Each of the three mayoral candidates has a vision of what they want Fort St. John to be, in the future, under their leadership. I've been reading through their web pages, looking for their visions.
Let's start with the newbie, the political virgin, mayoral candidate Mike Murray (www.mikemurray.ca) According to his rather lengthy, auto-biographical essay, he's been a resident of Fort St. John since 1969, and worked in a variety of capacities at different long-time local companies. If you're looking for a long-term resident to lead the city, my guess is, he would be it. His vision of Fort St. John, which I found at the bottom of the issues page, is a bit disjointed. He wants to restore trust in local government, encourage citizen involvement to create a city to be proud of, and create an environment in which people want to come to Fort St. John, and stay. Succinct, so far. But then he ends his vision with a comment about a young person who wants a go-cart track in town. Maybe it's the latent editor in me, but he should've incorporated that vision - increased youth involvement - a bit earlier in his vision statement. To me, it looks like an after-thought, and if I were a new, young voter, I might not be encouraged by the sense that the needs of young people in the community are tacked on the end as an after-thought.
However, neither of the other two mayoral candidates has mentioned the young people of our city at all, on their websites.
Councillor Don Irwin, who has served on council for 6 years now, outlined his mayoral platform on his website also (www.irwinformayor.ca ). Councillor Irwin appears to be a man of few words, by reading his website this weekend, I have learned more about him than I knew in the previous two elections, including the fact the concept of a complete sentence is foreign to whoever compiled his website. However, he, like Mike Murray, is committed to open government. Councillor Irwin is also dedicated to being a mayor of integrity and trust, one who will work with the RCMP to reduce crime and increase community safety, all while promoting the City in order to bring new businesses and industry here. He too, wishes to encourage citizens to become involved in the business of the city, through town hall meetings and social media.
The third candidate, and first woman in my memory to run for mayor of Fort St. John, is Councillor Lori Ackerman (www.loriackerman.ca). Like Councillor Irwin, she has served on council for the past 6 years. While her website details her thoughts and proposed actions on the many, and varied issues affecting the residents of Fort St. John, I've had some trouble finding her vision for the city. Essentially, it seems she wants to see Fort St. John recognized for its' contribution to the province, and to become sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.
Of the three candidates for mayor of Fort St. John, Councillor Ackerman seems to have thought about the most issues affecting voters in the community, and has written down her opinions regarding how these issues can be addressed in the future. Mike Murray, also discusses a number of issues on his website, including Site C, downtown development, municipal boundary, citizen involvement and the Regional District. Councillor Irwin, has not posted his thoughts on any of the issues affecting voters in Fort St. John. I assume he has opinions, which he really should put on his website. How can one vote for a guy, if we don't know where he stands on the issues affecting our community?
I've been waiting patiently for the reporters at Energeticcity.ca to produce the profiles that were apparently coming, on the various candidates, both for mayor and council. But as yet, there's not a whole bunch of info. All the information I have discussed here, I gleaned from the candidates' websites alone. I assume there's something in the local newspapers, but I stopped reading those, when the quality of the writing (in my opinion) plunged into the toilet and remained there. I mean really, what's the point of buying something, that you cannot read, without being compelled to attack it with a red pen? But that is a rant for another day.
In the meantime, I look forward to the profiles Energeticcity.ca is putting together, to learn more about the people who have put themselves out there, looking to represent our city, and lead us into the future.
May the best candidates win, on November 19th!
(Note: this blog is open to comments. Just please, keep it civil, keep it clean or I won't post it! Thanks for reading!)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Clean up the City to encourage growth
I've been reading over the web pages of the three candidates for Mayor of Fort St. John -- and one thing that they all have in common, is their stated intention to promote the City to the rest of British Columbia, and perhaps even further afield, in the hopes of attracting more workers, residents and tax-payers to the City. For the good of the City, of course. But to do that, I've heard people say, one must dispel the impression that Fort St. John is cold and dirty, and who would want to live here anyhow?
The thing is, it is cold and dirty. Okay, there are a few months of the year, after the sandy residue has been cleaned off our streets, that it's not dirty. But as soon as it snows, back comes the sand. It's a safety thing - we need to put sand on our streets to help keep vehicles on the roads. That makes it dirty. Trying to tell potential residents otherwise would be misleading. And why is the snow such a problem? Well, because it's cold. I first moved here in 1981, and apart from a couple of years recently, I can't remember a Halloween without snow. Halloween is in October. And the reason gardeners of the area don't plant their gardens until the beginning of June, or at least until after the May long weekend? Because there's no guarantee that there won't be snow or frost until after then. So, during 8 months of the year, there is likely to be snow on the ground. Why does it snow? Because it's cold.
Who would want to live here? Despite the extremes of weather we experience, the Peace region is beautiful to behold. And it's fun to live here.What would encourage people to come to Fort St. John? What would make people want to stay?
We need a greater variety of businesses in Fort St. John. The intentions of the mayoral candidates to promote the City to attract workers are good. But make sure its businesses, not just oilfield workers. For example, I am sick to death of shopping at Wal-Mart, and having no choice of clothing for my children other than the cheap crap that Wal-Mart provides. Okay, there's SmartiPantz too, and I love some of their clothes, but the prices are exorbitant, in my opinion.
Who wants to come here from other centres and suffer from a lack of choice? The most variety we have in our local businesses, it seems to me, are the number of drinking establishments in town. Off the top of my head, I counted 10 establishments with bars (they may be restaurants and bars, but they have a BAR) . . . yet there are only 2 places to buy children's clothing. There is only one place for men to buy a suit. And two places for men's work clothes. That's 5 places to outfit people who make up probably more than half the City's population. Yet, there are at least 10 places where one can get plastered.
There is something wrong with this picture. Perhaps it could be addressed, both in the city's promotion campaigns, and through the downtown revitalization project. I gotta tell you, looking at downtown Fort St. John, particularly the blocks of 100 Avenue, between 100th Street and 104th Street, I sure as heck wouldn't want to come here and look at that every single day.
Face it. It's nasty.
Yet I live here. I've lived here for a long time. There are many good qualities to Fort St. John. But if our future leaders are truly committed to making it a better place - a fine, welcoming, prosperous, aesthetically pleasing city, that people will want to move to - you've gotta do more than just tell people we have a lot of jobs up here, and that our summers are beautiful. You've got to back it up with concrete improvements. And I don't mean a few flower pots and the odd tree on the main drag which miraculously survived snow-plows and vandals.
I'm talking about building standards. Standards of appearance. Sidewalks which were laid a little more recently than 1974. Perhaps put the homeless people to work, cleaning-up the streets that they live on, rather than leaving them to hang around our downtown core, no doubt wishing that they had something to do, other than standing around. Not only could they help, but it might give them back some pride, and a sense of accomplishment.
I know people will ask, where would the money for this come from? How about, instead of wasting taxpayer money on entering the City in the Communities in Bloom competition, we take that funding and use it to make our community a nicer place. Who, in Ontario, for example, really cares how many flower pots Fort St. John has? We have to live here - wouldn't that money be better spent on improving the appearance and services of the city for those who actually live here, not some anonymous pack of judges from Ontario? Really, I would've thought it was a no-brainer.
Yes, participating in the Communities in Bloom competition has been a point of pride for previous mayors and councils . . . but how proud can you be of something that's acting as a bandaid on a festering boil on the butt of our city? Make the City nice for everyone, 12 months of year, not just for a pack of judges in who come to town in June.
Whichever of the mayoral candidates who could come up with viable plan to do that, would have my vote on November 19th.
The thing is, it is cold and dirty. Okay, there are a few months of the year, after the sandy residue has been cleaned off our streets, that it's not dirty. But as soon as it snows, back comes the sand. It's a safety thing - we need to put sand on our streets to help keep vehicles on the roads. That makes it dirty. Trying to tell potential residents otherwise would be misleading. And why is the snow such a problem? Well, because it's cold. I first moved here in 1981, and apart from a couple of years recently, I can't remember a Halloween without snow. Halloween is in October. And the reason gardeners of the area don't plant their gardens until the beginning of June, or at least until after the May long weekend? Because there's no guarantee that there won't be snow or frost until after then. So, during 8 months of the year, there is likely to be snow on the ground. Why does it snow? Because it's cold.
Who would want to live here? Despite the extremes of weather we experience, the Peace region is beautiful to behold. And it's fun to live here.What would encourage people to come to Fort St. John? What would make people want to stay?
We need a greater variety of businesses in Fort St. John. The intentions of the mayoral candidates to promote the City to attract workers are good. But make sure its businesses, not just oilfield workers. For example, I am sick to death of shopping at Wal-Mart, and having no choice of clothing for my children other than the cheap crap that Wal-Mart provides. Okay, there's SmartiPantz too, and I love some of their clothes, but the prices are exorbitant, in my opinion.
Who wants to come here from other centres and suffer from a lack of choice? The most variety we have in our local businesses, it seems to me, are the number of drinking establishments in town. Off the top of my head, I counted 10 establishments with bars (they may be restaurants and bars, but they have a BAR) . . . yet there are only 2 places to buy children's clothing. There is only one place for men to buy a suit. And two places for men's work clothes. That's 5 places to outfit people who make up probably more than half the City's population. Yet, there are at least 10 places where one can get plastered.
There is something wrong with this picture. Perhaps it could be addressed, both in the city's promotion campaigns, and through the downtown revitalization project. I gotta tell you, looking at downtown Fort St. John, particularly the blocks of 100 Avenue, between 100th Street and 104th Street, I sure as heck wouldn't want to come here and look at that every single day.
Face it. It's nasty.
Yet I live here. I've lived here for a long time. There are many good qualities to Fort St. John. But if our future leaders are truly committed to making it a better place - a fine, welcoming, prosperous, aesthetically pleasing city, that people will want to move to - you've gotta do more than just tell people we have a lot of jobs up here, and that our summers are beautiful. You've got to back it up with concrete improvements. And I don't mean a few flower pots and the odd tree on the main drag which miraculously survived snow-plows and vandals.
I'm talking about building standards. Standards of appearance. Sidewalks which were laid a little more recently than 1974. Perhaps put the homeless people to work, cleaning-up the streets that they live on, rather than leaving them to hang around our downtown core, no doubt wishing that they had something to do, other than standing around. Not only could they help, but it might give them back some pride, and a sense of accomplishment.
I know people will ask, where would the money for this come from? How about, instead of wasting taxpayer money on entering the City in the Communities in Bloom competition, we take that funding and use it to make our community a nicer place. Who, in Ontario, for example, really cares how many flower pots Fort St. John has? We have to live here - wouldn't that money be better spent on improving the appearance and services of the city for those who actually live here, not some anonymous pack of judges from Ontario? Really, I would've thought it was a no-brainer.
Yes, participating in the Communities in Bloom competition has been a point of pride for previous mayors and councils . . . but how proud can you be of something that's acting as a bandaid on a festering boil on the butt of our city? Make the City nice for everyone, 12 months of year, not just for a pack of judges in who come to town in June.
