Category Archives: Eco-Sense Updates

We miss you rain.  This spring has been record breaking dry…and record breaking warm…and record breaking fires…and record breaking loss of arctic ice…and record breaking CO2…and record breaking stupid (The throne speech in Saskatchewan comes to mind).   Please come rain, and wash away our records… wash away our tears.

Honey bee enjoying a lemon blossom

However, in spite of all the heartbreaking negative news, we carry on doing what we do and finding our sense of humour with how ridiculous the world is becoming…like Gord coming home from the hardware store and posting this on Facebook:  I walked into Rona yesterday and turned to my right to see pallets (4 or more) full of spray bottles of Roundup stacked and advertised like junk food at the check out. The sheer enormity of the volume of poison I was walking past made me shudder and I verbally swore “fuck” and shook my head… I am sure the person beside me thought I was nuts.  Just another example of human beings exterminating themselves with known carcinogens.
Anyways, here’s what we have been up to:

• new projects in the garden and on the land (photos below)
• Saturday open house for sales of perennial edible plants.  WOW, are we ever meeting some amazing people that are coming out to visit and buy some plants.
  • Sat May 21, 2016 from 10am -2pm.  3295 Compton Road, East Highlands, Victoria.  
• Gardening: Planting, weeding, mulching, watering, picking, drying, and EATING
  • celebrating our local food with every tasty mouthful.
• Chickens and Ducks and 5 chicks and 1 duckling
• Council meetings, committee meetings, and more meetings.
• Tours and consulting
• Ranting on Facebook and sharing information

We are grateful to our land and feel so incredibly lucky to share this land with all the birds, and insects, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, plants and fungi…but we could do without all those ticks.  We are also grateful for our smiling dog Nina…yes this is a smile…she always gives us a toothy grin when happy.

Newest project:  Gord has built a cover over our cob seating area with the cob oven.  We will be making this seating area smaller and cozier with a roof to protect from the sun and the rain.  The photos show how Gord installed the two posts to support the roof, this is a process he uses a lot on fences, trellises and gazebos.

Gord’s political observations of local government officials:  

Political Chameleon

Hardy Kiwi – shading the western side of the house AND producing LOTS of fruit.

It has been 1 1/2 years since we jumped into the political game… Yes – both of us.  On the outside of the system we were driven by injustice and inaction and took the plunge with the hopes of helping create a more resilient and adaptive community.  Our general view at the outset was less than stellar of political folks, thinking that many must get into the game for purposes outside of community service.  We are glad to see we had misconceptions, as most local elected officials we are meeting are genuine and caring people, working for the best interests of their community.  Many of these people share vastly different points of view than we do, but the key here is that they care and are genuine.  

That said there are others out there that we have come to see as chameleons and motived by other forces.  Folks whom may very well publicly share our views, but act very differently when away from the public eye.  Our respect for some has more than evaporated.  We have been attacked by some as being unrealistic when we speak to the elephant in the room around growth and climate change, we have seen some twist David Suzuki’s concept of the “right to clean water”  (under his Rights to Nature initiative) co-opted as the “right to piped water”… and then this person attacks those that see the issue as an environmental “right” to clean water in lakes, aquifers, wells, watersheds, and rainwater.  We have witnessed some withhold information from their council and not allow their councils to interact with municipal staff.  We have also witnessed the pull of financial interests, and too often some that are not prepared for meetings.  But thankfully I can only count those folks on one hand, and am so grateful that our own community of the Highlands does not have any of that going on.

Our council table is generally characterized as diverse, highly intelligent, with different perspectives, and an amazing amount of integrity and genuine care for the community.  I thank each and every one for that, and, for being a model that other councils/councillors in the CRD enquire about.  Metchosin has the same thing going on… an impressive example of a great functioning political system that allows for different points of views and genuine respect for one another… and pride.

I am proud to be on the Highlands Council.  Very proud.

