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 […]
Reducing Climate Risk in the Okanagan 5: Collect Water in Place
The practice of collecting water in the mountains, delivering it to cities and farms in the valley bottom, and then emptying recycled water into the lakes is placing us at climate risk, […]
Climate Resilience 3: Self-Fertilizing and Self-Watering Islands
That’s right, islands in the grass. They’re not just sitting there. They are creating nitrogen and releasing minerals from the rock into a form that plants can use. In fact, instead of […]
Reducing Climate Risk in Okanagan Agriculture
The Canadian Government has recently released an economic action plan. It’s a bit exhaustive and exhausting, but worth a walk-by. Click here to have a look. Bring some friends along. Coyotes, maybe. […]
Energy Generation By Gravity and Elm
This is applied science as taught by an elm tree. Here’s the elm tree. Do say hi. So, right, you’ve got these long levers for arms, with these fine-fronds at the end […]
The Origins of Music?
So, what do you think? Is it possible that wolves (or in this case coyotes) taught people to make music, first by howling into the wind, and then by making flute holes […]
Gravity Engines
Rocks aren’t all born alike. Here’s one from an old glacial river running along the ice that once filled this valley. Note what a light snowfall has done here. The stone has […]
Irrigation the Other Way
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. […]
Whole Worlds Hidden from the Settler Gaze
Under the snow, it’s spring. Under stone, it’s the same. Where the sun intensifies and molten water collects, it’s spring. This is when the rock is mined for nutrients that feed the […]
Okanagan Okanogan 