As soon as they walked in, David and Heather Hadley knew immediately. The Streng Brothers home near Fair Oaks Boulevard in Carmichael was exactly what they were looking for.
“Growing up in Sacramento, I admired Streng homes,” Heather says. “I always hoped that I would own one.”
Summer cuisine isn’t summer cuisine without fresh basil. We pulverize it into pesto and toss it into tomato sauce. We combine it with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese to make pizza, lasagna and caprese salad. While it’s a staple of Italian cooking, Californians use it in many kinds of food. There are dozens of mouth-watering basil recipes just a Google search away.
It’s now warm enough to plant basil, which can be damaged by temperatures below 50 degrees. Give it a sunny spot, water it regularly and pinch it back to keep the plant bushy and prevent it from flowering, which causes the leaves to be less flavorful and slows down the plant’s growth.
You can start seeds in a pot indoors or sow them in the ground, protecting them from pests such as slugs and snails. I usually buy already-started plants. There are often half a dozen seedlings in a single pot. I tease them apart and plant them separately in the ground, placing them between my tomato plants. It may be an old wives’ (or gardeners’) tale, but I’ve heard that if you plant basil close to the tomatoes, it will improve their flavor and discourage pests. That may not be true, but it’s convenient to grow them together.
The family of six was “busting at the seams.” Living in a small house in Oak Park, Micah and Emily Baginski and their four children needed a bigger place to call home. But there was a catch. The couple wanted to build a new home in the established neighborhood of Curtis Park, where vacant lots are few and far between. After a year of searching, the opportunity finally presented itself.
I’ve been visiting gardens most of my life. I’ll never forget being an excited little girl in the hedge maze of the Governor’s Palace gardens in Williamsburg or a teenager stunned by the beauty of tulips in the Netherlands’ Keukenhof gardens. I’ve been to hundreds of gardens since then, and have never lost my initial joy and sense of discovery.
It’s good to have friends. That’s what Dr. Patrick Browning came to embrace when he committed to the daunting task of designing, constructing and decorating his new abode. “I had this great complementary group of friends who each had their own skill set that was perfect for building this place,” Browning says.
Jan. 6 was a blustery day, followed by an even more blustery night. Winds gusted to nearly 60 mph. We’d been warned by weather reports and thought we had battened down the hatches.
Our climbing roses were pruned and secured to their archways. I’d cut back other long branches that might whip around. My husband cleaned the gutters and storm drains, and put away loose items. Let it blow!
