The Savvy Sage

Gardeners live by the seasons, yet modern calendars, set into squares within a month, are not oriented to natural cycles. When writing a book about gardening with children, I created a calendar, with the help of my artist daughter Alexandra Hammond, which reflects the seasons in our valley.

I've often thought how hard it must be to exist as a garden plant. There you are, stuck in the ground, unable to move, subject to the whims of the wind, rain, sun, and general environment, and worse of all, the fickle, precarious treatment of your gardener parent.

Maintaining a garden irrigation system is essential for keeping your plants healthy and your garden flourishing. One common issue that gardeners may encounter is a leak or damage to PVC pipes in the irrigation system.

We are gardeners but we can also wear other hats! Conservationist! Restoration specialist! Education! Preservation supporter! While researching family histories I was curious as to the ecosystems, both in pre-European and post European times, encountered as ancestors moved from east to west, through...

My Orb Spider friend was in a Sacramento Digs newsletter last year when I first read about Orb spiders. Before reading the article, I had mistakenly assumed the ones I had seen were poisonous.