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The Salish Sea way-of-life we enjoy and aspire to…
Gardening with kids
July 8, 2010
Gardening advice to attract children's interest; an island mom describes what works for her family.
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July Garden Calendar
June 24, 2010
This long wet spring has been a kind of slug fest around here—though I've been told they make a great tempura after a lot of saki.
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Hornby Island eagles have done it again
June 10, 2010
The webca eagles are raising another chick; Phoenix grows at a phenomenal rate. Austistic children watching the webcam are starting to communicate.
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June Garden Calendar
May 27, 2010
What to plant when in westcoast weather and simple recipes with this month's garden bounty.
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Rain
May 13, 2010
Islands' rain is a fact of life - just enjoy.
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Goodlife garden calendar for May
April 29, 2010
Strawbale mulch, deer, and more wonderful recipes with eggs.
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Chicken's revenge
April 29, 2010
When a young raven dominates their dinner table, the chickens are nonplussed; eventually they seize their chance.
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CRTC opens door for Gabriola Radio
April 1, 2010
gers Communications' bid for a radio range-extending tower on Salt Spring Island has been turned down by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission. The mast would interfere in the service areas of Nanaimo-area broadcasters; particularly Gabriola Radio on 98.7FM.
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A different approach to GHG emissions on the Islands
April 1, 2010
Land-use regulation, particularly using urban-style solutions is not key to reducing carbon footprint on small islands. Local transportation can offer some solutions.
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Electric vehicles
April 1, 2010
Electric transportation might be the best option for island communities.
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April Gardening
April 1, 2010
Spring garden prepartion and recipes using eggs.
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March Garden
March 18, 2010
Gardens for the senses, what to plant now and early spring recipes.
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February Garden
February 18, 2010
Signs of an early spring and late winter recipes.
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Soaking up the sun
February 4, 2010
Brian Crumblehulme talks about the beauty, philosophy, and practicality of washinglines and drying racks—winter and summer.
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Keeping Chickens
December 3, 2009
We can develop unique relationships with our placid feathered friends.
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Salish Sea Name
November 19, 2009
BC and Washington state approve the use of the name 'Salish Sea' for a region of the coast.
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Gulf Islands National Park Reserve - the need to complete the job
November 19, 2009
Elizabeth May explains what needs to happen next for park completion and the importance of a surrounding marine protected area (stalled at at the feasibility stage).
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The Wet Season On A Dry Island
November 19, 2009
Nature, development and tourism affect the fragility of island water supply.
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Measuring Happiness
November 5, 2009
The Islands Trust Policy Statement, Nova Scotia's Genuine Progress Indicator, and Bhutan's Gross National Happiness are some alternatives to GDP which only measures money transactions and, even at that, is a revenue statement without a profit and loss statement or a balance sheet. Patrick Brown takes a good look at the Gross National Happiness survey.
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November Garden
November 5, 2009
Trees, lilies, mulching and savory pumpkin and sweet apple recipes highlight Brian's garden column for November.
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Live Jazz
October 22, 2009
The Jazz Dance tradition is alive and well on Saturna Island.
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Tomatopia
October 22, 2009
Tomatoes from seeds to canning jars.
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Second intervention may save the day for Gabriola Radio
October 8, 2009
Interventions to the CRTC, citing three reasons for Rogers not to erect a new transmission tower on Salt Spring Island, have been filed. The arguments may well keep available the only channel left for Gabriola Radio.
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Garden Calendar October
October 8, 2009
What to plant now and two terrific recipes, one for beets, the other for pears.
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Oldest landtrust turns twenty
October 8, 2009
The oldest land trust in BC celebrated with films, slide presentations, a row around Retreat island and a feast were just some of the events included.
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Cutting Firewood
October 8, 2009
A historical 'how to' on the art and science of chopping wood is still applicable today.
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Gabriola battles Rogers for FM frequency
September 24, 2009
Gabriola Radio was turned down by the CRTC for the only FM channel remaining to the community because broadcast giant Rogers objected, due to 'interference'. Now Rogers has applied to use the channel itself from a new tower on Salt Spring Island. Gulf Islanders are encouraged to object to the application.
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Country Living
August 27, 2009
The ants are among us and a wonder to observe.
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July Garden
July 2, 2009
July in the garden and kitchen.
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Year-Round Garlic
June 18, 2009
How to get that garlic flavour year-round when buying local.
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Kitchen Planning
June 18, 2009
How to design the local foods kitchen for cooking, not storage of food-like products and kitchen appliances.
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On your plate
June 4, 2009
Brian Crumblehulme takes an entertaining and informative look at the provenance of some of our favourite garden foods.
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June garden calendar
June 4, 2009
Garden advice from the 14th century.
