Columns

A recent article in the New York Times caught my eye: Hot weather cherries, drought resistant melons and six other crops that are being developed or already in the market could change how we eat in a fast warming world. In the face of...

Having been raised by an order of nuns from France, eating lentils was as commonplace as eating potatoes for me, both as a child and as an adult today. I have no recollection of anyone I know that cooks with lentils, nor have I ever...

You know it when you see it. That combination of plants that cry out “we get along.” Because it’s fall already after a way-too-short summer, I’m drawn to grasses and warm-toned flowering perennials.  I’m thinking of ways that will have any garden bursting with interest...

The Next-Door Neighborhood website, daily, has someone asking for cardboard moving boxes or having used moving boxes to give away. I smile reading those ads, remembering my own little cardboard box that I had for 40 years. Life, to me as a very young child,...

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were almost 50,000 suicide deaths in the U.S. in 2022. That's the highest number ever recorded by the CDC. The good news is that suicide is preventable. While...

The cry for help came from a new homeowner. She loves her lovely new home but feels everything in the garden is in the wrong place. She wishes to create “a haven for birds and bugs and give it a sense of life.” The...

Good news! Scotts Valley is making headway on some significant road projects across the city. These are all vital improvements that will allow travelers to drive, cycle and walk safely through our city. Here is a list of locations where you can expect to...

“Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River,” … sang vocalist John Denver As a little girl from the “southside” of Aberdeen, Wash., almost everything I played with was handmade and we ate “at home,” and almost every meal included my aunt Betty’s buttermilk...

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 began writing my food column for the Press Banner newspaper 13 years ago under the watchful eye of editor, Peter Burke. At that time, Peter’s grandmother was 90-plus years and still delivering Meals on Wheels for the seniors living in our beautiful valley....