Columns

Several of my friends suffer from allergies nearly year round starting in January. Most of us don’t notice the amount of pollen in the air even when it’s cold, but my friends sure do.  Everybody blames the Acacia tree for their allergies, but they are...

Recently I spent some time in a friend’s garden in Bonny Doon. This spectacular garden was included on Valley Church’s Garden Tour several years ago when several Bonny Doon gardens were featured. As in many gardens, there are some sunny spots and lots of...

According to historical records for our area the pollen count is mostly moderate in February. Depending on the weather, Pollen.com and Pollenlibrary.com show medium to high counts only for a few days this month. If you’re an allergy sufferer you don’t need a website...

Eggplant, that beautiful egg-shaped, purple and glossy fruit we order in a restaurant under the name of Eggplant Parmesan, so often comes to us overcooked, bitter and lackluster for want of proper preparation, we are sorry we had not ordered a different entrée. Now that...

Ever feel like you wish you had someone else’s body type? Is the body you want always just out of reach? Like no matter what you do, you’ll never quite be slim, strong or fit enough? If this is true, try to not be...

Faced with what to use to keep down weeds when wood chips aren’t allowed? Well, you’re not alone. Although wood chip mulch is good for the health of your soil and your plants, it’s not recommended per new Cal Fire regulations within 30 feet...

“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” —Thomas Keller “Are you free on Sunday?” this good-looking man I had just met asked, and then he said, “I’d like to invite you to my new home for a...

It has been an exciting first month as your County Supervisor for the Fifth District. After being officially sworn in on Dec. 23 by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, I took office on Jan. 6 and was symbolically sworn in during a community celebration on Jan....

You probably think of mums as boring. They’re everywhere at this time of year. Many consider them a bit of color on the front porch that you compost after they’ve finished flowering. But mums have a lot more to offer than that. Mums are in...

In the movie Independence Day, we heard “….We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We're going to survive! So today, we celebrate our Independence Day!”  We did fight, we did struggle, and we...