Want one? A rufuous hummingbird visited this one today, a few times. What a beaut he was.]. This could be your future, too! With thorns, yes, but with lumpy fruits and exquisite […]
I Have a Quince to Give Away. Want one?
Thanks, Willow
The bees that will pollinate the Nootka rose in the background here can only do so because of the willow in the foreground. Every year is a journey that starts with willow […]
Gardens for the Grand Kids: an Organic Model for Slow Release Fertilizer in a Post-Petroleum World
Compost requires labour and tillage. In other words, it is a renewable input. It is one that mimics natural processes, or interjects materials into them. I guess it is a bit like […]
Mystery Solved!
Thanks for helping, everyone! My mystery plant from yesterday, the one creeping along the upper shore of Okanagan Lake… … is no mystery. It is cleavers: Cleavers is a sister of coffee, […]
A Grassland is Not Just Grass
Here’s a cut on the Grey Canal Trail in Vernon, that was planted into blue bunch wheatgrass about 15 years ago. Bluebird boxes were installed on the fence (you can see one […]
For Bees’ Sakes, Let’s Grow Up
When the world of summer flowers is blasted by neglect, bees have it hard. There really is nothing, for mile on mile on mile. Even planting a calendula helps. It’s up to […]
Dancing in a Fur Coat
Sure, the picture is not precisely in focus, but what the heck. The bee is the star here. Look at her answer the call of the balsam root. Look at the balsam […]
Brave Bees… Perhaps
The balsam root blossoms on the hill were visited by these furry brown bees yesterday. These are the first bees I’ve seen on the flowers that were not shy. They wouldn’t scare. […]
The Gift Culture of the Grasslands
Flax is beautiful. The seeds grow heavy and lower the seed to the ground. Mice eat the seed there. And then it lifts up again, through the snow! These aren’t seeds that […]
Grassland Bycatch
Bycatch is all that stuff in the sea that deserves its own life, is caught when fishers are trying to snag something or other, and is thrown back overboard dead. It’s a […]
Okanagan Okanogan 