Tomasel says that to reduce handling of his apples before they reach the consumer, many supermarkets sell his apples from the same crates they are packed in at his orchard. THERE are shiny apples, fresh avocados and glistening crisp lettuce, blood-red peppers beside the bright yellow corn and bulbous glistening eggplants. In the past two years, 1354 samples of these five commodities have been tested for chemicals including herbicides, fumigants, insecticides, acaricides and fungicides. We...

Other defenders of the huge federal farm bill make paeans to yeoman farmers "living under a yard light, trying to plow the land, plant a seed, harvest a crop. Democrats and Republicans on the Agriculture Committee, backed by crowds of lobbyists, are pulling out all the stops to pass a $288 billion, five-year farm bill, expanding an archaic system of subsidies that government economists say is rapidly shifting billions of dollars to the largest farm operations. And still other senators mock...

The railroad grade is bordered by a variety of trees and vegetation -- cottonwood, alder, pine, wild roses with displays of rose-hips red and puckered, thistles, teasels, cat-tails and many shrubs we did not recognize, all in a swirl of Gauguin-like color, accompanied by a chorus of hidden birds and tree frogs. The railroad grade is bordered by a variety of trees and vegetation -- cottonwood, alder, pine, wild roses with displays of rose-hips red and puckered, thistles, teasels, cat-tails...

Don Gatian was talking apples and oranges and it had nothing to do with fruit salad. The difference between the Antlers fledgling steps in that playoff game last season and the full-blown offensive machine it has become this season is, well, fairly fruity. They picked up a more productive 73 yards in the second half, but the passing game cooled, with Palmer hitting only six of his final 12 throws for 57 yards. It s evolved tremendously from what we started with not just from last year, but...

A big dinner plate piled with comb honey always graced the kitchen table, and Apple fondly recalls scooping up a forkful of honey still encased in beeswax whenever he passed by. The farm didn't have electricity, but it did have an apple orchard, sheep, beehives, threshing machines and a hay loft to explore. Although unlikely to acknowledge it, he undoubtedly has become "the beekeeper of Jasper," whose honey is included in city gift baskets presented to visiting officials. The queen had...