Free Republic

Back when I was in college, I ate a diet that frankly may have been more fitting for a small woodland creature than for a human. Though my snacks were scavenged from the Whole Foods produce department rather than off of the forest floor, I grazed primarily on an assortment of fruits and nuts throughout the course of any given day. Even as I’ve entered adulthood and appropriately added more variety to my meals, I can still polish off a two-pound bag of grapes in one sitting and will sometimes choose cherries over an actual dinner when the mood strikes....

Studies of ancient preserved plant remains from a medieval archaeological site in the Pamir Mountains of Uzbekistan have shown that fruits, such as apples, peaches, apricots, and melons, were cultivated in the foothills of Inner Asia. The archaeobotanical study, conducted by Robert Spengler of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, is among the first systematic analyses of medieval agricultural crops in the heart of the ancient Silk Road. Spengler identified a rich assemblage of fruit and nut crops, showing that many of the crops we are all familiar with today were cultivated along the ancient trade...

Which Do You Prefer: Melons and Leeks, or the Bread of Heaven? Msgr. Charles Pope • August 7, 2017 • The first reading for daily Mass on Monday (18th week of the year) was taken from the Book of Numbers. It features the Israelites grumbling about the manna in the wilderness:Would that we had meat for food! We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now we are famished; we see nothing before us but this manna (Numbers 11:4-5).While it is easy...

2 cups diced watermelon 2 cups diced rockmellon/cantaloupe 1 cup diced honey dew – optional 2 teaspoons honey

Yubari melons latest victims of recessionSaturday, May 16, 2009 The Associated Press The latest victim of the recession is round, sweet and famous for being shockingly expensive. The first two Yubari melons of the season were auctioned Friday in Hokkaido and fetched ¥500,000. Pricey? Certainly. But it's practically a steal if you consider last year's winning bid — a record ¥2.5 million. In 2007 they sold for ¥2 million. **SNIP** Weighing about 3.6 kg, the premium cantaloupes were part of the season's initial harvest at Sapporo Central Wholesale Market. Every year buyers flock to the market for a shot at...

PICACHO, Ariz., Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Western U.S. farmers are increasingly using inmates to harvest their fields as states crack down on hiring undocumented workers. Colorado started sending female inmates to harvest onions, corn and melons this summer, and Iowa is considering a similar program, The Christian Science Monitor reported. While inmates have worked for private farms in Arizona for almost 20 years, legislation signed this summer fining employers for knowingly hiring undocumented workers has brought growing numbers of farmers to the Arizona Department of Corrections for help, the newspaper said. Unlike other sectors, where federal regulations require inmate workers...

Text message spreading through Saudi Arabia claiming melons entering the kingdom from Israel are infected with AIDS causes frenzy. Officials deny rumors Roee Nahmias Published: 04.13.07, 16:14 / Israel News "Beware of Israeli melons infected with AIDS arriving in Saudi Arabia!" is the latest rumor being spread throughout Saudi Arabia like a wildfire. An SMS message being sent around the country this week said, "The Saudi Interior Ministry warns its citizens of a truck loaded with AIDS infected melons that Israel brought into the country via a 'ground corridor.'" The Interior Minister's spokesman General Mansour al Turki responded to news...

Woke up this morning and it was rank. What causes that smell?