The neighbourhood flicker is a handsome bird. And always watchful. We love our flicker! Especially in the orange light that breaks through the car exhaust that is the latest idea for this old […]
The Flicker in the … Cold Mine?
The Okanagan’s Dirty Secret
Is it the Dirty Laundry Winery? No. That’s actually a little bit of colonial Canadian culture using the Okanagan to market Canada to itself by romanticizing prostitution. That’s easy. No, no, I mean […]
Fire Moves Snow As Well As Ice Does
Do you remember the summer of fires? A big one started at Elephant Hill, outside of Ashcroft, and burned to the north for months. Here is an image of the burn area […]
Getting Down to Some Serious Fun in the Kitchen
There are close to 20,000 acres of wine grapes planted in the ruins of the Okanagan Valley, immensely attractive to tourists and restauranteurs alike. The wine? Well, some is fine and most […]
Qanats for the Okanagan
Late afternoon in the grasslands. November. Light’s almost gone. Cloud everywhere. Nothing much to look at here. Zzzz. Or, maybe there is. Have a look just down the trail. The guys building […]
25% of Fruitgrowing Agricultural Productive Capacity in the Okanagan is Wasted
Here’s an industrial apple plantation after harvest. The trees are in long rain rows to facilitate mechanized farming, using multi-ton tractors and spraying equipment (combined weight of about 5 tonnes). After harvest, […]
The Waves of Cascadia
Here we are on the surface of the Yellowstone Plume, the newest part of my country, Cascadia. These are the Mammoth Hot Springs. It’s hot there, and exquisite. And stunning. It’s all […]
Cultural Blindness and Agricultural Practice
Culture is a powerful thing. Here is some earth, laid bare by a plow, in preparation for seeding in the spring. In the past, it has been used to grow tomatoes. This […]
Construction Gone Bad in Vernon
Men have been digging at the hill to make a level place to build houses, and have put up a wall of blasted rock to hold the hill back. Note the deer. […]
California Quail in the Rainforest
The ancient salmon forests of the Pacific Coast were felled long ago. Well, most of them. Hoh Some of the lost ones went to houses in Vancouver and Seattle. People still live […]
