Category: Sierra Foothills

Rudbeckia hirta Blackeyed Susan

Our favorite butterfly plants

Wow! Butterflies love these plants! Grow any of these for instant results and each is matched with the perfect plant combinations for color and growing conditions. Many are easy to grow from seed! Butterfly Bush, Buddleia Butterfly bush is a full sized bush, 8-10′ tall, that’s covered in butterflies all summer long. An easy-care shrub,…

1967 illustrated Oakhurst Area map, Oakhurst, Coarsegold, North Fork, Nipinnawasee, Ahwahnee, Grub Gulch, Pines Village, Wishon

An illustrated map of Oakhurst, in 1967

Foothill area history, discovered… The question was, ‘Does anyone know anything about this map?’ Found at a thrift shop or on eBay, I can’t remember, I put this map in a frame in 2005, and loved how it provided a context to the setting of our new home in the foothills.  The map clearly shows Bass…

Sycamore

Sycamore, king of Sierra foothill trees

The stately sycamore With slanted and twisted trunks and mottled bark, the California Sycamore is a majestic curiosity.  For me, this stately native marks nature’s cycle with beauty and grace and also reminds me of my childhood. Sycamore! I love this tree and grew up with one next to our lawn in suburbia. I used to volunteer to rake…

2016-11 Bald Mountain 4WD

Day Trip! Bald Mountain exploring

Call of the Wild! Attention, Four Wheel drivers… The view from the top of Bald Mountain, looking down on Shaver Lake is astonishing and awe-inspiring.  The summit where the fire lookout stands is one of the highest places you can drive in the Sierra National Forest! Check out our four wheeling day up on Bald Mountain and the directions…

What do you call a group of hummingbirds? A charm!

Year-round hummingbirds of the Sierra foothills

Attracting Hummingbirds to the garden… Plant a hummingbird garden and they will come!  Lure them right into your own garden with a proper feeder or this list of plants so that you can enjoy them.  Be sure to keep binoculars and a zoom camera handy.  Hiding behind the drapery may become a habit when you begin attract these living ‘flowers’…

Grinding holes

Grinding holes in the Sierra Foothills

Looking into the Sierra Foothill’s past Generations ago —women would gather at these spots to grind their acorn meats. “That’s where they would go get to work. That’s their kitchen — they would keep that very clean,” “You’ll find different holes at different depths. Traditionally, they like a shallower hole to pound the acorn flour.…

Straw bale remnant garden

Growing veggies in the remnants of a straw bale garden

This Year’s Veg Garden Experiment: The last two years have been straw bale gardens with great success!  This year, there is still so much straw that I decided to see how the tomatoes and peppers would do in the remnants of composted soil and leftover straw. When observing the garden for the first time after…

Spring wildflowers Blues

Spring wildflowers: The blues

Driving the foothills: Stopping and turning around…. We had to stop and turn around to photograph this field of Lupine, Vetch and Blue dicks under the oaks growing thickly in a patch. Iridescent blues just glowed here in a flowery show right next to the roadside not far from our home near Oakhurst. To encourage…

Lavender fields

The Lavender Experiment

What happens if you don’t trim lavender? You all may know I like garden experiments. For the last two years I’ve been experimenting with my Spanish lavender field and NOT trimming the blooms off. This is the field a week ago that I’ve not trimmed OR watered and as I went up to inspect, I…