Whichever of the mayoral candidates who could come up with viable plan to do that, would have my vote on November 19th.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Charlie Lake residents don't get to vote
In spite of the glorious opportunities for change in the city of Fort St. John, residents of Charlie Lake, Area C of the Peace River Regional District, and Zones 1, 2 and 3 of School District 60 will not get to vote on November 19th. Why? Because nobody new stepped up to the plate.
I'm not taking issue with the representation provided by the incumbent directors and trustees (well, except the Area C director, but that's another story), experience is good. I'm just disappointed that no one else put their name forward in these areas to provide the voters with a choice.
Those who live in the rural areas can run for City Council, for the Board of Trustees, for the Regional District, but cannot vote for City Council unless one owns property in the City. Yet, what goes on in Fort St. John, affects all those living outside the city, in its surrounding areas - it's bedroom communities. I know a lot of people who live in the Charlie Lake area and in Montney, for example, who work in Fort St. John. Their children go to school in Fort St. John. Yet, because nobody else stepped up they don't get a say in how the school system is run. If they don't own property in town, they don't get to vote for the people they believe will best represent their interests.
Of course, I understand that if one lives outside the boundaries of the city, one should only be voting in elections of those bodies which directly represent the place where you live . . . but we're all inter-connected here.
I've lost count of the number of articles I wrote for the papers and magazines in which the leaders of Fort St. John have said that although Fort St. John only had X number of people living in it, the city serves a region with a population of something like 50,000 people.
Fifty thousand people. Many of whom won't get a voice this election, because only in the city, have people decided they need to have a voice. And only the people in the city get to choose the people who will represent them, and the fifty thousand people in the surrounding area.
Democracy at it's best. But only if you live in the City.
Okay, sure. I could have run and challenged Arthur Hadland for the Area C directorship. Or I could have challenged Heather Hannaford for the Zone 2 trustee position. But, I know that I would probably not make a good leader. I am too outspoken. Liberal-minded and open to change, yes. But I really don't believe I have the qualities required to make a good leader. That's okay - my destiny is not to be a leader, merely a voice on this blog. And perhaps a member of the kids' school's PAC.
However, at least my area of the PRRD has representation. Area E, which includes Chetwynd, does not. When the deadline for nominations came yesterday, no one, not even the incumbent Director, had put their name forward. Not one, single person in Chetwynd stepped forward to say, "Hey. We need representation. Please elect me to represent you. I care about our area." And so, the deadline has been extended until Monday. But I wonder if that's long enough. How many people in the Chetwynd area know that they are no longer represented on Regional District? And do they care?
To the editor of the Chetwynd Echo - there's a story here! This lack of representation is worse than voter apathy. There are always people who make a point of going out to vote. But they can only exercise that right if there is someone to vote for.
To the residents of Area E - someone step up to represent your region! Give your friends and neighbours the opportunity to vote . . . and then, on November 19 - VOTE!!
I'm not taking issue with the representation provided by the incumbent directors and trustees (well, except the Area C director, but that's another story), experience is good. I'm just disappointed that no one else put their name forward in these areas to provide the voters with a choice.
Those who live in the rural areas can run for City Council, for the Board of Trustees, for the Regional District, but cannot vote for City Council unless one owns property in the City. Yet, what goes on in Fort St. John, affects all those living outside the city, in its surrounding areas - it's bedroom communities. I know a lot of people who live in the Charlie Lake area and in Montney, for example, who work in Fort St. John. Their children go to school in Fort St. John. Yet, because nobody else stepped up they don't get a say in how the school system is run. If they don't own property in town, they don't get to vote for the people they believe will best represent their interests.
Of course, I understand that if one lives outside the boundaries of the city, one should only be voting in elections of those bodies which directly represent the place where you live . . . but we're all inter-connected here.
I've lost count of the number of articles I wrote for the papers and magazines in which the leaders of Fort St. John have said that although Fort St. John only had X number of people living in it, the city serves a region with a population of something like 50,000 people.
Fifty thousand people. Many of whom won't get a voice this election, because only in the city, have people decided they need to have a voice. And only the people in the city get to choose the people who will represent them, and the fifty thousand people in the surrounding area.
Democracy at it's best. But only if you live in the City.
Okay, sure. I could have run and challenged Arthur Hadland for the Area C directorship. Or I could have challenged Heather Hannaford for the Zone 2 trustee position. But, I know that I would probably not make a good leader. I am too outspoken. Liberal-minded and open to change, yes. But I really don't believe I have the qualities required to make a good leader. That's okay - my destiny is not to be a leader, merely a voice on this blog. And perhaps a member of the kids' school's PAC.
However, at least my area of the PRRD has representation. Area E, which includes Chetwynd, does not. When the deadline for nominations came yesterday, no one, not even the incumbent Director, had put their name forward. Not one, single person in Chetwynd stepped forward to say, "Hey. We need representation. Please elect me to represent you. I care about our area." And so, the deadline has been extended until Monday. But I wonder if that's long enough. How many people in the Chetwynd area know that they are no longer represented on Regional District? And do they care?
To the editor of the Chetwynd Echo - there's a story here! This lack of representation is worse than voter apathy. There are always people who make a point of going out to vote. But they can only exercise that right if there is someone to vote for.
To the residents of Area E - someone step up to represent your region! Give your friends and neighbours the opportunity to vote . . . and then, on November 19 - VOTE!!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Political virginity abounds!
As I write this, the deadline for submitting candidacy papers for Fort St. John's municipal election is a mere 6 hours away. I'm pleased to note that for this election, there is a whole slew of political virgins, itching to get their hands dirty in the local political arena.
Virgins, you say? Why did I call them virgins? Simply because a large number of people running for Fort St. John City Council this year have never held public office before. Like the HGTV show, Property Virgins, about people who have never bought a property before - these people who want to run our city, who want to make it a better place for all residents, are Political Virgins.
This is a really good thing.
That's not to say there's anything wrong with long-time councillors running again. Because there isn't. I'm encouraged by the fact that there's going to be a good mix of old and new on council for the next 3 years, following this election. It's pretty much guaranteed.
Okay, on the news this morning, they said that there's enough candidates to completely replace the current council, but I really don't think that's going to happen. While political virginity is a good thing, a whole council of unproven, untried, inexperienced political virgins just might be a really bad idea. Obviously, those running for council care about the city, and how it's run, but to balance their enthusiasm and new ideas, we still need some voices of experience.
The area which really needs to have a large dose of political experience is the position of Mayor of Fort St. John. While I admire the guts of those who run for mayor without any prior political experience, I have to admit that I think its a bad idea. Maybe I'm old-fashioned or something, but I think one should work their way up to the position, get some experience on council first, and see if the political life is really the life one wants. And if they can handle the pressure.
Look what happened the last time a politically inexperienced mayor got elected. The people were unhappy. The city was embarrassed. No doubt, the mayor was also unhappy and embarrassed. I would've been. But, that's done. Come December, he can move on to something more enjoyable, something less potentially volatile perhaps.
At the moment, we have 3 candidates for mayor; and 11 candidates for council, 6 of whom have never held political office. This weekend, after the nominations have closed, I'll discuss my thoughts on the council and mayoral candidates. Hopefully, I will have plenty of encouraging news for the voters of Fort St. John.
Thanks for reading! And remember, on November 19 - go out and VOTE!!
Virgins, you say? Why did I call them virgins? Simply because a large number of people running for Fort St. John City Council this year have never held public office before. Like the HGTV show, Property Virgins, about people who have never bought a property before - these people who want to run our city, who want to make it a better place for all residents, are Political Virgins.
This is a really good thing.
That's not to say there's anything wrong with long-time councillors running again. Because there isn't. I'm encouraged by the fact that there's going to be a good mix of old and new on council for the next 3 years, following this election. It's pretty much guaranteed.
Okay, on the news this morning, they said that there's enough candidates to completely replace the current council, but I really don't think that's going to happen. While political virginity is a good thing, a whole council of unproven, untried, inexperienced political virgins just might be a really bad idea. Obviously, those running for council care about the city, and how it's run, but to balance their enthusiasm and new ideas, we still need some voices of experience.
The area which really needs to have a large dose of political experience is the position of Mayor of Fort St. John. While I admire the guts of those who run for mayor without any prior political experience, I have to admit that I think its a bad idea. Maybe I'm old-fashioned or something, but I think one should work their way up to the position, get some experience on council first, and see if the political life is really the life one wants. And if they can handle the pressure.
Look what happened the last time a politically inexperienced mayor got elected. The people were unhappy. The city was embarrassed. No doubt, the mayor was also unhappy and embarrassed. I would've been. But, that's done. Come December, he can move on to something more enjoyable, something less potentially volatile perhaps.
At the moment, we have 3 candidates for mayor; and 11 candidates for council, 6 of whom have never held political office. This weekend, after the nominations have closed, I'll discuss my thoughts on the council and mayoral candidates. Hopefully, I will have plenty of encouraging news for the voters of Fort St. John.
Thanks for reading! And remember, on November 19 - go out and VOTE!!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Fun Fall Photography
Fall is such an awesome time of year to go out and shoot. With all the tourists and camping families gone home for the season, the lake is peaceful once again, if a tad cold.
Yesterday morning, I went out to the lake (5 mins from our house!) and took advantage of the quiet, and absence of motor boats to sneak up on the ducks who have not left town yet. I've never seen so many ducks near the shores of Charlie Lake before - usually when I'm out there, it's hot and sunny and the ducks are hiding from the humans. Yesterday, however, it was a completely different story. While I was not able to get close enough to get any really good shots of ducks landing or taking flight, I did manage to catch several of them feeding along the shoreline, butts in the air.
They had no idea I was hiding behind a bush, a few metres away!
Not only does fall provide an opportunity to photograph wildlife without human intrusion - but the colours are fabulous! Up here in northern British Columbia, we don't have maple trees, so there's not a lot of red foliage - which I remember from my childhood in Ontario as being spectacular - we have varying shades of yellow, orange and brown, generally. But occasionally, one comes upon a splash of red leaves, as I did when walking around the wetland yesterday. As I mentioned in a previous post - I love how black & white images portray the subject without any distracting colour, to take your eye away from the essence of the photograph - but in this case, the photos I took yesterday would not have had the same impact without the colour.
Add in the reflections from the unusually calm lake, and fall photography in the Peace Country becomes even more fun!
Would you believe these were taken on an overcast, cold and rainy day? Yet the colours still pop.
Today, it's overcast again, and although not raining, it's very foggy out, even at noon. After lunch I'm off to shoot something around the farm . . . maybe I'll find some gorillas in the mist?
Yesterday morning, I went out to the lake (5 mins from our house!) and took advantage of the quiet, and absence of motor boats to sneak up on the ducks who have not left town yet. I've never seen so many ducks near the shores of Charlie Lake before - usually when I'm out there, it's hot and sunny and the ducks are hiding from the humans. Yesterday, however, it was a completely different story. While I was not able to get close enough to get any really good shots of ducks landing or taking flight, I did manage to catch several of them feeding along the shoreline, butts in the air.
