Jul 13, 2018
Last July, we had 11 triple-digit days, some topping 105 degrees. Such hot weather makes me want to stay inside, close the shades and sip a cool drink. However, gardeners know that plants need attention now more than ever. July is the peak time for water to evaporate from the soil and transpire from the plants, so we must be vigilant about watering. We also need to protect plants from heat and sun, monitor for pests, remove spent flowers, keep rampant growth in check and harvest regularly.
Jun 13, 2018
There are few entries in my baby book. My mother was a hardworking farm wife with two children, much too busy to be documenting my every tooth and step. One of the few things she wrote was “Anita loves flowers—22 months.” Decades later, I still do. I first encountered the term “flower floozy” at Annie’s Annuals & Perennials, a wonderful nursery in Richmond, and recognized kindred spirits among the staff and customers.
May 13, 2018
In the early 1970s, a group of women approached the Sacramento Children’s Home board with a fundraising idea: Why not build a restaurant and garden on a vacant lot next to the home on Sutterville Road and staff it with volunteers? The board didn’t expect the venture to last but agreed to give it a try. They funded construction of a building that could be converted to other purposes when the endeavor came to what they felt would be its inevitable end. Casa de los Ninos opened in May 1974, and it still thrives today as Casa Garden. Over the years, its parent nonprofit, Los Ninos Service League, has contributed more than $2.9 million to the home, working to address the needs of children and to strengthen families.
