It’s Spring — Turning our Thoughts toward Homegrown Tomatoes

missing the boat if you don’t have your own little tomato patch.

With spring in the air, it’s time to turn our thoughts from politics and education to the basic joy of growing your own tomatoes. Yes, North County is perfectly suited for your own luscious backyard vine-ripened tomatoes. If you live in North County and have a spot of full sun in your yard, you’re really

Tomatoes love our hot summer days. Here’s how you can get started with the least amount of cost and effort. Get yourself a stock tank at Farm Supply or online, drill several holes in the bottom, and fill with a mix of half soil and half mulch/ potting mix. Another option if you want wood but don’t want to dig postholes, consider using ‘Oldcastle’ cornerstones from Home Depot and 2 x 6 boards. Gopher wire on the bottom is a must.

The big question, is how many tomatoes do you really need? I find that three tomato plants fill up my 12 ft. bed and are enough for a family of four. My top picks for sandwich and salad are Celebrity, Better Boy, Champion and Early Girl. If you like cherry tomatoes, the area favorite is Sun Gold, according to local Bay Laurel Nursery. Purchasing at Bay Laurel and Miners guarantees you get high quality plants carefully selected for our climate area.

Optimum planting date is April 15, after frost danger is passed. Place your sturdy tomato cages on the little seedlings right at planting time. They grow so fast, and it’s a real struggle to try to fit them on later. Have some fun by planting parsley, basil, and lemon thyme near the edge of the bed between your tomatoes. Those herbs appreciate the bit of shade that the tomatoes provide during the hot summer months. Throw in a few bright yellow and orange marigolds around the edges for insect control. What about watering? Hose watering deeply every few days is a healthy option, as it gets you in contact with the outdoors and your growing garden. Drip irrigation installed up through bottom of trough or raised bed is added cost, but more convenient if you already have a drip system.

If you have room and want to delight yourself, get two more stock tanks for a wildflower bed and a Zinnia bed. For the wildflowers, choose six or more packets of hummingbird, butterfly and wildflower seeds and plant liberally in entire bed. For bird protection, cover the seeds with chicken wire until plants peek out of the soil. These enchanting beds will surprise you as they get tall, whimsical and colorful.

To create a display of brilliant late summer color, consider a full bed of tall Zinnias. Any blooming plant is highlighted and showcased by a large homogenous planting. Zinnias love North County and will bloom for several months, plus they make great picked flowers for the home. Gardening is always a learning process. As you get to know your backyard habitat better, you’ll discover what works in your garden and what doesn’t. By starting out small, you will discover the joy of vibrant blooms and the rewards of those vine-ripened tomatoes, especially when you slice and salt them, add the fresh basil and soft mozzarella cheese to create your homegrown Caprese Salad. Yum!

Connie Pillsbury may not reflect the view, opinion and/or ethics of the Atascadero News and Paso Robles. To send a response to the column email us at editor@13starsmedia.com

Celia Moses

honor, said, “I was amongst all these amazing women, and it’s a life changing thing ... I’m just a principal [but] I’m trying to embrace it.”

Born in El Salvador, Moses immigrated to the U.S. with her four siblings at the age of 14. Learning English as a second language, Moses knows first-hand what her students are experiencing going through the dual-immersion program.

“I understand how they feel and the benefits of improving and becoming strong in your primary language because if you have a strong primary language your second language will come that much easier,” said Moses of the process her students take.

In 1998, Moses and her new husband moved to Paso Robles to start a family. She learned of Georgia Brown when her children began attending the school. In 2004, she started working as a substitute teacher and from there the ball started rolling.

PRJUSD

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CONTINUED FROM A1 should be offered to all students at the same price. That would be equity for all.”

Assistant Superintendent, Business Services Brad Pawlowski explained the district receives $308,447 from the state for transportation, yet the district’s yearly cost is $1,616,919.

“We do not receive enough funding from the state to fully fund our transportation costs,” added Pawlowski.

Baker pushed to approve the transportation plan with the condition that the fees be removed. Her motion was approved by McCoy. While the remaining trustees agreed with removing

Beer Fest

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Moses has worked throughout the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District, specializing in bilingual programs. Though she was comfortable with the around 150 students she worked with, a colleague of hers inspired her to apply for an assistant principal position in the district by saying she could make a difference in 700 students every day. Moses ended up taking a position as assistant principal at Georgia Brown and a year later became principal.

“I had a calling for the school,” said Moses who became principal four years ago. “There is something unique about this environment. It’s a magical place where we don’t see a lot of skin color differences and even accents.”

Georgia Brown is home to the district’s high demand dual immersion program.

The campus has become a magnet school, with two-thirds of its students not living in nearby neighborhoods.

“It’s the most populated elementary school because our community values bilingualism and diversity,” adds Moses.

Currently, the run-down state of the the transportation fees, there were concerns on how much that would cost the district.

With some quick research by staff, it was determined the current paid fees come to a little over $22,000, which Pawlowski determined could be accommodated. Moving forward, the already-paid fees will be refunded and the next school year will have no paid transportation fees.

Pawlowski did bring up the concerns that the district still does not have enough drivers to serve the entire district, so until then, PRJUSD will continue to have limited transportation.

The next PRJUSD meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18, at 5:30 p.m.

“We sold nearly 1,000 VIP tickets, which is bizarre. That’s not normal,” Nuno continued.

Last year the CCCBF sold 800 VIP tickets, but some of those were carried over from the 2020 fest, which was held virtually. With everyone working the event, there were between 2,300 and 2,500 people at the Beer Fest in total.