They had no idea I was hiding behind a bush, a few metres away!
Not only does fall provide an opportunity to photograph wildlife without human intrusion - but the colours are fabulous! Up here in northern British Columbia, we don't have maple trees, so there's not a lot of red foliage - which I remember from my childhood in Ontario as being spectacular - we have varying shades of yellow, orange and brown, generally. But occasionally, one comes upon a splash of red leaves, as I did when walking around the wetland yesterday. As I mentioned in a previous post - I love how black & white images portray the subject without any distracting colour, to take your eye away from the essence of the photograph - but in this case, the photos I took yesterday would not have had the same impact without the colour.
Today, it's overcast again, and although not raining, it's very foggy out, even at noon. After lunch I'm off to shoot something around the farm . . . maybe I'll find some gorillas in the mist?
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Let the mudslinging begin!!
Mudslinging? No, it's not raining . . . although soon it will be raining political ambitions in Fort St. John, as City Council, the Regional District, and the School District 60 Board of Trustees positions are all up for grabs this fall. If the last municipal election is anything to go by, not to mention some of the items in the media in the past year . . . there will be a certain amount of mudslinging going on in our previously civilized municipal election.
Again, as in the last municipal election, I suspect much of the mudslinging, disparaging personal comments etc., will surround the race for mayor. Certainly, the last election was not too bad, in this respect, but there were some bad feelings on both sides during the campaign. This time around, largely as a result of accusations leveled at our mayor in the past year, there will be some people who may want to point out these perceived short-comings as a reason not to re-elect him.
I really hope it doesn't come to that. It's not a popularity contest, although it may seem like it at times. It's an opportunity for change, if change is needed, and a chance for residents of Fort St. John to make sure that those running our city are the best ones for the job. We need to elect a mayor and council who will best represent the city, at all times, regardless of any personal baggage they may be toting. You know, put their best face forward, at all times. For the betterment of the city they are representing.
With rumours of four potential candidates for Mayor of Fort St. John, I'm looking forward to this campaign, and to hearing the candidates visions for our community.
Of the possible "known" candidates for Mayor, we have the current mayor, Bruce Lantz. Also possibly running are incumbent councillors Lori Ackerman and Don Irwin. Both have served the City well on council for a number of years - at least two terms for each, I think. I must say, however, that in spite of his years on council, I don't actually know much about Councillor Irwin, the issues he stands for, or his vision for the City. Councillor Ackerman has been more vocal - most notably on the issue of handicapped accessibility to all facilities in the City.
So, come October 4th, we will know who is running for which positions, throughout the region. Best of luck to all candidates, and may those who will be represent the City, the Region and the students of Fort St. John, win.
Again, as in the last municipal election, I suspect much of the mudslinging, disparaging personal comments etc., will surround the race for mayor. Certainly, the last election was not too bad, in this respect, but there were some bad feelings on both sides during the campaign. This time around, largely as a result of accusations leveled at our mayor in the past year, there will be some people who may want to point out these perceived short-comings as a reason not to re-elect him.
I really hope it doesn't come to that. It's not a popularity contest, although it may seem like it at times. It's an opportunity for change, if change is needed, and a chance for residents of Fort St. John to make sure that those running our city are the best ones for the job. We need to elect a mayor and council who will best represent the city, at all times, regardless of any personal baggage they may be toting. You know, put their best face forward, at all times. For the betterment of the city they are representing.
With rumours of four potential candidates for Mayor of Fort St. John, I'm looking forward to this campaign, and to hearing the candidates visions for our community.
Of the possible "known" candidates for Mayor, we have the current mayor, Bruce Lantz. Also possibly running are incumbent councillors Lori Ackerman and Don Irwin. Both have served the City well on council for a number of years - at least two terms for each, I think. I must say, however, that in spite of his years on council, I don't actually know much about Councillor Irwin, the issues he stands for, or his vision for the City. Councillor Ackerman has been more vocal - most notably on the issue of handicapped accessibility to all facilities in the City.
So, come October 4th, we will know who is running for which positions, throughout the region. Best of luck to all candidates, and may those who will be represent the City, the Region and the students of Fort St. John, win.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
For the love of . . .
. . . black & white photography!!
I said my next post would be about my initial creative love - before I discovered that writing could actually be a career, albeit not a lucrative one! Once I realized that I could not draw for peanuts, even though I loved to draw, and following the brief creative dry period, when I focussed on school work, band and other things like learning to sew, I got my hands on a camera.
My first forays were, as one expect from a 16-year-old who had never had the opportunity to even touch a camera before, nevermind actually take photos, pretty bad. But even way back then, I was not really interested in taking pictures of things that were "happening", but in making something interesting. And when I had the opportunity to observe a friend of mine developing photos in his make-shift darkroom (I believe it was the bathroom in his brother's house), I discovered how much better black & white was.
Okay, better is a matter of opinion, I know. And don't get me wrong, colour can be fabulous - but usually in other people's photos. My personal preference is for black & white or sepia. Call me old-fashioned, but that's the way it is. Photos of my children look awesome in colour, but by turning them into black & white, they just seem to gain a whole other dimension or quality, that's not in the colour photos.
So, with all the children now at school, all day - our youngest started Kindergarten on Wednesday - I have more time to shoot things other than the kids or my garden!
Here are a few samples of my latest work, in both black & white, and colour.
As you can see, the combine just doesn't look as good in colour, as it does in black & white. The old fence at the back of the corral is the same - it just doesn't look right in colour.
I have taken some photos recently, of knarly dead trees and stumps, which look equally good in colour or b&w - in fact, there's one, that looks better in colour! Yes, I can have an open mind - not everything has to be devoid of colour!
How beautiful is that sky? If only the combine wasn't parked in the trees, I could've had some similar shots of that . . . but I didn't. Trees do make a good background - provided they're blurry, so they don't detract from the main image.
Oh yeah, that's another thing. In addition to loving b&w, blurry backgrounds or foregrounds are features I enjoy incorporating. After years of taking pictures for the newspaper, where the subject matter (no offense to news, I love news, but those photos are not artistic in the least) was often-times boring, and where everything had to be crisp and clear, I am so happy to be able to shoot what I want, the way I want. Yes, I've been able to do that with the kids for the last decade or so, but going out and looking for fun subject matter, is vastly different from going out to look for something for the front page. You know? And it's also vastly different from taking pictures of the kiddos on their birthdays, Christmas and first day of school.
This is art. Different art from that created by my friends Bernice and Diana - they are painters (although Bernice is a master of several mediums, not just painting), and their work is awesome! Different also, from my friend Julie, who does landscape photography and close-up/macro photography. Again, her work is awesome, absolutely beautiful . . . and in colour! Some of the photos she's taken, I could only dream of creating!
Thanks, once again, for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed the selections of my work posted here today. I'll also update my links to include the work of those friends mentioned in this posting, so you can see for yourselves how fabulous they are, and how beautiful their work is.
I said my next post would be about my initial creative love - before I discovered that writing could actually be a career, albeit not a lucrative one! Once I realized that I could not draw for peanuts, even though I loved to draw, and following the brief creative dry period, when I focussed on school work, band and other things like learning to sew, I got my hands on a camera.
My first forays were, as one expect from a 16-year-old who had never had the opportunity to even touch a camera before, nevermind actually take photos, pretty bad. But even way back then, I was not really interested in taking pictures of things that were "happening", but in making something interesting. And when I had the opportunity to observe a friend of mine developing photos in his make-shift darkroom (I believe it was the bathroom in his brother's house), I discovered how much better black & white was.
Okay, better is a matter of opinion, I know. And don't get me wrong, colour can be fabulous - but usually in other people's photos. My personal preference is for black & white or sepia. Call me old-fashioned, but that's the way it is. Photos of my children look awesome in colour, but by turning them into black & white, they just seem to gain a whole other dimension or quality, that's not in the colour photos.
So, with all the children now at school, all day - our youngest started Kindergarten on Wednesday - I have more time to shoot things other than the kids or my garden!
Here are a few samples of my latest work, in both black & white, and colour.
I have taken some photos recently, of knarly dead trees and stumps, which look equally good in colour or b&w - in fact, there's one, that looks better in colour! Yes, I can have an open mind - not everything has to be devoid of colour!
Oh yeah, that's another thing. In addition to loving b&w, blurry backgrounds or foregrounds are features I enjoy incorporating. After years of taking pictures for the newspaper, where the subject matter (no offense to news, I love news, but those photos are not artistic in the least) was often-times boring, and where everything had to be crisp and clear, I am so happy to be able to shoot what I want, the way I want. Yes, I've been able to do that with the kids for the last decade or so, but going out and looking for fun subject matter, is vastly different from going out to look for something for the front page. You know? And it's also vastly different from taking pictures of the kiddos on their birthdays, Christmas and first day of school.
This is art. Different art from that created by my friends Bernice and Diana - they are painters (although Bernice is a master of several mediums, not just painting), and their work is awesome! Different also, from my friend Julie, who does landscape photography and close-up/macro photography. Again, her work is awesome, absolutely beautiful . . . and in colour! Some of the photos she's taken, I could only dream of creating!
Thanks, once again, for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed the selections of my work posted here today. I'll also update my links to include the work of those friends mentioned in this posting, so you can see for yourselves how fabulous they are, and how beautiful their work is.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Real Summer or Indian Summer?
It's an absolutely glorious day, again, in Fort St. John. After one of the worst summers of all time, weather-wise, it seems that now that school has started up again, summer has arrived. But since it's September, is it really summer, or Indian Summer? I wonder, but I'm not complaining - this weather is fabulous! How often do you get 29C temperatures in September, up here? Umm, let me think . . . never!!
This fantastic weather is giving my garden a chance to catch up - I have more peas ready to harvest, the beans are actually getting a chance to grow . . . but my greenhouse, alas, is done for the year. I cleaned it out a few days ago, there's only 5 tomato plants left in there now, but as soon as I finish picking the ripe ones, they're going too. The leaves are turning yellow, despite daily watering and tons of sunshine, so I think that's it for 2011. That's okay though, gives me a chance to finish with the garden - I have a ton of carrots to put up - and plan the whole shebang again for next spring.
This was the garden, in all it's mostly weed-free glory a couple of weeks ago. Everything is bigger now, except the potatoes, as I've pulled up some, as well as some carrots. The Buttercrunch lettuce got away on me, while I was waiting for heads to form, the plants decided to bolt instead - I'll try it again next year, but at least the Romaine turned out awesome. I just planted a little too much. My planting plan was based on an expected 50% death rate, but I don't think even 25% of the plants died. So unless we had salad every single day, there's no way I could keep up with my lettuce crop.
Remember, one-third of this garden is an experiment! A very successful experiment, if I may be allowed to brag!
Must go and weed now, and harvest more carrots, beets and peas. Next blog post, I'll share some of the other stuff I've been doing this month . . . a departure from gardening, and back to one of my earlier loves, before I'd really discovered writing as an art form.
