corn for instance) have been bred to excessively translocate sugar. They can give high ear readings even as the stalks and leaves are giving relatively low readings. You may be a grower, consumer, or both. Although the selling grower?s goals are sometimes at variance with those of the consumer, both benefit from any increase in brix values. Hopefully, both will work in tandem to improve the quality of the food supply. A GENTLE WARNING A first natural inclination for many people is to test the fruits of their labor from their garden. Bruised feelings are common when their personal pride and joy indicates less than high quality. Be happy that YOU now have the knowledge needed to inspire you to grow higher quality fruits and vegetables. And you may rest assured that judging the quality of your neighbor?s garden as anything less than "good" or "excellent" will cause difficulty.  Another phenomenon I often encounter is where the new brix convert starts rejecting produce that doesn't measure "excellent."  The strange thing is that they will reject items that they would have eagerly bought back when they could not tell good from bad.  Please let the refractometer guide you toward better food.  For instance, if you have unknowingly used poor grade spinach to make salad in the past I would suggest you now look for average or good spinach with an eye toward pinpointing excellent spinach at some future time. AND A FEW NOTES Spicy or pungent foods (such as onions or