“It felt that way. It felt like there were a lot more bodies in there walking around. It’s such a big field, it doesn’t seem like, ‘oh my god, this is too many people,’ but you just noticeably felt it buzzing a little bit more around the event. Again this is the largest dollar amount of sales we’ve ever done, which is incredible coming off of

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CONTINUED FROM A1 project sponsors for funding under the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program Round 2 Grant Program to support the development and implementation of a Multibenefit Irrigated Land Repurposing (MILR) Program for the Paso Robles Groundwater Subbasin.

One grant the county is looking to apply for is a Solicitation Notice and Application (Grant Solicitation) for the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program (Program) administered by the Department Division of Land Resource Protection’s Conservation Unit. The grant offers $40 million available in its second round of applications for groundwater sustainability projects that campus has ignited debate about where to move the dual immersion program — either move to the available 17th Street campus or do an intensive renovation to its current 36th Street campus.

“The program has been very successful because of the people, and not the place. I think that we have overgrown this campus,” says Moses of the possible change. “We would be able to serve a larger community if we were able to move to the 17th [Street] campus. Our families are very dedicated to the program, the ones that live here in this neighborhood and they said they would follow Georgia Brown wherever the school goes.”

Moses credits her staff — who feel more like family — for her success and the success of Georgia Brown. As someone once told her, she came to the school for the language but stayed for the people.

Of being recognized as Woman of the Year, Moses says, “I am definitely honored. It is not my success because it’s the success of my entire community for me to receive this award and type of distinction.” reduce groundwater use, repurpose irrigated agricultural land, and provide wildlife habitat.

Projects eligible are those that benefit at least one community health, economic well-being, habitat, flood, renewable energy, or climate, with benefits lasting at least 10 years.

Some members of the public spoke against consent items 20 and 24, which approved the federal grant American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Public Health Spend Plan for the Public Health Department to continue the work of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic along with increasing the budget for the General Fund COVID-19 Designation to Fund Center.

Supervisors approved the $1,651,897 spending plan for the Public Health Department to continue addressing the COVID19 pandemic.

The spend plan includes over 10 temporary and limited-term positions along with various services and supplies. The entire spending plan can be found here agenda.slocounty. ca.gov/iip/sanluisobispo/ file/getfile/150403

The General Fund COVID-19 was adjusted to redirect $2,521,000 to fund community parks, regional parks, and golf courses damaged by recent storms. Staff laid out the storm damage here that will be repaired with the reallocated funds:

1. Lake Lopez Recreational Area suffered significant damages to the maintenance area, playground, campgrounds, roads, Sewer Treatment Center and Marina, which require extensive repairs to reopen the Marina and campground, reestablish access to the Camp French Event Center, and group camping.

2. Santa Margarita Lake experienced high lake levels beyond capacity, causing electrical damage to a transformer controller, the water well, the Marina building, and throughout the campground; damage to the roads, docks, and trails; and contaminated the fuel tank, which require extensive repairs to open the Marina and campground.

3. El Chorro Regional Park and Coastal Dunes RV Park experienced damage to trails and significant debris cleanup.

4. Several Coastal Accessways in Cambria and Cayucos were damaged by high surf along the coastline. Damage to the handrails, platform boards, and landings caused several accessways to close until repairs can be made. from partnering hotels and rides to and from Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo.

5. Community Parks throughout the county suffered flooding, high surf, high creek levels, mudslides, and collapsed embankments. There is a need to replace playground safety surface areas, repair or replace fences, rebuild damaged trails, debris cleanup, and clearing of downed trees.

6. Dairy Creek Golf Course experienced collapsed lake embankments, damage to the aeration system and flooding to bunkers and the Top Tracer building. The next San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 4, at 9 a.m.

“We always love coming to Atascadero and doing this event. We appreciate the support from the local community and the city itself,” Nuno said. “The city is a big part of us being able to do this in the capacity that we do. Terrie Banish is awesome and really helpful, and her whole team is. They’re all wonderful. We appreciate the support, and we love coming back.”

2020,” Nuno said. This year they also had more vendors participating than in years past. And the break in the rain provided the perfect weather.

“It was just a really good day. It was smooth from load-in through the event. It seemed like everyone had a really good time, and I know a layout designer neil schumaker neil@pasoroblespress.com layout designer evan rodda evan@pasoroblespress.com layout designer anthony atkins anthony@pasoroblespress.com ad design jen rodman graphics@pasoroblespress.com correspondent christianna marks christianna@pasoroblespress.com lot of people afterward spent some time downtown walking around or eating or visiting another place to have a drink or two,” stated Nuno.

There were 59 alcohol vendors at CCCBF. Next year’s goal is to bring in over 60 independently owned and Brewer’s Guild-accepted breweries.

In addition to local vendors and craft breweries, wineries, ciders, and kombuchas, this year’s entertainment was also really special. The lineup included two bands, Dad Religion and Moondawgs, as well as vinyl DJ sets put together by Atascadero’s very own Traffic Records.

“This year, both bands, The

Moondawgs and Dad Religion, both had members from Breweries that are part of the Guild and were up there actually pouring beer,” Nuno added. “So that was just a really cool tie-in for the entertainment that we probably can’t duplicate ever again.”

Hop On Tours helped the Beer Fest out with shuttles

The Central Coast Craft Beer Fest will return for its sixth year on Saturday, March 23, 2024.

“We’ll be back again, and just thank you for everybody for coming out and having a great time, and we’re looking forward to seeing everybody again next year,” concluded Nuno.