Apricot trees for sale

Disclosure:  So it appears that Councillors Gord Baird and Ann Baird are in a financial conflict of interest with the District of Highlands.  HA.  Last council meeting we both had to leave the room while council disclosed to the public that Eco-Sense (Ann and Gord), hold the contract for cleaning the public bathroom – A composting toilet in a small cob building at the local swimming lake.  All is now good…we can clean the bathroom with our financial secret fully disclosed in a public meeting.  Here’s the link to the council report stating how filthy rich we are getting.  

There it is… short and sweet.  Thanks for reading,

Ann and Gord

Gord helped with the community broom bash again this year.  Broom is an invasive and highly flammable plant.

Last week we left the update sparse, with the understanding that we were crazy busy  juggling a lot of balls.  This week we work at trying to catch up on much needed sleep to alleviate that deep ache in behind the eye balls.   And as for Gord… well we just won’t go any further except to say he is almost caught up on the list Ann has given him.   And for those who have been on a tour… you know what that means.

Bees are thriving – Gord did a split and all seemed good.

Seeing the fruits (and nuts) of our labour.   This year brings more surprises than we have ever seen with virtually all our various plants fruiting from Seaberry, Haskap, Cornelian Cherry, Aronia, 13 types of plums, 11 types of apples, 5 types of pears, 8 types of black currants, 6 types of figs, 4 types of saskatoons, 5 types of kiwis, apricots, currants, goose berries, 6 types of mullberries, 4 types of elderberries, and a host of other edible plants filling in the spaces between.    That may sound a little nuts, but then there are Gord’s nuts.   The hazelnuts and almonds have set this year, and the walnuts are close.  The Russian almond set as well.  The chestnut are growing extremely quick, and likely will set next year.

We are well stocked with most plants.  Here’s the thriving Sea Berries – Excellent berries, nitrogen fixing to feed other plants, and leaves make an awesome tea.

A special approach to the nursery stock this year.  Virtually all nurseries are compromised by time, and watering usually occurs in such a manner as to drench and move on.  This process often causes water to leach nutrients out.  Nurseries compensate by adding fertilizer to the pots, in excess to compensate for this leaching.  This year Gord has been making concoctions of compost tea… with kelp, sea minerals, comfrey, nettle, straw, EM, chicken manure, and composted/ing fish.  The result is a bacterial dense spray every 2 weeks.  The plants love it and we can see a difference.  The nursery is lush and diverse.

As usual, the nursery is open on Saturday May 14th from 10am – 2pm.  (Our 11th Anniversary).  If you cannot make it out on Saturdays and want to buy some plants, just send us an email to set up another time.  gord@eco-sense.ca

Paddle Honeymoon

Married.

2nd anniversary

Married on the beach.

Eco-Sense photo memories from the past: Met online Sept 2004,  Engaged Dec 2004, Married on May 14, 2005, had 1st and 2nd anniversary living in the trailer building the Eco-Sense house.

Eco-Sense Video of the Week:  First Peak moment video of Ann and Gord talking about their plans to build the Eco-Sense home…our first video filming ever.  (Gord still has never watched it).

Baird Council Initiative of the week:  A couple weeks back Gord was pressing to have Deborah Harford, the Executive Director of SFU ACT (Adaptation to Climate Change Team) come speak to council and staff.  He was successful and this past Monday (May 9) Ms. Harford presented – covering the newest science on climate change that is being used in her policy work with governments in preparing adaptation plans.  Highlights?  OMG LOTS!  Governments have been working on data since 2010 that they had to prepare infrastructure (natural and human created) for 1 m sea level rise by 2100.  Five years after, with the newest science, that number has more than doubled.  How do you plan for adaptation when projections for sea level rise doubles in five years?  A 2m sea level rise by 2100 is the same thing as saying 1m sea level rise by 2050 (in 34 years a large percentage of human population globally could be/will be inundated.)  How the hell do you prepare for that?  When asked how theses agencies respond to this new benchmark… answer, “They have fear in their eyes.”

Everything is better with a duck in your life.

Sea level rise locally is one aspect…then there are other risks such as fires, floods, droughts, food and water insecurity, climate refugees, and war (fighting over dwindling resources).

