Not only are the gardens of Vancouver BC filled with an assortment of absolutely delicious edible fruits, vegetables and herbs but the micro-farmers are generous and friendly. This fig fresh off the tree was the most juicy I have ever had.

Another happy old Chinese farmer gave me a couple of chokos from his harvest, one of them sprouted and it is now growing eagerly up the wall in my bedroom.

The gardeners of Vancouver are also avid composters and many of them have arranged nice environments around their compost barrel, many growing mint and other fresh smelling herbs.

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Balcony garden bar overlooking Vancouver, BC. Coriander, tomatoes, chilli, calendula, passionflower, nasturtiums, basil, sage, green-beans and corn.

This is the first year with the garden in this location, and the corn didn’t do very well–not enough dirt for their roots, they did a good job, considering, but I didn’t get much corn. Next time I will have to try miniature corn. I have lot to learn about balcony gardening, so thank god for the Internet.

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Balcony garden bar overlooking Vancouver, BC. Coriander, tomatoes, chilli, calendula, nasturtium, passionflower, basil, sage, green-beans and corn. This is the first year with the garden in this location. I have lot to learn about balcony gardening, so thank god for the Internet.

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Article published in the Far West Almanac May 2008. Inspired by the book SELU: Seeking the Corn-Mother’s Wisdom by Marilou Awiakta

Ginitsi Selu (Grandmother Corn) Harmony, Respect, Community, Healing

Lately when I find myself thinking about roots, it isn’t long until I start thinking about corn. Edible corn originated in Central America, a gift of the creator in the form of a “catastrophic sexual mutation” about 7,000 years ago. Now it is prevalent all over the world. Chinese are using it to make cheap alcohol and Italians for creamy polenta. Corn is in nearly every processed food item in the supermarket either as corn syrup or corn starch, and is being used to make ethanol for bio-fuel.

Corn was given to the Europeans as a gift, our stories tell us, when they were on the brink of starvation in a new land. Although we celebrate Thanksgiving every year in communion with family to remember those great gifts we were given, the gift of corn has ultimately been disrespected and violated by the “gift” the Europeans gave back to the Americas. This “gift” is a mentality that is ultimately self-serving and greedy — entirely against the spirit of corn.

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Continued from here.

We went on a trip to Cleveland in September, just when the first cold and misty weather-change hit the Catskills. The deer, worried winter was coming early, and glad to find my garden unattended with the open invitation of a fence that only went half way ’round, quickly gorged themselves on my veggies and herbs.

It was terribly depressing to see all that hard work trampled and eaten. This area of the Catskills is over-run by deer because wolves and mountain lions are now quite rare in the area. There are packs of coyotes that roam the hillsides that take out a few deer, but not enough to make much of a dent on their population.

This year and a half we spent in the Catskills, surviving with minimum funds and supported only by family and friends really helped to reconnect us with the natural world. In some ways it was very stressful. I have always been very self-sufficient, but with poor health and no insurance we had to rely completely on friends, family and nature.

Once I let go of embodying the expectation that I be tough as nails and drag myself up by my boot-straps, the good ole-fashioned systems of inter-connection and symbiosis, re-wove themselves through my system, providing an invisible but resilient support net, which in the long term has encouraged my roots to grow deep and far.

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I have lived in dorms, small rooms or apartments ever since boarding school and in the past ten years or so always have at least a few plants in pots. Living in the Catskills of New York was my first opportunity to have a real garden in my own plot of land, where I could do exactly what I wanted, however I wanted. It was a most satisfying dream-come-true experience.

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serves 2

• 3/4 c organic popping corn
• 1/4 c oil

Method: Allow oil to heat. Add two or three kernels of corn and cover. When the kernels pop, add the rest of the corn to the pot. The pot should be heavy bottomed and medium sized. Keep the cover on, don’t peek.

When the corn begins to pop, turn the heat down slightly and shake the pot occasionally. When the sound of popping dies, turn the popped corn out into a bowl.

Melt:

• 1/2 c sweet unsalted butter

Pour it over the pop-corn in stages:

• Sprinkle with salt, cumin and hot chili
• Mix together
• Add more pop-corn
• Drizzle with more melted butter
• Add more seasonings if desired

Excellent for a movie with a tall cold glass of kombucha.

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