Hopefully, you'll love what I've come up with!
Thanks for reading!
This fantastic weather is giving my garden a chance to catch up - I have more peas ready to harvest, the beans are actually getting a chance to grow . . . but my greenhouse, alas, is done for the year. I cleaned it out a few days ago, there's only 5 tomato plants left in there now, but as soon as I finish picking the ripe ones, they're going too. The leaves are turning yellow, despite daily watering and tons of sunshine, so I think that's it for 2011. That's okay though, gives me a chance to finish with the garden - I have a ton of carrots to put up - and plan the whole shebang again for next spring.
This was the garden, in all it's mostly weed-free glory a couple of weeks ago. Everything is bigger now, except the potatoes, as I've pulled up some, as well as some carrots. The Buttercrunch lettuce got away on me, while I was waiting for heads to form, the plants decided to bolt instead - I'll try it again next year, but at least the Romaine turned out awesome. I just planted a little too much. My planting plan was based on an expected 50% death rate, but I don't think even 25% of the plants died. So unless we had salad every single day, there's no way I could keep up with my lettuce crop.
Remember, one-third of this garden is an experiment! A very successful experiment, if I may be allowed to brag!
Must go and weed now, and harvest more carrots, beets and peas. Next blog post, I'll share some of the other stuff I've been doing this month . . . a departure from gardening, and back to one of my earlier loves, before I'd really discovered writing as an art form.
Hopefully, you'll love what I've come up with!
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Weird s&%t for sale
Sometimes, you just gotta laugh at the weird stuff people advertise for sale in the classifieds. I think there should be a new section entitled: Weird Stuff To Buy or Sell. Seriously.
Take one of the recent free publications that arrived in our mailbox this week. In the For Sale, Misc column, in addition to log loaders, an ATV sprayer and a skidoo trailer, someone is selling an 8-year old gas furnace and hot water heater. All pipes included. Wouldn't that thing be, well, old and inefficient? I understand that perhaps the previous owner wants to recoup some of his money when upgrading to a newer, more efficient model . . . but with the price of utilities these days, who's going to buy an old furnace? Unless, of course, their furnace is 18 years old. Then that would be an upgrade.
It gets better.
In the Wanted column, we have someone looking for used portable outhouses. Ewwwwww! Pre-cleaned? Doesn't say. This guy also wants some old school bus seats . . . perhaps he's going to build a better outhouse? With padded seating for those times when you're all bunged up and need to sit awhile? Or perhaps, he just has an old bus with wrecked seats and wants to install some nicer ones?
Nah, I think I like the idea of using the seats in the outhouses better! Sometimes, you just gotta laugh. I did.
Take one of the recent free publications that arrived in our mailbox this week. In the For Sale, Misc column, in addition to log loaders, an ATV sprayer and a skidoo trailer, someone is selling an 8-year old gas furnace and hot water heater. All pipes included. Wouldn't that thing be, well, old and inefficient? I understand that perhaps the previous owner wants to recoup some of his money when upgrading to a newer, more efficient model . . . but with the price of utilities these days, who's going to buy an old furnace? Unless, of course, their furnace is 18 years old. Then that would be an upgrade.
It gets better.
In the Wanted column, we have someone looking for used portable outhouses. Ewwwwww! Pre-cleaned? Doesn't say. This guy also wants some old school bus seats . . . perhaps he's going to build a better outhouse? With padded seating for those times when you're all bunged up and need to sit awhile? Or perhaps, he just has an old bus with wrecked seats and wants to install some nicer ones?
Nah, I think I like the idea of using the seats in the outhouses better! Sometimes, you just gotta laugh. I did.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Whew! That was close!
By the grace of God, or Mother Nature, the predicted frost for last night didn't materialise . . . which was really good, since I hadn't found anything to cover up all my plants with!
Yes, I still have bean plants with no beans on them - flowers, yes, but no beans as yet - I have pea plants with only the tiniest, flat pea pods on them, and the weatherman was predicting frost. In August. This has been a truly terrible summer, horticulturally speaking. Snow in June, rain throughout July, and then frost before the end of August. Man, I hope next year is better!
On the positive side . . . I pulled up 2 potato plants the other day, and the spuds are awesome! So delicious. I also pulled half a row of carrots, most of which I'm going to freeze for the winter, but I have some of them in the fridge, scrubbed, leaves removed and ready for peeling. Yummy. Oh yeah, these are the Nantes Scarlet Core carrots. I haven't picked any of the Imperators yet.
The Diva cucumber I had growing in the greenhouse is done, in spite of watering etc., its leaves are turning pale green and there's no more cukes on it, so I'll have to remove it in short order. The other cukes are still growing well, regardless of the lower nighttime temperatures.
But the peppers have still not been harvested. They're not very big, I'm not sure if they're ready . . . and now, they're infested with Aphids. Just the peppers, both green and red. And one broccoli plant, but the broccoli is about done now too, I think.
All in all, I think it's been a fairly successful summer in the garden, in spite of the crappy weather. Clearly, there are some things that I need to change for next year - but that's okay. It's a learning experience, and I learned what not to do in the greenhouse! Number one - bigger pots for the tomatoes right from the beginning; and two - set up the irrigation system as soon as the plants are in their bigger pots. Watering them automatically, twice a day seems to work far better than at high noon. More fertilizer would be good too.
Next year, I will have a bigger garden - my husband is going to build a proper fence (no more corral panels) for me, enclosing the greenhouse in the garden, and giving me a fresh new large spot for planting. It should be fabulous! I'm already plotting what veges to plant!
Yes, I still have bean plants with no beans on them - flowers, yes, but no beans as yet - I have pea plants with only the tiniest, flat pea pods on them, and the weatherman was predicting frost. In August. This has been a truly terrible summer, horticulturally speaking. Snow in June, rain throughout July, and then frost before the end of August. Man, I hope next year is better!
On the positive side . . . I pulled up 2 potato plants the other day, and the spuds are awesome! So delicious. I also pulled half a row of carrots, most of which I'm going to freeze for the winter, but I have some of them in the fridge, scrubbed, leaves removed and ready for peeling. Yummy. Oh yeah, these are the Nantes Scarlet Core carrots. I haven't picked any of the Imperators yet.
The Diva cucumber I had growing in the greenhouse is done, in spite of watering etc., its leaves are turning pale green and there's no more cukes on it, so I'll have to remove it in short order. The other cukes are still growing well, regardless of the lower nighttime temperatures.
But the peppers have still not been harvested. They're not very big, I'm not sure if they're ready . . . and now, they're infested with Aphids. Just the peppers, both green and red. And one broccoli plant, but the broccoli is about done now too, I think.
All in all, I think it's been a fairly successful summer in the garden, in spite of the crappy weather. Clearly, there are some things that I need to change for next year - but that's okay. It's a learning experience, and I learned what not to do in the greenhouse! Number one - bigger pots for the tomatoes right from the beginning; and two - set up the irrigation system as soon as the plants are in their bigger pots. Watering them automatically, twice a day seems to work far better than at high noon. More fertilizer would be good too.
Next year, I will have a bigger garden - my husband is going to build a proper fence (no more corral panels) for me, enclosing the greenhouse in the garden, and giving me a fresh new large spot for planting. It should be fabulous! I'm already plotting what veges to plant!
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Ultimate Deer Repellent
Last night, I was digging through boxes in our garage, looking for my binders of clippings for a job interview I have this morning. Discovered a whole pile of other treasures in the process -- like my university transcript (I was wondering where that was!), all the essays I wrote at university, letters from my mother, every day-timer I'd ever had since becoming a reporter in 1994 . . . the list goes on.
As I was putting some of the boxes away, my children, who were lurking in garage, wanting to dig through my boxes of stuff themselves (I think not, kiddos!) happened to look out the window in door, which faces the front yard.
"MUM!!" our son yells, "There's deer in your garden!"
I've been fighting the deer of late, after leaving my flower gardens alone all summer, they have now decided that I must've put up a salad bar for them, because they're in there every night. I've been forced to put "hats" on all my flowers - up-ended plant pots - to protect them, which seems to be working.
But since I hadn't put the hats on my plants yet - it was barely 9 p.m., I had to take other, more drastic measures, immediately. I gave our daughter the papers I had found, and sprinted for the door, grabbing our son's hockey stick on the way.
Out the door and across the lawn, I ran, in my slippers, brandishing the hockey stick and hollering at the top of my lungs - ARRRGH!!!! Get OUT of MY garden!!!!!
Those three deer didn't even stop to look at me, they took off as though the hounds of hell were after them! Probably wondering exactly what the hell kind of dog we'd gotten! Of course, the neighbours are probably still wondering what we were up to!
The kids brought me the hats for the plants and together we covered them up, while my husband went looking in the bush, to make sure the deer weren't trying to sneak back into the yard. They were long gone.
Did I find my box with all the clippings? Nope, it's still in the seacan, I guess. It's certainly not in the house, so I guess I'll just have to wing it. And make up one of those deer repellent potions after my interview. I can't spend every night running around in the yard, in my slippers, screaming and waving a hockey stick!
As I was putting some of the boxes away, my children, who were lurking in garage, wanting to dig through my boxes of stuff themselves (I think not, kiddos!) happened to look out the window in door, which faces the front yard.
"MUM!!" our son yells, "There's deer in your garden!"
I've been fighting the deer of late, after leaving my flower gardens alone all summer, they have now decided that I must've put up a salad bar for them, because they're in there every night. I've been forced to put "hats" on all my flowers - up-ended plant pots - to protect them, which seems to be working.
But since I hadn't put the hats on my plants yet - it was barely 9 p.m., I had to take other, more drastic measures, immediately. I gave our daughter the papers I had found, and sprinted for the door, grabbing our son's hockey stick on the way.
Out the door and across the lawn, I ran, in my slippers, brandishing the hockey stick and hollering at the top of my lungs - ARRRGH!!!! Get OUT of MY garden!!!!!
Those three deer didn't even stop to look at me, they took off as though the hounds of hell were after them! Probably wondering exactly what the hell kind of dog we'd gotten! Of course, the neighbours are probably still wondering what we were up to!
The kids brought me the hats for the plants and together we covered them up, while my husband went looking in the bush, to make sure the deer weren't trying to sneak back into the yard. They were long gone.
Did I find my box with all the clippings? Nope, it's still in the seacan, I guess. It's certainly not in the house, so I guess I'll just have to wing it. And make up one of those deer repellent potions after my interview. I can't spend every night running around in the yard, in my slippers, screaming and waving a hockey stick!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
FSJ prepared for a flash flood? Think not!
Apparently, our mayor thinks the City of Fort St. John is now adequately prepared to withstand a flash flood. What, they have a fleet of vac trucks on standby in the event of another downpour??
Grow a flipping brain, man.
The situation is no different than it was this past weekend, or two weeks before that. The city has an inadequate sewage system. God knows when it was last upgraded - certainly not recently, in the Matthew's Park area. Clearly, the city planners didn't either anticipate the possible future growth of the city; or they figured it would never rain that much.
