NOTE: The following letter was penned by our very own Tom Kruzen, who for various reasons is unable at present to post to this forum. Because the letter is worthy of re-publication, and this is as good a forum as any, here it is:

January 26, 2012

Dear Editor,

Anyone who has ever seen Oyster Mushrooms will probably recall their unique habit of growing in a cascade along a tree trunk, in a upward or downward direction, depending one one's point of view. One mass of them I observed for several consecutive years grew on a dead or dying sycamore tree.

This is one mushroom, according to experts, that is almost impossible to confuse with any poison variety, however, I still do not recommend anyone gathering or collecting them based on an online mention. Always be certain of what you collect before ingesting it/them.

The common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, is one of the most common vegetables grown by the home gardener. There is quite a wide variety in beans, and this particular article is about "green beans", which is a rather general term itself. Almost any variety of common bean can be harvested while still small, tender, and green, or can be allowed to dry on the vine for later harvest as dry pods, containing dried bean seeds. If one wants seeds for the following year, then green beans are allowed to mature into dry pods full of dry beans.

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.

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.

I'm starting a new facebook group, "Not made in China: My children and grandchildren, all of my tools, my nursery, plants, and my wood stoves", to help create awareness in the unaware and reinforce the awareness in others that we Americans need to begin making things here . We need to vote with our dollars here. I grow my own vegetables. When I cannot, I buy them from local farmers. I grow all the North American Native Plants from seed I collect here or in other parts of the United States. I order recycled pots or have local potters make them.

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.

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.

Many of us buy and eat "wild rice" which is not true rice, but certainly resembles it.

Zizania aquatica, or giant wild rice, can be grown if you have water that gets a regular new infusion of same, and if the water is approximately 1-3 feet deep.