Plain Talk about Food: Chilled Cucumber Soup
Often I think ‘what a wonderful life I’ve had, if only I’d realized it sooner’. Too late now to make major changes; I’ve decided to make the very best of what time is left.Married soon after high school, my plans were to become a ‘domestic diva’, another June Cleaver from the Leave it to Beaver TV show. I would send my kids off to school with pancakes, bacon and eggs ‘under their belts’ while waiting for my homemade bread to rise. I would head to the garden wearing a sunhat adorned with roses over my long golden tresses and pink rubber boots to match my hat.I would collect eggs from underneath my chickens, pick green beans and my favorite vegetable, cucumbers from my weed-free garden. Then, I would milk Molly, our family goat, daily.Then, reality and time set in. Clearly, it was only a television life that was in my thoughts.Molly ate my flowers, gophers ate my string beans and cucumbers, and weeds took over my garden. Clearly, this way of life was tougher than I had anticipated.Putting my ‘old life’ behind, several years passed. In the spring of 2002, I announced to my hubby, Norm that I had been looking through a “chicken catalog” and had come upon photos of ‘Polish’ chickens. “How cute is that Norm?” I said, “you are Polish and our chickens would be Polish too.”Norm’s only experience with any animals, much less chickens, was in a live display in Chicago’s Museum of Natural History when he was a child.“NO CHICKENS,” exclaimed Hubby! His normally pleasant-looking face had reduced itself to a no-nonsense ‘dammit, I mean it’ expression.I had to move fast — those 24 chicks were due to arrive at the post office on a nonrefundable order the next day. I had to reach Norm’s reasonable and sympathetic side quickly. That would be the only way those 24 baby chicks would be mine.Norm was furious, but I continued in a somewhat cajoling and syrupy voice; “not to worry, honey.” I said “we’ll put them in the garage on a card table in a big open box, hang a light bulb overhead and watch them grow. “ I told him “It is so simple, — you’ll learn to love them.”Sure enough, the next day the chickens arrived, and as we watched those chicks being warmed by the light bulb hanging overhead, I detected a smile on Norm’s face.The next day I was hospitalized, and in an instant, Norm became the primary caregiver to 24 baby chicks.During my recovery, those 24 chicks were growing so rapidly that their cardboard home had to be enlarged weekly, until finally they became airborne, flying and pooping on our car tops, windowsills and work benches as well as on the garage floor. Norm’s anger grew as fast as did those chicks.Finally a chicken house and yard were constructed, with only one hitch — an opening the size of a four week old chicken was left, and alas, half of our precious flock was gone during the night. A pile of feathers left by the coyote told the story. Norm was happy, I was sad.As the chicks grew it became apparent that we were left with seven roosters and only five hens; six roosters had to go. “Kill my roosters,” I screamed, “absolutely not”. It seems I had fallen into the old ‘you cannot eat a chicken you have named’ trap.Soon homes were found for those roosters and only Henery was left to guard the flock.Henery soon discovered he ruled the roost. He attacked anyone and everyone who came near his hens. He crowed whenever the moon shown at 3 a.m. or when we had company on our deck. Henery was a loud, majestic, beautiful Rooster. I loved Henery, Norm did not.In 2004 we made that decision that so many make, that of moving to be near our children. What about Henery? He moved along with his girls to a neighbor’s chicken yard where, I have heard, he is living still.CHILLED CREAM OF CUCUMBER SOUP (Serves 6)6 cucumbers 8” length, peeled, seeded and diced.1 cup leeks (white part only) or sweet onions, diced3 Tbsp. butter4 cups chicken broth1-1/2 tsp. white wine vinegar2 cups half and half cream4 Tbsp. quick-cooking cream of wheat2 tsp. chopped fresh dill½ tsp. tarragon1/2 cup sour creamSalt/white pepper to tasteDirections:In heavy pot, melt the butter and sauté the onions until translucent. Do not brown. Add cucumbers, broth, farina, vinegar and herbs. Simmer 30 min. Remove from heat and puree until smooth. Stir in cream and refrigerate. Garnish with sour cream.Add chicken stock and simmer for 15 min. Cool to room temperatureIn blender add cucumber mixture and blend until smooth.
