Home & Garden Santa Cruz 2023

In Bloom

Capitola’s Mid County Senior Center’s peaceful gardening

oasis

BY JUNE SMITH

Let it Rain

Vital Cycles Permaculture

Design & Human Ecology’s workshops feature roof catchment, fermentation, food as medicine and more

BY MARK C. ANDERSON

Garden of Love

From Capitola’s Mid County Senior Center to Aptos’ Eco Village Garden, spring has sprung

By June Smith

President Debbie Sheehan writes in the Mid County Senior Center April newsletter, “I hope you are enjoying the brief sunny days between storms. The Spring Equinox on March 20, 2023, was supposed to announce the coming of Spring. The daffodils may be a bit late this year.”

Members of the Senior Center Garden practice organic and natural gardening, providing a peaceful haven to grow flowers, vegetables, berries and fruit trees. Members can relax outside the gazebo area's garden gate and enjoy

this tranquil setting. The MCSC garden is managed and governed by its own committee and policies and is limited to garden members. The fifty plots rent at $45 per year, plus an MCSC yearly membership of $40. A wait list is available to MCSC members only.

The first Saturday of each month is Gardener’s Workday, when all members tend to their gardens and discuss current issues. A popular barbecue follows the meeting. The group is preparing for the May Garden and Craft Sale, where food is also sold.

GARDEN SCIENCE Following the winter storms, Mid County Senior Center leader Kurt Jewell salvaged the garden using science and several years of experience; he concocted a treatment to enhance the soil, which can now absorb and retain moisture and cycle nutrients.

PHOTO: TARMO HANNULA

When Capitola resident Hsiu-li Cheng joined the MCSC, she noticed the garden behind the center filled with lush vegetation and beautiful flowers. When she discovered it was for the community, she took one of the three available plots on the spot.

“I have been in love with the garden so much ever since and follow the urge to visit every day,” Cheng says. “It only needs to be watered every two or three days, but it is my therapeutic and sacred healing garden. I have planted many varieties of vegetables and flowers, including chives, green onions, kale, garlic, Chinese chives, mustard greens, Marla’s spinach, Crown daisies, parsley, Vietnamese herbs, strawberries, broccoli, roses, lilies, iris, daisies and succulent plants.” 8 »

FLOWER POWER Capitola resident and Mid County Senior Center member Hsiu-li Cheng says she “follows the urge” to visit the garden daily.

PHOTO: TARMO HANNULA

The MCSC Garden is happy to host the Lavender Ladies, led by Cindy Kiernan. Every year this group, consisting of Shannon Caredio, Linda Herring, Myrna Golliher and Janet Thelen, grows, harvests and creates lovely fragrant items from locally grown lavender, offering them for sale at local fairs and farmers markets. The ladies gather every summer to prepare the lavender and offer a Lavender Wand workshop in June, which they welcome you to join.

The MCSC garden, like so much of California, required some extra care after this winter’s unprecedented storms. MCSC leader Kurt Jewell writes: “During December and January, there was an overflow from the creek into the gardens as a result of the rain and King Tides backing up the creek, causing soil contamination. Although sunlight will eventually destroy bacteria, it was agreed to apply an EM-I inoculant to speed up the process. EM-1 (Effective Microorganisms) Microbial Inoculant converts organic matter into soil humus and improves soil structure by producing high levels of polysaccharides, beneficial enzymes and organic acids. The end product is amended soil that is better able to absorb and retain moisture and cycle nutrients. A team was formulated to spread the treatment throughout the garden.”

APTOS ECO VILLAGE GARDEN

Ocean Robbins, the co-founder of Food Revolution Network (a global network of 700,000-plus people dedicated to healthy, ethical and sustainable food for all), lives in a small local “eco-village” with his wife, children and several close friends in Aptos. Together they host a thriving garden and orchard that have been the site for dozens of permaculture workshops led by Santa Cruz Permaculture. They love discussing berms, swales, compost and growing organic veggies.

Fencing to deter rabbits and gophers has been added. Downhill slopes help rainwater to flow slowly, and laundry “grey water” is utilized. They grow tree collards, garlic, Romanesco, broccoli, artichokes, kale, corn, pole beans, legumes, sunflowers, marigolds and strawberries. Robbins hopes that in about five years, they will also enjoy abundant avocados.

GOOD AND PLENTY All Mid County Senior Center’s 50 plots are filled. The garden is home to everything from Chinese chives, mustard greens and Marla’s spinach to Crown daisies, parsley and Vietnamese herbs.