Add to that, the fact that many of the flooded properties and streets are located at the bottom of a hill (water runs downhill, in case you were wondering), and on the site of a former swamp. Obviously, the natural drainage properties of the land are going to compromised when said land is a swamp.
And the newer houses which got flooded at the other end of town? Okay, they're on top of a hill. But, the by-pass road is higher than the properties. Again, the sewage system needs upgrading and how many of these properties were properly graded by the builder when they were completed? Do the yards actually slope away from the houses, or were they just made nice and flat by the builders and left?
When we built our house, we made sure the land sloped away from the house. We even have two shallow drainage ditches (which are still soaking wet) to direct water away from the house, and out to the edge of the backyard. Our old house, was also properly graded. But unfortunately, not our next door neighbours. Every spring, they had water coming in their basement when the snow melted and headed straight for their foundation. I remember one spring, they sandbags out, just to keep the water out of the basement. Pretty extreme for a house in town, on top of a hill, with no river in sight. They've since built a berm of earth and grass around their foundation and it seems to have done the trick.
Perhaps this is what our mayor means, when he says the City is prepared for another flash flood?? He's laid in a supply of sandbags? To go with the army of vac trucks? Or perhaps he has a large supply of porta-potties in his backyard, ready for when people are told not to use water, and therefore not flush their toilets to avoid putting further stress on the inadequate sewage system?
Of course, you know, that no matter what he says, it's all political-speak and actually has no substance or meaning that the people can count on. Full of hot air, I believe my parents would say! Maybe enough hot air will evaporate the rain as it falls, and then there will be no further issues?
I'm not holding my breath, but it will be interesting to see what measures he will trot out, come the next flood. I'm guessing that will be August long-weekend?
Grow a flipping brain, man.
The situation is no different than it was this past weekend, or two weeks before that. The city has an inadequate sewage system. God knows when it was last upgraded - certainly not recently, in the Matthew's Park area. Clearly, the city planners didn't either anticipate the possible future growth of the city; or they figured it would never rain that much.
Add to that, the fact that many of the flooded properties and streets are located at the bottom of a hill (water runs downhill, in case you were wondering), and on the site of a former swamp. Obviously, the natural drainage properties of the land are going to compromised when said land is a swamp.
And the newer houses which got flooded at the other end of town? Okay, they're on top of a hill. But, the by-pass road is higher than the properties. Again, the sewage system needs upgrading and how many of these properties were properly graded by the builder when they were completed? Do the yards actually slope away from the houses, or were they just made nice and flat by the builders and left?
When we built our house, we made sure the land sloped away from the house. We even have two shallow drainage ditches (which are still soaking wet) to direct water away from the house, and out to the edge of the backyard. Our old house, was also properly graded. But unfortunately, not our next door neighbours. Every spring, they had water coming in their basement when the snow melted and headed straight for their foundation. I remember one spring, they sandbags out, just to keep the water out of the basement. Pretty extreme for a house in town, on top of a hill, with no river in sight. They've since built a berm of earth and grass around their foundation and it seems to have done the trick.
Perhaps this is what our mayor means, when he says the City is prepared for another flash flood?? He's laid in a supply of sandbags? To go with the army of vac trucks? Or perhaps he has a large supply of porta-potties in his backyard, ready for when people are told not to use water, and therefore not flush their toilets to avoid putting further stress on the inadequate sewage system?
Of course, you know, that no matter what he says, it's all political-speak and actually has no substance or meaning that the people can count on. Full of hot air, I believe my parents would say! Maybe enough hot air will evaporate the rain as it falls, and then there will be no further issues?
I'm not holding my breath, but it will be interesting to see what measures he will trot out, come the next flood. I'm guessing that will be August long-weekend?
Monday, July 11, 2011
Lettuce Love Liquid
Lettuce love liquid . . . yes, indeedy they do. Particularly when it comes in the form of 3 inches of rain!!
That's how much rain we've had in our latest dump since Friday, 3 more inches. Gotta tell you though, the weeds are loving it entirely too much. I'd just finished weeding before the rain and Presto! more weeds had appeared when I went out to empty my rain gauge yesterday evening.
The potatoes are also loving the rain - in fact, they've grown so much in the past few days, I think I'm going to have to hoe them again, and I only did that a week ago! Not that I'm complaining, the growth is awesome, especially if I don't have to use our temperamental well to do the watering . . . but the old arthritis in my fingers makes hoeing a bit more of a chore than it used to be.
The two plants which do not seem to like this rain at all, are the tomatoes and the cucumbers in the garden. They are not at all happy. Especially when one compares them to the ones in the greenhouse. The plants in the greenhouse are growing like weeds (but in a good way, haha) and I have to rearrange my greenhouse because in the past couple of days, my broccoli have grown too big for the spot I had them in. Ooops.
I'm beginning to think I might need that second greenhouse after-all!! Yet last year, I only managed to successfully grow 2 cucumber plants, everything else died. This year however, I have 5 healthy, growing cucumber plants in the greenhouse, 6 healthy tomato plants, 6 healthy broccoli and 3 healthy pepper plants. Although, I must admit, I'm having a wee issue with my Balls Beefsteak tomatoes - the plant is healthy and is growing well, but, the tomatoes themselves have a weird green part on the top around the stem. It just appeared the day after the last time I fertilized, so I'm not sure what's up with that. The other tomatoes are fine. Perhaps, I'm just not meant to grow beefsteak tomatoes??
It's bizarre, what's going on with the tomatoes, because they're all in the same dirt. They're all on the same side of the greenhouse. They all get watered and fertilized at the same time. And only the Beefsteak have this problem - perhaps another gardener out there, who is reading this, could tell me if Beefsteaks are prone to this type of thing? And are the fruit still edible? Beefsteaks are huge, so I would be wasting a lot of tomato if I had to compost them!!
(Top: Buttercrunch; bottom: Romaine - these photos were taken on Thursday. They're bigger now)
That's how much rain we've had in our latest dump since Friday, 3 more inches. Gotta tell you though, the weeds are loving it entirely too much. I'd just finished weeding before the rain and Presto! more weeds had appeared when I went out to empty my rain gauge yesterday evening.
The potatoes are also loving the rain - in fact, they've grown so much in the past few days, I think I'm going to have to hoe them again, and I only did that a week ago! Not that I'm complaining, the growth is awesome, especially if I don't have to use our temperamental well to do the watering . . . but the old arthritis in my fingers makes hoeing a bit more of a chore than it used to be.
The two plants which do not seem to like this rain at all, are the tomatoes and the cucumbers in the garden. They are not at all happy. Especially when one compares them to the ones in the greenhouse. The plants in the greenhouse are growing like weeds (but in a good way, haha) and I have to rearrange my greenhouse because in the past couple of days, my broccoli have grown too big for the spot I had them in. Ooops.
(First photo is of the Sub-Arctics in the greenhouse; second is the Sub-Arctics in the garden. Quite a difference!)
I'm beginning to think I might need that second greenhouse after-all!! Yet last year, I only managed to successfully grow 2 cucumber plants, everything else died. This year however, I have 5 healthy, growing cucumber plants in the greenhouse, 6 healthy tomato plants, 6 healthy broccoli and 3 healthy pepper plants. Although, I must admit, I'm having a wee issue with my Balls Beefsteak tomatoes - the plant is healthy and is growing well, but, the tomatoes themselves have a weird green part on the top around the stem. It just appeared the day after the last time I fertilized, so I'm not sure what's up with that. The other tomatoes are fine. Perhaps, I'm just not meant to grow beefsteak tomatoes??
(If you look closely, you can see the green part on the top of the tomato - this was taken on Thursday, since then, the biggest one has started to ripen and the green part is even more noticeable.)
It's bizarre, what's going on with the tomatoes, because they're all in the same dirt. They're all on the same side of the greenhouse. They all get watered and fertilized at the same time. And only the Beefsteak have this problem - perhaps another gardener out there, who is reading this, could tell me if Beefsteaks are prone to this type of thing? And are the fruit still edible? Beefsteaks are huge, so I would be wasting a lot of tomato if I had to compost them!!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Mourning Christchurch
Today, I'm mourning Christchurch, NZ again. On Friday, deconstruction started in the CBD, also known as the "Red Zone" of Christchurch. I've recently discovered the work of Ross Becker, who has been commissioned by the National Library (of NZ) to record the devastation of Christchurch for their digital archives. And record it he has! His work is fabulous (other photos as well as those of the earthquakes' damage), and yesterday, he uploaded photos of the deconstruction to his website ( https://picasaweb.google.com/RossBeckerNZ ). I thought the images of how the earthquakes had destroyed the buildings in the Central City were bad enough, but the actual deconstruction . . . well, that just makes it worse.
I know it had to be done. There's no other option, really. The buildings were dangerous how they were, and despite their former beauty and the history they represented, they have to go. But now, alas, all I'm left with are memories (no photos, bugger it) of what was once there.
Cashel Mall, which to the untrained eye, looked somewhat intact, now resembles a wasteland or war-zone, with building after building falling to the buckets of the exacavators . . . including the Whitcoulls building, where I spent much of my hard-saved money as both a high school and university student. All I have to show for it, that I am positive came from that particular store, is a Stadlaeter eraser, which I bought there in 1987. Yes, it's weird that I have this "keepsake" of Whitcoulls, but I do.
In Cathedral Square, buildings are also being demolished, including the Regent Theatre on Worcester St. How many times did my friends and I go to the pictures there?? Countless. I remember several times in the 6th Form, we went and several of us shorter people (who were 16 or so at the time) lied and got in for the price of a 13-year old!! I think it was there, that one of the boys in the group (I'm thinking Daniel or Mike?) dropped their box of Snifters and they spilled all over the floor in a noisy cascade!
If I'd only known that one day the Regent Theatre would be destroyed by an earthquake, I would've taken some pictures of it. But who goes around taking photos of buildings in their hometown, just in case an earthquake hits? Not me. And now I wish I had.
So many places, so many things about the Garden City, I took for granted and assumed would always be there . . . even sitting along the Avon, feeding the ducks, will not be the same. The skyline has been markedly changed. The best place was on Oxford Terrace, near the Bridge of Remembrance. No doubt the ducks are still there, but with the Central City having been abandonned for months, they're having to rely on themselves for food. No breadcrumbs for the ducks in 2011. Nor the seagulls either, although I guarantee, when the CBD opens again to the public, and people return to feeding the ducks, those seagulls will be more aggressive than ever!!
But the building which makes me the most sad, is St. John's Latimer Square. They've already pulled down the church hall, and no doubt the church itself is next. I wish that were not the case - this building is not just a historic Christchurch building, but a significant one in my family also. It was at St. John's that my grand-parents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandfather (second marriage after his first wife, my great-great-grandmother, died) all got married.
