Spring Swing of Things

Saturday March 26 farm gate sales for perennial edible plants.  Lots of new items this week including:

• Asparagus: some bare root ($10 for 5) and potted ($3/ea).  Bare root will only be available this week!!!
• Strawberries:  some bare root ($5 for 10) and potted ($2/ea).  Bare root only this week.
• Thornless blackberries (Chester and Black Satin):  $14/ea
• Logan Berries: $13/ea
• Rhubarb (Sutton Seedless):  $12/ea
• Perennial Leek (2 year old for $8; freshly planted for $5; bulbs ($3 each).
• New last week from Geoff Johnson:
  • Goumie,
  • Josta Berries,
  • Clove currants,
  • Mulberry (Hunza),
  • Goji (Spring Ridge variety),
  • Dessert King Figs in 2 gal.

Same place, same time:  Saturday 10am – 2pm 3295 Compton Road in the (East) Highlands.  Please park at the bottom of the hill if you are just coming to look around.  Drive on up if you are planning to buy plants.

Full updated plant list…PRICES INCLUDE GST.  

Two great perennial edible plants sales on this Saturday…check out Hatchet & Seed in North Saanich…here’s the link:  http://hatchetnseed.ca/edible-plant-sale/

Can’t make it to the Saturday plant sales?  No problem, send us an email to book your PRIVATE appointment in the nursery.  ann@eco-sense.ca  or gord@eco-sense.ca  Ask about our discount for large orders.

Eco-Sense video of the Week:  Here is part 2 of a garden tour filmed by Peak Moment TV about 3 years ago when we were just starting the food forest…sure looks different now, but still a great video.  http://peakmoment.tv/videos/food-and-permaculture/grow-your-food-in-a-nook-and-cranny-garden-part-2-290/

Grafting:  Gord has been busy grafting all week.  He picked up 150 rootstocks last Friday at the BC Fruit Testers AGM.  His presentation to that group seemed to be very well received.

Final harvest of Jerusalem artichokes…ready for fermenting.  Yummy, crunchy pickles!

Food:  We are eating abundant and delicious food from our garden…in fact we have been all winter.  At every meal we feel such gratitude for the bounty we enjoy and the fact that we do not have to consume food from the industrial agricultural system.  This is no easy task, growing, harvesting, and sustainably processing our bounty is hard work.  Our gut micro biome has evolved to the place where we eat lots of jerusalem artichokes fresh and fermented…they are one of our favourites.  These inulin filled prebiotic tubers feed our gut bacteria, and our bacteria feed us with all kinds of nutrients.  The latest science on this topic indicates that a healthy gut micro biome contributes significantly to our immune function and our brain chemistry.  We literally are what we eat and processed industrial food full of chemical toxins and low in fibre is making people sick.  But remember, sick people are good for the economy.

Baird council Initiative of the week:  

• Gord sits on the CRD Water Commission and initiated a motion (from the sideline), for rain water harvesting in the region that has passed.  WOOHOO.  To come, will be the details as to what the CRD will incorporate into the strategy.  The concept is that specific guidelines for potable water will be stated, cross connection considerations be approved, and the design criteria to allow for such be part of the strategy.
• Follow up from last week.  Ann’s comments on the BC Climate Leadership Plan were fully endorsed by Highlands council and will be submitted on behalf of Highlands council.  Topic covered include:  aviation, LNG, carbon neutral forestry and agriculture, carbon budgets, embodied carbon in construction, loss of sequestered carbon in our natural habitat, CONSERVATION, and more.

Picnic table dog

Baird Council FAILURE of the Week:  Ann represents the Highlands for our regions economic development initiative and tried valiantly to get the following phrase inserted into the constitution of the new society that was being formed to shape the economics of the region; “Promoting local economic resilience through the opportunities arising from mitigating and adapting to climate change”.  This new society is made up of funding partners from most local municipalities, business, educational institutions, and economic development business groups.  There has also been an effort to get first Nations on board.  Most people in the group were not interested in inserting anything to do with climate change into the constitution and there was quite the maneuvering to dilute the municipal vote.  Ann kept Highlands council up to date with her memos to council.  For anyone who shares Ann’s morbid fascination with the internal workings of the system, here’s the links to learn more:
First memo Dec 21, 2015:
Letter written to SVIEDA from Highlands: 
Second memo to Highlands Council Jan 21, 2016:

Ann’s Facebook post on this subject can be found here:  https://www.facebook.com/notes/ann-baird/economic-development-and-climate-change/10154560046207564

Photo from our Eco-Sense Past.

Lower cob walls complete…ready for the bond beam.

Link for the week:  Newest paper from James Hanson and 18 other climate scientists was just published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.  Link  Basically we could see multi-meter sea level rise THIS century and 2 deg C rise in temp is not safe.  This is a problem not for the future, but NOW.   We have a climate emergency.   This link really sums up this latest research which has been all over the alternative news…but has anyone come across it in the mainstream media????

Thanks for reading,
Ann and Gord