Ben Lomond Is Lit Up
Local pundits thought that the election of McKinley in November, 1896, foretold a good season for Ben Lomond’s dueling hotels. The Mountain Echo of Boulder Creek agreed, adding that “Ben Lomond is fortunate in her two leading citizens and property holders,” praising the “enterprising spirit” of the rival developers “as they vie with each other in improvements.”On the south side of town, the Hotel Rowardennan continued to grow. The Sentinel predicted that it would “be crowded with beauty and fashion from San Francisco and across the bay.” Thomas L. Bell lost no time replacing his burnt-out residence with two good-sized buildings full of guest suites. In its initial season, guests of his Hotel Rowardennan had enjoyed the benefits of “Lake Bell.” The high dam that formed the lake also furnished water power to provide light the resort’s buildings and grounds.Meanwhile, on the town’s northern boundary, D. W. Johnston, owner of the Hotel Ben Lomond, planned his own dam, “for boating purposes.” Four skiffs would ply the enhanced river waters. Johnston also ordered a dynamo from the East and prepared to install 170 incandescent lights. Wires were distributed around the lawn and along the river to create “a veritable fairyland at night.”The completion of the Hotel Ben Lomond dam provided unexpected amusement for early-season guests at the Rowardennan. A popular feature at Lake Bell was a large raft, with room for forty loungers. Intent on fun, a small crowd piled on, disregarding the fact that the lake had not been allowed to fill. When the unofficial captain attempted to land the awkward craft, he slipped down the steep muddy bank into the water. “The kids thought it great fun,” commented the Sentinel.For the next few years, Ben Lomond’s hotels vied on almost equal terms. Attempts to go ‘one up’ were quickly matched. Both built tennis courts, bowling alleys, dance halls, club houses, etc. Ben Lomond advertised an elegant croquet court, while the Rowardennan offered nine holes of golf. There was, however, one particular distinction. From the first, the Rowardennan pursued a policy of exclusivity. As one version of its letterhead proclaimed, the management refused to “cater to members of the Hebrew persuasion.”On summer nights, lamps glowed on either end of Ben Lomond, but the streets of the town remained dark. The plans to use the river current to power the hotel electric systems fell short of expectations due to the severe drought of 1898 and 1899. To keep their lights on, both hotels had to rely on the steam power of Silvey’s shingle mill.Although both hotels insisted that the summer season of 1899 had filled their suites and cottages, the lessees of each quietly left town before it ended. “A Legacy of Unliquidated Debt Left Behind,” headlined the Surf. “Creditors Will Whistle for Their Pay.” Thomas Bell moved on to a new project — “Camp Arcadia” (the future Mount Hermon) — selling his interest in the Rowardennan to other local capitalists.In the spring of 1900, the residents of Ben Lomond were cheered by the promise of a new source of electricity to light their streets and homes. The Big Creek Power Company, which provided power to Santa Cruz, constructed a high-power line along the ridge of Ben Lomond Mountain to the winery owned by one of its directors. From there, the wires were extended down Alba Road to the outskirts of town.As the work neared completion, the citizens of Ben Lomond realized that there was a catch. Because the Big Creek dam generated high-voltage power, a transformer had to be built to enable residential use. When the company demanded a guarantee to cover its $1,000 additional cost, the citizens of Ben Lomond called a hasty meeting at the public hall on Mill Street.Although many residents were willing to subscribe to the new service, it became clear that their pledges fell short of the required deposit. Without the cooperation of the hotels, the opportunity would be lost. Somewhat reluctantly, D. W. Johnston took the lead, offering to cancel his contract to receive power from the mill, and rely on the new line, “although the expense would be more.” When the proprietors of the Rowardennan matched his offer, the Big Creek representative expressed satisfaction and the audience burst into applause.The power was switched on before the end of June, 1900. “With over thirty street lights along our main thoroughfare in addition to the many private lights,” agreed the Mountain Echo’s correspondent, “the illumination gives the place quite a handsome appearance during the evening.”To Be Continued Randall C. Brown is a local historian and is a member of the SLVWD
Mountain Gardener: Save Water in the Garden like they do in Carmel
You can sum up a Carmel garden with one of two descriptions — hot and dry or mild and dry. Closer to the coast the weather is mild year round while further up Carmel Valley it can get pretty toasty.In either place, the people of Carmel are used to paying close attention to their water consumption. Monterey County water districts have some of the most stringent regulations around.On a recent trip to this beautiful part of the world, I took the opportunity to study their beautiful low water-use gardens. What makes for a successful garden that doesn’t include a lawn and lush perennial border? Here are some of the plants and strategies that I admired while in Carmel.Because many homeowners are replacing their lawns with low water-use landscapes, a well thought out design is more important than ever.Stone makes a garden look like its part of nature. Granite boulders are one of the go-to choices for accent rocks due to their lower cost and I saw many gardens with beautiful installations using granite. But it was the creamy yellow Carmel stone that caught my eye. It’s used for everything there from retaining walls and steps to veneer for homes.Carmel stone is sedimentary shale and can be found throughout the Santa Lucia mountain range. The best stone colors, however, come from quarries in Monterey County. With beautiful rust, orange, pink and caramel iron oxide striations it’s plentiful and relatively light by rock standards. That’s probably why it was the material of choice for the native