Lifestyle

Recently, my friend Bob in Gardnerville asked me to recommend a native groundcover that was more insect-friendly than vinca, otherwise known as periwinkle. I asked him a few questions about the site. It faces southwest, has poor soil and is irrigated.

April Fool’s Day is past and I hope no one was fooled into planting their tomatoes outside yet! However, I’m sure some avid gardeners have planted their “very hardy” vegetables: asparagus crowns, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, lettuce, onions, parsley, peas, spinach and turnips.

If you had apples with worms last year, it is likely you will have wormy apples this year too, unless you take precautions.
Worms in apples are the larvae of codling moths. These relatives of butterflies also attack pears, plums and walnuts. Each female moth lays 30 to 70 tiny disc-shaped eggs singly on the fruit, spurs or nearby leaves. After hatching, the white to light pink “worms” with dark heads bore into the fruit.

The Reno Aces Baseball Club and Professional Sports Catering have revamped and reinvented the menus at Bugsy’s BBQ and Duffy’s Ale House within Greater Nevada Field’s premises. Additional game day concepts for the 2016 season include three new signature concession brands and partnerships with local food hotspots, including Wild Garlic pizza, Flocchini sausage and hot dogs made in Carson City and Sierra Meats burger meat.

Thin Veil Investigators present a Spring Time Spirit Tour
at the historic Genoa Dake House/Antiques Plus

Saturday April 23, 2016 7:00 p.m. to ?
2242 Main Street Genoa, Nevada
$10 entrance fee.

Hear about the building's history. Hear about the 'resident' ghosts.

If weather and time permitting, a tour of the undertaker's party haunted corner stones is scheduled.

Join in on a Spirit Gathering conducted by Thin Veil Investigators, as guest's participation and assistance are requested.

A popular evening's event held in spring and for Halloween. Come on and join the fun!

All winter I have said, wait to prune your roses. April 15 is time to prune roses. While there are general rose pruning principles, the different types of roses: hybrid teas, floribundas, shrub, climbers, ramblers and miniatures, all have special requirements.

Everyone at the Carson Plaza works hard to provide a superior experience for residents and their family members, but often the hard work of caregiving in a senior living home goes unnoticed. Not so this year. SeniorAdvisor.com just released their Best of 2016 Awards and Carson Plaza in Carson City was one of the few to make the list.

When I got back from vacation, I was thrilled to see my daffodils growing. I looked more closely and realized they already had flower buds even though they were only a few inches tall. My bulbs have been in the ground a number of years and have always been tall before. What’s going on?

I visited Arizona recently and the desert was blooming. The predominant color of flowers, no matter the type of plant was yellow. I wondered why nature has given us so many early blooming yellow flowers, particularly in the daisy or sunflower family.

Affairs of the Vine has partnered with the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa to bring the 10th Annual Cabernet Shootout and Cabernet Cabaret Gala to the high country of the Sierra and the spectacular Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno on Sunday, March 13.

With all the nice weather we have been having, gardeners’ fingers itch to plant and prune. Any gardener who has been here for a number of years, knows this is a false spring.

Although people new to the area may be wooed into thinking planting time is here, I caution “Let the gardener beware.” We will see the return of cold weather and freezing temperatures. For example, I lost all my apple and lilac blossoms last year with one short overnight freeze in April.

Spring is almost here and it's time to build a strong foundation. Are you ready to feel fantastic for summer? Start building your summer body now. Let KaiaFIT help you feel your best, boost your confidence and take your fitness to the next level. Earth, Wind, and Kaia CORE is a 5 week long session designed to build strength and endurance. It's getting warmer - it's time to get outside, improve our fitness level, and continue forming healthy eating habits.

My friend Monique asked me to write about shrubs that attract birds. A bird-friendly habitat requires food, water and shelter. Food consists of sap, nectar, pollen, seeds, nuts, berries or fruits. Shrubs should be dense enough to support nests, but also allow birds to move about to escape predators.

Bee populations have been declining with the total number of managed honey bee colonies down from 5 million in the 1940s to 2.5 million in November 2015, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

As the planning season for gardening begins, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and their Certified Master Gardeners offer a chance to help you get the most out of your garden.

