After waiting for residency for more than a year, wondering how much longer I would be an illegitimate person was starting to wear on me. But, as they say, when the planets are in line everything falls into place. The full rose moon of June 7th, 2009 was such a day. I finally got my Canadian residency so that night I planted 13 Hidasta Shield Figure Pole beans (from The Cottage Gardener) to give my thanks to Vancouver, BC for welcoming and accepting us.
The previous year I had spent a lot of time walking the nearby streets admiring everyone’s fantastic gardens. I finally found the perfect spot on one of the Greenways of Vancouver. No one was using it, it got good sun and was just by a sky-train and rail-road tracks so it seemed a perfect spot. There is a lot more space available in this area, although much of it is under the tracks and wouldn’t get any rain.
We haven't gotten that much rain this year and the hot dry weather brought out the spider mites. This is the balcony garden before they ravaged my beans. But you can see how well the potatoes, tomatoes, rose, purslane, chilis and even the rainbow chard are doing. ...
--Recipe for Rose Hip Soup-- Unlike people, roses probably do not consider themselves as having a purpose in life. But if a rose bush did have a mission, I expect its greatest sense of achievement would come from creating, not just a whole lot of beautiful flowers, but the grand array of round, r ...
This year got started late with a huge snowstorm and a very cold winter. The roses seem to have done well though, and the amazing backyard gardens of Vancouver BC are going full swing. I am constantly impressed by how many plants there are in some of these spaces. It is also interesting to see that ...
The Stone Soup Festival at Britannia on Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC fell on Mother's Day weekend this year. We arrived at the festival just as the jolly Carnival Band was rambling around the park and were soon planting pumpkin and sunflower seeds, feeding the chickens at the Backyard Chicken ...
I am a long-time a convert to the soapnut craze. I first noticed these little fruits in Burma/Myanmar where they use them in their traditional shampoo. A couple years ago I discovered that their popularity has really grown in Western countries and now you can spend top dollar on powdered soapnut lau ...
Sleeping Goddess. Lost Gardens of Heligan March and April are months of rebirth and new beginnings around the globe. New Year festivals from Myanmar/Burma to Scotland were and still are traditionally celebrated in these months. The vernal equinox falls on the 20/21st of March. Night and day are ...
Mutual assistance enriches even the poor. - Chinese Proverb A couple years ago I finally had a chance to start making kombucha. My sister had gotten a hold of a kombucha mother/starter (known as a SCOBY - Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) while doing a house call, (she's a nurse). Kombucha ...
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 cho ...
The Keeper is sustainable and affordable for the modern menstruating woman. I've been trying to remember the exact details of how I first heard about The Keeper, I have a distinct memory of being in a women's bathroom in the huge central library of our college campus and seeing information reco ...
After waiting for residency for more than a year, wondering how much longer I would be an illegitimate person was starting to wear on me. But, as they say, when the planets are in line everything falls into place. The full rose moon of June 7th, 2009 was such a day. I finally got my Canadian residency so that night I planted 13 Hidasta Shield Figure Pole beans (from The Cottage Gardener) to give my thanks to Vancouver, BC for welcoming and accepting us.