We also learned:

• that loss of soil carbon accounts for 1/3 of global emissions.
• Eco-System Valuation is an emerging trend, and being able to account for such on your balance sheet allows for better choices when faced with development that potentially impacts the eco-system services.
• That every last bit of remaining habitat is critical as species try to adapt to a rapidly chaining climate
• That municipalities only receive 8 cents of every Canadian tax dollar, yet we are responsible for almost all of the municipal infrastructure and adaptation to climate change.  I wonder where that other 92 cents of our tax dollars go?

OK, so all well and good, but what happened after the presentation by Ms. Harford was astounding.  Highlands had a consultant present to council and the community on their analysis and results on the cost/benefit analysis of a proposed aggregate mine in the community on 65 acres of park quality forested ecosystem (adjacent to Thetis Lakes Park).  The consultant was clearly uncomfortable recommending to our community that there was more benefit to the community to clear and blast (65 acres over 36 years) a biologically diverse thriving forest ecosystem that functionally is an extension of Thetis Lake Park.  The financial benefit to the Highlands would be realized slowly until year 36 when the lands would become “industrial” was stated to be more financially profitable than the natural capital that would be lost.   The consultant was visibly uncomfortable as he presented their conclusions.

Benefits of climate change…eating peas earlier than ever before.

It gets better… the audience was full of community members and many actually thought that the consultant was the representative of the mine owner.  The questions and comments were tough and it was sadly clear that the report was based on status quo assumptions of business as usual, with not a single observation of climate change and what that will mean for the site, the services it provides for people and nature, or whether the economic fallout from climate change will even support such an extractive industry 36 years into the future.  One way or another we will be transitioning to a low carbon future…either willingly or through ecological and economic collapse.  Planning for a status quo industrial park in 36 years is insane given the current state of knowledge of the ecological, climatic, and economic projections.  If anyone would like to view the Highlands appraisal form that qualifies the flows of capital (natural, human, social, manufactured, and financial), check out this 4 page PDF.  Form was completed by the consultants and Ann’s notes are overlaid.

Perennial edible plants – Food adaptation strategies.

Baird Council Failure of the week: (Or CRD FAILURE of the week).  A couple weeks back, Ann shared here in this blog, that she had managed to get the discussion on sea level rise onto the CRD Climate Action Inter-municipal Steering Committee agenda.   Her goal was to gain support in putting forward a recommendation to the CRD Environment Committee and the CRD Climate Action group to update their adaptation plans for sea level rise (currently it’s based on the old numbers of 1 m by 2100.)   This week, Ann was told no, that her agenda item was actually not going to appear on the agenda and that forecasts for sea level rise are set by the province…these are what the CRD bases their adaptation plans on.  Anyone have any faith in the provincial government to update their forecasts in line with the current science?  ACK!  Anyways, we have to let these things go and know that in order to keep doing what we do (and maintain sanity) we have to let go of attachment to outcome and just enjoy “stirring the pot”.

Stirring a really big pot,

Gord and Ann

New life has arrived at Eco-Sense.   With Spring comes the first chicks…but we cheated…sort of.  Olive, our hen (who was conceived and hatched here last year), has become a mom herself.  She sat on eggs for 27 days…and being 4-5 days past due, nothing was going to hatch…so sad listening to her sitting there making all the mom hens sounds.  Anyways, Ann broke down and purchased 6 chicks – she snuck them under Olive as she pulled out the past-due eggs (Ann’s sneaky… its amazing what she can hide in an omelette too).   One got squished, but the other five are thriving with their very attentive new mom.  Something so wonderful to see these chicks diving into momma hens feathers.

Bitty Boo, the muscovy female is still sitting on eggs and doing a fine job.

Nursery is in full swing with blossoms coming and going on so many of our plants.  Very beautiful to see new flowers for the first time…like our fruiting quince in the food forest.

Farm Gate Sales – Perennial Edible Plants:  Saturday April 30th from 10am – 2pm.  3295 Compton road, East Highlands, Victoria, BC

We have been busy mulching the nursery plants to keep them healthy, and reduce watering requirements.  As well, Gord has a new pump sprayer to fill with his various brews of home made fertilizers…plants are thriving – its a bacteria fest in the soil… or a bacteria feast for some.

