It costs $2400-$4500 to rent a house in the North Okanagan. Really. Look. In comparison, a wasp just needs to find a hidden place out of the rain. It costs an average […]
House, Home and History
3,000 Posts. The Past and Future of Okanagan Okanogan
This blog started in 2011 as a research tool for writing about the environment of the Intermontane Grasslands of Cascadia, especially in terms of demonstrating the power of the landscape to harvest, […]
Paul Terbasket’s Apricot Ripens Up
The project to renew the heritage apricot of the Smelqmx, the last survivor of a 1920s program to remove commercial fruitgrowing from Indigenous hands in British Columbia, continues. Every day I carry […]
Bigfoot Working for Tips in Local Culture
I made a trip to Canada recently. Here’s a local ice cream and coffee stop in Canmore, in the mountains . Note the Bigfoot, another Cascadian away from home, working for tips. […]
Realigning Kelowna
I think it has gone on long enough. Kelowna sits on the best wine-growing land in the West. Crazy, really. Take a different look. Two wineries, and both of those (red markers […]
Climate Change in the North Okanagan
Human induced climate change is real, and its hurting humans, societies and the Earth. A lot of it is the result of atmospheric carbon. That’s the story that my city, Vernon, is […]
Nature is Political Says Rebecca Solnit
Just ask this Western Tanager, negotiating a perch without being hassled by a man in a kayak with a camera. Sheesh. No, seriously. Rebecca Solnit says so in her new book: See? […]
Kelowna is Funny
Here’s Kelowna’s explanation of their success at mitigating climate change. See that? 20% of sensitive ecosystem land is protected. Given that sensitive ecosystems make up 28% of Kelowna, and Kelowna covers 214 […]
Ethical Vineyards: Inspiration from the Rhine
It is possible to have a vineyard without weeds . Here on the hottest part of Germany’s Kaiserstuhl, the system is managed by drought, cover crops, and manure laid in a line […]
Rewilding Vineyards and Orchards in the Okanagan
The best intentions don’t always lead to the best results. Placing a vineyard or orchard next to a wild environment so that both farmed and non-farmed environments can exist and the farm […]
Okanagan Okanogan 