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May garden calendar
May 7, 2009
Garden chores and delights, 17th century salad and herb paté.
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Ten Reasons for eating local
April 23, 2009
Brian Crumblehulme lists his reasons for buying and eating locally produced food which include global warming, economics, ethics, safety, food value, security, aethetic, control, and community building considerations.
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Time for a really independent CBC
April 9, 2009
Just as Canada’s constitution defines the needs of the nation and its citizens for governance, the CBC’s mandate defines the needs of the nation and its citizens for a common experience, access to information, and a national forum. An independent broadcaster is just as vital to the functioning of the nation as an independent judiciary.
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April garden calendar
April 9, 2009
Now is the time to relax into the fun jobs of sowing and planting for an abundance of vegetables and flowers. Enjoy rhubarb recipes.
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Spring Overload
March 26, 2009
Spring, the classic season for farm and garden work; to avoid overload everything that can be done at other times should be done then.
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Green Guide book Rrview
March 26, 2009
In this engaging 'how-to' book David Susuki and David Boyd tell of dozens of ways to reduce your carbon footprint and even improve your goodlife.
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Rotation and companion planting
February 26, 2009
This year, I’m going to have my best garden yet! This is such an inspiring time of year for me. I love new beginnings.
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Do it ourselves economy
February 26, 2009
Neither federal nor provincial stimulus packages offer effective help; Salish Sea dwellers can do it themselves, Island style.
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Returning To Eden
December 11, 2008
The Eden Project a English botanical garden which shows the vital connections between people and plants, has an innovative CEO.
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Galiano's EcoPad may be a Islands' housing solution
December 11, 2008
Affordable housing is a serious problem on the Gulf Islands. A group on Galiano has come up with an innovative self-sufficient solution.
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Going to the Websters
November 13, 2008
Island Tides' Patrick Brown was a finalist in the Jack Webster Awards for his suite of articles: ‘Deconstructing Tilma’, ‘Sub-prime fraud made simple’, ‘Carbon tax versus cap-&-trade’, and ‘Oil prices-betting on the only sure thing’ (find them in the Reprints archive).
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November Gardening
November 13, 2008
There's lots to do in the garden this month, including pruning those roses.There's also some delicious food to cook and enjoy.
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Poorer but richer
October 30, 2008
Don't let the 'free market' collapse get you down. There's much more to life in the Salish Sea.
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Southern conservancies annual get-together
October 30, 2008
All of the conservancies do huge work locally with innovative ideas to inform and demonstrate to the public—adults who are in their power now and our children who will come to power—the splendidly beautiful piece of Canada we live in and what it takes to be a part of its continuance, rather than the agent of its destruction.
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First ‘affordable housing’ on Salt Spring
October 16, 2008
Murakami Gardens is the result of partnerships between the Capital Regional District, the Murakami family, the Real Estate Foundation of BC and Salt Spring Island Community Services.
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Denman Beach Clean-up
October 16, 2008
Denman Islanders with garbage bags and wearing gloves, covered specific areas of the foreshore, picking up any debris that did not belong in the natural marine environment, and that was outside a legitimate shellfish aquaculture tenure.
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October Gardening
October 16, 2008
Between the rains, this is indeed an active season. Most fruit will have to be picked and stored indoors. Green tomatoes will eventually ripen on the window sill or you can use them for frying, pickles, or chutney.
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Chores or Way of Life?
October 2, 2008
It always amuses me when visitors look around the yard and garden, and say, ‘What do you folks do here anyway?’ The rehearsed answer is, ‘Oh, drink beer and sleep’—because you know very well the visiting interlocutor is not suited to a rural lifestyle.
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Giving thanks is priority one
October 2, 2008
Fred, having almost consummated marital relations with his wife, Marsha, was a bit confused. Marsha was known to be …vocal…at times like this, but never before had she exclaimed: ‘Priority one!’
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Farm and garden facts: all you ever needed to know about manure.
September 18, 2008
Garden books and magazines wax lyrical about the benefits of animal manure around plants and trees but say little about why…
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Fresh water making the most of it
September 18, 2008
On the Islands, as a small producer supplying our local farmers market, I am keenly aware of the amount of water storage required for cultivating crops.
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September Calendar
September 4, 2008
On the coast at least, September is the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ and, I should add, the seasonfor heavy dews.
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Go Garden
September 4, 2008
Our food choices determine both the health of our children and the extent of control we are prepared to exercise or abdicate. In short, democracy begins with dinner.
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Democracy begins with dinner
August 21, 2008
Our food choices determine both the health of our children and the extent of control we are prepared to exercise or abdicate. In short, democracy begins with dinner.
