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Today's weather in Sisters

Sisters farm competes for grant

Local farmers Benji Nagel and Carys Wilkins of Mahonia Gardens have entered a national farm grant competition. The couple hopes to earn funding to build a farm stand at their downtown Sisters property, and in turn offer direct sales of their Sisters-grown produce. This would be the first business of its kind in Sisters.

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Green Tour highlights positive solutions to save energy

In Central Oregon, fall means setting out for a day of learning about how to save energy before the truly cold temps set in.

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Bee Lives Matter

Historians and archeologists tell us that human beings began collecting wild honey about 10,000 years ago. Evidence shows up in ancient North African pottery, Egyptian art, and honey in jars has been recovered from the tombs of the Pharaohs. By 600 BCE the Picts of ancient Scotland - naturally it was the Scots - were brewing honey-ale, or mead, a legacy which comes down to us even in poetry such as the epic of Beowulf, which means bee-wolf, or bear.

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Changes to recycling program

Changes in environmental quality regulations in China are having a direct impact on recycling here in Sisters.

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Students help raise a house in Sisters

There seems to be something about Sisters that draws students from Minnesota for Collegiate Challenge Week. This year's visiting group hailed from Sage Academy in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. They are the seventh group from Minnesota to come to Sisters and help the local Habitat, Marie Clasen, Habitat's Family Services Manager said. They worked on Becky Conner's future home and helped with concrete footings for Bear and Mary Gray's home.

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The Greenhouse Mouse

I have been at war with rodents for most of my life. I am presently doing battle with a particularly clever mouse in the greenhouse, who has, in full disclosure, managed to outwit my considerable efforts to end his life early and with extreme prejudice.

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Look out for barbed wire!

There is a forgotten agricultural product all over the West that's causing thousands of wild birds and mammals to suffer: barbed wire.

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Sisters Country birds

The animated and enthusiastic behaviors of the Western kingbird (tyrannas verticalis), are easily seen in open areas throughout the west.

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A garden grows in Sisters

With a decade of operation under its belt, the Sisters Community Garden is gearing up for its 11th growing season and reservations are being taken for garden plots.

All plots are four feet wide, with large plots measuring 20 feet long and small plots 10 feet long.

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Learn to care for your pine trees

Sisters Country residents and visitors alike have high regard for the magnificent ponderosa pine trees that can be found around town and in the surrounding forests.

Ponderosas were the mainstay of the early Brooks-Scanlon and Shevlin-Hixon lumber mills. Sisters used to be home to a Brooks-Scanlon company housing area for the families of lumberjacks who logged the surrounding ponderosa forests.

Residents may grumble about the task of cleaning up pine needles and cones in their yards, but would probably never consider cutting down any of these majestic sentinels.

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In the chicken house

If you are entertaining the notion of raising a few backyard chickens - which many people are these days - there are a few things you need to know ahead of time.

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Garden celebration marks milestone

The members of Sisters Community Garden hosted a garden party last week to recognize all the people and businesses that have contributed to the success of this community project.

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Keep your home and yard safe for your canine

How many times have you come home from work or shopping to find that your dog devoured the garbage or crunched a leaf off your favorite plant? You thought the door that led to the kitchen garbage was closed. And your favorite plant was out of the way.

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The wonderful world of bees

The world of the honeybee is the epitome of organization. It's all held together by one magnificent female - the queen bee - who in turn is supported by her subjects, also all females. There is almost always the quiet and respectful exclamation when someone spots the queen bee in her domain - whether it be novice or old-time beekeeper - "Oh, there she is..."

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Fall has fell: Time to winterize

It's not time to put your feet up by the wood stove just yet. There's a lot to get done before Old Man Winter spreads his icy fingers across Sisters Country.

Yes, it's time to winterize. What does that mean in Sisters Country?

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Get prepared now for emergencies

While summer is the season of wildfire, which brings the specter of evacuations, winter is actually the season most likely to test our preparedness. Storms knock out power, a deep freeze strands us in our homes, a rain-on-snow event brings flooding that cuts roads and highways...

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Sisters couple takes on design challenge

If you can design and build a sustainable home that can stand up to the harsh exposure of the remote Aleutian Islands, you can do it anywhere.

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Greenhouse gardening is a must

Last year my family helped me build a greenhouse. It simply was the only solution to having our own fresh tomatoes, peppers, basil, etc. because trying to grow these cold-sensitive veggies in the great out-of-doors was out of the question.

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Garden Club boosts renovation

A good greenhouse is absolutely essential to gardening success in Sisters Country (see related story, page 16). It's also essential to the horticulture education programs in Sisters schools.

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Working with nature in your landscape

A big, green lawn looks mighty nice, but it isn't easy to keep one going in Central Oregon.

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