I'm sure everyone in Christchurch is losing a piece of personal history, now that these buildings, by necessity, are being torn down. Theoretically, their passing will make room for more green space, more gardens, and the beauty of Christchurch will rise again from this devastation . . . but it will never be the same.
The city that was, the Garden City of four, twenty and thirty-plus years ago, will live on in my memory as the most beautiful city in New Zealand . . . may it rise again from the havoc wrought by Mother Nature to claim this position again. Regardless of how long it takes, it will always be my home.
I know it had to be done. There's no other option, really. The buildings were dangerous how they were, and despite their former beauty and the history they represented, they have to go. But now, alas, all I'm left with are memories (no photos, bugger it) of what was once there.
Cashel Mall, which to the untrained eye, looked somewhat intact, now resembles a wasteland or war-zone, with building after building falling to the buckets of the exacavators . . . including the Whitcoulls building, where I spent much of my hard-saved money as both a high school and university student. All I have to show for it, that I am positive came from that particular store, is a Stadlaeter eraser, which I bought there in 1987. Yes, it's weird that I have this "keepsake" of Whitcoulls, but I do.
In Cathedral Square, buildings are also being demolished, including the Regent Theatre on Worcester St. How many times did my friends and I go to the pictures there?? Countless. I remember several times in the 6th Form, we went and several of us shorter people (who were 16 or so at the time) lied and got in for the price of a 13-year old!! I think it was there, that one of the boys in the group (I'm thinking Daniel or Mike?) dropped their box of Snifters and they spilled all over the floor in a noisy cascade!
If I'd only known that one day the Regent Theatre would be destroyed by an earthquake, I would've taken some pictures of it. But who goes around taking photos of buildings in their hometown, just in case an earthquake hits? Not me. And now I wish I had.
So many places, so many things about the Garden City, I took for granted and assumed would always be there . . . even sitting along the Avon, feeding the ducks, will not be the same. The skyline has been markedly changed. The best place was on Oxford Terrace, near the Bridge of Remembrance. No doubt the ducks are still there, but with the Central City having been abandonned for months, they're having to rely on themselves for food. No breadcrumbs for the ducks in 2011. Nor the seagulls either, although I guarantee, when the CBD opens again to the public, and people return to feeding the ducks, those seagulls will be more aggressive than ever!!
But the building which makes me the most sad, is St. John's Latimer Square. They've already pulled down the church hall, and no doubt the church itself is next. I wish that were not the case - this building is not just a historic Christchurch building, but a significant one in my family also. It was at St. John's that my grand-parents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandfather (second marriage after his first wife, my great-great-grandmother, died) all got married.
The city that was, the Garden City of four, twenty and thirty-plus years ago, will live on in my memory as the most beautiful city in New Zealand . . . may it rise again from the havoc wrought by Mother Nature to claim this position again. Regardless of how long it takes, it will always be my home.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Rain, rain, go away . . . please!!!
So, a week after the gigantic downpour which flooded the town of Chetwynd, closed the Pine Pass and overloaded Fort St. John's sewer system, not to mention turning my poor garden into a swamp . . . I read a forecast which says more heavy rain is expected this weekend. The last heavy downpour dumped 4.5 inches of rain into my rain gauge - this forecast says 50 to 80 mm - about the same again!!
Exactly how are my plants supposed to grow??? Sunshine, nice hot, dry sunshine is what's needed right now. For at least 2 weeks, non-stop!!
I have learned something as a result of this rain though. The plants which I took out of the greenhouse and planted in the garden - the tomatoes (Sub-Arctic) and cucumber (Diva, Straight 8 and Spacemaster), definitely like the climate of the greenhouse better. Not so soggy. In the greenhouse, the veges, particularly my Diva cucumber, are growing like weeds - I've had to tie the cucumber to the roof of my greenhouse already . . . the one in the garden is barely any bigger than it was when I put it out there!
Had to replant the peas - only 10 plants of the Little Marvel variety (2 double rows!) I planted sprouted and survived the rain - so I planted a double row of Improved Laxton's Progress, which have grown successfully in other years. Clearly, in gardening, as in many things in life, don't mess with what works! But that's okay - we all love how the Laxton's Progress taste - I didn't get Marvel because of that, I just thought I would try something new - luckily I was going to plant the Laxton's Progress for my late summer harvest anyhow! Also had to replant the beans - all the beans I planted in the house sprouted on schedule and are now in the garden, behind a wind break . . . had a wee issue with the wind blowing the leaves clean off of one baby bean plant, so we erected a wind break. It's just wooden lattice tied to the fence. So, with any luck, these 18 new plants will give us the bounty of previous years.
And with further luck, if this flaming rain would stop, maybe they won't be mouldy either. That happened to me one other year, beans were mouldy because right in the middle of summer, it poured for a week. Think that was last year, as a matter of fact. My corn never matured either, so I've given up on trying to grow corn. At least for now. Maybe in a year of a real good drought, with lots of heat, I'll try it again - in a year like 2006!
Best get off the computer now, and go pull some more of the insidiously popular poplar trees which have decided that my carrot patch is lovely place to grow! Well, it is . . . but only if you're a carrot!
Exactly how are my plants supposed to grow??? Sunshine, nice hot, dry sunshine is what's needed right now. For at least 2 weeks, non-stop!!
I have learned something as a result of this rain though. The plants which I took out of the greenhouse and planted in the garden - the tomatoes (Sub-Arctic) and cucumber (Diva, Straight 8 and Spacemaster), definitely like the climate of the greenhouse better. Not so soggy. In the greenhouse, the veges, particularly my Diva cucumber, are growing like weeds - I've had to tie the cucumber to the roof of my greenhouse already . . . the one in the garden is barely any bigger than it was when I put it out there!
Had to replant the peas - only 10 plants of the Little Marvel variety (2 double rows!) I planted sprouted and survived the rain - so I planted a double row of Improved Laxton's Progress, which have grown successfully in other years. Clearly, in gardening, as in many things in life, don't mess with what works! But that's okay - we all love how the Laxton's Progress taste - I didn't get Marvel because of that, I just thought I would try something new - luckily I was going to plant the Laxton's Progress for my late summer harvest anyhow! Also had to replant the beans - all the beans I planted in the house sprouted on schedule and are now in the garden, behind a wind break . . . had a wee issue with the wind blowing the leaves clean off of one baby bean plant, so we erected a wind break. It's just wooden lattice tied to the fence. So, with any luck, these 18 new plants will give us the bounty of previous years.
And with further luck, if this flaming rain would stop, maybe they won't be mouldy either. That happened to me one other year, beans were mouldy because right in the middle of summer, it poured for a week. Think that was last year, as a matter of fact. My corn never matured either, so I've given up on trying to grow corn. At least for now. Maybe in a year of a real good drought, with lots of heat, I'll try it again - in a year like 2006!
Best get off the computer now, and go pull some more of the insidiously popular poplar trees which have decided that my carrot patch is lovely place to grow! Well, it is . . . but only if you're a carrot!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Can one's thumb BE too green??
That is the question of the day . . . can one's thumb be too green? I hope not, because I'm having a blast in mega-green thumb land . . . now, if only I could get some straw bales.
The reason I'm musing about the levels of thumb-greenness is that my greenhouse is full. Truly, bursting at the beams . . . last year, it seemed huge, with only 2 cucumber plants growing in it. I had heating and watering issues, so nothing really grew. Guess that's what happens when you live 10+km away from your garden and greenhouse, eh?
Anyhow, since my husband built me some stands for the plants (Mother's Day present), not only have I managed to organize the greenhouse much better, but it seems that this organization - and living only 10m away from said horticultural enterprises - has enabled the plants to live. To survive. Okay, okay . . . thrive!! As I mentioned in my previous blog posts, I have planted several varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers, as well the peppers and the broccoli. Just experimenting at this stage to see what grows best . . . I thought for sure I'd kill at least half the plants. Not so. Ooops. So now, its over-flowing.
Last week, I planted out 3 of my tomato plants into the garden (the Sub-Arctic variety). I also put out some lettuce (still have 3 in the greenhouse, just for kicks), and the beans I had started early. All have survived. Can't say whether those are thriving or not, because it rained for 5 or 6 days in a row. So now the weeds have grown as well, but I'm not going to moan about those today! Yesterday, I planted out the 2 Romaine lettuce which survived the greenhouse (had a small heat issue with the seedlings), the 4 Buttercrunch lettuce, one Diva cucumber, 2 Straight 8's and 2 Spacemaster's - all except the Diva, I started myself from seed in the dining room! So, there is a little bit more room in the greenhouse, but the remaining plants are only going to get bigger.
I have to repot the Sub-Arctic tomatoes which are staying in the greenhouse . . . hope I can do this successfully, now that there are little green tomatoes on the plants! I need to though, because they need watering 2x a day, when it's not hot, or else they're drooping.
Repotted the broccoli the other day, when it rained - they were seriously root-bound. My Dad says they should be in the garden, not the greenhouse, because of the nature of their roots. Spreading wide and all that. But since the growing season seems to be long, from what I've read - and based on the lack of success I had last year - I've got 'em in pots. Maybe next year, I'll put some out in the garden.
But I suppose you're all wondering just what I'm on about, with the need for straw bales. Well, way back in 1987 a bunch of us went out to Trish's bach at Rakaia (Bernice and Jo, you'll remember this day, I think) - on the way home, we stopped in at our Chemistry teacher's house (I don't remember why) and he was working on his garden . . . he was using straw bales as mulch. Kept the weeds down and the roots cool. My first year of gardening, I tried hay bales. Worked like a charm - the beans were out of the dirt, the leaves stayed clean and the weeds were kept to a minimum. Except for the weeds brought into the garden via the hay bales themselves.
I'm still trying to eradicate those!
So, with a lack of straw, I'm trying peat moss. In the fall, I'll just rototill it into the garden and will be improving the soil - also hopefully lowering the PH in the potato patch, because I have a problem with scab, which would be solved with a lower PH. I put down peat moss around the "early" plants yesterday, and it seems to be doing the trick. As far as keeping the leaves off the dirt - had a thunderstorm last night, and when I went to check this morning, everything looked good.
In the rest of the garden, everything seems to be doing well - all my spuds are up, both Russet Norkota and Sangre. Peas, lettuce, beets, onions and carrots have all sprouted . . . the beans, I've had to restart (in the dining room this time) because the pesky robins dug them all up whilst looking for worms. Kind of a pain, but I do have the other 3 bean plants already growing in the garden (that I started early), to tide us over.
Since it's raining again, there won't be any weeding for me today, bummer. Time to catch up on the laundry, so my kids have clothes to wear, and perhaps a little more greenhouse work. Or, I could just go and play with the new puppy . . . he doesn't seem to mind the rain!!
The reason I'm musing about the levels of thumb-greenness is that my greenhouse is full. Truly, bursting at the beams . . . last year, it seemed huge, with only 2 cucumber plants growing in it. I had heating and watering issues, so nothing really grew. Guess that's what happens when you live 10+km away from your garden and greenhouse, eh?
