Elderflower soda Alison Steele Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink 

Elderflower Soda

By Alison Steele The elderberry tree (Sambucus nigra) is native and to both Virginia and California. It waves its abundant white flowers in processions along mountain roads and stands watch in the corners of cultivated gardens in early to mid summer. My mother’s Mennonite Community cookbook, from 1950, offers recipes for pies, jams, jellies, vinegars, cordials, and wine including this… Read More
Connor Michael Bond bee hotels Local News Outdoors Parks 

Abuzz About the Felton Discovery Park: San Lorenzo Valley Native Habitat Restoration Program Busy with Bees

By Julie Horner Earlier this year the Valley Women’s Club engaged AmeriCorps NCCC Team Fire 5 to remove embedded plastic sheeting and invasive growth from under the San Lorenzo Valley Water District Kirby Road substation solar panels that border the Felton Discovery Park adjacent to the new Felton Library. An effort driven by the VWC’s San Lorenzo Valley Native Habitat… Read More
SLV Water District Lyon Treatment Plant Fire Recovery Local News Water 

SLV Water and CZU Fire Recovery: An Update from the San Lorenzo Valley Water District

July 8, 2021 By Julie Horner An interview with Rick Rogers, Director of Operations and Nate Gillespie, Water Treatment & System Supervisor at San Lorenzo Valley Water District On Wednesday, July 7, the San Lorenzo Valley Water District hosted a media tour of the Lyon Surface Water Treatment Plant and offered an update on progress since the CZU fire nearly… Read More
Bluegrass Festival BanjerDan Entertainment Music 

Never Lose Sight of Those Little Red Lights: The Brookdale Bluegrass Festival Born at the Brookdale Lodge

By Dan Mazer with Julie Horner The 27th Annual Brookdale Bluegrass Festival was scheduled for the weekend of April 17th-19th, 2020, but it was one of the first events to be cancelled due to the pandemic. As one of the scheduled performers, it hurt my heart to miss one of my favorite events, which used to take place at the… Read More
cannabis seedling Column: Josh Reilly Columns Gardening 

Growing Cannabis

Riding the Mighty Cannabis Wave By Josh Reilly We are presently riding a mighty cannabis wave. Legalization is spreading, state by state. There is an ongoing revolution in the art and science of cannabis culture. While most buyers know something about THC and CBD, whole families of psychoactive and medically significant cannabis derivatives are now under study. Interest in the… Read More
Letter to the editor fire recovery Letters 

Letter: Lack of Santa Cruz County Support for CZU Fire Victims

Dear County Supervisors, State Representatives, and associated staff: I am writing today as your constituent and copying representatives of local media to express my support of CZU fire home loss victims in their rebuilding — and frankly survival — process. The County of Santa Cruz has not lived up to its promise to expedite and streamline the permitting process and… Read More