A long time ago, orcharding started in the Okanagan when Lord Aberdeen and Lady Aberdeen planted the Coldstream Ranch with fruit so they could make jam and compete with these folks from the old […]
Standing Still
Making Light of Gravity
Gravity is the point at which the energy of the universe touches the earth. We should be able to use that. Who needs fossil fuels. Here, for example, is the energy that […]
The Garden and the University
Here’s one of the gardens at the University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus, right smack dab in the middle of the grasslands of Ellison, north of Kelowna. Given that the American half […]
Respect
Time is a strange thing. The farther in distance we look into the night sky, the father back in time we are seeing. If we look far enough, we see the beginning […]
Being the Mountain
There’s a thing that happens with sheep in the mountains of Wales and Iceland: they become acclimatized to the mountain, and pass that acclimatization on to following generations. Once they have been […]
Life Raft for the Grasslands
Can you imagine drowning on dry land? It happens. On the grasslands, the difference between breathing and drowning is so slight. For instance, at a height of 860 metres, after a day […]
Black Pine
We’re talking about Pinot Noir. Don’t google it. You’ll get thousands of variations on the title of one book, rather sloppily quoted and never questioned, so let’s just go to the source. […]
Art & Urban Renewal
Today, an idea that I’ve brought back to the valley from my years in Campbell River, on Vancouver Island, where the sculptor and painter Ken Blackburn has worked for years to free […]
Grapes at Work
Our grapes are up to something we never suspected. You know those leaves on grape plants? Grape Leaves Waiting for the Light Assmannshausen am Rhein, late June, 6 a.m. Photosynthesis is the […]
Getting Out of Town
History eventually becomes the present. For instance, to look back to the day when the entire Okanagan was a part of Oregon and the only business going was the raising of cattle […]
Okanagan Okanogan 