The kickoff of an innovative project-

People who yearn for a great lawn are invited to come out and watch the grass grow at the O.J. Noer Turfgrass Research and Educational Facility on Saturday Aug. 14 from noon to 4 p. m.

A twilight tour for plant lovers will be held at the Hancock Agricultural Research Station Monday, Aug. 2. More than 600 varieties of fruits, flowers and vegetables from more than two dozen seed companies will be showcased in the station’s A.R. Albert and Viletta Hawley-Albert Horticultural Garden. Participants can also tour perennial plantings and specialty gardens, and visit the pumpkin patches planted by local schoolchildren.

Several years ago, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced a program to clean up Lake Mendota at a cost of almost $18 million over 10 years. However, county residents say they’d be willing to pay $52 million for the job, according to a University of Wisconsin Madison survey.

Whether you’re new to Madison, seeking vegetarian recipes or looking for produce that’s in season, there’s a web site made for you. Just type http://www.madfarmmkt.org/ and you’ll find all you need to know about that seasonal ritual, the Dane County Farmers’ Market. You can take a tour, take a quiz, find a new recipe or find your favorite vendor.

With the farm economy in recession, the goal of

A new book on African-Americans in Wisconsin presents a current profile of the population and how it has changed during the past 25 years. The book now makes an earlier research report more accessible to professors, students and policy-makers.

For several dozen homeless grade-school students, it was one-on-one excitement: a chance to meet some heroes of the hardwood.

Donald R. Peterson, emeritus professor of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, died of a heart attack Saturday, Aug. 8 in Madison. He was 73 years old.

The Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association presented a check for $5,000 to the Norman F. Olson Cheese Research Scholarship fund July 23, bringing the fund to “critical mass” for annual support of a University of Wisconsin-Madison student.