October finally brings relief from summer heat, allowing both gardeners and gardens to enjoy a temperate climate for planting an array of cool season vegetables, trees and shrubs.

Plant Bedding Plants: Plant now for colorful blooms by Thanksgiving. Use nursery six-packs instead of costlier annuals in larger containers. In fall, smaller plants grow bigger and will flower longer than their larger counterparts.

Landscape Trees and Shrubs: Plant drought-resistant trees and shrubs so they have the long, cooler winter months to establish themselves before summer heat. Avoid frost-sensitive plants and those best suited to summer planting. Drought-resistant trees and shrubs include Eucalyptus, California pepper, California sycamore (drought tolerant once established), coast live oak, Italian buckthorn and oleander.

Let Roses Rest: Stop fertilizing roses, water sparingly and don’t cut dead flowers. This will let plants make rose hips (fruits) to allow a smooth transition to winter dormancy.

Plant cool season vegetables: Pull out summer vegetables that have stopped producing. Buy six packs of seasonal vegetables including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, peas, spinach, Brussels sprouts, lettuce and rutabaga. Plant them in well cultivated and amended soil.

Spruce up perennials: Thin out perennials including Shasta daisies, callas and yarrow. Prune overgrown and dead stems, preferably almost to the ground. When the plants grow back, they will fuller with a less straggly appearance.

Herb season: Hardy herbs that can be planted in fall include garlic, oregano, parsley, rosemary, chives, cilantro, dill, fennel and thyme. Basil goes to flower in fall so harvest and dry the … Continue Reading ...

If you want to learn to defend yourself, you join a karate school, right? After all, anyone who has a high ranking black belt and a slew of shiny trophies proudly displayed in their window should be able to teach you how to survive one of the worst situations that could ever happen to a human being… Right?

I think you and I are both old enough and experienced enough in the world right now to know that appearances are often very deceiving. What seems to be one thing is often something very different. And, learning self-defense from a karate-expert, at least a modern-day one, is no exception.

How can I say this? What do I have against karate students, teachers, and black belts?

I’ll start by saying that I have absolutely nothing against dedicated students and teachers of the martial arts – regardless of rank or style. In fact, I commend and respect them for their dedication, motivation, and discipline toward attaining both skill and rank in their chosen form.

Why do I question their ability to defend themselves, even in light of their having attained black belt or been awarded trophies in one or more tournaments or competitions? One word…

Statistics.

Crime reports and statistics are rife with accounts of people trained in the martial arts, many holding black belt rank, falling prey to the brutal attacks of common street thugs – fighters with no formal training in the martial or any other combat arts.

How can this … Continue Reading ...