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8 | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | OCTOBER 2025 | Autumn in Southern California is a beautiful and busy season! Here are three projects for this season. Check Your Soil Fall is a great time to check your soil before installing new plantings. • On Oct. 13 at 1 pm in the Four Seasons Ballroom, Eben Longfellow, a Master Gardener, will be presenting on Healthy Soil and Healthy Planting. All are welcome • e Riverside Corona Resource Conservation District (RCRCD) provides soil testing options. For instructions and cost you can contact Alicia Ruan at Ruan@rcrcd.org Check Your Drainage Before installing new plantings, it's a good idea to check your soil drainage. Compressed or clay soils can make it very dicult for young plants to get a foothold. A simple way to check your garden has proper drainage is to dig a hole 12 inches deep and wide. Fill it with water and observe how long it takes to drain: • If it drains within 15 to 30 minutes, your garden has good drainage • If it takes a few hours to drain, you will need to amend your soil with compost, perlite or sand Get Planting! It is the time to plant most permanent additions to the landscape, getting plants into the ground before the rainy season begins. is allows roots to get established over the winter, rewarding us in the spring and summer with strong, attractive growth. While many parts of our country are harvesting and closing up their gardens, fall is our time to get started. Here are some things you can – and should – do in the fall: • Buy and plant spring bulbs like daodils and tulips • Clean out your planting beds and pots • Plant California natives • Amend your soil and begin planting cool season owers and crops. Pansies, violas, chrysanthemums and calendulas do well in our fall climate, while arugula, swiss chard and kale do nicely in our vegetable beds. On a dierent note, keep a look out for Harvest, our landscaping company, who will be replacing trees and plants around the community now that the summer heat is gone. Landscape Committee October is Great ShakeOut Month! is year's International ShakeOut Day is Oct. 16, when millions of people worldwide will participate in earthquake drills at work, school, or home! At 10:16 am (local time) on 10/16, you can join millions of people across California practicing earthquake safety. While some areas of California are more likely to have earthquakes than others, all of California is at higher risk compared to the rest of the country. You could be anywhere when an earthquake strikes: at home, at work, at school, or even on vacation. What we do now will determine our quality of life aer our next big earthquake. Are you prepared to survive and recover quickly? e Great California ShakeOut is an annual opportunity to practice how to be safer during big earthquakes: "Drop, Cover and Hold On." e ShakeOut has also been organized to encourage you, your community, your school, or your organization to review and update emergency preparedness plans and supplies, and to secure your space in order to prevent damage and injuries. ShakeOut is also a reminder for Californians to be prepared nancially, such as by exploring earthquake insurance. e not-for-prot California Earthquake Authority oers earthquake insurance throughout California for homeowners, renters, mobilehome owners and condo-unit owners. For more information go to: e Great California ShakeOut - Get Ready to ShakeOut! Our Mission e Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program is designed to increase individual and community preparedness and self-reliance in the event of man- made or natural disasters. e Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has ocially recognized CERT as an important part of a community's disaster preparedness readiness. Four Seasons CERT continues to need your participation. Become a Street Captain or CERT Auxiliary. Step up. Be a part of the best CERT in the valley, come make a dierence. For more information visit https://fscert.org/cert-volunteer Learn how to prepare at fscert.org. Plan. Prepare. Survive. Emergency Preparedness

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