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Doing Our Bit To Reduce CO2 Emissions—The 9-Ton Target
August 21, 2008
Here’s the breakdown for our Salish Sea person’s proposed target.
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The Good Life: Hornby-style - Reina LeBaron
Aug 7, 2008
'The biggest thing we can do to slow climate change and reduce our carbon footprint is to eat local, organic, primarily vegetarian food'.
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August Cornucopia - Brian Crumblehulme
Aug 7, 2008
There is such an air of expectancy this month when all the summer crops are in fruition and the flower garden is a blaze of brilliant colour.
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We Are The Salish Sea - Peter Judd
July 24, 2008
… not only must we move to a better life, because pollution and habitat degradation are not sustainable, we can do so. If we so chose, you and I are the Salish Sea’s future.
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Divided Highway Islands-style - Chris Scott
July 24, 2008
If we can accept that people in cars, on horseback or walking can share the road within inches of others driving at 50-8okmh, why can we not have pedestrians and slow (10kmh) moving wheeled vehicles traveling in opposite directions on the same piece of smooth pavement?
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Good Life in the Garden - Brian Crumblehulme
July 24, 2008
The serious gardener is always optimistic and always busy, and summer is surely that quintessential time when everything demands attention at once. Not only are we enjoying the summer season for itself, July and August are the months to sow and prepare for fall, winter and next spring. This is also the time to assess your endeavours and take notes to avoid the same mistakes next spring.
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Editorial: Talking About The 'Good Life'
July 10, 2008
Life on nearly all the Islands is dependent on cars, trucks, and ferries because the Islands are isolated and rural but not farming economies, ie we don’t produce much of the food we need to supply our populations. Given this inherent challenge, what can we do to continue the good life on the Islands?
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Car Stops are coming to the Penders - Barry Mathias
July 10, 2008
A community bus is unlikely in the near future, so 14 Car Stops, instead of bus stops, provide a viable alternative. These would be recognized places for people to wait if they needed a lift. It would be free, voluntary, and simple to operate. The good news is that a pilot scheme is going to happen, and should be in place in early August.
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Gabriola bus could use Island biodiesel - Patrick Brown
July 10, 2008
Restaurants on Gabriola generate over 400 gallons of used cooking oil each month, and that might be enough to fuel a 'community bus', says Judith Roux of the Gabriola Transportation Association.
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Singers and their songs - Patrick Brown
July 10, 2008
Three years ago, Pender troubadours Mae Moore and Lester Quitzau held the first of the Red Cedar Songwriters Camps. For both active and aspiring songwriters, this gathering affords a supportive environment to learn and experiment. This year’s camp, at the Hope Bay Bible Camp on June 19-22, attracted some thirty songwriters for an extended weekend of music, workshops, creativity, concerts, and fun.
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A Better Mousetrap - Brian Crumblehulme
July 10, 2008
Sometimes the best ideas simply arrive, so to speak, all on their own. Last year, we happened to be troubled by deer in the orchard reaching up for apples, whereupon they destroyed whole branches. I even caught one at it, standing on his hind legs like a kangaroo.
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Parochial Gardeners - Brian Crumblehulme
May 1, 2008
Our region has four season - not two and it is dry in summer. It makes sense to grow fresh food when it is expensive in the store during our mild, wet season.
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Bowen Nature Reserve
Jan 11, 2007
Bowen Island residents Neil Boyd and Isabel Otter have donated 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of forested land to the Islands Trust Fund as part of a neighbourhood rezoning and subdivision process. The land was donated as an ecological gift.
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How a small dry island can deal with water issues by Jenny Macleod
July 27, 2006
At the second of a series of three workshops on sustainable groundwater management, hosted by the Gabriola groundwater Management Society, the Ministry of Natural Resources demonstrated a computer model illustrating the action/reaction of groundwater resources.
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Affordable Housing Gets Boost
May 18, 2006
The Salt Spring Island Land Bank Society has received $176,000 in federal funding from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to help with the renovations at its house on Dean Road.
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My Geography of Hope
Aug 28, 2004
When I was first approached by the organizers of this year's Pender fall fair, they stated that theme of this year’s fair was ‘Come Grow With Us—Buy Locally’ and as such they encouraged me to speak on the subject of ‘going local’—the growing notion that living and satisfying one's needs closer to home is better for one’s personal health as well as the ecological, social and economic health of the surrounding community.
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'Coyote' by Brian Brett
April 8, 2004
Visualize a turbanned RCMP inspector named Janwar Singh, still a virgin at thirty-six. Add a cerebral beauty of a corporal, a missing woman, and you have a mystery in the making. Salt Spring’s Brian Brett will make you believe in them and much more.
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