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Articles by Jeff Cox
September jobs report will be out Thursday as first data since shutdown starts to trickle out
Should you get an Apple Card? Here’s what you need to know Apple Card launched more than six years ago and has proven to be incredibly popular. The card offers an easy-to-use interface, robust perks like interest-free Apple financing, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about whether Apple Card is worth it for you. 9to5Mac is supported by …
Motorist Assurance Program Highlights October Car Care Month with Seasonal Inspection Reminder
Motorist Assurance Program Highlights October Car Care Month with Seasonal Inspection Reminder The Motorist Assurance Program reminds motorists during Car Care Month in October to schedule inspections that prepare vehicles for fall and winter conditions. Motorist Assurance Program (NASDAQ:MAP) October’s Car Care Month is a valuable reminder that preventive inspections help ensure safety and reliability.
Persimmons: Growing and enjoying this ‘food of the gods’
You don’t have to spend more than a year or two in Sonoma County before you’re rewarded with a unique sight. Some late autumn morning, after the brightly colored leaves have fallen from someone’s persimmon tree, its true glory is revealed: Dozens upon dozens of orange-yellow fruits, each the size of a baseball with a pointed end, hang on the tree like glowing ornaments.
Grow Blueberries and Their Relatives to Benefit the Garden and Your Health
Isn’t it thrilling how the simple things we like as children often unfold into worlds of information and meanings as we mature? Take blueberries, for instance. They were a special treat when I was five years old—something mom brought home from the King Kullen market to our neat and tidy neighborhood on Long Island’s north shore. But then, when I was eight, my parents pulled up stakes and moved our family to the wilds of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.
Santa Rosa photographer, 19, captures ‘inherent beauty’ of nature working from studio in mom’s garden
How does 19-year-old Bradain (pronounced BRAY-den) Bello of Santa Rosa take such exquisite photos of birds? First, he uses a Canon R5 full-frame digital camera because it’s quiet. “The quiet camera doesn’t bother the birds as much,” he said. But his mom Tara Bello, who joined us in her son’s studio — a former potting shed now converted into an airy, little showplace beside the main house — suggested another reason: “The birds give him permission,” she said.
Budding Santa Rosa nature photographer’s lens captures stillness, detail and beauty
How does 19-year-old Bradain (pronounced BRAY-den) Bello of Santa Rosa take such exquisite photos of birds? First, he uses a Canon R5 full-frame digital camera because it’s quiet. “The quiet camera doesn’t bother the birds as much,” he says. But his mom Tara Bello, who joined us in Bradain’s studio — a former potting shed now converted into an airy little showplace beside the main house — suggested another reason: “The birds give him permission,” she says.
Sebastopol man advocates not just sustainability but landscape regeneration
“I love to bury people’s homes with food,” Erik Ohlsen says. He certainly has done that at his own property in Sebastopol. “Ever taste a Turkish mulberry?” he asks, picking a slender black fruit from one of the hundreds of trees, shrubs, vines, and understory plants that fill his 1/3 acre homestead. “Everyday, 365 days a year, there’s fresh food available here.” That’s the least of it.
Vermiculture is an easy and fun way to make compost for your garden
There’s a yardstick among gardeners that good, rich soil with lots of actively decaying organic matter in it should have about a dozen or more earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) in each cubic foot. But there’s another kind of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) most frequently called Red Wigglers — also called manure worms, redworms, and trout worms (because they’re perfect as bait) — that can play an important role in your gardening cycles.
Vermiculture is an easy and fun way to make compost for your garden
It doesn’t take a lot of time or investment to create worm bins filled with red wigglers that will break down food scraps into rich compost for the garden. FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT May 8, 2025 Updated 1 hour ago 6 minute read There’s a yardstick among gardeners that good, rich soil with lots of actively decaying organic matter in it should have about a dozen or more earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) in each cubic foot.