Ohlone tribes who built the Carmel Mission.In addition to the beautiful stonework and boulders in Carmel gardens, plant selection is often unique and bold as well as easy on the water budget. I wasn’t familiar with Globularia sarcophylla ‘Blue Eyes’ when I first saw it blooming. Covered with hundreds of button size flowers of cream with dark blue centers it really stood out. This showy little Canary Island shrub is very drought tolerant and hardy down to 10 degrees.Another plant that looked great paired with old fashioned shasta daisies was the medium sized Gold Velvet kangaroo paw. Flowering for most of the year this variety has more resistance to black spot, needs less trimming and is frost tolerant. Plant kangaroo paws in a well mulched garden using chunky bark chips and ensure the crown of the plant is above soil level. Remove older flower stems and cut back foliage every 1-2 years. Kangaroo paw offer drought tolerant color in the garden.Dramatic purple leafed phormium ‘Guardsman’ accented one of the gardens. Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Los Alamitos’ -Texas sage - would complement this phormium. The gray foliage and pink flowers smother this plant in color from summer into fall. Succulents like aeonium ‘Sunburst’ and echeveria paired with agapanthus and statice made a nice vignette in another garden.A visit to several nurseries in Carmel Valley shed more light on what customers are buying in these times of drought. One of the smaller leucodendrons called Ebony is a favorite. This bushy compact shrub grows 3 to 4 feet tall and a bit wider with lustrous blackish-purple foliage and burgundy red bracts surrounding the flowers from late winter to summer. One of the great things about this species is its ability to tolerate only occasional to infrequent irrigation once established. Other low water-use plants featured at the local Carmel nurseries include California native Woolly Blue Curls, the stunning teucrium ‘Azureum’, Velour Pink Mexican Bush Sage and Wyn’s Wonder Australian fuchsia.There are lots of awesome gardens, nurseries and plants — so little time. Take some ideas from the people of Carmel and embrace low water-use gardens.-Jan Nelson, a landscape designer and California certified nursery professional, will answer questions about gardening in the Santa Cruz Mountains. E-mail her [email protected], or visitwww.jannelsonlandscapedesign.comto view past columns and pictures.
The Mountain Gardener: Gardening with Kids
My friend Adelyn came to visit the other day. Adelyn just turned three. We always have a good time exploring my garden and checking out the forest. This time, her visit was even more fun.I didn’t have any cherry tomatoes to share because Mr. Gopher got to the plants first but there are always lots of flowers to admire and some have a wonderful fragrance. Over a dozens hummingbirds visit my feeders daily and they love the flowers that produce nectar, too. Songbirds have their own feeders plus suet to eat and all the little seeds that nature can provide. My sunflowers will soon be ripe for the goldfinches to enjoy.To share one’s excitement and knowledge of the outdoor world with a child is fun and rewarding. The wonder that can be seen on a young person’s face as they discover a swallowtail butterfly or a flower just starting to open or a bird feeding in the garden is priceless.Sure it would be great to have a large vegetable garden to share with Adelyn. We could build a teepee out of fallen branches and plant scarlet runner beans around the outside. Alternatively, we could grow a pizza garden in a circle divided like pizza slices with long wooden stakes. We’d plant tomatoes, sweet red peppers and basil in the slices and use stepping stones to mimic pepperoni slices.But I have lots of other cool things to do, so when Adelyn comes to my house we become a couple of naturalists and horticulturalists and that’s OK with us.For Adelyn’s last visit I made a bird book for her with pictures that I took at my house. It has photos of other things besides birds — butterflies, flowers, a tree frog and pictures of family members when they have visited. It was fun to watch her run around and identify which bird or flower had a picture in her book.In a short time, she had seen the Grosbeak, Junco, chickadee, purple finch, goldfinch and nuthatch all snatching a seed from the feeder. The flowers were easier to find since they can’t fly. She really liked the blue hydrangeas and the red flowering maples. Hiding among the huge hosta leaves was fun for her, too.We took some more pictures during the afternoon and printed them out on the computer to add to her little book. The book is one of those inexpensive four by six inch photo albums with sleeves for the photos. We looked for the chipmunks to photograph for the album but they were out feeding elsewhere in the forest.Finding things to do in the garden is easy. You probably already have some edible flowers in your garden. Tuberous begonia petals taste like lemon. Calendulas are spicy as are carnations and marigolds. Dianthus are clove-flavored, nasturtiums give a hint of horseradish and violas, pansies, hollyhock, squash blossoms and johnny-jump-ups taste like mild lettuce. You can also freeze flowers like violas, fuchsias, geranium, stock and thyme in ice cubes.Flowers that kids can cut will be interesting for them, too, especially when planted in their own garden. Cosmos, planted from six packs, provide instant color as well as attracting butterflies. Zinnias come in a rainbow of colors and are a favorite of swallowtail butterflies. Another easy to grow flower for cutting is the snapdragon.Besides flowers, fragrant plants like lemon basil, lemon verbena, lime thyme, orange mint and other herbs engage the senses and can be included in a kid's garden. Lamb's ears are soft and furry.Get a kid into gardening and nature and they'll be good stewards of the land for a lifetime. Plus you’ll have a lot of fun in the process. -Jan Nelson, a landscape designer and California certified nursery professional, will answer questions about gardening in the Santa Cruz Mountains. E-mail her [email protected], or visitwww.jannelsonlandscapedesign.comto view past columns and pictures.
