Green thumb resources

We've been doing a little planting this spring, and I'm very excited about one plant in particular that I found tucked deep into the folds of a nursery in Half Moon Bay. It's called Gunnera, and it looks like dinosaur food: huge green leaves on tall stalks. On a recent trip to the de Young, Jacob and I discovered that their landscape designer had a crush on this plant, too. It is a main theme around the modern building.

My plant research has taken me in and out of many local nurseries. You don't even have to own a plot of land to enjoy browsing the digs of local plant purveyors. You get to see all kinds of varieties of plants, with the names attached right there. Here's a quick review of some of my favorite local nurseries.

We'll start with Bongard's, right on Highway 92 in Half Moon Bay. This is where I found the Gunnera, and it just might be my favorite nursery. They have a lot of trees in particular. You can easily spend an hour wandering around through there, and find the most interesting specimens tucked way back, hidden in maze-like rows, shrouded by other plants. That's how I found the Gunnera, in fact. First, I found some mature plants that blew my mind with their over-sized, prehistoric looking foliage, then down the row a bit, I found the young plants and knew that they were destined to come home with me. The people at Bongard's are really nice, too, and will chat with you about what the plants need.

Then there's the more popular Half Moon Bay Nursery down the the road a little ways. I like this nursery a lot, too, and spend a long time browsing the Japanese maple and bamboo selections. But as Jacob pointed out to me one day, you don't ever feel like you're gonna chat with the owner there. Most of the employees are busy running around, catering to the crowds of people who show up on any given day. I don't mean to put the place down. I still enjoy going there, and the fact is that I find some plants there that Bongard's doesn't have (like wild ginger, on a recent trip). This is one of the things about plant hunting that's so exciting. There are certain predictable plants (can you say petunias?), but then there are the surprise plants that elicit a little intake of breath at their beauty. And these plants are likely to be anywhere.

A delightful, very out-of-the-way native plant nursery is located off Skyline Blvd south of the the Four Corners (the intersection of 84 with Skyline, where Alice's Restaurant is located). It's called Yerba Buena, and the long dusty road that takes you there is located just across the street from the Fogarty vineyard. Yerba Buena's charm is partly that it deals in native plants. But it also has a 50-year-old test garden that exhibits mature specimens of many plants, so you can see what these trees and bushes will look like years down the road. Wandering around the test garden is great, because you can recognize many plants you see hiking around Skyline and actually look at a sign that tells you what they are. But this is no discount plant store. I've found the prices to be significantly higher than other nurseries.

I know that Sloat (located on Sloat in SF) has opened a Millbrae outpost, but I haven't had the chance to check it out yet. Maybe later this summer I'll get around to blogging about it. Which reminds me, Bay Area Traveler will be taking a break for the end of May and most of June. I'm going to be a European Traveler for a while. Happy plant hunting while I'm away.

Two more condors found dead

What's going on with the condors at Pinnacles? Two more were found dead this week. I suspect that these deaths are connected in some way, but there's little information in the press releases. One of the birds apparently died after hitting a power line , but lead poisoning can also slow a bird's reflexes and cause a bird to hit a power line. I suspect that lead is the culprit here, but no one is saying anything for sure yet. Here's the press release that Pinnacles issued for the second and third deaths:

Ventana Wildlife Society  Pinnacles National Monument

News Release


May 18, 2007
For Immediate Release
Carl Brenner, PNM (831) 389-4485 x 265
Kelly Sorenson, VWS (831) 455-9514



Two Additional California Condors Found Dead in Last Three Days


A four year old male California condor, #301 was found dead in Big


Sur on May 15, 2007. Ventana Wildlife Society biologist, Sayre Flannagan,


found 301 below a span of power lines and with a laceration on his leg.


“The way 301 was found suggests he had collided with the power line”, said


Sayre Flannagan. Pacific Gas and Electric had installed top-of-the-line


marking devices on this same power line last year after two condors had


previously collided with it and died. “If this is the cause of death, a


total of three condors have died after colliding with this particular line


and something more effective needs to be done”, said Kelly Sorenson,


Executive Director of Ventana Wildlife Society.


