Rather than pumps and pipes and all those expensive systems, why not just lay out the land in flats and catch the snow? Because the effects are short-lived? Well, then amplify them. […]
Irrigation the Other Way
Rototilling 101
First, plant some flowers. Watch them grow. Nice, eh! Bees will burrow into the soil and lay their eggs. Nicer yet! Voles will come and root around, as voles will do. By […]
Spring Begins for the Saskatoons
Sure, there’s snow, and some Saskatoon buds are closed tightly… … but others are not. The one below is on the same bush, but out in the sun, and hormonally a little […]
Green Onions for New Year’s
Got your Welsh onions yet? The know no seasons. They push living out of the dead Earth. Which is, accordingly, not dead. Very Celtic, that!
Christmas Salad
It’s coming along, eh. This corn salad seeded itself in July and came up in August. It ought to be ready in a couple weeks, just in time for a feast. But, […]
It’s Still Harvest Time
We’ve had 25 centimetres of snow. We’ve had 9 Below Celsius. No-one around this place is particularly worried. It’s harvest time! Could this evergreen character and lasting tenderness be why sage was […]
Welcome, Pinot d’Oisseaux
Some pinot noir, the little black pine of France… … up the hill, a long way from home… … and a crow… … or some omnivorous bird like that, at any rate, […]
Choke Cherry Mystery
The choke cherries, those that remain from July’s crop, are softening, ripening and turning sweet with the cold. That is the work of temperature, bacteria and yeast. Look, more closely, though: Is […]
Pure Tree
Look at the quickbeam spread by dividing evenly, over and over again. Not so the poplar. It prefers to raise for the top. The multiplicity and order are here, but they are […]
The Art of Fall Medicine
Choke cherries have long been used to heal respiratory ailments, by drying inflamed tissues. One might as well say that in the fall, choke cherry goes black, with black leaves, black fruit […]