Longtime garden writer Jeff Cox shares the books that he has found indispensable
When planting any garden or landscape, striking out on your own can mean striking out. The subject is vast, and so a shelf of good gardening books is the best companion you can have to get the results you want. I’ve spent the past 55 years planting edible and ornamental gardens, orchards, vineyards, and landscapes. My work has always been a collaboration between myself and the authors of books full of information to help me avoid mistakes and add their advantage to my own hard-won experience.
When it comes to irrigation, gray is the new gold and its found in your laundry
When: 10 a.m. to noon March 15 Where: Midtown Petaluma. Exact locations disclosed with registration Cost: Free Information and Registration: Dailyacts.org or email or call Ava at ava@dailyacts.org, 707-789-9664. https://dailyacts.org/events-cal/laundry-to-landscape-greywater-tour/ l r. While our lovely Mediterranean climate pours on the sunshine and fine weather for most of the growing season, it does have one major drawback: rain is less than scarce from May to October.
How to keep the water bill low while you irrigate your plants during the North Bay’s dry months
A graywater system will allow you to reuse laundry water to irrigate ornamentals and many trees, efficiently saving water in the North Bay’s summer dry and drought-prone climate. FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT March 6, 2025, 2:41PM Updated 9 hours ago 5 minute read Graywater Tour When: 10 a.m. to noon March 15 Where: Midtown Petaluma. Exact locations disclosed with registration Cost: Free Information and Registration: Dailyacts.org or email or call Ava at ava@dailyacts.org, 707-789-9664.
2 local retails sell keystone plants that help support pollinators
California Flora Nursery specializes in propagating plants on-site and has expanded their seed-grown selections. They offer a diverse range of California’s more unusual and hard-to-find species as well as some of the strongest keystone plants. Location: 2990 Somers St., Fulton Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m., daily More information: 707-528-8813, calfloranursery.com Urban Tree Farm Nursery is the largest retail nursery in Northern California, sitting on about 20 acres of land in Sonoma County.
Feeling a little blue? Let these plants color your gray world
After the election on Nov. 5, it seems that about half us are cheering and the other half need cheering up. One thing we all agree on is we need to get ready for a cheerful holiday season, no matter who we are. This cold, dark, damp time of year needs brightening up and what better way to do that than with some colorful plants set outside or inside the house. Bringing plants into the house for the holidays is time-honored.
Why you should leave fallen leaves alone
There’s one simple thing you can do at this time of year that will help all the critters who live or visit your property stay healthy through the winter months. And that simple thing is: “Nothing.” Instead of raking up fallen leaves, just leave them alone. Once upon a time the ideal lawn was a strict patch of grass; no crabgrass, dandelions or any other weeds allowed. It was mowed regularly and fed with a mix of fertilizer and herbicide.
Tough garden beauties that will withstand the North Bay’s hottest days
Summer hot spells are nothing new for Sonoma County gardeners and landscape artists, but 2024, for whatever reason, had some doozies. Not only were the spells hot, but they persisted over weeks rather than days. You could tell the effects of this prolonged heat in June and July by looking at your plants.
What to do with fresh picked figs? Here are a few ideas
Only we happy people who live in regions where the fig tree grows know the luscious texture and flavor of a tree-ripened fresh fig. That’s because tree-ripened figs are supremely perishable as soon as they are picked. In fact, if ripe figs are bruised, they will be unmarketable within minutes. There are two crops of figs. The spring crop, called breba, grows on last year’s wood. The fall crop grows on this year’s wood and is coming to market now.
The secret to an authentic Philly cheesesteak? Don’t overlook the onions
We’re starting to see the new crop of yellow onions in local stores and farmers markets. Because they are cured, leaving their outer leaves dry and crisp like a protective skin, and kept in climate-controlled conditions, they’ll be in season from now until next year’s crop comes in. One really good way to use this new crop of onions is to make the California equivalent of a Philly cheesesteak. The proper onion for a cheesesteak is either a regular yellow onion or a sweet variety.
