Last year, I planted violas over the mini daffodils in patio pots and want to do the same this year. Deer don’t bother these on the patio,…they rarely come up the concrete steps any more and they aren’t attracted to either plant. It’s a safe zone.

AHWAHNEE – With groundbreaking on their new facility just around the corner, the Eastern Madera County SPCA is gearing up to get busy on the new Animal Care and Adoption Center. The EMC SPCA has been working to get a low cost spay/neuter adoption facility in Eastern Madera County for more than 20 years, according to EMC SPCA board member ...

The Cattle King: The Biography of Henry Miller, Founder of the Miller & Lux Cattle Empire was written by Edward F. Treadwell and printed in 1981. In his foreword Treadwell says that as he …lacked sufficient imagination to write something of permanent value from his own creativity, he …selected the subject of this work, for it is a living demonstration ...

OAKHURST – What can you share that represents modern life in this mountain town? The Centennial Committee of the Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce wants to know: they’re reaching out to the community for items to be placed in a time capsule marking the town centennial. The time capsule will be sealed and buried at an unspecified location this year ...

We asked S|N|O fans on Facebook to fork over some favorite “make-and-take” holiday appetizers. Here’s how you responded: Warning: do not read on an empty stomach! Reader Amy Beebe makes bacon and cream cheese-studded jalapenos as her “go-to” dish, adding “it’s not restricted to the holidays. They’re always a hit!”

Yes You Can – Make a diabetic-friendly Thanksgiving dinner You blinked, and it’s here: Thanksgiving, also known as 38 minutes of eating a meal that takes 36 hours to make and 8 hours to digest. When it comes to cooking, in a world of Turducken, nothing seems simple, anymore. Is your turkey free range, organic and college educated? Will you ...

If you haven’t purchased the book Exploring the Sierra Vista National Scenic Byway and spent a day or two or three on the tour that is literally in our back yard, then now is the time, before the snows come. The book is available for $15 at the Coarsegold Historic and Fresno Flats museums—close at hand. You can start the ...

Every year, while visiting my favorite nurseries, I prowl the sale tables in late August and September. I cheerfully call these plants that I purchase “rescued plants.” I bring them home at a much discounted price and find them a home in my garden so that they can make it through the winter.

It is a commonly heard in casual remarks on gardening topics and maintaining a landscape in the Sierra Foothills that Manzanita and other chaparral plants must be cut down and removed because they are so very flammable.

There is a wonderful book all living in the San Joaquin Valley (and foothills) should own: Garden of the Sun, A History of the San Joaquin Valley: 1772-1939. The book is full of interesting events and people who made the history of this “garden of the sun.”