SpiderMonkey’s Jamie Mack Loves her Cobbler
From custom cakes to beignets, a Sacramento pastry star answers our searing questions. Owner of SpiderMonkey ’s Dessert Studio and award-winning pastry chef Jamie Mack knows her way around
Debbie Arrington
Debbie Arrington, co-creator of the daily Sacramento Digs Gardening blog, is an award-winning garden and food writer. She worked almost 20 years for The Sacramento Bee. Currently, she’s publications editor for News & Review Publications.
Blue Ribbon Buzz
From gold medal to glass; how competition makes for better beer. For both professional and amateur brewers, there’s nothing like the buzz of beer competitions.
Time to Plant (More) Tomatoes
Tips for healthier, hardier harvests with this craveable cover crop. Sacramento gardeners spend their summer obsessing over one favorite crop: tomatoes. “Tomatoes are hugely popular
Auspicious Herbs
Prepare to plant: Parsley, chives, basil, and more add fragrance and flair to mealtime. Vivian Sellers knows her herbs. At her Elk Grove home, she
Learn to Love Fennel
This vegetable’s unique licorice flavor can be applied many ways. Disguised as plump celery topped with bright green feathery leaves, fennel stands out in the
Cool-Season Comfort
What Sacramento area chefs cook for their own winter tables. The winter season inspires for many of us a sense of connection and togetherness, drawing
Beautiful and Juicy
Tips for growing oranges, lemons, limes, mandarins, and more that are delicious and resilient. From Orangevale to Citrus Heights, the call names of Sacramento neighborhoods
Local Specialty Mushroom Growers Find Their Niche
The Fungus Among Us In small spaces throughout the Greater Sacramento area, enormous volumes of mushrooms grow. “We grow 150 to 200 pounds a week
What to do with your bumper crop of fruit? Feed your neighbors.
Fruitful Idea A warm spring brought larger-than-usual fruit loads to many backyard trees — and an abundance of homegrown produce. While a blessing, such a huge harvest
Hatching Your Own Quail With an At-Home-Kit
Photos by Anastasia Murphy Quail breeder Linda Easton of GullyRumpus Farm in North Highlands and her partner, chicken expert Wendee Miller of Featherbaby Farm in
Meet Local Farmers Who Cracked Into the Odd Egg Market
Shell Shock Not all eggs are created equal. Some are bite-sized (and very cute); some are mammoth (and could feed a whole family). Big or
Representing America’s Best, Two Sacramento Butchers Share How Anyone Can Master the Art of Butchery
Knives out! It’s time to sharpen your scimitar. For two days, Sacramento will be the red-blooded center of the carnivore universe. The biannual World Butchers’
Banish Bad Bugs From Your Summer Garden This Season
Squash Summer Pests Squash bugs and aphids sure can suck the joy out of your summer garden — especially if you love zucchini. Both these
Your Local Master Gardener Can Help
The Greenhouse: Digging for Answers Curious about what’s attacking your plants? Before you search for an answer on Google, try asking a local master gardener.
Here’s the dirt on composting in Greater Sacramento
Saving the Planet, One Banana Peel at a Time Composting — the process of turning organic waste into usable fertilizer — is having a moment.