PHOTO: TARMO HANNULA

S A N T A C R U Z ' S B E S T R E T I R E M E N T C O M M U N I T Y D o m i n i c a n O a k s

A c t i v e R e t i r e m e n t f o r A c t i v e P e o p l e

A t D o m i n i c a n O a k s h o m e i s n o t j u s t a p l a c e , b u t a f e e l i n g

J o i n u s t o d a y !

C O M M U N I T Y F E A T U R E S

3 h o m e c o o k e d m e a l s p e r d a y i n o u r d i n i n g r o o m

A c c e s s t o a c t i v i t i e s & s o c i a l e v e n t s o n a n d o f f c a m p u s W e e k l y h o u s e k e e p i n g

W e e k l y l a u n d r y s e r v i c e S c h e d u l e d t r a n s p o r t a t i o n v i a s h u t t l e o r p r i v a t e c a r 1 & 2 b e d r o o m a p a r t m e n t s w i t h k i t c h e n & p r i v a t e p a t i o

Lic #440708773

Parting the Clouds

SING IT LOUD Vital Cycles Permaculture Design & Human Ecology co-founders Anne Freiwald and Lydia Neilsen founded the Santa Cruz-based company, which designs and does installations and maintenance on native landscapes.

Seize opportunities to make the most of record rains

By Mark C. Anderson

‘Where water flows, life grows,” Michelle Yahn says.

Later she adds: “Water begets water.”

The citizen advocate drips zingy sayings when it comes to talking rainwater harvesting.

“Slow it, sink it, spread it, save it!” she says next, echoing Brock Dolman of Occidental Arts & Ecology Center.

She follows with a classic rain refrain through a Golden State prism: “In California, when it rains, it pours. We should be more ready when it does.”

The Santa Cruz resident studied

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rain management, and a German regenerative raised bed practice called hugelkultur for years while developing a swale catchment system in her backyard.

It makes poetic sense that her spontaneous speech contains wise wordplay. After all, rain has inspired as much poetry and songwriting as any force of nature.

Philosophers, theologians, hard rockers and country singers go to the well.

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,” Dolly Parton once said, “you gotta put up with the rain.”

The rain, in this case, came in overwhelming amounts to California across winter and spring. The rainbow: saving that moisture to bring ecosystems to maximum vibrancy— rather than see runoff escape across hard-scape surfaces.

Yahn—who I met serendipitously at a Bioneers Conference talk featuring Alice Waters (good omen)—credits Vital Cycles with her H2O evolution.

Santa Cruz-based Vital Cycles Permaculture Design & Human Ecology designs and does consultations, installations and maintenance on native landscapes that vitalize local wildlife corridors, pollinator habitats and watersheds.

Its primary passion, though, is hosting empowering workshops touching on everything from roof catchment to fermentation to food as medicine.

Across those tutorials, co-founders Anne Freiwald and Lydia Neilsen—also life partners—emphasize an “integrative perspective along with practical skills for creating regenerative designs for your soul and the soil you tend.”

Their Earth Day-synchronized “Radical Roots” installment (April 22-23) tunes into sleep, water, earthworks, rainwater roof catchment, swales, berms and riverscape restoration.

“We like to bring in the human ecology piece,” Nielsen says. “Sleep and water follow similar patterns: A landscape without water is similar to a human without sleep. What’s not being consolidated, cleansed, filtered?”

May’s workshop will focus on “Emergence” (May 20-21), and more

specifically, agroforestry, trees, plant guilds and pollination (on the botanical side) and movement and awe (on the human mind-body side, though—yes— it’s all integrated).

And it will include song, yet another way the pair of planetary warriors links dirt to drainage, human to plant and coastal community to healing possibility.

“We do a lot of singing,” Freiwald says. “It helps people to see the world

as an interconnected whole and yourself as a part of it.”

Dolly Parton might dig that.

I asked Nielsen and Freiwald if they had a favorite rain song for their workshops.

Madonna’s “Rain”?, and “I Wish It Would Rain” from the Temptations? “Here Comes the Rain Again” by Eurythmics?

Their answer came in unison, as does almost everything they do: “It’s not

SOUL SHINE Freiwald and Neilsen—also life partners—emphasize an “integrative perspective along with practical skills for creating regenerative designs for your soul and the soil you tend.”

about rain,” one of them said. (It can be hard to tell.) “But it’s about roots and listening to the Earth.” (Two things are also hard to separate.)

