San Francisco before the earthquake
This seven-minute film taken from the front of a San Francisco streetcar going the length of Market Street toward the Ferry Building is said to have been shot four days before the earthquake and fire...
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New garden photos
Took advantage of the nice weekend weather and worked in the garden. This year our problem is that everything’s filling all the spaces and getting crowded. We’re going to have to be fairly ruthless....
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Let’s log some trees in San Francisco!
It would be a good thing. Urban Forest Map is trying to make a log of all of the trees in San Francisco. The group is made up of government agencies, nonprofits, and private businesses. By mapping the...
View ArticleMuir Woods
I visited Muir Woods yesterday (in the company of a couple of beautiful women) via the main entrance and found it quite crowded — the only parking was a good ways down the road from the auxiliary lot....
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Strange weather
Carol is thinking it might be too early this year to start our tomatoes. It’s been cold and rainy for many days, and there is no break in sight. Last night there was spectacular thunder and lightning,...
View ArticleStripped-down site
I’ve deactivated all plugins on this site, which might make some aspects seem a little odd. I was hit by the Pharma hack, which works through plugins (and infects parts of your databases, but...
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Pool garden, year four
Here’s a glimpse of the swimming pool that became a garden, now in its fourth year -hard to believe it’s been that many already.
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A volunteer
This handsome fellow planted himself in one of our walkways. But what is it? My guess is it’s some kind of verbascum.
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Good-bye, Bay Bridge
It feels like it’s taken forever, but the new Bay Bridge is finally entering its final months of construction, if reports can believed. To honor the old bridge, the Oakland Museum of California, in...
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A late spring
Spring has come late for us in the Bay Area this year. Ordinarily our spring is around Groundhog’s Day. Now, after an extremely dry January and February, with a lot of frosts (which is also unusual),...
View ArticleVideo: San Francisco in the late 1930s
This somewhat cheesy video from the late 1930s catalogues the tourist attractions of the city. It’s a pretty thorough survey, and there are a lot of great clips included. The Bay Bridge had only...
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The French Laundry Garden
The French Laundry Garden, Yountville. French Laundry reservations are notoriously hard to get, and if you do get in you will pay a bundle for your good meal. But if you enjoy gardens you can still...
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Jalapeño peppers in the Bay Area garden and kitchen
Jalapeño peppers at Tom’s Garden. Jalapeño peppers are an easy and rewarding plant for the garden. I grow mine in containers, and they do very well. In fact, the majority of my vegetable gardening is...
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Anatomy of a flower: the poppy
Reproductive system of poppy flower. This close-up of a poppy in Tom’s Garden clearly shows some of the components of the reproductive system of a flower, as well as some of the ways poppies are...
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San Francisco’s historic Hallidie Building
The Hallidie Building seen from Crocker Galleria Garden Terrace. Among the historic buildings of San Francisco is the Hallidie Building, located at 130 Sutter Street, between Montgomery and Keary...
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Mystery hummingbird
Hummingird in iochroma. The iochroma is flowering, and that means the hummingbirds are back. I like to photograph them, in part because this particular iochroma is right outside my study window, and it...
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Old Tom’s Maximon Mole Bitters
Old Tom’s Maximon Mole Bitters. These turned out great. Most of the mole bitters recipes I could find (there aren’t a lot) were, I felt, too simple. That goes against the spirit of what mole is, which...
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Bioregions of the San Francisco Bay Area
Clickable screenshot, Biomes of the San Francisco Bay Area The screenshot above links to my page on Bay Area bioregions. The content was produced quite a while ago, but I’m gradually updating my pages...
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Persimmon harvest
Harvested persimmons. Generous persimmon harvest again this year. All from one tree. I could get a couple more bins like these, but I think I have enough! Got to leave some for the squirrels and birds,...
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