Farming is expensive in Canada. One way of looking at it is shown by the apple plantation below. Let’s look: Posts: harvested on the plateau, trucked, milled, impregnated with toxic copper compounds, […]
The True Costs of Farming in the Okanagan
A Lousy Apple Year for Vernon
In the local royal gala orchard, long past the renewal date of 10 years for slender spindle high density, high-capital orchards, a snowball bloom has settled out into a lousy crop. The […]
The Year of the Kazillion Cherries Has Begun
When I pruned these trees, the wind was kaboodling down the Similkameen Valley like a grizzly bear made of dry ice. Sawdust was falling in my face from my saw. My feet […]
How to Grow Tasteless Apples
For around forty years, the provincial government has been financially supporting this method of apple growing. Looks pretty modern and efficient, doesn’t it! It’s very seductive. Bankers and government officials love it. […]
25% of Fruitgrowing Agricultural Productive Capacity in the Okanagan is Wasted
Here’s an industrial apple plantation after harvest. The trees are in long rain rows to facilitate mechanized farming, using multi-ton tractors and spraying equipment (combined weight of about 5 tonnes). After harvest, […]
Applied Mathematics in the Garden
Elders do math best. A living calculus. The spiders of the fruiting world! For them, life is a spray of electrons. Why not plant one today? Also great for keeping away sorceresses, […]
Why British Columbia Needs To Extend Its Support for its Fruit Industry.
Nice farm, huh. What are they growing? Trouble and debt.Approximately 66,000 apple tree roots planted last spring and grafted late last summer. Subsidized by the Ministry of Agriculture. The idea is to save money: […]
The Best Fruit Growing Land
The image below shows an old síyaʔ (saskatoon berry) gathering ground in the Thompson River Gorge, across the river from an ancient village site. Notice the advantage of growing fruit this way: no […]
Land Crisis in Vernon
Yesterday I showed you an image of an apple crisis. Here it is again, from a different angle. People are so hungry to connect with a farmer over a supermarket that they […]
Apple Crisis in Vernon
Apples for sale by the bag. Looks nice, huh! Look more closely. Here are some Ambrosias. See all that marking? These apples are worth zero. In a modern world of cosmetic fruit, […]
Okanagan Okanogan 