France is famous for many things — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, wine and croissants among them. But the French can also be proud of being the home of tremendous lettuce. Batavia lettuce, also called French Crisp and Summer Crisp lettuce, is mild, sweet and crispy. It’s absolutely ...

“Did you know that most adults across the world have a psychoactive stimulant daily?” my son asked me. He was working on the opening line of a speech for a class. My then-teenage son's question certainly caught my attention. The stimulant was in a cup surrounded by my hands. I was ...

Our two dogs zipped around the yard, noses to the ground, celebrating the warmer temperatures and nearly snow-free backyard. A pair of cardinals sang loudly from the trees as if they were celebrating, too. My dachshunds’ bellies are fairly close to the ground — a little too close to the ...

When I moved to North Dakota, I talked to people about both hardwood trees and softwood trees. They looked very confused. What’s a hardwood? Terminology is important. For good communication, a word should mean the same thing to each person. If it doesn’t, then we’re not actually ...

I’ve been banned from pruning alone. Now this may seem odd, a horticulture agent not being allowed to prune alone. But there are good reasons, and at the time, I was not a horticulture agent. The first time I pruned a tree, I climbed up with my saw and bypass pruners, and I balanced between ...

“What’s the difference between these packets?” my husband asked me after he picked up his cup of coffee. “These are different non-nutritive sweeteners,” I replied as I read the ingredient statement. “Some are sweeter than others.” “Could you pick out a packet for me?” he ...