Cooperative Extension has teamed up with Washoe County Regional Parks and Open Space to offer “Gardening in Nevada: The Bartley Ranch Series.” Classes are free and run 6 – 8 p.m. every Tuesday through March 29, at Bartley Ranch Regional Park, 6000 Bartley Ranch Road in Reno.

Carol asked me recently “Are there any flowers that deer won’t eat?” This is a question I am asked repeatedly. Are there any deer resistant plants? Well, it depends. A sufficiently hungry deer will find almost any plant palatable.

VIRGINIA CITY — Local celebrity and cowboy music performer John Tyson will bring his “American Cowboy” show back to the Gold Hill Hotel on Thursday, Feb. 18, as part of the Gold Hill Hotel’s Thursday Night Presentation Series.

Tyson, a Vietnam veteran, has worked as a law enforcement officer, range manager, working cowboy, train engineer, entertainer and journalist. He is best known regionally as a former reporter for KOLO-TV Channel 8.

But he is also well known for his cowboy songs and poetry, and stories about cowboys of the Old West.

As the planning season for gardening begins, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and their Certified Master Gardeners offer a chance to help you get the most out of your garden.

Cooperative Extension has teamed up with Washoe County Regional Parks and Open Space to offer “Gardening in Nevada: The Bartley Ranch Series.” Classes are free and run 6 – 8 p.m. every Tuesday through March 29, at Bartley Ranch Regional Park, 6000 Bartley Ranch Road in Reno.

Last week I visited with the Desert Gardeners Club in Carson City. I asked the gardeners to give me some ideas for articles. Donna wanted to know how to grow hydrangeas in our area. Hydrangeas are beautiful plants with large deep green leaves, which sometimes provide red fall color. They have spectacular flowers that can be long lasting, even holding their beauty when dried. Some flowers are large balls. Others look like halos of lovely blooms. Some are the size of dinner plates.

Reno chef Clint Jolly made headlines January 29 for taking home the top prize in a Food Network competition. A week later and he's hoping for another top prize; only this time, he's not the one competing. Instead it is his protégés.

Haley, an AmeriCorps intern at The Greenhouse Project at Carson High School in Carson City, introduced me to Bokashi composting recently. It is an anaerobic (absence of free oxygen) form of composting, using fermentation to decompose kitchen waste.

While many pets only stay at Nevada Humane Society for a short time, some are overlooked and will reside here longer than others. They may be shy or overly energetic, older, a bit sassy, or have a special need, such as a diet restriction or perhaps missing an eye. These pets may be considered Less-Adoptable to some, but to us, and fellow animal lovers, they are considered still lovable! Wouldn’t you agree?

Can we compost in winter? Winter composting may simply involve tossing ingredients on the pile and waiting for temperatures to warm up in spring to complete the decomposition process.

On the other hand, if you maintain a warm temperature in the interior of the pile, you can keep the decomposing microbes happy and somewhat active. With a warm center, the cold exterior temperature of the pile won’t harm them.

Northern Nevada’s high elevation means Nevada has a short growing season, which makes gardening more of a challenge. So as the planning season begins, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and their Certified Master Gardeners offer a chance to help you get the most out of your garden.

Peppermill Resort Spa Casino hosts a crafted five-course dinner expertly paired with Patrón Barrel Select Añejo Tequila made specially for the Peppermill. Exclusive cocktails are paired with every course. The dinner was inspired by the Peppermill’s Food and Beverage Director Daniel Duran’s trip to Guadalajara, Mexico. Duran has ensured the local’s warmth and culture is infused in every dish and drink. Make reservations by calling 775.689.7160.

For more than seven years Virginia City has been having fun with “Cemetery Gin” a Nevada-made spirit available at local saloons, bars and stores throughout Northern Nevada which celebrates a tall tale from the Comstock’s rich mining days of the 1850s.

Spearheaded by the Virginia City Tourism Commission, the gin is a product of Frey Ranch Estate Distillery, located in Fallon, Nev., where all the ingredients were grown, distilled and bottled.

The 30th Annual Interfaith Community Memorial Service was held for civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Northern Nevada on Sunday with a message of “The Power of Unity.”

I’m a big fan of Rodale’s “Organic Life.” In it, I found author Sarah West’s article on “The 5 Biggest Seed-Starting Mistakes You’re Making.” Many gardeners start their own seeds each year. Sometimes things don’t go as well as we might like.