Columns

Summer fruit season is upon us as those beautiful peaches, pears, plums and now apples are showing up at the local farmers markets. Sadly, I have had to turn down offers from neighbors to share in their bounty, as there is only myself now...

As a young child. I lived in Washington State in the ’30s in a boarding house owned by my aged uncle and aunt, where eight boarders lived, all men, and many whose ages ranged from 60 to 70 years of age. One or two...

Summer is here. The kids might be looking forward to lazy days, sleeping in and not having to worry about homework, projects or tests, but that’s not always the best strategy for a successful summer. It is known that all kids do better with a...

A garden is the perfect example of the circle of life. A garden is nature's way of taking and giving back life to the earth. A garden represents the infinite nature of energy. I was reminded of this when a friend lost her dog to...

It’s that time of year when the dahlia exhibitions are held. I missed a couple already but the Santa Cruz County Fair is still going on this weekend and there’s always a huge display there. Last year a dark magenta cactus dahlia was my...

“I try to take care and be gentle to them… Once broken, they become impossible to repair.” —Anne Sexton Last week I received an email from a gentleman reader named Scott. Scott had read my cheesecake article, and Scott, a retired chef, was worried about...

Water is a precious and vital resource. Our bodies are about 60 percent water and our brain—a whopping 70 percent. Less than 1 percent of the water on the Earth, however, is suitable for human consumption. With the population increasing and the water supply...

Now that you’ve treated yourself to a few new unthirsty perennials that bloom late in the season it’s time to start working on that list of early fall gardens chores. Here are some that might apply to your own garden. Spider mites are especially prolific...

Sometimes you just have to turn to the man for guidance, and in this case, Shakespeare states it perfectly in “Macbeth”: Double, double toil and trouble,Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.By the pricking of my thumbs,Something wicked this way comes. Macbeth did in fact fall victim to...

Millions of Americans are affected by mental health conditions every year. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.—43.8 million, or 21%—experiences mental illness in a given year; and we know this is increasingly an issue...