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 […]
Dancing in a Fur Coat
New Apple Varieties Under Lights
Here they are. Hanging out with the sweet peppers. I have my eye on that little Spigold. She has such a giant mother, twice as big as anyone, yet is so tiny. […]
Of Wine, War and Peace
Wine is largely made in laboratories. What is grown in the field is grapes. The result is a decreased ability for the plant to distribute potassium where needed. The additional remove of […]
Definitely Not Terroir
I think there’s too much money in this country. Vineyards get draped to keep off birds. At the same time, a native berry, Oregon grape, goes through the winter without appreciable harm […]
Indigenous Life and Grapes
Riesling grapes are indigenous to the Rhine and the Mosel, but not to the Okanagan. Pinots are indigenous to the Rhône, but not to the Similkameen or the Shuswap. It’s just the […]
A Test to See if You are Indigenous or Not
The Okanagan is an industrialized landscape. Note the cloned apple trees, the herbicide to kill weeds (80% of the available space), the poisonous fence posts, the wire supports to hold the trees […]
Reading the Weather
If you live in a place where you can’t see the sky, you don’t need to know the weather. But if the sky can get at you, you should have a personal […]
Voodoo Grapes in the Okanagan
Grape growing has its rituals. If you’re going to take a plant that roots itself as it tumbles down hot volcanic soils on river banks in humid Europe and move it around […]
The Turtle of Turtle Ridge
At some point, many years ago, someone built a turtle on Turtle Ridge, between Head of the Lake (yes, a turtle head) and Turtle Mountain, and left it for us to find […]
Let’s Cancel Christmas
I mean, really. A holiday that sees people putting spiritual wreathes on their doors, made out of the woven limbs of bushes in a prayer for coming spring, that sees them tossed […]
