Miranda Beasley

San Lorenzo Valley’s Bailey Lotz was named player of the year for the SCCAL softball season. Lotz, a junior, never once struck out all season and hit 600 while knocking in 15 RBIs. Her coach, Mark Brown, was named Coach of Year. 

“Five gallons of soup”, my Hubby Norm yelled, “five gallons of soup?…Colly this time you’ve gone too far!” he kept repeating as I lugged in twenty pounds   of Cremini mushrooms packed in five pound cartons.  Next came twenty-two quarts of chicken stock, cream and onions and finally, the bottle of sherry wine that it would take to create the Santa Cruz Mountains Gourmet Dinner Club’s Rustic Cream of Mushroom Soup.

Has the hot, dry, windy weather made your garden look like mid-summer? Our meager spring rains have all but disappeared from the soil and what hasn't evaporated the weeds have taken. The local water companies all have water conservation requirements that began last month. I'm getting lots of calls and emails asking for advice about the best way to use water efficiently so the garden doesn't look like the Sahara this summer. I'm helping others redesign their gardens with an eye towards ongoing water conservation.

Classic cars filled the parking lot of Canepa of Scotts Valley on Saturday for a benefit for the De Anza College Automotive Technology program. The First De Anza College Auto Tech Club Car Show, which organizers said they hoped to become an annual event, drew about two dozen cars and generated some buzz for the program.