The Center for Land-Based Learning launched the Urban Farm Program in 2014 on a city-owned lot and with seed funding from two local banks. Fiery Ginger uses land owned by the Washington Unified School District. Other farmers use private property, for four sites total, representing six separate farm businesses — with two more to be added by 2017

As West Sacramento’s mayor since 1998, Christopher Cabaldon has been an integral part of the city’s metamorphosis from a gritty industrial outpost to one of the region’s most up-and-coming locales. We recently sat down with him to talk about riverfront development, craft breweries and the impending “green rush” of legal marijuana.

Oak Park’s Broadway throbs as bass bumps from one car and another’s engine belches. Someone honks their horn. Other cars buzz by well above the speed limit. This is urban living. But it doesn’t have to be. Thanks to Oak Park Sol, a newly-formed nonprofit serving as an urban land trust, this neighborhood is bringing nature back to its city-dwelling folks.

All water, conventional scientific wisdom goes, is recycled. The Earth’s water has been here since the planet formed some 4.6 billion years ago, and any given molecule may have passed through the bodies of dinosaurs, fish throughout the oceans, the living tissue of giant trees and numerous human beings.

Bright bursts of yellow flowers amid a sea of rolling green grass are an easy find in April at Mather Field. But just months ago, these dramatic swathes were completely swamped with water, and later this summer their beds will be bone-dry and baking hot.

When River Cats season ticket holder Jared Pane and his family lower their kickstands at the Raley Field stadium bicycle valet, he breathes a little easier. He knows their fanatic support of the West Sacramento minor-league team is not only a fun tradition, but also good for the environment.

Many wish their favorite places in California were deeply-held secrets. But there’s the hope that, given a little perspective, our current secrets can develop in a way that maintains the original character we fell in love with, without succumbing to the broad appeal forced by faceless investment. Right now, in Amador County, the Shenandoah Valley is at that postcard moment.

The Capital Region’s wine industry remains strong with Amador county as one of the most approachable wine scenes in the state. As you’ll read in one of our June features, “A Slow-Growth Splash,” staying authentic has been key in Amador county’s growth, but what will the future of California’s wine industry have in store?

For the past 48 years, Mike Doran has watched El Dorado County evolve— slowly. He recalls the days when the county was a peaceful, low-density community — long before the Home Depot came to Placerville, before the Dollar General  got the greenlight for Georgetown, back when Highway 50 was nothing but a two-lane road.

In 2015, we reported on the exciting new changes J-E Paino hoped to bring to Dixon with his Ruhstaller beer label (“Legacy Crop” by Allison Joy, April 2015). The 8.5-acre hop yard and farm and outdoor tasting room in Dixon, however, had their power turned off in April following a long-running disagreement with Solano County. We talked with Paino and county officials about Ruhstaller’s future.