The correct management of forests is to fill them with water and then to eat the trees. Well, actually the bark of the trees. The wood is used to hold the water […]
Bye-Bye Fire
Sustainable Harvest
Here are some Spartans I helped Dad plant in 1965. And some Flemish Beauties, planted c. 1950, that I started picking 50 years ago. Plant once, harvest 100 times. That’s the sustainable […]
Some Things Ripen, Some Don’t
It will be a couple months yet for these grapes in Vernon. If they make it. The weather is turning cold. 23 or 24% sugar is a high bar. Perhaps, we should […]
Global Warming & Cooling Cycles, Okanagan Style
When the apple trees are pumped full of nitrogen and water to make the apples big and keep them from burning when they can’t get cool in the summer sun, then some […]
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 […]
Fighting Fire With Weeds
Well, this is a first. Oregano that has decided to go feral. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t look as burnable, in the short term, as this bunchgrass… … and about the same as […]
The Problem With Stock Photos
There’s this important article about low wages in vineyards in the Okanagan: https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/opinion/opinion-mla-ben-stewart-apparently-wants-bc-workers-to-be-paid-as-little-as-possible-4206374?fbclid=IwAR0D42Rq3CmDC5WqDXd3HY7Hog-J_Y8-qxKPEAFopi5OJ4GfN9BDN4VlAiA This image is attached to it: I don’t know where Carlos Bezz took this image, but this isn’t a […]
The Only Hope for the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys in a Culture of Fire
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 […]
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 […]
Okanagan Okanogan 