The center of America, Obama wrote, is "a place where decency and endurance and the pioneer spirit were joined at the hip with conformity and suspicion and the potential for unblinking cruelty."

I'm just dipping back into "Dreams from My Father," looking for something — looking to see if the young Obama, the child Obam...

At the Heirloom Café...

... we're getting locavoracious.

"I have to admit that while my politics generally tend to the liberal option, on this one issue of chipmunks, I can see the NRA point of view."

"Part of me wants these suckers to die." Says Mayor Citizen Dave. Also: "I love tomatoes enough to rethink my concerns abou...

Why are store tomatoes so bad?

Maybe it's the redness . The unexpected culprit is a gene mutation that occurred by chance and that was discovered by tomato breeders. I...

Dibbing Sun Gold Tomato Seeds.

Here 's the Rolling Stones song I bring up as Meade dibs.

At the Tomato Spider Café...

... you can lurk here until dawn.

At the Heirloom Café...

... your flaws get counted as beautiful.

"Invent some better scenario... where the stolen food somehow ends up in the stomachs of people who need it."

That's advice for urban gardeners who keep losing vegetables to thieves. This resembles my general attitude toward gardening. Whatever...

A Meadhouse counterscape.

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