Will your garden soil produce well? One of the best items to check is your soil pH or acidity. pH stands for the “potential of hydrogen” and is a scale that indicates whether your soil is acid or alkaline (basic). The pH scale runs from 0 to 14 with 7.0 being neutral. If your pH is below…
What makes a neighborhood a community? Is it holiday decorations, strollable sidewalks, or HOA-stipulated paint colors? Laughing children, knowing your neighbors and aesthetic beauty are all components of your surrounding neighborhood. But I think front porches create…
A digital (or “smart”) birdfeeder? You’ve got to be kidding. Why would I need such a thing? If you are fascinated by the bird visitors to your garden, this might be the gadget for you. Digital birdfeeders give you the ability to “watch” feathered friends in action. These devices take photos and videos…
I’m reading a fascinating book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” by entomologist Douglas W. Tallamy (2019, Timber Press, Inc.). It suggests remedies to our disappearing natural habitats and the wildlife that depends on them.Tallamy proposes a revolutionary idea: transform our private yards into a massive,…
As we get ready for this year’s vegetable garden planting season, I begin thinking about summer heat. Pretty much every year in late July, my family slides into a tomato depression thinking that all those beautiful green tomatoes will never get ripe. It depresses me to even think about it. However, this year…
UC Master Gardeners of Tuolumne County are holding their annual plant sale on Saturday, May 2, 2026, during Open Garden Day at their demonstration garden. Located on the campus of Cassina High School at 251 South Barretta Street in Sonora, the sale will take place from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. …
Shopping for a new home is exciting. More square footage, bedrooms, baths, a huge kitchen, nicer appliances, and floor coverings will add to your family’s comfort. However, there is something very important that has been forgotten, the Shovel Test.What is the shovel test? There are inspections, forms,…
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”* Whether you follow pagan, Jewish, or Christian (in historical order) traditions, spring is here with its…
Summertime brings to mind vibrant sunflowers of all shapes and sizes, rows of colorful zinnias, and delicate love-in-a-mist gently blowing in the warm breeze. It is tempting to get excited in the spring, pull out the seed catalogs and go crazy, purchasing ever color and variety of flower, dreaming of the…
A weed is a plant growing where you do not want it. This holds very true for Cynodon dactylon, also called devil’s grass, couch grass, and dog’s tooth grass. Negative feelings stem from the aggressive posture of a grass that will take over your yard, your flower beds, and then start to the neighbor’s yard…
