Columns

“In jobs, they embrace risk and prefer free agency over loyal corporatism. From grunge to hip-hop, their splintery culture reveals a hardened edge. Politically, they lean toward pragmatism and nonaffiliation and would rather volunteer than vote. Widely criticized as X’ers or slackers, they inhabit...

I look out my sliding glass doors and see tall redwoods and stately oaks, but on the inside I enjoy the green and sometimes flowers of houseplants. I learned long ago to group them where they get enough light to do well. Last year...

Opening the door of my refrigerator to pull out ingredients for a new recipe I am trying or walking the path in my garden checking the progress of a newly planted flower gives me great joy. A new leaf or flower bud makes me...

I hope you all had a peaceful and joyous holiday season. Your Scotts Valley schools have been back from break since Jan. 5, and I’ve heard that both teachers and students are back to the books with renewed enthusiasm. We want to welcome new students...

I like to keep up with new garden research as well as the new trends. We humans started growing food about 12,000 years ago when we shifted from nomadic hunter gatherer lifestyles to settled farming. This happened independently in places like the Fertile Crescent,...

Last year Pantone chose Mocha Mousse as their color of the year, which I’m sure looks great in a living room but the garden? Maybe not—although an earthy wood mulch or rich compost looks great but not flowers. So this year they chose “Cloud...

Partnerships, filing March 17, enable two or more individuals or business entities to work together as a single business. Partnerships enable combinations of bright ideas, hard work and capital to make businesses as diverse as law, accounting, construction or retail ownership. LLCs protect personal...

I had my grocery list in hand while stuffing a bag full of string beans for our Christmas dinner last week at Safeway market. Happy that those beans were fresh, I moved on to the dried onions, which were a necessary addition to the...

Well, it’s happened again—we made it around the sun once more. As the calendar turns to a New Year, these are some of my thoughts for 2026. You, fellow gardeners, are unique. I can't imagine any group of people more diverse and feisty and independent...

Perhaps you missed one of the articles this year that highlighted the collective power of women shaping the local business ecosystem. As this year winds down and we gather in gratitude, I wanted to reflect on these women-led businesses not only for the services they...