and can reach two feet in length.

The agency says the main threat to the Ozark hellbender is damage to its habitat from mining, animal operations and fertilizer runoff.

Milk. A lot can be said about it. This little story relates to goat milk from a small, family owned goat herd which includes a milking doe, a buck, and two still-nursing wethers. Aside from the milk itself, the star of this episode is Paris, a very good-natured milk goat.

Jury awards $320 million in punitive damages in Herculaneum smelter case

ST. LOUIS • Sixteen plaintiffs were awarded $320 million in punitive damages Friday in a case against the former owners of a Herculaneum lead smelter accused of negligently causing lead poisoning in the former residents.

That comes on top of $38.5 million in damages awarded the day before for health problems and lost lifetime earnings.

Most people who educate themselves about good nutrition have heard of, or read about, quinoa, (pronounced "keen' - wah"). Quinoa, Chenopodium quinoa, is the ancient grain of the Andes Mountains, often grown at elevations of 8,000' or higher. There are many varieties of quinoa, including "Faro" which I'm growing this year, and which derives from Chile.