July is the sweet spot for summer pruning
For art, Shutterstock on Summer pruning. You could put in an anchoring illustration or photo image of summer pruning like above and sprinkle in pretty stock photos (or file) of trees that need summer pruning like fruit trees, or shurbs like forsythia, deutzia, flowering quince, mockorange, June-blooming roses, azalea, rhododendron and weigela and English Hawthorn. I have attached some photos from our files but I don’t have access to Shutterstock.
And just like that, it’s cherry season. Here’s how to make the most of the tasty fruit
Cherry trees proclaim the new growing season with billows of white blossoms in April, promising the luscious stone fruits of the summer to come. But what variety of sweet cherries are the best? The California Rare Fruit Growers organized a tasting of cherries a few years ago, and here are the top varieties from least to most favorite: Sparkle, Garnet, Black Tartarian, Ebony, Lambert, Larian, Rainier, Utah Giant, and—ta-da!—Bing. Bet you guessed Bings already.
Cucumbers are summer’s superfood. Here’s what you need to know about the different types and how to use them in your cooking
What is a “burpless” cucumber? Well, back in your great-grandparents’ day, the standard slicing cucumbers had their full complement of cucurbitacins — bitter compounds that provoked burping in many people due to their indigestibility. In those days, it was disgraceful to burp in public, so plant scientists over the years bred cucurbitacins out of cucumbers, labeling their results as “burpless.” Cucurbitacins exist not only in cucumbers but also pumpkins and gourds.
Native plants expert on what to plant in your Sonoma County garden
The showy lady’s slipper (Cypripedium reginae) that grows east of the Rockies is a large wild orchid that reaches up to 30 inches tall, with 3- to 4-inch-long, slipperlike flowers of rose pink. They don’t grow around here. But their distant cousins do, and they look very different. Our Sonoma County summer fog calls forth these plants where the redwoods grow tall and human activity is at a minimum. In these conditions, the forest floor may be sprinkled with them.
Mangoes: The lazy person’s guide to making dessert with this ‘sexy’ tropical fruit
Ataulfo mangoes are in our stores now. These choice, sweet, luscious fruits have been grown in Chiapas, Mexico, for many decades, but only gained prominence in the United States in the last 25 years. And for good reason: their creamy-sweet flavor is considered by many to be superior to the larger red and green ‘Tommy Atkins’ variety--the most popular mango here in the States because of its longer shelf life and shipping stability.
Uncover the delightful flavors of celery root
Place two quarts of cold water in a pot or bowl and add the lemon juice. Trim the dangling parts off the celery root, then use a vegetable peeler to peel off its skin and rough spots, finally digging out any soiled pits with the tip of a paring knife. Halve the celery root, then cut lengthwise into 1/3-inch slices. Stack the slices a few at a time and cut them lengthwise into half-inch-wide matchsticks. Put slices immediately into the pot of lemon water to prevent browning.
Consider new seed varieties to keep your Sonoma County garden fresh
For many years I grew the ‘Lincoln’ variety of shelling peas and was happy with their long pods, each with a generous six to nine sweet peas inside. It didn’t occur to me that another variety might be better. But after a decade, I thought that maybe, over the years, breeders had developed new and better varieties of this spring garden staple. Still, what does “better” mean?
How to grow, eat and enjoy English peas
One of the blessings of spring is that locally grown English peas are now in our stores. We’re not talking here about flat-bladed snow peas popular in Chinese cuisine, or snap peas that are edible pods and all, or the colorful perennial flowering vines called sweet peas (Lathyrus latifolius) that are poisonous to humans and pets. Now is the time for good old English peas (Pisum sativum var. saccharatum), a vegetable that is unequaled for delectability when you find perfect peas.
For first asparagus of spring, simple is best
The early crop of asparagus spears is arriving in our stores now. In choosing some of these delectable spring treats, be aware of two factors for optimum quality. The first is width of the spear. Some people think that the slenderer the spear, the more tender its flesh.
