At a White House Dinner that gathered world leaders early in his tenure, President Kennedy quipped that those assembled represented the “greatest meeting of minds since Thomas Jefferson had dinner in the White House here by himself.” What’s impressive about Thomas Jefferson’s intelligence is that it wasn’t limited by matters political or philosophical. Jefferson’s […]

Grafted trees with more than one kind of fruit are a classic way to maximize yield in small backyards. Now, to celebrate the beginning of 2015, here’s a different two-for-one—supersweet cherry tomatoes grafted onto a rootstock that features a crop of potatoes. It’s all one plant called Ketchup ‘n’ Fries™ by TomTato.® I talked with […]

I’ve been running into a lot of glasshouses in my midwinter reading. I just finished reading up about Edward VII, son of Prince Albert, who dazzled the world with the Crystal Palace in London in 1851. Albert was a better exhibition organizer than he was a father, but the book reminded me what a remarkable […]