Anyhow, since my husband built me some stands for the plants (Mother's Day present), not only have I managed to organize the greenhouse much better, but it seems that this organization - and living only 10m away from said horticultural enterprises - has enabled the plants to live. To survive. Okay, okay . . . thrive!! As I mentioned in my previous blog posts, I have planted several varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers, as well the peppers and the broccoli. Just experimenting at this stage to see what grows best . . . I thought for sure I'd kill at least half the plants. Not so. Ooops. So now, its over-flowing.
Last week, I planted out 3 of my tomato plants into the garden (the Sub-Arctic variety). I also put out some lettuce (still have 3 in the greenhouse, just for kicks), and the beans I had started early. All have survived. Can't say whether those are thriving or not, because it rained for 5 or 6 days in a row. So now the weeds have grown as well, but I'm not going to moan about those today! Yesterday, I planted out the 2 Romaine lettuce which survived the greenhouse (had a small heat issue with the seedlings), the 4 Buttercrunch lettuce, one Diva cucumber, 2 Straight 8's and 2 Spacemaster's - all except the Diva, I started myself from seed in the dining room! So, there is a little bit more room in the greenhouse, but the remaining plants are only going to get bigger.
I have to repot the Sub-Arctic tomatoes which are staying in the greenhouse . . . hope I can do this successfully, now that there are little green tomatoes on the plants! I need to though, because they need watering 2x a day, when it's not hot, or else they're drooping.
Repotted the broccoli the other day, when it rained - they were seriously root-bound. My Dad says they should be in the garden, not the greenhouse, because of the nature of their roots. Spreading wide and all that. But since the growing season seems to be long, from what I've read - and based on the lack of success I had last year - I've got 'em in pots. Maybe next year, I'll put some out in the garden.
But I suppose you're all wondering just what I'm on about, with the need for straw bales. Well, way back in 1987 a bunch of us went out to Trish's bach at Rakaia (Bernice and Jo, you'll remember this day, I think) - on the way home, we stopped in at our Chemistry teacher's house (I don't remember why) and he was working on his garden . . . he was using straw bales as mulch. Kept the weeds down and the roots cool. My first year of gardening, I tried hay bales. Worked like a charm - the beans were out of the dirt, the leaves stayed clean and the weeds were kept to a minimum. Except for the weeds brought into the garden via the hay bales themselves.
I'm still trying to eradicate those!
So, with a lack of straw, I'm trying peat moss. In the fall, I'll just rototill it into the garden and will be improving the soil - also hopefully lowering the PH in the potato patch, because I have a problem with scab, which would be solved with a lower PH. I put down peat moss around the "early" plants yesterday, and it seems to be doing the trick. As far as keeping the leaves off the dirt - had a thunderstorm last night, and when I went to check this morning, everything looked good.
In the rest of the garden, everything seems to be doing well - all my spuds are up, both Russet Norkota and Sangre. Peas, lettuce, beets, onions and carrots have all sprouted . . . the beans, I've had to restart (in the dining room this time) because the pesky robins dug them all up whilst looking for worms. Kind of a pain, but I do have the other 3 bean plants already growing in the garden (that I started early), to tide us over.
Since it's raining again, there won't be any weeding for me today, bummer. Time to catch up on the laundry, so my kids have clothes to wear, and perhaps a little more greenhouse work. Or, I could just go and play with the new puppy . . . he doesn't seem to mind the rain!!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
My Green Thumb is alive and well!!
Yes, my green thumb is thriving . . . I was a little concerned, given my previous lack of success in the greenhouse, in the past 2 years, but this year, I think I can safely say, I've put all that behind me. And after only three weeks of use!
I started my seeds as usual, in the dining room and my little mini-greenhouse/seed propagator, and they grew. However, this time, after testing out the heater in the greenhouse and finding that it did, indeed, do the trick, I moved my biggest tomato plants out to their new home, on Mother's Day. Since then, I've had to re-pot them twice, because they've out grown their pots. To date, the tomatoes have at least 3 bunches (please excuse my incorrect tomato terminology, I'm still new at this!) of flowers growing on each plant. I have 9 plants. This was before I fed them any Miracle Grow, so it seems I'm off to a roaring start.
My other veges are growing extremely well also - some are ready to go out into the garden, if it would stop raining long enough for me to finish weeding and get my potatoes planted, before I plant anything else!! This weekend, hopefully.
I have green peppers, one red pepper plant, cucumbers, broccoli, beans, lettuce, peas and a variety of flowers (these are destined for outdoor pots) in there at the moment, and it is full!! Which is great - it's never had this many plants in it, ever! I just re-potted my 6 broccoli plants yesterday - moved them up from 4 inch pots to 6 inch (or one gallon?) pots. They were seriously root bound. I've put 3 of my lettuce plants in a window box - the other three are going in the garden, plus I have some tiny ones I started from seed myself, which will eventually replace these bigger ones.
All my beans and peas are destined for the garden - I started them early just to see how well they'd do - horticultural experiment #3, I think we'll call that one! The plan is to put a select number of tomatoes and cucumbers in the garden also, and see how they do - if the weather is nice enough for long enough for them to produce a decent crop . . . and to see if all the vege predators will leave them alone!
Aside from the weeds, which once I get ahead of them, are fairly easy to control (the problem is getting rid of them before I plant!), we have a variety of vege predators in the garden. There are the birds, which eat the raspberries - but that's okay, because I have lots - we also have chipmunks and squirrels, which eat my peas and my beans. This would actually also be okay, because again, I have lots, but they only eat half of a bean or a pea pod, and move on to eat another. So, I end up with a lot of half-eaten, and thus useless veges. Oh, and one of those little buggers (don't know which critter, because I didn't catch him in the act) actually dug up some of my potatoes last year and ate part of a couple of them!! Again, I have lots - we're still eating the potatoes I grew last year - but I still had to throw away a few, because they turned green, thanks to the digging critters!
Oh the joys of gardening in the country, eh? Haha, actually, it's a lot of fun . . . and I really don't mind sharing, I would mind even less, if they would let me catch them in the act and pose for my camera. How cool would that be??
The weather this weekend is supposed to be nice, warm and sunny, so I should be able to get all my veges planted out, and the seeds planted too. First, continued weed removal; second, building plant supports (peas and raspberries); and then planting!! As usual, I'm a week late, but it hasn't seemed to make a difference in previous years - this is my fourth year of vege gardening, so although I'm still a novice, I think I'm getting the hang of it!
Now, if only I could find some small, square straw bales, I could launch another experiment!!
I started my seeds as usual, in the dining room and my little mini-greenhouse/seed propagator, and they grew. However, this time, after testing out the heater in the greenhouse and finding that it did, indeed, do the trick, I moved my biggest tomato plants out to their new home, on Mother's Day. Since then, I've had to re-pot them twice, because they've out grown their pots. To date, the tomatoes have at least 3 bunches (please excuse my incorrect tomato terminology, I'm still new at this!) of flowers growing on each plant. I have 9 plants. This was before I fed them any Miracle Grow, so it seems I'm off to a roaring start.
My other veges are growing extremely well also - some are ready to go out into the garden, if it would stop raining long enough for me to finish weeding and get my potatoes planted, before I plant anything else!! This weekend, hopefully.
I have green peppers, one red pepper plant, cucumbers, broccoli, beans, lettuce, peas and a variety of flowers (these are destined for outdoor pots) in there at the moment, and it is full!! Which is great - it's never had this many plants in it, ever! I just re-potted my 6 broccoli plants yesterday - moved them up from 4 inch pots to 6 inch (or one gallon?) pots. They were seriously root bound. I've put 3 of my lettuce plants in a window box - the other three are going in the garden, plus I have some tiny ones I started from seed myself, which will eventually replace these bigger ones.
All my beans and peas are destined for the garden - I started them early just to see how well they'd do - horticultural experiment #3, I think we'll call that one! The plan is to put a select number of tomatoes and cucumbers in the garden also, and see how they do - if the weather is nice enough for long enough for them to produce a decent crop . . . and to see if all the vege predators will leave them alone!
Aside from the weeds, which once I get ahead of them, are fairly easy to control (the problem is getting rid of them before I plant!), we have a variety of vege predators in the garden. There are the birds, which eat the raspberries - but that's okay, because I have lots - we also have chipmunks and squirrels, which eat my peas and my beans. This would actually also be okay, because again, I have lots, but they only eat half of a bean or a pea pod, and move on to eat another. So, I end up with a lot of half-eaten, and thus useless veges. Oh, and one of those little buggers (don't know which critter, because I didn't catch him in the act) actually dug up some of my potatoes last year and ate part of a couple of them!! Again, I have lots - we're still eating the potatoes I grew last year - but I still had to throw away a few, because they turned green, thanks to the digging critters!
Oh the joys of gardening in the country, eh? Haha, actually, it's a lot of fun . . . and I really don't mind sharing, I would mind even less, if they would let me catch them in the act and pose for my camera. How cool would that be??
The weather this weekend is supposed to be nice, warm and sunny, so I should be able to get all my veges planted out, and the seeds planted too. First, continued weed removal; second, building plant supports (peas and raspberries); and then planting!! As usual, I'm a week late, but it hasn't seemed to make a difference in previous years - this is my fourth year of vege gardening, so although I'm still a novice, I think I'm getting the hang of it!
Now, if only I could find some small, square straw bales, I could launch another experiment!!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Who's YOUR Farmer?
I saw this bumper sticker yesterday, in the middle of tailgate of a Ford pickup. Who's your farmer? I am my farmer!! Now that spring is actually here -- not that season which, according to the calendar is spring, but since there's still several feet of snow on the ground, it's really winter -- the snow has melted, so I can finally seriously start thinking about my garden. Okay, I have been doing a lot of thinking already, but now I can put those thoughts into action. And get my tomato plants off the hearth in the living room, and out into the greenhouse!
Although we live on a farm, and I have been known to "whisper" the hay into growing taller than our kids, I'm not really a farmer. I'd say, more of a wife-whose-husband-owns-the-farm-his-grandparents-homesteaded-on-back-in-the-1930s kind of horticulturalist. In short, I don't farm, I garden. In the garden and the greenhouse. Or rather, I attempt to grow stuff in the greenhouse. I've had a few issues with that in the past couple of years.
However, 2011 is going to be different! I hope.
Last year, I managed to successfully grow cucumbers in the greenhouse - much to the surprise of one of the ladies at our local garden centre. How did you tie them up, she asked. I used a tomato cage. The sticks and string apparatus wasn't working, so since my tomatoes were clearly stunted and not going to need the cages, I just popped them around the cucumbers and tied them up with survey tape. Fabulous. Until the frost got them in September.
This year, now that we finally live on the farm, within sight of the greenhouse, things are going to be different. For Mother's Day, my husband built a two-tiered growing bench for the greenhouse, so now I have 16 feet of growing space (in a 10 foot long greenhouse), and last night, we hooked up a heater and tested it to see how warm it would keep the greenhouse overnight. It went down to 2C last night and there was a frost. But the greenhouse, at 5:30 a.m. was 8C, with no frost. Excellent. Just have to goose the heat up a wee bit, to make it 10C overnight, and my tomatoes can move off the hearth and into their proper home.