Why (and how) you should give turnip a chance
Oh, the lowly turnip, the Rodney Dangerfield of vegetables: it “can’t get no respect.” That’s probably because this humble root vegetable, once a winter staple of many a farm table because it could be stored in the root cellar throughout the cold months, has far too often been served in the least palatable way possible: boiled and served plain. But take note, that farmers with cattle, cows or pigs sometimes dump turnips in their winter feeding troughs.
Why (and how) you should give turnips a chance
Oh, the lowly turnip, the Rodney Dangerfield of vegetables: it “can’t get no respect.” That’s probably because this humble root vegetable, once a winter staple of many a farm table because it could be stored in the root cellar throughout the cold months, has far too often been served in the least palatable way possible: boiled and served plain. But take note, that farmers with cattle, cows or pigs sometimes dump turnips in their winter feeding troughs.
5 garden tools that should be in every Sonoma County shed
Wild plants flourish with no help from us. That’s mainly because for millions of years, they evolved in soil with the following natural profile: • Each fall and winter, the soil surface gets a dressing of dead leaves dropped from deciduous trees and shrubs, the ruined stalks and leaves of annual weeds and nitrogen compounds created by lightning in the clouds carried to Earth by rain, animal droppings and dust from fresh, dry earth blown in on the wind.
This tropical fruit could ignite a passion for Pavlova
Of the over 450 kinds of passiflora vines in the world, only a handful are edible, and only one—Passiflora edulis, commonly called “passion fruit”—stands high above the rest for the quality of its concentrated, floral, musky, guava-like, spicy, citrusy, tantalizingly tangy aroma and flavor. It truly defines the essence of a tropical fruit—although it’s a sub-tropical rather than a purely tropical plant.
If one of these shrubs is beautiful, what about a wall of them? Wow!
Stick a finger through any mulch and one inch deep into the soil. If the soil is moist, it doesn’t need irrigation. If soil is dry two inches deep or more, it needs irrigation. How many hours? Give it one and recheck to see if there’s moisture an inch deep. Give it extra hours if needed. Good bloom and a healthy look also indicate the plants are getting enough water. During our summer drought, it’s wise to also give the plants one deep watering in June and another in August.
Collard greens are nutritional powerhouses. Here’s how to cook them Original
If you’ve ever been in the land of cotton (where old times are not forgotten), don’t look away. Look for a mom and pop restaurant and order up a mess of greasy greens and grits. While “greasy greens” can be any leafy green vegetable with shiny leaves, the quintessential green for this famous southern dish is collards, those large, floppy, paddle-shaped cabbage family leaves that are favored for this staple with good reason.
If you can find treviso, here’s how to cook it
Now, in the dead of winter, keep an eye peeled at the market for a vegetable that looks like Belgian endive but is more than twice its size. This prize has wine-colored leaves with wide white ribs held tightly together into the shape of a spear. This is treviso, the noble cousin of the red-and-white baseball-shaped heads of bitter red radicchio. Both treviso and radicchio are chicories. Their progenitors were cultivated in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy since ancient times.
Where to shop for feeds in Sonoma County
As gardening, viticulture and landscaping, by home gardeners up to winegrowers with hundreds of acres, have grown across Sonoma County over recent decades, businesses and private groups have grown up to serve them. For example, if you’re a home gardener and want to grow the best-quality vegetables to eat yourself or to sell, you can look in mail-order catalogs for seeds, then either start them in a greenhouse or rig up grow lights.
Chestnuts: A winter treat of yore
You know the Christmas song describing “chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” The words are a big clue as to when chestnuts are in season — from October to the end of January. In other words, December is the peak of the chestnut season. A hearth-roasted chestnut is somewhat similar to a potato, but not as mealy. It’s richer in nutty, smoky flavor, and very versatile.
Which type of persimmon tastes best?
Winter here in Northern California means lots of fresh green Asian vegetables and other cabbage family members, along with root crops and cold-loving leafy greens like lettuce, spinach and chard. But when it comes to fruit, we’re mostly offered greenhouse strawberries, South American blueberries and the many varieties of citrus. Persimmons are the exception. From November to January, we have persimmons — perhaps the most underrated fruit in the cornucopia that is California.
