Brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera) are one of those vegetables that people either seem to love or detest. Perhaps they produce strong negative reactions because they are equated with miniature cabbages. When overcooked or produced from a plastic bag from the freezer, they tend to lose some of their luster and can be a sorrowful soggy mess. But plucked directly from the garden after being tinged with a frost to enhance their sweetness, they are at their finest. Today one can fi

A Mexican free-tailed bat captures a moth. This species is common in backyards in western and southern states. Photo: © Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International By Nina Fascione, Executive Director, Bat Conservation International Each night, as darkness falls, legions of bats go to work around the world. They perform a range of tasks that are essential for healthy ecosystems and human economies. And yet, these wonderfully beneficial flying mammals are among the most reviled and ne

Garlic has been used as both food and medicine since at least the 25th century BCE, around the time that the pyramids were being constructed at Giza, Egypt. In his Ecologues, Virgil writes all about garlic being consumed by ancient Greek and Roman soldiers, and it is was grown in England by the mid-16th century. This is curious given the modern English attitude toward garlic. As late as 1997, Dr. D.G. Hessayon warned in his bestselling book, The Vegetable & Herb Expert: (Here we a

We’re going to tell you all about sunflowers so you can be a sunflower expert. Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) It is thought that sunflowers may have been domesticated before corn, as early as 3000 BC in the area that is now Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona and in the Mississippi Valley by 2300 BC. The plant is certainly native to northern Central America and grew tall and bushy, with many flowers per plant. Evidence suggests that the seeds were used to grind into flour for bread or made int