Columns

September is a month that signals change in the garden. You can feel the weather shifting. Days are not always quite so hot and the nights are longer and cooler. Some plants are at their prime, while others are winding down for the season. I...

1. Financial Planning is budgeting to allocate money that finances dreams. At age 20, Sam simply cooked the finest barbecue cuisine for Sequoia weddings and Roaring Camp cookoffs, savoring each bite, then experimenting. Our culinary hero dreamt of becoming a Michelin star chef who ran...

When I look back on four decades of public service, there is one issue that has remained a top priority for me and the people I have had the privilege to represent in county and state government: Protecting our local environment. As a member of...

I’d been waiting for the tour of Griggs Wholesale nursery in Watsonville for a while. This company bought Suncrest Nursery last year and has breathed new life into it. A favorite for years, Suncrest had a reputation for excellence and this new version is...

Just when I was in a hurry, I made the mistake of choosing the grocery cart with the “wonky” wheel. Sometime ago, CNN did a story about those grocery carts with their wonky wheels and the reason they are not immediately replaced—$200 a cart;...

Summer is winding down. It’s still warm during the day but the nights are cool and there’s less and less daylight hours. The soil is still warm so it’s the perfect time to start thinking about planting. Like the saying goes, “gardening is a...

With staged propaganda at partisan conventions, both parties hide from federal or Social Security deficits they caused. With local Democratic victory inevitable, consider character and creed, foreign policy and social justice all philosophically and vote boldly on principle! Behold: the CFP as economist advising you!...

What was I thinking trying to talk a client out of adding grasses to her former lawn area? I gave her all the reasons she should focus on other low water use, low maintenance, deer resistant plants, but I can’t get the vision of...

“The Urban Institute found that for 65 to 74 year olds, the percentage that held a traditional mortgage rose from less than 30 percent in 1989 to more than 40 percent in 2019…Median mortgage balances were just under $100,000.” When homeowners reach roughly age 55,...

A Facebook friend posts photos taken of her yard with lots of turkeys and deer families. How can you not love a picture of those cute fawns covered with spots? There's something about babies. You know that feeling when you see a new infant...