Columns

The other day I visited three local nurseries to see what’s new in their bare root edible selection. In addition to the classics, I found a ton of new varieties for containers and smaller home gardens.  Now is the time to add ornamentals and edibles...

Fitness is not just for the younger community. As you age, moving your body daily is one of the most important things you can do for your physical and mental health. It can prevent or delay many of the health problems that seem to...

There is a fine line between hope and expectations. In the latter, you are mostly depending on others to help you achieve an end to your desires, whereas hope is a positive feeling generated from within oneself—a desire that something might happen. Emily Dickinson’s metaphor...

Are you ready for some plain talk?               “The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the                 cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles or                   the screech of an eagle. But he will not make friends with...

It was many years ago…I believe it would have been in late September, when Sister Agnes Marie corralled me, telling me to put on my “long pants” for I was going with “old” Joe, the tramp who had made a home for himself in...

There’s a rumor afloat that all San Lorenzo Valley Water District Board Directors support a rate increase. As one of those Directors, and speaking only for myself, let me set the record straight.   I oppose the rate increase proposal for the following reasons: It unfairly punishes...

On Jan. 14, Scotts Valley joined other local jurisdictions when City Manager Mali LaGoe issued a Proclamation declaring a local emergency, to be ratified by the City Council. This declaration was based on the presence of flooding, downed trees, power outages, retaining wall failures,...

I would be remiss if I didn’t write about the problems we all have had since the January storms here in our valley; particularly about our food markets where I purchase almost all of the food I cook, photograph and then write about in...

Most of us around here either live in a forest or near one. We are no strangers to nature as some city dwellers might be. We often spend time on a trail. You know the feeling you get when you are out walking slowly...

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...