The sandhill cranes are flying south from the Beaufort Sea, as they have for 125,000,000 years. One family at a time. When the leader lags, the group is soon a ball, and […]
It is Time to Go Home
Sustainable Harvest
Here are some Spartans I helped Dad plant in 1965. And some Flemish Beauties, planted c. 1950, that I started picking 50 years ago. Plant once, harvest 100 times. That’s the sustainable […]
Some Things Ripen, Some Don’t
It will be a couple months yet for these grapes in Vernon. If they make it. The weather is turning cold. 23 or 24% sugar is a high bar. Perhaps, we should […]
Global Warming & Cooling Cycles, Okanagan Style
When the apple trees are pumped full of nitrogen and water to make the apples big and keep them from burning when they can’t get cool in the summer sun, then some […]
A Grassland is Not Just Grass
Here’s a cut on the Grey Canal Trail in Vernon, that was planted into blue bunch wheatgrass about 15 years ago. Bluebird boxes were installed on the fence (you can see one […]
Rome is Burning: An Election With Fire and No Water
The sun rises over Shuttleworth Creek, at the heart of the Okanagan. Still a world of smoke. It’s like those ponderosa pines on the edge of Okanagan Falls are lined up and […]
The Dance of Eye and Mind
Humans are visually oriented, and have a love of the bright colours, blue, yellow, gold, blonde and white that catch the eye at a distance. It is easier to notice the pollen […]
At War With the Earth: Fighting Fire in the Okanagan
In the 1840’s, talk in the Pacific Northwest was of controlling the threat to settled life from Indigenous people. “Indians” they were called back then. In January 1848, armed volunteers went out […]
For Bees’ Sakes, Let’s Grow Up
When the world of summer flowers is blasted by neglect, bees have it hard. There really is nothing, for mile on mile on mile. Even planting a calendula helps. It’s up to […]
Fighting Fire With Weeds
Well, this is a first. Oregano that has decided to go feral. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t look as burnable, in the short term, as this bunchgrass… … and about the same as […]
