Dear Gabby,

Dear fellow bug investigator,

When I was a little girl, I constantly bugged my mom to plant things. I remember one time seeing the seed display at the store and begging for a packet of seeds. She let my sister and I each pick a pack and I chose Giant Zinnias. I looked at the pictures of the huge colorful flowers adoringl…

It always surprises me when someone has a full-time job, plus kids, yet they still find time to cook good food. You find these people in unexpected places!

Old Man Winter made his first appearance of 2022 in a big way. On Jan. 6, Waterville residents awoke to snow hiding their vehicles, stairs, and anything left outside. With a forecast of at least a foot of snow, the overnight storm overdelivered, shutting down our town as well the surrounding towns.

In 2020, the spring of the Covid lockdown was a thankful time for gardeners. I remember being very glad that I had my garden and was able to devote much time and effort into it.

I can still remember watching my mother make fry bread empanadas. I was just tall enough to stand beside her and see all of her steps on the path to making a delicious family treat. It all started with that frozen bread you can buy at the store. The ‘60s were the age of convenience, so if yo…

Dear Gabby,

One of the flowers grown in the Waterville Community Garden this past summer was a beautiful purple morning glory. At least I think it's purple. I've been told I may be color blind, especially when I say something is purple and other people say it's not purple, but blue. Also, I confuse the …

Dear Gabby,

This past week, the Waterville Mainstreet Association board met to vote for the businesses they thought had the best Christmas decorations in town. The board recognized winners in three categories.

I grew up in Southern California, where taco shells are crispy and fried in lard. The toasted corn tortillas and signature taste of lard add much to the flavor as well as the texture. Make plenty because one is just not enough.

Winter snow is beautiful as it covers the earth. Taking a walk in it can be invigorating and exciting, especially if you capture snowflakes and actually look at them. If you're lucky, you may see a perfect six-sided specimen called a snow crystal. We actually see a lot of them here in Waterville.

I asked my mom about the foods from her childhood. She grew up on a farm in southern Colorado with three brothers and, including herself, six sisters. Since they were farmers, they didn't have fancy foods. They ate a lot of meat and corn, and so much butter that she got sick of it and couldn…

I was invited to the home of John O. Ruud, a local Watervillian and avid gardener, to see his giant braid of Inchelium Red garlic. He is a lover of garlic and has planted rows of it already to overwinter. Inchelium is the oldest strain of garlic in North America and was here even before sett…

The Waterville-Mansfield Shockers volleyball team may have entered their district championship tournament as the number one seed, but health circumstances gave them challenges beyond their control. Still, this team refused to let these setbacks become a crutch, instead battling through the W…

I was a little disappointed with the yield of my pumpkin crop this year. One plant at home did nothing, and the other gave us only three pumpkins. The Community Garden pumpkin plants were a little better, but I had to remove them due to powdery mildew and ripen the pumpkins at home on a tabl…

My Blacktail Mountain watermelon started off in my pea pots, where the peas did very well this year. The companion plants I wanted to grow along with my peas were okra and watermelon or P.O.W. — peas, okra, watermelon — as I called them. You wait until the peas are almost done for the season…

I grew 1500-year-old cave beans in both my home garden and at the community garden as a part of the three sisters’ companion planting method. The beans really needed a 10-foot teepee support system, but out of a total of four plants, we yielded two shopping bags full of green beans. Only a f…

The Waterville library building was sold this past Friday and the new owner has given the library one year to move before beginning his commercial plans for his new purchase.

For our potatoes this year, if you recall, we upgraded our potato bins by adding all-new bags of soil and stapling a tarp to the bottoms to keep out weeds and to help retain water.

Ahhh, corn! Versatile, filling and delicious. And now, colorful. It was truly a joy growing corn this year. Painted Mountain corn was very easy to grow and is tasty as well. I started my seeds in the house, which I needn't have done. It loves the cold - being cold-resistant - and is also dro…

During Waterville’s September Town Council meeting it was reported that the Pioneer Park trees damaged by the Kopey’s Garage fire will be removed at no charge to the town.

The second and third graders at Waterville Elementary School have once again been invited to submit drawings for the town’s 2022 budget cover.

I have tried growing eggplant in the past, but nothing ever came of it. I thought this year was going to be the same. I started the seeds in Rockwool, back in June, and they took months to start growing. Only recently have the plants taken off, and really started blossoming and producing.

“Steadfast” sounds like “The Little Engine That Could,” and that's what the shiitake is all about. Shiitake is one of the easiest and most productive fungi to grow, producing more flushes of fresh mushrooms for you - up to five on average - when grown in sawdust or grain. When grown on logs,…

Waterville Emergency Medical Services is currently looking for volunteers.

This past Saturday saw the last Farmer’s Market in Waterville for 2021. The inaugural series of three events was such a success that the Waterville Mainstreet Association has committed to hosting it again next year.

Carol Cowling was presented the 2021 NCW Fair Volunteer of the Year award on the last day of the fair at the Sunday rodeo.