Here’s some photos of the nursery:  Sea Berries, peppercorn trees/bushes, perennial leeks, dwarf cherries, Dug – the duck, Josta berries, currants, apple trees in full bloom, Toona tree (chop suey tree), edible hostas, and literally a couple hundred more edible perennial plants.  Our inventory sheet is here:    WE HAVE EGGS FOR SALE TOO!

Sea Berries, pepper corn plants (

Perennial leeks, (Dug), Josta berries, currants

Flowering apple trees

Toona trees (chop sued tree), edible hosta’s

Here’s some photos of our food forest:  Hardy kiwi, Fruiting Quince flower, Aronia flowers, Mulberry with lots of berries, Walnut with large catkins, etc.

Photos from the past…Eco-Sense cob root cellar.

Eco-Sense Video of the Week:  Here’s one of Gord giving a short Grey Water talk and showing our worm filter.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1OHFKO6HBw

Baird council Initiative of the week:  As a municipal councillor for the District of Highlands, Ann sits on the CRD Inter-municipal Climate Action Steering Committee.  Ann has just submitted an agenda item for discussion at their next meeting:

Topic: Planning for sea level rise. At our first meeting last year, our group was given a presentation on the ongoing work by the CRD on sea level rise. We were informed that the work was based on the provincial forecast of 1m rise in sea level by 2100 and did not include storm surge. The current science indicates that we need to adjust our projections. I would like our committee to discuss this and I would like to put forward a motion for the committee to recommend to the CRD Climate Action Program to update projections for Sea Level Rise (and storm surge) into the planing tools.

Background:   Recent paper by James Hanson (and 17 other leading climate scientists), that it entirely possible that we could experience multiple meter sea level rise mid century (2050). Published March 2016. http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/3761/2016/
The insurance industry was just informed at RIMS 2016 (April 2016), that they should plan for a 3 meter rise in sea level by 2050-2060. This is based on NOAA data. Here is s short must read article. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2016/04/12/405089.htm

And finally, to end this weeks blog post, here is a picture of our salad bar…LOVE.

Apple tree in full bloom

THE WEATHER has certainly been unseasonably warm (record breaking actually)…especially up here at the top of the hill at the Eco-Sense homestead.  We have been busy watering newly planted trees and shrubs and all the plants in the nursery.  Everyday we see more leaves, but with this heat it certainly feels like the grapes should be full out and Ann is feeling like all of her vegetable starts are way behind…but we have to remember, it’s only the middle of April.  Our garden is somewhat overgrown with all the weeds (many edible ones), and the brassicas have gone to full flower, much to the delight of the bees.  Olive our chicken, has been sitting on eggs and was due yesterday, but so far nothing…not a peep…and the duck Bitty-Boo is sitting on four eggs with another 21 days to go.

Apricot tree is loaded this year – 3 types for sale in our nursery.

ECO- SENSE NURSERY is open every Saturday this spring from 10am – 2pm.  We continue to be busy with the nursery and lots of people are putting in their orders and setting up private appointments.  If you can’t make the Saturday time, just send Gord an email (gord@eco-sense.ca)… (or if your Gord editing this update… send it to ann@eco-sense.ca) to set up a private time (and best to ask Gord  to put your appointment time on our calendar – ha), thus the best reason to send your request to ann@eco-sense.ca).   3295 Compton Road, East Highlands, Victoria. Updated plant list:

TO DO LIST:  Our to do list is getting longer than there are hours in the day…and the tour requests are coming in more than ever before.  And on top of all of that, council duties are taking a great deal of time.   So for the first time, we are considering getting a woofer or two…we definitely need some help around here.  Stay tuned.

Eco-Sense photo from the past:  This shot was taken while building the cob house.  Gord is putting in one of our time capsules containing a print out of all of our blog posts from the early days.

Eco-Sense Video of the Week:  Here is a short 3 min video filmed while we were building the cob workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=Ul05AzCkfrk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL   Boy do Gord and I look young in this video…and our dog Boo was a puppy.