The top choice: is “Put Your Roots Down” by Mari Hartwell. Then Freiwald and Nielsen asked if I’d like to hear it. Goddess, yes.

Then they start singing.

“Put your roots down, put your feet on the ground,” they sang, voices interwoven, keeping with the theme. “Can you hear what she says when you listen?”

More at vitalcyclespermaculture.com

RAIN BRAIN 101

Three verbs to make your yard more rain absorbent that prove simple and powerful.

Founder and director of the Permaculture Institute Bill Mollison has a quote that soilsavvy souls are familiar with.

One Vital Cycles regularly cites: “Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.”

Here are some super simple concepts to that end. For more detailed—and still easy—strategies, email vitalcyclesinfo@gmail.com.

1. Slow

Dry soil won’t absorb water. Plants and mulch help water move more slowly.

2. Spread

Water concentrated in one place creates trouble! Give water plenty of places to spread, like swales and raised beds.

3. Sink

Soil full of plants, roots and soil organisms can absorb extraordinary water! Rain filters through the soil into aquifers and supplies rivers, lakes, trees and forests.

A LITTLE PATIENCE “In California, when it rains, it pours. We should be ready when it does,” Santa Cruz resident and advocate Michelle Yahn says. Also, plants and mulch help water move slower. Dry soil won’t absorb water.

Keeping our community safe from sewage spills and keeping maintenance costs down are important. You can help by remembering this simple phrase: ‘Think Before You Flush’. Put trash where it belongs…in the trash.

Keeping our community safe from sewage spills and keeping maintenance costs down are important. You can help by remembering this simple phrase: ‘Think Before You Flush’. Put trash where it belongs…in the trash.

Keeping our community safe from sewage spills and keeping maintenance costs down are important. You can help by remembering this simple phrase: ‘Think Before You Flush’. Put trash where it belongs…in the trash.

Keeping our community safe from sewage spills and keeping maintenance costs down are important. You can help by remembering this simple phrase: ‘Think Before You Flush’. Put trash where it belongs…in the trash.

Flushable does not mean flushable!

Flushable does not mean flushable!

Flushable does not mean flushable!

Flushable wipes clog sewer pipes. Wipes do not dissolve; even if you flush just one, wipes collect in pumps and valves causing clogs.

Flushable wipes clog sewer pipes. Wipes do not dissolve; even if you flush just one, wipes collect in pumps and valves causing clogs.

Flushable does not mean flushable!

Flushable wipes clog sewer pipes. Wipes do not dissolve; even if you flush just one, wipes collect in pumps and valves causing clogs.

Flushable wipes clog sewer pipes. Wipes not dissolve; even if you flush just one, wipes collect in pumps and valves causing clogs.

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So maybe it was a mistake. Perhaps FlexiSpot confused me with an influencer?

I ensured the woman who reached out understood I'd give it an honest evaluation but offered no promises.

She told me she understood and authorized shipment.

It felt a little unsettling. What was I getting myself into?

When the delivery met my doorstep, my paranoia was flushed away by panic. These boxes were big enough to hold a ping-pong table and felt just as heavy.

The assembly part added anxiety. I feared it might affect objectivity—I wouldn’t be fair in my evaluation once clouded by pain and frustration from putting it together.

Then it took only a handful of screws, an included Alan wrench and 25 minutes—no extra mystery pieces left behind! My Comhar Pro Standing Desk Q8 was perched on a perfectly sized Grocery Outlet rug.

Then came a final surge of distress—because I love this desk. It’s comfortable, versatile, attractive and hyper-functional.

Maybe that was concerning because I didn’t want to like it (more on that psychology in a minute). Maybe it was because I often break nice things (fortunately, this thing seems

unbreakable). Maybe it’s because it was free for me and won’t be for readers, though FlexiSpot does seem to run a lot of specials (even after markdowns, this sucker runs $700ish).

Anecdotally, my best friend recently bought a comparable desk, albeit smaller and a little more customized, that ran $1,000 plus, professional assembly included.

Mine didn’t require pro assembly. Hers doesn’t have a control panel with four memory height presets, two charging ports (USB type-A and USB type-C), bamboo surfaces, a slender and long drawer or a built-in wireless charger (that I’ve not yet figured out).

It’s not a contest, but Flexi won that one.

She found hers through a direct email from a company she follows for its quality back-supporting chairs. It got me thinking, is sending samples to reporters—and requesting they include affiliate links in coverage—an intelligent sales strategy?