Fishy Transactions
In the fifth season of the Hotel Ben Lomond, G. L. A. Smith became its fourth proprietor/lessee. A sportsman himself, Smith advertised his resort as a happy hunting and fishing ground. “Five deer,” he advised the Sentinel in August, 1893, “have been killed during the past week within a short walk of Ben Lomond station, and yet the woods are full of them.’ During his second season, the landlord and a guest went angling near the hotel and bagged 117 speckled beauties, including a four-pounder. His message to the press—“Trout are plentiful.”Mr. Smith understood the enthusiasm of his audience. “Since the opening of trout season,” observed the local paper, “the trains bring numbers of visitors and tourists, who enjoy catching the tempting beauties — Wells Fargo and Co. is daily carrying baskets of trout, daintily packed in fern leaves.”“What’s the matter with our trout law?” the Sentinel inquired with tongue in cheek, knowing that there was no one enforcing it. “Our fishermen think it’s all right. It never troubles them, although scores of splendid salmon trout have been pulled in the last two weeks.”California had enacted some tough Fish and Game laws. As early as 1886, when Santa Cruz District Attorney W. T. Jeter protested against obstructions on the San Lorenzo, the head of the State Commission had replied that: “The builder who builds a dam without putting in fish ladders should be punished.” The problem was that enforcement was left to local authorities. The economy was depressed, and the county supervisors felt that the hiring of a Fish and Game warden would be an unnecessary expense.The summer of 1895 not only brought yet another keeper to the Hotel Ben Lomond, but also a new owner. The purchaser of J. P. Pierce’s remaining real estate holdings, D. W. Johnston, was an associate of timber-owning millionaires, Timothy Hopkins and F. A. Hihn.The new regime soon faced a challenge when Thomas L. Bell decided to erect a hotel of his own. Regarded by the Santa Cruz press as Ben Lomond’s unofficial mayor, Bell had accumulated acreage on the Felton side of the river, including the site of the original Pacific Mill.Bell’s plan was gradually unveiled. An official of the Southern Pacific Railroad became a silent partner. “Next year,” it was predicted, there is the possibility of our having a grand hotel which will outrival the famous Del Monte.” A feature of the resort would be a body of water the Sentinel dubbed “Bell Lake.”When Bell’s Hotel Rowardennan opened for business in the summer of 1896, its arrival was celebrated by a bright display. The repurposed mill dam that created the artificial lake was also employed to generate electricity for the hotel buildings. “Lights are scattered about the ground,” noticed the Surf, “and over the water of the river — where boating parties are numerous.”Meanwhile, friends of the fishery were becoming worried. A dam, “south of Ben Lomond, which obstructs passage of the fishes” was singled out for criticism. The Sentinel urged the supervisors to appoint a Fish warden. “The game preserves and fishing streams, which have so long been the resort of rod and gun, need protection, or our game will be killed off entirely and our streams emptied of their fish.”A petition, “signed by almost everybody,” insisted that the owners of dams across the San Lorenzo river be required to provide fish ladders. “Our streams,” insisted the Mountain Echo of Boulder Creek, should be kept free from obstruction by dams, and from the deposit of deleterious substances.”While the editor impatiently awaited a response from the Fish Commission, other citizens took action. “Recently,” the Sentinel reported in February, 1897, “dams at Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek have been blown up with dynamite by unknown parties. Some think it was because the Fish Commissioners failed to put fish ladders in the dam, while others say it was for the purpose of giving the fish a way upstream. It was a fishy transaction, anyway.”Less than a week later, Bell’s large house on the Rowardennan grounds burned to the ground. “Nothing was saved,” reported the Mountain Echo, excepting a few things which Mrs. Bell threw out of the window.”Within a matter of days, the train from San Francisco brought a member of the Fish Commission to Ben Lomond. The offending dam in Ben Lomond had only suffered minor damage and, the State official was pleased to find, was now “furnished with a brand new ladder just put in, and satisfactory to the requirements of the law.” To Be ContinuedRandall C. Brown is a local historian and is a member of the SLVWD Board of Directors
News Briefs | Published Sept. 12, 2025
Fun run, emergency preparedness fair set for Saturday
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the City of Santa Cruz will be hosting Race the Wave, a 3K...
