The leaf that lies on the ground catches the ground frost at night. Unlike the ground around it, it remains chill when the sun comes up, and retains its frost. Unlike the […]
Power Generation from Leaves and Trees
Every Tree Knows Leaves are Better than Lightbulbs, Mr. Edison
Edison made lightbulbs to imitate gas globes, which were, like, dangerously explosive pressure capsules, so thanks, Thomas, for that, but flame does not have to be hot. Leaves don’t make light, of […]
Sweet Apricot Kernels
Move over California, with your water-hungry almonds. 4.5 litres of water to grow one almond? Ridiculous! We have apricots with sweet kernels here in the north, that can grow in the shrub […]
Getting Down to Some Serious Fun in the Kitchen
There are close to 20,000 acres of wine grapes planted in the ruins of the Okanagan Valley, immensely attractive to tourists and restauranteurs alike. The wine? Well, some is fine and most […]
Our Future is Fruitful
The future opens out of the present. First we see. Then we help others see. Then we build it together. Staghorn Sumac: Our Okanagan Future The future is already here. It is […]
A Practical Experiment in Applied Grassland Meandering
We had an inspiring discussion in Kelowna the other night. https://okanaganokanogan.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=35870&action=edit One of the things that came out of it was a conversation on the work being done to bring back the […]
Vertical Lakes, Subsoil Dams and the Bear’s Cold Storage
There was forty centimetres of snow on this draw a couple weeks ago. Don’t think it’s all gone. The shade on the south western slope is keeping it damp in the soil, […]
Imagine the Technological Possibilities!
Imagine if you could regulate heat loss and roof melting simply by switching from a flat roof to a roof covered in river rock, or a lightweight approximation of it. The insulating […]
Island in a Grassland Sea
Rocks are one of the richest grassland environments. They turn bodies of heat into surfaces and surfaces of heat into bodies. They turn winter into spring, spring into summer, and low into […]
Sustaining the Okanagan 14: Plant Tech
We exceeded the valley’s population carrying capacity 25 years ago. Our issue is water. You’d think it would limit human population expansion, but humans are socially clever and limit social access to […]