Kinsta, a cloud platform that helps companies ship and manage their web projects, conducted research that says yes. Affiliate marketing is the most crucial customer acquisition channel for 20% of brand marketers, and 54% rank it among their top three channels, outpacing results from online searches.

Promotional strategies aside, the

desk’s creators demonstrate a knack for what people want. Two that jumped out to me from their inventory are a customizable massage bed and an exercise bike-desk hybrid that won a Consumer Technology Association innovation award.

The marketing rep who ID’d me, Josephine Pacquing, is based in the Philippines and wouldn’t talk on the phone—citing time zone difference—but did email me some thoughts on why she likes the desk she had shipped.

“For someone who spends most of his/her time sitting like a reader does, this product would be really significant for them,” she says. “The mind can sense what the body needs. But it doesn't necessarily accept it since the mind filters everything before it sends reception to the body and makes a judgment.”

Then she added another compelling thought that goes beyond workspaces.

“For someone who has logical thinking like me, I will always go for what I need, not the things that I want,” she wrote. “That being said, I think individuals can sense the quality of furniture. However, they have to prioritize what's essential and how they can survive.”

I didn’t see that perspective emerging from a media outreach specialist. But I didn’t see the desk coming either.

More at flexispot.com (not an affiliate link).

QUALITY ASSURED A control panel with four memory height presets, two charging ports (USB type-A and USB type-C), bamboo surfaces, a slender and long drawer or a built-in wireless charger separate this standing desk from others. PHOTO: MARK C. ANDERSON

RESOURCES

ALLTERRA SOLAR

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AMERICAN LEISURE PATIO

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ANNIEGLASS

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APPI POOL AND SPA

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APTOS LANDSCAPE SUPPLY 5035 Freedom Blvd., Aptos 831-688-6211, aptoslandscapesupply.com

APTOS FEED AND PET SUPPLY

7765 Soquel Drive, Ste. C, Aptos 831-685-3333

ARTISANS AND AGENCY

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A TOOL SHED

3700 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz 831-477-7133, atoolshed.com

BATTERIES PLUS

101 Mt. Hermon Road, Scotts Valley 831-439-6720, batteriesplus.com

BAY FEDERAL CREDIT

UNION

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BRASS KEY LOCKSMITH

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BREZSNY ASSOCIATES, CHRISTIE'S INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE SERENO

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CAROLINE'S NON-PROFIT THRIFT SHOP

8045 & 8047 Soquel Drive, Aptos 831-662-0327, carolinesnonprofit.org

CENTER STREET ANTIQUES

3010 Center St., Soquel 831-477-9211, centerstreetantiques.com

CENTRAL HOME SUPPLY

808 River St., Santa Cruz, 831-201-6167; 180 El Pueblo Road, Scotts Valley, 831-201-6178; centralhomesupply.com

CITY OF SANTA CRUZ

PUBLIC WORKS

831-420-5160, cityofsantacruz.com/ government/city-departments/public-works

CLARK'S AUCTION CO.

56 Old El Pueblo Road, Scotts Valley 831-706-8776, clarksauctions.com

CLEMENTINE & CO.

126 San Jose Ave., Capitola 831-889-8290, clementineandcompany.com

COUCH POTATO

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CYPRESS COAST FENCE

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DELL WILLIAMS

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DIG GARDENS

7765 Soquel Drive, Aptos, 831-688-7011; 420 Water St., Santa Cruz, 831-466-3444; diggardens.com

DOMINICAN OAKS

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DONNER LAND AND HOMES, INC.

