After recent reports of cantaloupe contaminated with salmonella, Long Island farmer Thomas Wickham talks about fielding questions from customers concerned about the safety of their fruit. 

At Red Hook Community Farm in Brooklyn, kids help plant vegetables on top of asphalt and learn to love their greens through communal meals.

You can't rile Thomas Wickham with the prospect of the Stir Fry.  "So, what are you going to ask me?" he said calmly, as producer Joy Y. Wang and I corralled him into the Studio 4 hot seat.  

The man's a farmer, and his family has farmed for generations.  I got the sense that nothing phases him.  Not even the unblinking gaze of the Studio 4 cat behind him.

Tennis player Varvara Lepchenko says she felt like an American, ever since coming to the United States to play tournaments here in 2000. She moved to the States in 2001, and credits achieving U.S. citizenship last year with a recent boost in her game. 

Cookbook author Mindy Fox talks about the different varieties of cucumbers currently available and touts their versatility. Try her recipe for Cucumber and Summer Tomato Salad with Fresh Herb Leaves and Barely Pickled Red Onion.

Cookbook author Mindy Fox gives her take on some Chicago staples in this 60-Second Stir-Fry.

Community gardener Annalee Sinclair is no stranger to the hot seat. After all, she gardened in a syringe-infested abandoned lot on the Lower East Side, in the 1990s, when the neighborhood was a scary and violent place. Robin Shulman is also a cool customer.  She should be.  She wrote a book, Eat the City.  I'm trying to write a book proposal of my own, and I know there is no pressure like a deadline.

So, bring on the lightning round of Stir Fry questions!

Author Robin Shulman and El Jardin Del Paraiso garden coordinator Annalee Sinclair talk about how a community garden can help change the urban landscape and how people eat. Also, try Sinclair's recipe for country green beans with new potatoes.

Jennifer Divello of Patty's Berries and Bunches in Mattituck, on Long Island, does a 'berry' good job handling the heat of the stir fry lightning round of questions. Okay, had to do that. It's been a 'berry' long day.

The sweetness of a blueberry depends on color, not size, according to Jennifer Devillo of Patty's Berries and Bunches. Learn more and try Amy Edding's recipe for blueberry cobbler.

Ron Binaghi III of Stokes Farm in Old Tappan, N.J., talks about reasons to appreciate humble, hothouse-grown hybrid tomatoes. His dad recommends a thick slice of tomato on a slice of good bread with a generous amount of mayo, but you can also try Stokes Farms' favorite Baked Parmesan Tomato recipe.

Some of our Last Chance Foods guests go limp at the thought of the Stir Fry, but not Ron Binaghi III of Stokes Farm in Old Tappan, New Jersey.  Just like his family farm's tomatoes, Binaghi thrives in the heat of the hot seat.

Amaranth, a plant long cultivated for its seeds and leaves, is thriving at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Chef Ariel Nadelberg talks about cooking with the greens and herb gardener Caleb Leech explains why the plant is a survivor. Try Nadelberg's recipe for Amaranth Two Ways with Miso, Sautéed King Oyster Mushrooms, and Summer Squash.

This Stir Fry is less "fry" and more "stir."  Brooklyn Botanic Garden herb curator Caleb Leech and BBG Terrace Café chef Ariel Nadelberg were allowed a do-over of my lightning round of questions, after both were scorched by the heat of the hot seat.

This Associated Press story caught my eye last week.  How could it not?

Hot dog, bacon and doughnut lovers can get all three foods in one cholesterol-boosting item at this summer's New York State Fair. The Big Kahuna Donut Dog tops the list of unusual items at this year's fair. The offering consists of a maple-glazed doughnut around a bacon-wrapped hot dog.

Borage may not be very well known, but chef Evan Hanczor says the herb is delicious and may even protect your tomato plants from pests. Try his recipe for Tomato, Cucumber, and Borage Bread Salad.

I had a bad food day Thursday. Not "bad" as in salad vs. cheeseburgers. (I don't think of food that way. It doesn't deserve such moralizing.)

I mean bad as in flavorless. Bad, as in, everything I ate today turned to sawdust in my mouth.

Chef Diane Kochilas shares her tips on making tender, sweet and savory stuffed grape leaves. Check out her dolmades recipe. 

Summertime makes me want to stay far away from anything hot, especially a stove or the hot seat of the 60-Second Stir-Fry. But chef and author Diane Kochilas teaches cooking classes in sunny Greece, so she didn't break a sweat.

A company called Mortgage Resolution Partners wants local governments to use eminent domain to help homeowners drowning in debt.