We exceeded the valley’s population carrying capacity 25 years ago. Our issue is water. You’d think it would limit human population expansion, but humans are socially clever and limit social access to […]
Sustaining the Okanagan 14: Plant Tech
The Okanagan Meets Its Salad and Lemons Go Away to Cry
Remember my green grapes? That tasted, I promised, like lemons? Because until they turn colour, grapes are little suns made out of citric acid —so, like lemons, right? Well, I picked some. Those […]
Sustaining the Okanagan 9: 1 Hour, 42 Jars
Keep your eyes open. Oregon Grape, Okanagan Lake Shore Ripe when the stems turn red. Spend an hour. Go to the kitchen. Soon you will have 30 Jars of jelly and 12 […]
Giving the Children Water: The Bigger Educational Picture
Last night, I wrote about the benefits of environmental transformation that could come through the simple mechanism of attaching a wetland to every school in the Okanagan. It’s worth elaborating on, because […]
Landscaping for Water Capture
Welcome to the second of a series of posts on creating a sustainable Okanagan. They are archived on the menu bar above. Today: smart water. Read on… Wherever there is a crack, […]
A Gift of Berries
Changes in language are created by girls as they pass through puberty. Who better to names these berries than the syilx girls who traditionally picked them, between the birds, and the deer? […]
Butterflies and Meadowlarks on a Cold Spring Day
Windy day up on the hill. No bees, but many flowers making themselves all pretty for them. That’s a beautiful flower. When you’re from this place, it’s the only one for you, […]
The Miracle of Water
The big sage that held water for years against the pull of the sun, and grew thick with time, now holds water and earth in place by stopping the wind in its […]
First the Seed then the Flower
It begins. Arrow-leafed Balsam Root Looking for the Sun No one Need Look Alone
Reading the Land for Real
You know how I showed you Sen’klip (aka Coyote) the other day? Yes? No? Yip yip? Yap yap? No matter, he’s such a handsome guy he’s worth having another look-see. What a […]
Okanagan Okanogan 