Belladonna Lillies Column: Josh Reilly Columns Gardening 

Preparing for Fall Planting

By Josh Reilly Fall is the season of bedrock Puritan virtues in the garden, like delayed gratification, preparedness, hard work, and thrift. It’s the best time to plant perennials, shrubs, trees, bulbs, many leafy vegetables, vines, and almost everything else (except bare root roses, best planted in January). In the San Lorenzo Valley, Fall brings the rain. Hence, savings on… Read More
home hardening Column: MC Dwyer Columns Fire Recovery Real Estate 

SLV Homes: Defensible Space and Home Hardening

By M.C. Dwyer Given the one year anniversary of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, here’s a summary of the Santa Cruz Association of Realtors Fire Safety and Prevention Panel, presented by Mark Bingham, Boulder Creek Fire Chief; Mike Ayers, Ben Lomond Assistant Chief; Mike DeMars, Fire Marshall Central Fire District; and Greg Vandervoort, Fire Prevention Captain at Scotts Valley Fire… Read More
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