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Prune orchards once reigned supreme in the Napa Valley. Pears, walnuts and fodder for grazing sheep were also grown where now 45,000 acres of premium wine grapes flourish.

Recruitment begins for Leadership Santa Cruz County Program Applications are now being accepted for the Leadership Santa Cruz County 2023-24 program.  This will mark the organization’s 37th year with over 1,600 alumni, and is a great opportunity to learn about the many facets of the county’s...

My plants are confused. Actually they know exactly what they are doing it’s me that’s confused. The mild winter, so far at least, has encouraged many of my plants normally still dormant at this time of year to start growing for the season. What’s a gardener to do when the roses, fuchsias, oakleaf hydrangeas and many other plants never really went dormant this year?  Here are some February tasks that I’m going to be doing.

If you read my column regularly or even once in a while you’ve probably heard me lament about the difficult growing conditions here in my garden. Between the sandy soil, 5 hours of intense sun but for only 6 months of the year, gophers, squirrels, moles, deer and chipmunks I’m happy if any plant thrives. So it is with pleasure that I report to you the small successes I’ve had lately and maybe give you hope that you might also grow plants that provide some color and fragrance in your garden along with attracting hummingbirds, songbirds, bees and butterflies.

 Cabrillo College today announces that it will honor its largest graduating class ever, in a first-ever, virtual graduation ceremony, to be held online on Friday, May 22nd at 4:00 p.m., from Cabrillo’s website at www.cabrillo.edu.

I'll bet if you walk around your yard, you'll find mushrooms poking through the soil under trees, between shrubs and even next to the driveway. This has been a banner year for fungi, with soft soaking rains every week or so while the soil is still warm. The same cluster of dark brown mushrooms has come up again just outside my front door. Could they be edible? Can I try out one of those delicious sounding recipes in my "Gourmet's Guide to Mushroom Cookery"?