Doc Snyder Garden Artist

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day!

04/20/2026

Laura and I had a nice visit with her Father last week. He rented a car and drove up from SAC with his side kick- Silent Bob. Bob is a strange cat. Early 80s, frail and in poor health. Good ol' Bob. The poor fu**er tried to keep smoking with the Gorham Clan when even the grower (me) had the sense to drop out. I kinda have a green thumb combined with several decades of growing high grade cannabis, with extremely high concentrations of THC.

Ma*****na in the1960s and 1970s contained between 1% and 4% tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive component of the plant. That is the w**d Bob grew up on. My cannabis flower contains, on average, 20% THC, with some strains as high as 35%. Truly one hit w**d.

Aficionados, regular users like Laura and Jim may smoke several joints and remain functional. Not so much our Bob. Sitting outside on a nice early spring afternoon with a joint being passed around the table Bob found himself "One T**e Over the Line". I caught him as he slumped from his chair and laid him on a cushion. I keep an umbrella handy against the rain so I created a shade for his head. I'm trained in assessment, Bob was wiggly and beyond my ministrations so I called 911. The Fire Station is 2 houses away, they get here quick! They know the place, the EMTs have been here to collect Laura nine times, they even know my dog by name. Two Stations, eight guys and a woman showed up and revived Bob. Against concern and vigorous advice Bob refused an ambulance ride to the hospital. Bob survived but got too high. Don't be like Bob.

04/20/2026

Happy Day!

03/22/2026

Always a GREAT event, off the beaten track for sure. Google Earth the address listed on the flyer to discover that you Don't know the Bay Area as well as ya thought. Hell, I lived there and I had to look it up.

03/22/2026

The nights are warming and my shadow roaming and star gazing resume. I haven't seen the neighbors yet but I can hear them whispering about me from the tall grass in the dark. The opossums know me, the others will too if they listen to the crows. I walked to the pharmacy last week with a rest stop at the creek. The 3 crows that frequent my garden followed me to the park, down into the creek and demanded peanuts. A woman stood on the bank above us and yelled that the crows were angry and going to attack me. I pretended concern and scrambled up to the road. The crows were delighted and played along. Although I must walk around the block the crows need only hop over one house to be in the park. Next trip I will bring the clicker and the nuts. Me n dem crows gonna put on a show.

02/27/2026

...past the fire station and took the shortcut down the service alley behind Lalo's Cantina. Found some nature along a rustic fence line. Three non natives growing through the gravel in spite of it- three mysterious "w**ds" in bloom. I have plant identification apps but sometimes, ya know, why spoil it? It's a warm sunny day after a stormy week. I will allow myself to wonder for a while, enjoy the magic on display in these three strangers.

01/20/2026

I have posted these before but when they come up in Memories each year I really DO take a moment to recall those quiet days in the shop. Door open to a gentle breeze off the Carquinez Strait, just outside that door was a little park. Across the street find the Bull Valley Road House, around the corner and steps away is the infamous Warehouse Cafe and the historic Burlington Hotel. For a decade I had a hideaway in a tiny town that was hidden away, hiding in plain sight. Years before the shop in Port Costa I had put up this Garden Artist page to sell my work. My shop was located in a barn in the Napa Valley. This page was NOT needed. Two garden centers in Napa bought bird cabins faster than I could make em. No advertising necessary. Twice, out n about in the Valley, I saw my work that someone had bought or perhaps received as a gift and felt nice enough to display. Awesome feeling! I enjoyed a silent- "I made that". What is the word for that feeling? Pride? By the time I landed in the Port my works were for fun and although I sold perhaps 60 cabins and planters to weekend tourists, I gave away most of the stuff to friends. I look around this little room and see two oils on cardboard my Grandmother painted in Poland in the 1920s. The cork board has vintage post cards, articles and announcements of the town. Wonderful memories.

01/04/2026

Doc Snyder - Super Gardener! Arborist, entomologist, horticulturist, stranger in the bushes. You should see the rest of the Super Hero Suit. There's a Fig Leaf where the...

01/04/2026

12/22/2025

Been raining for several years now, the gloom invades to harsh the buzz and chill the bones. I revisit photos from the garden in warmer days for balance...Namaste.