The Real Dirt

Ideally, you'd be reading this in very early spring, when the dogwood bloom is beginning to work its elegant magic in the older neighborhoods fanning out from Lower Bidwell Park and downtown Chico.

Why are wine bottles tall and narrow? That distinctive shape contributes to the happy marriage between cork and a bottle made tall enough to lie on its side so the wine can breathe through the cork as it matures.

A beautiful tree sits on the north side of Little Chico Creek, shading the picnic table at site #34 in Lower Bidwell Park. Its thick, smooth lower branches are perfect for climbing, and its form is both rounder and more symmetrical than its relatives at higher elevations.

Summers are getting hotter in much of the U.S., including our local environment. One way to counteract this change in climate is by planting trees to provide more shade in the summer months. But adjusting to a shadier garden also means shifting to different plant choices.

Companion planting combines diverse plants in an informed manner to bring a balanced ecosystem into the garden. This approach to gardening has been used by organic gardeners for decades. The idea is to plant herbs and flowers with vegetables to create sustainable gardens with better crop yields.