The blue bunch wheatgrass of the West, the signature grass of the Intermontane Grasslands, the beautiful one herself, stands straight and tall, until her seeds grow heavy and weigh her down, but […]
Blue Bunch Wheatgrass and Gravity
Sustaining the Okanagan 15: Time for Thyme!
We don’t need lawn. Or gravel. But what about thyme? No mowing. No watering. The thyme below is just growing at the side of the road. Flowers for the bees! Something for the […]
Sustaining the Okanagan 14: Plant Tech
We exceeded the valley’s population carrying capacity 25 years ago. Our issue is water. You’d think it would limit human population expansion, but humans are socially clever and limit social access to […]
The Mystery of Surfaces
Do surfaces have edges? Or do edges have surfaces? Is an edge the limit to a surface? Is a surface the space between two edges, that is given substance because the edges […]
Sustaining the Okanagan 13: Public Hardwood Lumber Woodlots
Plant a maple tree. Plant it beside a road. Roads collect water. Roads shed water. Ditches, which line roads, collect water. Or maybe they’re just barren spaces, and just for show and […]
Sustaining the Okanagan 11: Weaving Water to Combat Desertification
I know, I know, Chinese elms are a weed. They grow well here, though. Their flowers feed spring birds. In turn, those flowers have a zillion seeds … … and pop up […]
Sustaining the Okanagan 10: 24 Apple Pies
We know who makes the best summer apple pies. Here she is, the summer pie maker. She was born in Russia 220 years ago. Look how young she looks in my garden. Here […]
Sustaining the Okanagan 9: 1 Hour, 42 Jars
Keep your eyes open. Oregon Grape, Okanagan Lake Shore Ripe when the stems turn red. Spend an hour. Go to the kitchen. Soon you will have 30 Jars of jelly and 12 […]
The Great Divide and the Great Gift
Here’s where the grasslands divide in two. The river in the foreground is the Shuswap. That water flows into the Thompson, which flows into the Fraser, which flows into the Salish Sea […]
Giving the Children Water: The Bigger Educational Picture
Last night, I wrote about the benefits of environmental transformation that could come through the simple mechanism of attaching a wetland to every school in the Okanagan. It’s worth elaborating on, because […]
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