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DRAPERY ENTERPRISES

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DREAMSCAPE CREATIVE LANDSCAPE SOLUTIONS

831-476-6800, dreamscape-cls.com/services

ECOLOGY ACTION

877 Cedar St., Ste. 240, Santa Cruz 831-426-5925, ecoact.org

EXPERT PLUMBING

2551 S. Rodeo Gulch Road, Ste. 7, Soquel 831-316-7338, expertplumbingca.com

FAR WEST NURSERY

2669 Mattison Lane, Santa Cruz 831-476-8866, farwestnursery.com

FIRST ALARM SECURITY AND PATROL

1111 Estates Drive, Aptos 831-685-1110

FYBR BAMBOO

831-423-3927, shopfybr.com

THE GARDEN COMPANY

2218 Mission St., Santa Cruz 831-429-8424, thegardenco.com

GENERAL FEED AND SEED

1900 Commercial Way, # B, Santa Cruz 831-476-5344

GOODWILL

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GRANITEROCK

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GRO REAL ESTATE

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INTERLITE SKYLIGHT

420 Kennedy Drive, Capitola 831-462-1700, interliteskylight.com

INTERIOR VISION FLOORING & DECORATING

2800 Daubenbiss Ave., Soquel 831-219-4484, interiorvision.biz

IRONHORSE HOME FURNISHINGS

925 41st Ave., Santa Cruz 831-346-6170, ironhorsehomefurnishings.com

J.C. HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING

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KNOX ROOFING & GARDEN BOX

46-A El Pueblo Road, Scotts Valley 831-461-9430, knoxgardenbox.com

LAUREEN YUNGMEYER, STATE FARM

230-F Mount Hermon Road, Scotts Valley 831-423-4700, statefarm.com

LAUREN SPENCER, REALTOR

824 B Mission St., Santa Cruz 831-662-6522, mysantacruzrealestate.com

LENZ ARTS

142 River St., Santa Cruz 831-423-1935, lenzarts.com

LOCATELLI’S FIREWOOD

262 Elk St., Santa Cruz 831-423-3215

LYDIA HARVILLE, STATE FARM

1044 41st Ave., Santa Cruz 831-476-6665, lydiaharville.co

MAIN STREET REALTORS

2567 S. Main St., Soquel 831-462-4000, mainstrealtors.com

MADANI TEAM/ROOM REAL ESTATE

6990 Hwy 9, Felton 831-234-6683, roomsantacruz.com

MOUNTAIN FEED AND FARM SUPPLY

9550 Hwy 9, Ben Lomond 831-336-8876, mountainfeed.com

MR. SANDLESS 831-747-7476, mrsandless.com

NATIVE REVIVAL NURSERY 831-684-1811, nativerevival.com

NATURAL SELECTION FURNITURE

607 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz 831-423-4711, naturalselectionfurnituresc.com

OM GALLERY

1201 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz 831-425-9107, omgallery.com

OUTDOOR SUPPLY HARDWARE

1601 41st Ave., Capitola 831-316-3823, osh.com

OUTSIDE-IN

7568 Soquel Drive, Aptos 831-684-0186, outside-in.myshopify.com

POTTERY PLANET

2600 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz 831-465-9216, potteryplanet.com

RAINBOW CARPETS & FLOORS

416 Airport Blvd., Watsonville 831-728-3131, rainbowcarpetsandfloors.com

REDO CONSIGN AND REDESIGN

1523 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz 831-439-9210, redoconsign.com

SAMAYA'S ECO-FLOORING

3155 Porter St., Soquel 831-466-9719, ecowoodfloor.com

SANDBAR SOLAR AND ELECTRIC

2656 Mission St., Santa Cruz 831-469-8888, sandbarsc.com

SAN LORENZO GARDEN CENTER

235 River St., Santa Cruz 831-423-0223, sanlorenzolumber.com/ garden-center

SAN LORENZO FLOORS

3113 Scotts Valley Drive, #4534, Scotts Valley 831-461-1300, scottsvalley.abbeycarpet.com

SAN LORENZO VALLEY WATER DISTRICT

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SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BUILDERS

831-359-4300, santacruzbuilders.com

SANTA CRUZ CONSTRUCTION GUILD

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SC41 FURNITURE

2701 41st Ave., Soquel 831-464-2228, sc41.com

SELESA WEBSTER, US BANK

110 Morrissey Blvd., Santa Cruz 831-687-1224, selesa.webster@usbank.com

SIERRA AZUL

2660 East Lake Ave., Watsonville 831-728-2532, sierraazul.com

SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES

705 N Branciforte Ave., Santa Cruz 831-200-8763, solartechnologies.com

SSA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

303 Potrero St., Ste. 40-C, Santa Cruz 831-459-0455, ssala.com

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TERRA NOVA ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPING

831-425-3514, terranovalandscaping.com

TOM RALSTON CONCRETE

241 Fern St., Santa Cruz 831-426-0342, tomralstonconcrete.com

TURK THE ROOFER

3330 Gross Road, Santa Cruz 831-479-9653

WALLIS WOODWORKS

2608 Mission St., Santa Cruz 831-460-9183, walliswoodworks.com

WESTSIDE FARM AND FEED

817 Swift St., Santa Cruz 831-331-4160, westsidefarmandfeed.com

WOODSTOVE & SUN

510 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz 831-425-5123, woodstoveandsunca.com

ZINNIAS

219 Mount Hermon Road, Scotts Valley 831-430-9466, zinniasgiftboutique.com