Fantasy & Magic in the garden… Ever since seeing this image of Karen’s Crafts “Door to Nowhere,” I have wanted one of my own. Transported willing and quietly by my husband, Tractor Man, to our new property in the foothills of California, I now also have a bit of ‘nowhere’ in which to work. These elements add up to tell ...

The addition of blue in the traditional warm Fall color scheme makes this chicken coop dazzle and delight! Dandi Gentry made her chickens the stars of this colorful little scene and the focal point is her stunning stained glass window of a rooster.  She stuck with French and Cobalt blues, orange and buttery yellow with a tiny bit of pink. ...

MADERA COUNTY – With Fall planting season upon us, now is the time to take advantage of free garden advice and workshops presented by UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners. There will be three events in October to answer questions and get you motivated. The first is a Garden Advice Clinic at Western Sierra Nursery in Oakhurst on Saturday, Oct. 3, ...

MADERA COUNTY – Madera County Master Gardeners will be hosting a Meet-and-Greet evening for anyone interested in becoming a Cooperative Extension Master Gardener. The program has annual training classes that provide participants instruction about important garden ing topics. After completing the training, Master Gardener volunteers perform 25 hours of community volunteer work and complete 12 hours of continuing education each ...

Written by Elizabeth Gabriel MARIPOSA – According to various reliable websites, Mariposa’s average rainfall over the last 30 years has been 31 to 33 inches, depending on the source. That’s a lot of water you could be capturing (current lingo prefers “harvesting”). Why should you do it? The answer is obvious. We all want save as much water as possible, ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY – “Give an oak a chance,” said Mariposa County Master Gardener Coordinator Kris Randal, for whom oaks are a passion. That chance includes giving them some water during our record drought, contrary to most previous advice. She and Greg Giusti, a forest and wildlands ecology advisor for Lake and Mendocino counties, are offering guidelines for keeping oaks from ...

MADERA – The gardening public is invited to come and learn from Master Gardener Karen Petryna about ways to slowly convert your yard to more drought-tolerant landscaping, as she presents a Native and Drought-Tolerant Plant Workshop sponsored by Madera Master Gardeners. Native and drought-tolerant plants can reduce your use of water, pesticides, and fertilizer which will save you time and ...

By Virginia Eaton I hate being manipulated. The only other thing that gets my blood pressure up faster is being bullied, and the current state of food marketing and labeling employs both tactics with a vicious force that has destroyed our health and endangered the health of our children, grandchildren and beyond. Do I sound angry? Good, because the more ...

By Virginia Eaton A friend once said to me that men tend to have a linear career path while women, for various reasons, have a more winding, tumbling, curvaceous career path. I have held on to that observation over the years as I have woven together an eclectic knowledge and skill set in the fitness and wellness industry that got ...

Ann Elias has discovered a new technique to add to the garden,…’hose-craft!’ Ann says, “When your hose is too worn to properly deliver water, turn it into a no-slip rug to place near your potting bench.”  Hose-craft is taking useless old hoses, considering them ‘art supplies,’ and re-purposing them in the garden. Here is the step by step “How-To” Finding ...