I hate to say it, but the dream that has kept my family tied to the land for 91 years in this trough in the Columbia Plateau is over. Instead of a […]
The Only Hope for the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys in a Culture of Fire
Hot Climate Onions
It was 47 degrees Celsius last week. My garlic ripened off, my currants fizzled, my raspberries got set back, my winter onions explained that the year was over, and my perennial Egyptian […]
It’s Not As Hot As You Might Think
Choke cherries doing fine. Without irrigation. And before you think, Oh, a Weed, think again. Okanagan Spirits can’t make their Kirsch Virgiana until someone delivers 2.5 tons of these things to their […]
Want to Buy Some Land in Vernon?
This orchard will be for sale soon. It’s dying. There’s no way that it can pay off the cost of its posts now, let alone anything else. There’s an idea out there […]
Coyote Laughs Once More
Apparently, one farmer believes this will keep the tricksters out. I don’t know whether to weep at his innocence or applaud his sense of determination and hope. This could be why coyotes […]
Do Temporary Foreign Workers Feed the Okanagan?
I dunno. Here are some of these hardworking guys planting Frind’s industrial vineyard in Vernon. It’s hard to say, isn’t it. Wine, a tourist product, sold at about $22 a bottle, may […]
Tea Anyone?
It’s chamomile time! When those winter moons keep me awake in the middle of the night, these suns do the trick.
It’s Strawberry Time!
In the greenhouse. This is my fifth pick. And no slugs! A little pollination trouble in the corners where the bumble bees don’t like to go, but who is worrying, eh! We […]
Communicating With Deer
Here’s the walking trail above the orchards west of my house in late winter. Notice how the path is as wide as a road, is packed down from human traffic, and is […]
Everybody Needs a Friend
This Macintosh apple tree at Splatsin is struggling out of an infection of Horsehair Canker, with her nurses: two currant bushes (you can spot the one behind). It’s harder to spot the […]
