Community laments the pending closure of the Moraga Garden Center

MORAGA, Calif. — Fifty years on, the Moraga Garden Center plans to close its doors Oct. 31 after its owner Kenneth “Kenny” Murakami announced his retirement earlier this year. The nursery, a beloved institution for Moraga community gardeners, sells hard to find plants. Murakami said his father, Nadao “Bob” Murakami, started the nursery in 1971. […]

Feed the Soil: Former news anchor Wendy Tokuda’s passion for restorative agriculture

OAKLAND, Calif. — If not for the concrete driveway leading up to her house, one might mistake Wendy Tokuda’s garden as part of the native Oakland, Calif. landscape. It’s a quiet community of coyote brush, Ceanothus, coffeeberry and flowering currants beneath stands of Redwoods and bay laurels. Monkeyflowers nod and drifts of poppies move with […]

Oregon prison’s healing garden offers renewed perspective

In 2014, Johnny Cofer, who is incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Ore. told the institution’s activities director, Patrice Lans, he would love to see a Japanese garden and koi pond outside in the yard of the facility. At the Oregon State Penitentiary, there is an activities department, consisting of 11 clubs, one […]