Ann Adams operating a lightweight wheel hoe.

     A woman's touch...isn't the same as a man's touch. Liz Brensinger, with a master's degree in nursing, and her friend Ann Adams, whose master's is in public health, had a wealth of professional knowledge about the physiological differences between men and women. When they started to grow vegetables for Adams' son, a gourmet chef, they went looking for the best farm tools they could find that were designed for use by women and they found...none. Zip. Zero. Nada. So they designed their own. And started a business. Lancaster Farming Regional Editor Margaret Gates interviewed the partners and wrote about them for our October 30 edition. It's in the food and family features section.

 

Some of the research apparatus
at the Stroud Water Research Center.



     After more than 20 years of study into the effect of trees on streams, scientists at the Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, Pa., can say that trees play an important role in maintaining a healthy and stable ecosystem. A riparian (fancy word for "streambank") buffer zone of 100 feet or so, whether it's covered with grass or trees, can help reduce erosion, sedimentation, and nutrient flow into streams. But trees work best, a fact staff writer Chris Torres learned on a recent tour of the Stroud Center which was sponsored by a couple of environmental groups. His report starts on page one of our current edition.



     And now for a pop quiz...Why did 18th century Felix de Azara think popcorn tasted like hair? And what kind of guy was Azara, anyway, and what's the real reason he went to Paraguay? You'l find a whole page of fascinating popcorn history, science and lore on page B10 of this week's Lancaster Farming.

  

Ron Bingaman shows his granddaughter
Avery a restored IH tractor.



     The thing about tractor people is some like red ones, some favor green, or yellow, or blue. But if a John Deere guy needed to borrow a wrench from an IH guy, the JD guy would have his wrench, with maybe a sly comment or two about why he needed a wrench in the first place. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all get along like that? Using our differences to build bridges instead of walls? That's the way the tractor community operates. You can get a look at the IH side of that community in Millville, Pa., where the local chapter of the International Harvesters Collector Club bought an IH dealership that it hopes to turn into a museum. Stay tuned to the IH collectors website (nationalihcollectors.com) for the grand opening in a year or so. And if you do make it to the museum, you might want to leave that green cap - you know the one we mean - in the truck. Lancaster Farming correspondent Lisa Z. Leighton paid a visit to the Millville IH folks when they celebrated the purchase of the dealership. Her report is on page B23 of this week's edition.