In this day and age of budget and labor cuts in all areas of society: private, city, state, federal, non-profit and corporate, volunteers are often the stopgap measures between families and organizations grinding to a dismal halt or continuing on. Volunteerism can work well or it can work not-so-well depending on myriad circumstances and variables. When volunteerism works well, it’s a thing of beauty, bringing benefit to the volunteers themselves, the organization for which they are volunteering and to the greater community in which they live.

Successful volunteerism and the betterment of our community - as well as one of our region’s well-known plant communities - are just a few of the rewards of an almost-4-year partnership between the City of Chico Parks Department, the Chico High School Agriculture program, and the Mt. Lassen Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). (more…)

March in the garden is both maddening and full of spring’s mirth. Even with our terribly low winter precipitation thus far, the garden and countryside are moving along – unfolding in flower, fruit and seed.

We’re lucky that our relatively mild climate allows us to plant flowers, fruits and vegetables from seed almost every month of the year – but even so March may take high honors as the big seasonal Seeding – indoors and out. (more…)

Weeds are part (have always been part) of gardening – part of life for that matter. But some weeds are bigger than others – and some are far more pernicious than others. For us in California, and the entire Pacific Northwest, all varieties of broom fit the pernicious category and on several counts: broom are terrible fire hazards in all stages of their life due to their high levels of volatile oils; they are very successful at spreading and choke out native plants in the areas they infest; all portions of the plant are toxic and as a result they offer no food or shelter of any kind to native wildlife. That’s at least three strikes. (more…)