A second juvenile California condor from the Pinnacles National


Monument flock has also been found dead and was recovered in Big Sur,


California. On the evening of May 17, Ventana Wildlife Society biologists


received a ‘mortality signal’ from Pinnacles California condor #307 in the


Big Sur area. The signal comes from the bird’s radio transmitter which


activates a signal automatically after eight hours of no movement. The


next morning, Ventana biologists found Condor 307 dead of no obvious


cause. She is being transferred to the San Diego Zoo for a necropsy to


investigate the cause of death.


The last contact with 307 at Pinnacles was Saturday, May 5, 2007.


She arrived in Big Sur on Tuesday May 8 and their last visual sighting was


Monday, May 14.


“Condor 307 was a member of our oldest cohort, and has been tracked


routinely flying between Pinnacles and Big Sur,” National Park Service


(NPS) Superintendent Eric Brunnemann said. “Although the death of any


condor is a heartfelt sadness, the reintroduction of California condors is


a proven success as demonstrated by the birth of a wild-hatched condor


chick just last April in Big Sur,” Brunnemann continued.


From a population low of 22 birds in the mid 1980s, California


condors are making a slow, but steady recovery through intensive captive


breeding efforts and public education programs. As of April 30, 2007, 138


California condors are in the wild from a total population of 286. The


initial goal for California is to have 150 free flying condors in the


state. “Not including the wild nestlings, Central California had 40


free-flying California condors as of May 1, 2007, but we just lost three


birds”, said Kelly Sorenson. Pinnacles currently has 13 free-flying


California condors that are routinely visible at the monument, which hosts


the only public condor release in California.

Hetch Hetchy paintings

Some months ago, I wrote about the hike you can do in the Crystal Springs Watershed. The gorgeous blue water in Crystal Springs comes from the Hetch Hetchy and supplies San Francisco as well as other Bay Area communities with water. The story behind the damming of the Hetch Hetchy is fascinating as a case study of environmental conflicts, but following the narrative of Yosemite's sister valley simultaneously tells you the story of John Muir, a man who still haunts the Bay Area with an almost palpable presence. Just take a walk in Muir Woods.

Well, in reading about the fight over the Hetch Hetchy, I found out that William Keith, a painter of the time (late 1800s, early 1900s), had captured the valley on canvas before it was flooded. I went to the de Young museum hoping to see it, but was disappointed. I thought that surely the de Young had one of the canvases, but just wasn't displaying it. Sure enough, I discovered these photos on their web-based gallery. Now you can see what you're missing.

Upscale Italian Bay Area deli chain - AG Ferrari

On the run, I grabbed a sandwich at A.G. Ferrari in Belmont for lunch today. Jacob and I have popped in there once or twice before, and have always been pleased with our purchases. Among other things, I've found really nice dark chocolate, excellent dried pasta, dried porcinis, canned tomatoes, and prepared deli foods. Curious, I finally got online to check out the company.

It's a Bay Area chain with 13 stores in Oakland, San Francisco, Marin, Belmont, and Palo Alto, among other places. The owner, Paul Ferrari, travels to Italy several times a year to find artisanal oils, vinegars, pastas, etc., for the store. This isn't a cheap Italian deli. But from the products that I've tried, it's the good kind of upscale (as opposed to the simply overpriced upscale). The Belmont store has some tables and chairs so you can grab a bite and enjoy it there, or get it to go. The Belmont store is located just south of Ralston on El Camino Real.

Condor found dead at Pinnacles

It's a sad day. One of the newly released condors at Pinnacles has been found dead, lying on its back in a field. The juvenile bird had been feeding and roosting normally since it took its first flight into freedom less than a month ago. They don't have any clues as to why the bird died, but presumably they'll find something out in the autopsy.

So hats off and a moment of silence. These birds may not have any ecological value, but they are symbolic for our wilderness. When one of them dies, it's a step in the wrong direction.

Burmese food in San Bruno

It appears I have a food theme running these days, but I have to admit that I get so excited over food now that I'm learning the little mom and pop restaurants outside of San Francisco. We've been digging a Burmese restaurant in San Bruno lately. It's not as hip or happening as Burma Superstar on Clement Street in San Francisco, but the food is delicious, there's never a wait, and prices are very reasonable. The restaurant is called Inya Lake, and it's located on San Mateo Ave. The ginger salad is particularly yummy.