Lots of strawberries and Oca for sale
After three years working to develop our nursery specializing in perennial edible plants to feed people, build biodiversity, and to sequester carbon, we have noticed a few others also venturing into this new market. This is a new way of providing for human needs and adapting to a rapidly changing climate; a new form of agriculture that is very different from the old ways. These new businesses are effectively co-creating a new market and we are not really doing this consciously. We seem to be driven by our values for the common good and do not see each other as competition. Instead we instinctively help each other by buying plants from each other, send customers, and sharing information and tips …what is good for the other is also good for us. Anyways, just a quick observation and we can certainly say, that the bottom line has changed and collaboration sure feels A LOT better than competition.
So with that, here’s our spiel for this weeks open house for sales of perennial edible plants here at Eco-Sense:
We have eggs for sale
Date: Saturday April 16, 2016 from 10am-2pm. 3295 Compton Road in the East Highlands. If you are coming to just walk around the gardens please park at the bottom. If you are coming to buy some plants, please drive up top where we have limited parking. We also have eggs for sale at the lower gate and up top in the nursery office (the Eco-Hut).
Here’s the plant list with prices (all prices include the GST). plant list
We have lots of Apricots for sale – 3 varieties. Last year we harvested a whole bucket from our tree – UNBELIEVABLY YUMMY. Our tree has just finished flowering and already the fruit is setting. Woohoo!
Eco-Sense Video memory of the Week: Building the cob bathroom at the local lake. This was a volunteer project. The composting toilet is now in it’s 6 year of operation…and guess who has the cleaning contract for resource recovery? Yup, we do, and now that we are on council we wear two hats with the District of Highlands… we disturb the shit and distribute the shit (we set policy AND clean the public bathroom) – the jury is still out on which one is more valuable. http://www.bcdailybuzz.com/media/3702/Highlands_Cob_Washroom/
Eco-Sense Photo Memory of the Week: Here’s the finished cob bathroom. Public composting toilet/change room – 400 hr volunteer project.
Eco-Sense Council Initiative (from last year). In Highlands Sustainability plan there is a decision making tool on page 91 and 92. This tool was sitting on the shelf and was pulled out and inserted into Highlands Policy in 2015. It is now Highlands policy to use this decision making tool anytime we make any change or create new policy. Yup, you heard that correctly, we have a policy to factor in sustainability goals into all our policy decisions…ha…a policy for making new policy. In any event, it’s a good tool and can be used for any decision making…not just higher level policy decisions. Policy No. II-110. We now have to consider decisions that contribute to a build up of toxic materials in our environment, greenhouse gasses and fossil fuels, degradation of natural systems, un-renewable resource use, AND the undermining of other peoples ability to meet their needs.
Our paddle Honeymoon May 2005 – Sea level is going to be very different in the coming decades.
Links: Sea level rise is going to be rising faster than most models have predicted. The insurance industry was just informed at RIMS 2016 (a couple days ago) that they should plan for a 3 meter rise in sea level by 2050-2060. Yes folks that is 9feet in 35 years. This is based on NOAA data and the recent study by Hanson. Short article…very important read. Here in the CRD we are only planning for 1 meter rise in sea level by 2100. Next week we will share a council initiative around sea level rise. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2016/04/12/405089.htm
Council Failure of the week: Gord’s “Safe Soil” resolution, was voted down for debate by the AVICC delegates. It was a late resolution and needed 75% support to be opened up for debate… it was close as they had to count twice. Not all is lost, as we can submit to the UBCM for September. Oh well… all we can do is try, and we can hold our heads high.
Gord’s Eco-Sense Failure of the Week: Before you ask “which one?” let’s just say… be kind. It has been a bit busy, and Gord had accidentally booked two tours for the same day, and same time. As a matter of fact, Gord forgot to write one of the tours in the calendar. The one that was overlooked… was the one of 25 students… on a bus. Thankfully both groups showed up early, got a longer tour than they had planned, and it turned out GREAT! A HUGE shout out to Central School’s “Living the Good Life” program for extremely engaged students with great questions.
Thanks for reading, feel free to come on out this Saturday and give Gord time management advice…
Three years ago the Eco-Sense nursery idea was seeded. The idea grew out of our distress with the state of the world with respect to quality of food, ecological collapse, and looming economic insecurity. We wished to pursue a resilient lifestyle that could buffer these changes while providing excellent food, free of chemical contamination. At the same time it was essential to us that we love what we do and how we spend our days.
The nursery has certainly become one piece of this puzzle and now in our third year the business is thriving and Gord and I may actually be able to go to the dentist. woohoo! We combine our nursery income, with income from tours, speaking engagements, workshops, consultations, rain water installations, various small building projects, council work, and cleaning the public bathroom (humanure of course). This will be the start of the 6th year for the composting toilet contract…wow time flies… and better yet… no flies!.
We will continue with the Saturday open houses for sale of perennial edible plants for the rest of spring. 
Chicken Runs: We have been converting our annual planted chicken runs with perennial plants. In the last few days we have planted 1 MULBERRY, 2 DWARF CHERRIES, 2 PEARS, 3 PLUMS, 2 HARDY KIWI, 8 COMFREY, and 5 BROAD LEAF FRENCH SORREL. (additions to the existing hazelnuts, figs, plum and mulberry). Each is secured like Fort Knox as the roots are a little chicken of fowl play. These perennials will help build the soil, be less work, and provide lots of dropped food (more bugs the better) for the chickens and us (hopefully not too many bugs). We are also going to down size our chicken flock to keep it at around 10 laying hens. This will be much easier on the land, less work for us, and less eggs to wash and sell. We easily sell our amazing eggs…but it’s not cost effective for the amount of time and the impact to the land. It probably works out to less than $1 per hour for our time. For now, we will still have some eggs for sale.
Sweet potatoes are sitting in the window and starting to make some eyes…in a few week the little sweet potatoes starts should be ready (SWEET!). We had an abundant crop of these amazing tubers as did many others who purchased their sweet potatoes slips from us last year. And yes, those are lemons growing outside the window.
Eco-Sense potting mix. Ann has been starting some of our veggies for the garden and has made up her own special mix. It includes a bit of goat bedding manure in the very bottom of the pot, then filled almost to the top with worm castings (from our veggie sink composter), and then topped with a very fine sifted layer of 2 year old aged humanure. Go tomatoes!!!
Saturday March 26 farm gate sales for perennial edible plants. Lots of new items this week including:
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.
Eco-Sense 