Food: Enjoying lots of kale these days…especially all the kale chips from our solar dryer.  (Kale, garlic, leeks, parsley, soy, lemon, ground sesame seeds, and apple cider vinegar).  We don’t by processed foods but are certainly not missing out on the yummy snack foods.  And speaking of kale…my potato patch sprouted kale grass so I took the scissors to it and gave it a haircut filling up 2 large bins of beautiful baby leaves.  I think I will let it grow and give it one more haircut before hilling up those spuds.

Gord’s lunch:  Gord has been testing the health of his gut microbiome…here is his lunch complete with two boiled eggs, pizza sauce fruit leather, feta cheese, raw Jerusalem artichokes, and fermented veggies (cucumber, kohlrabi, and pickled Jerusalem artichokes).  He survived just fine, must have been the wine.

Rant of the week:  Well it turns out that fast food has been found contaminated with phthalates.  Here’s the article.  My guess is that the food picks up the phthalates from the air…air that is saturated with phthalates from scented laundry products and scented personal care products from the people working around the food. YUK. The majority of people use fragranced products every day (we know who you are because we can smell you)…I imagine that their food at home, even if cooked from whole food ingredients, also contains phthalates. It would be interesting to have some samples analyzed in a lab.
When we were going door to door campaigning for office during the municipal elections, we could tell just going into peoples yards that they used fragrances (phthlates), …and then when the doors opened, the smell would sometimes almost knock us down. Wow…so I can only imagine that those fragrances and all the associated chemicals permeate their food, and their lungs, and their skin. The data shows that most people have phthalates in their body fluids. Why do people use these products when the science indicates that they are endocrine disrupters (think thyroid, cancer, sleep disorders, stress regulation, reproductive disorders/infertility, etc, etc). Rant, rant, rant
Even people who do not use fragrances still carry clouds of fragrances around with them (secondary contamination)…simply going out in public we all pick up the chemicals and they permeate our skin, our hair, and our clothes.

Council Initiative of the week:  Not so much Gord’s council initiative, but one that he was involved in.  One of the topics on the CRD Regional Water Supply Commission is water conservation.  Some folks at the table are not at all in favour of it… the more you conserve, the less you can sell, and hell if we have it in the reservoir why not use it… and how dare we restrict people’s access to water.  This past week after several months of working towards it, the new Water Conservation Bylaw was up for final discussion and approval.    In good fashion, Gord walk’s into the room, and thumbs his nose at water conservation by pouring a glass of water… and water on the table… and computer and chair full of water.  This would be classified as a wasteful use and would be classified as a bylaw infraction.  My words to the councillor beside me… as I wear my Eco-Sense shirt and sandals.. “Ahh… fuck water conservation… this is my last chance to waste it”.

Obviously for those who know me… this was rather funny, almost causing the councillor from Colwood to spit out his own water.  The Bylaw passed, with the inclusion to references to Climate Change and the need to develop a culture of conservation in light of it.  Thanks Zeb and Ben.

Council Failure of the week:  Sit down for this one… there wasn’t one.   Guess it means we were not trying hard enough.  Better luck next time.

Rainwater and Filtration:  Hopefully in July we’ll be able to begin focusing on rainwater systems… as our spring has been crazy.   We are very happy with our new ceramic filters too (for the house and the Eco-Hut).  If you are trying to wrap your head around water filtration, trying to minimize waste, not use electricity, and avoid BPA found in some nanofiber filters, ceramic filters are a great option.  Gord is now a local dealer for Doulton (Berkey) ceramic filters.  (Ann’s note:  This is news to me…it’s a good thing I read your edit of my update…I guess this means I’ll be doing the paperwork?  Disclosure…I did know that Gord had been asked to be a dealer…I just didn’t know he accepted.  Maybe we should write more updates together…it could help our communication.)

In light of this, we may need to invite Highlands Mayor over so that we can carry on this discussion with proper Roberts Rules.

Dysfunctionally yours,

Ann and Gord