December is the time to prune roses
One of the main advantages of pruning deciduous woody plants in December is that, with the leaves gone, you can see the scaffolding, the structure of the plant’s trunk and limbs. And you can proceed — with Felcos, loppers, Japanese bow saws and chain saws in hand — to have at the task of pruning. Because plants are biological systems, they don’t respond to pruning in the always-predictable way a machine responds when its parts are removed or replaced in a repair shop.
The Best of Times Online -- Article View
Download Issue The U.S. Constitution: The 18th and 21st Amendments November 2023 By Judge Jeff Cox **Please click on the magazine page below to view the article**
CNBC: ¿Venta de lingotes de oro en Costco? Esto es lo que debes saber si deseas comprar uno Original
Costco está vendiendo lingotes PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan de 1 onza de oro. El director financiero de Costco, Richard Galanti, dijo que las barras tienen una gran demanda y no duran mucho cuando están en existencia. El oro ha subido más del 15% durante el año pasado y más del 55% en los últimos cinco años. Costco es conocido como un lugar para conseguir precios de ganga en cualquier variedad de artículos, desde comida hasta equipaje, electrodomésticos y lingotes de oro.
Taking flight with extended hours: Museum of Aviation expands visiting time
Taking flight with extended hours: Museum of Aviation expands visiting time by JEFF COX Mon, September 25th 2023, 1:33 PM UTC Photo: WGXA
Taking flight with extended hours: Museum of Aviation expands visiting time
HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. (WGXA) - The Museum of Aviation is announcing a change in visitation hours effective October 1, 2023. Starting from that date, visitors will have more time to explore the museum as it will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every Monday through Saturday, and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. Additionally, the museum will welcome visitors on all federal holidays, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, and Easter.
Pink Lady, Envy, Gravenstein: It’s time to bake with apples
From many new varieties to old standards, which are the best for eating, baking.| share on facebook share on twitter email this article FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT September 19, 2023, 2:02PM Updated 12 minutes ago You can still see traces of Sonoma County’s apple heritage as you drive through our area, especially its nationwide trade in Gravenstein apples through much of the 20th century.
Pink Lady, Envy, Gravenstein: It’s time to bake with apples
You can still see traces of Sonoma County’s apple heritage as you drive through our area, especially its nationwide trade in Gravenstein apples through much of the 20th century. The old fruit barns along Bohemian Highway north of Sebastopol once held Gravensteins, the first apple of the new season for consumers tired of mealy old apples from last year.
Now is the time for Brussel sprouts. Here’s how to find the best ones
Among the more despised vegetables on the plates of a bygone public were Brussels sprouts — despised because they could be unpleasantly cabbage-y, a smell that arises when cabbage is too old. Unless they are snapping fresh, Brussels sprouts will taste slightly bitter. As members of the cabbage family, they have stores of sulfurous compounds. So if they’re cooked too long and too slow, as they were back in the day, they will stink.
Things to do in your garden in September
The hours of daylight shorten significantly now. By the middle of November, the light will have dimmed sufficiently for most growth of our garden crops and ornamentals to stop. That’s why, with about six weeks left in the growing season, the middle of September is an important time to take care of some garden chores. Let’s look first at our food garden.
The Best of Times Online -- Article View
Download Issue The US Constitution: The Ninth and Tenth Amendments September 2023 By Judge Jeff Cox **Please click on the magazine page below to view the article**
Pineapple is a sweet treat
share on facebook share on twitter email this article Although October is National Pineapple Month, August is when most pineapples grown in the northern hemisphere are at their naturally sweetest and ripest. A rich golden yellow color is a chief signal of a pineapple’s ripeness — not in the color of the segment scales on the outside of the pineapple, but down between the scales, where the yellow-gold color glows as though the fruit is lit from within.
The Best of Times Online -- Article View
Download Issue The US Constitution and the Eighth Amendment August 2023 By Judge Jeff Cox **Please click on the magazine page below to view the article**
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