I'm not totally sure if this is what one is supposed to use a greenhouse for, but I'm also giving my other garden plants a head start. I have planted lettuce, cucumbers, beans and peas in little peat pots and they have all sprouted in the past 10 days. My intention is to grow them in the greenhouse until the end of May, when one can finally put stuff out in the garden without too much worry of frost. In theory, this will give me a head-start on the veges, which usually come ripe all at once, and I have a heck of time getting them all harvested, eaten or preserved at once.
I'm also going to kick-start my "deer resistant" perennials this way. I have several peonies, ferns, bleeding hearts and irises ready to plant, which I would love to plant in the garden in early June as actively growing plants, not tubers. Especially since their garden is not quite ready yet.
Who am I kidding? It's not ready at all!! I have two big rocks and two big piles of topsoil (one of which is in the wrong location) and a general idea of how big I want to make the garden. It will, when completed, provide an awesome view from our living room windows, with the native bush behind as a backdrop for the pink, blue and white blooms I've chosen.
Provided, of course, that these plants really are deer-resistant, and Madame Deer and her baby leave them alone. Boris the moose appears only interested in eating the leaves off trees, especially willow trees, so theoretically, she won't eat them. Yes, I know, Boris is a boy name, but the kids thought that would be an excellent name for our resident moose - who, when the house was being built, thought the garage made an excellent moose shelter! She has no antlers, therefore she is a girl moose. I believe her middle name is Princess though, hahaha.
So, today begins Tomato-growing-in-the-greenhouse experiment #3. Experiments #1 & 2 were dismal failures. I actually grew the tomatoes better in the dining room in the past 2 years, than I did in the greenhouse. More on that in my next post.
Thanks for reading - and happy gardening!!
Although we live on a farm, and I have been known to "whisper" the hay into growing taller than our kids, I'm not really a farmer. I'd say, more of a wife-whose-husband-owns-the-farm-his-grandparents-homesteaded-on-back-in-the-1930s kind of horticulturalist. In short, I don't farm, I garden. In the garden and the greenhouse. Or rather, I attempt to grow stuff in the greenhouse. I've had a few issues with that in the past couple of years.
However, 2011 is going to be different! I hope.
Last year, I managed to successfully grow cucumbers in the greenhouse - much to the surprise of one of the ladies at our local garden centre. How did you tie them up, she asked. I used a tomato cage. The sticks and string apparatus wasn't working, so since my tomatoes were clearly stunted and not going to need the cages, I just popped them around the cucumbers and tied them up with survey tape. Fabulous. Until the frost got them in September.
This year, now that we finally live on the farm, within sight of the greenhouse, things are going to be different. For Mother's Day, my husband built a two-tiered growing bench for the greenhouse, so now I have 16 feet of growing space (in a 10 foot long greenhouse), and last night, we hooked up a heater and tested it to see how warm it would keep the greenhouse overnight. It went down to 2C last night and there was a frost. But the greenhouse, at 5:30 a.m. was 8C, with no frost. Excellent. Just have to goose the heat up a wee bit, to make it 10C overnight, and my tomatoes can move off the hearth and into their proper home.
I'm not totally sure if this is what one is supposed to use a greenhouse for, but I'm also giving my other garden plants a head start. I have planted lettuce, cucumbers, beans and peas in little peat pots and they have all sprouted in the past 10 days. My intention is to grow them in the greenhouse until the end of May, when one can finally put stuff out in the garden without too much worry of frost. In theory, this will give me a head-start on the veges, which usually come ripe all at once, and I have a heck of time getting them all harvested, eaten or preserved at once.
I'm also going to kick-start my "deer resistant" perennials this way. I have several peonies, ferns, bleeding hearts and irises ready to plant, which I would love to plant in the garden in early June as actively growing plants, not tubers. Especially since their garden is not quite ready yet.
Who am I kidding? It's not ready at all!! I have two big rocks and two big piles of topsoil (one of which is in the wrong location) and a general idea of how big I want to make the garden. It will, when completed, provide an awesome view from our living room windows, with the native bush behind as a backdrop for the pink, blue and white blooms I've chosen.
Provided, of course, that these plants really are deer-resistant, and Madame Deer and her baby leave them alone. Boris the moose appears only interested in eating the leaves off trees, especially willow trees, so theoretically, she won't eat them. Yes, I know, Boris is a boy name, but the kids thought that would be an excellent name for our resident moose - who, when the house was being built, thought the garage made an excellent moose shelter! She has no antlers, therefore she is a girl moose. I believe her middle name is Princess though, hahaha.
So, today begins Tomato-growing-in-the-greenhouse experiment #3. Experiments #1 & 2 were dismal failures. I actually grew the tomatoes better in the dining room in the past 2 years, than I did in the greenhouse. More on that in my next post.
Thanks for reading - and happy gardening!!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Dr. Evil for PM??
Is it just me, or is anyone else totally disillusioned with the Federal Election this year? Normally, I follow the election coverage, watch the debates etc., in order to vote with an informed opinion. Of course, I always voted for Jay Hill, but it pays to be informed, stay abreast of the issues, keep current. This election, just seems like a total waste of time.
Maybe its the whole fourth election in 7 years thing? Or maybe its because Harper is doing an okay job, and the alternative of Michael Ignatieff is not really appealing. I read somewhere, that he is considered quite charismatic, especially to the ladies . . . this lady just finds him arrogant and creepy. Seriously, he looks evil. And who wants Dr. Evil for a Prime Minister. Although, if it was Austin Powers version of Dr. Evil, Canadians might really have an interesting time of it.
So disillusioned am I, with this whole election business, that for once I didn't even bother to watch the English debate the other day. Of course, I also refused to watch it on principle. They had four party leaders debating, but only three national parties were represented. The Green Party, our fourth legitimate national party, was not allowed to participate.
Why? Because they have no elected members. Yet the Bloc Quebecois, which is neither a national party, nor a party which has the best interests of Canada and Canadians at its core, was allowed to take part.
The Bloc has always been the party of separatism. And separatists wish to destroy Canada as we know it. Vive le Quebec, they cry . . . not Oh Canada! The people responsible for organising the leaders' debate either don't know, or don't care what the Bloc is all about.
This election is about Canada, and the Bloc is not and never has been, about Canada.
It's not that I begrudge Quebec the right to have a voice in parliament, that wouldn't be democratic of me, now would it? What I object to, is a province or group of people who advocate the destruction of our country as we know it, being two-faced about it. Electing members to parliament, the body which governs Canada as a whole, and has the needs of the entire country at its core, when said group of people doesn't really care about Canada, the country (only Quebec, the imaginary country).
Now that I've got my anti-separatism rant out of the way, I'd just like to add that I wish Ignatieff hadn't orchestrated the whole non-confidence motion last month. It's really too soon for another election - we're supposed to have one every 3 or 4 years, not 4 in 7 years!
If you think about it, what could Ignatieff, the history professor, really bring to the table, that Harper, with his degree in economics, hasn't? It wasn't knowledge of medieval history which got our country through the world economic crisis. It wasn't the lessons learned from the Revolutionary War which got us through it, kept our heads above water, when other countries, most notably our neighbour to the south, were sinking into an abyss of debt, unemployment and looming financial collapse.
No, it was knowledge of economies and aversion to large debt loads that saved us. Not Michael Ignatieff.
Maybe its the whole fourth election in 7 years thing? Or maybe its because Harper is doing an okay job, and the alternative of Michael Ignatieff is not really appealing. I read somewhere, that he is considered quite charismatic, especially to the ladies . . . this lady just finds him arrogant and creepy. Seriously, he looks evil. And who wants Dr. Evil for a Prime Minister. Although, if it was Austin Powers version of Dr. Evil, Canadians might really have an interesting time of it.
So disillusioned am I, with this whole election business, that for once I didn't even bother to watch the English debate the other day. Of course, I also refused to watch it on principle. They had four party leaders debating, but only three national parties were represented. The Green Party, our fourth legitimate national party, was not allowed to participate.
Why? Because they have no elected members. Yet the Bloc Quebecois, which is neither a national party, nor a party which has the best interests of Canada and Canadians at its core, was allowed to take part.
The Bloc has always been the party of separatism. And separatists wish to destroy Canada as we know it. Vive le Quebec, they cry . . . not Oh Canada! The people responsible for organising the leaders' debate either don't know, or don't care what the Bloc is all about.
This election is about Canada, and the Bloc is not and never has been, about Canada.
It's not that I begrudge Quebec the right to have a voice in parliament, that wouldn't be democratic of me, now would it? What I object to, is a province or group of people who advocate the destruction of our country as we know it, being two-faced about it. Electing members to parliament, the body which governs Canada as a whole, and has the needs of the entire country at its core, when said group of people doesn't really care about Canada, the country (only Quebec, the imaginary country).
Now that I've got my anti-separatism rant out of the way, I'd just like to add that I wish Ignatieff hadn't orchestrated the whole non-confidence motion last month. It's really too soon for another election - we're supposed to have one every 3 or 4 years, not 4 in 7 years!
If you think about it, what could Ignatieff, the history professor, really bring to the table, that Harper, with his degree in economics, hasn't? It wasn't knowledge of medieval history which got our country through the world economic crisis. It wasn't the lessons learned from the Revolutionary War which got us through it, kept our heads above water, when other countries, most notably our neighbour to the south, were sinking into an abyss of debt, unemployment and looming financial collapse.
No, it was knowledge of economies and aversion to large debt loads that saved us. Not Michael Ignatieff.
Monday, February 28, 2011
CBC, CTV . . . you suck!!
Why do they suck, you ask? It's simple - they're an insenstive bunch of jerks.
When the 7.1 earthquake struck Haiti last year, these news agencies were "on the ground", as they put it, for weeks and we got reports hourly for weeks on end of how the recovery effort was going, how many people died and generally how tragic it was.
And certainly it was tragic. It's still tragic that there are so many people still living in tents and unsanitary conditions. The news media have not allowed us to forget the people of Haiti.
Christchurch, New Zealand, however, seems to be a whole different kettle of fish.
Last Tuesday's earthquake, the second huge quake in less than six months, has received next to no coverage from the Canadian news media. They certainly don't have anyone "on the ground" there. Is it because New Zealand is a civilized Western nation, and thus deemed perfectly capable of helping themselves? Or was all the Haiti coverage simply a result of the fact that our then-Governor General, happened to be a Haitian refugee?
NZ's former Prime Minister, Helen Clark was reported as saying that Christchurch's tragedy was on a par with Haiti's. If that's the case, where is Christchurch's coverage? Where is Christchurch's world aid. Why are Cantabrians treated as yesterday's news?
It does seem as though it's yesterday's news. There has been no coverage since Saturday, six days after the quake. I had to watch CTVNewsnet for an hour yesterday, before I finally saw a blurb on the ticker, about the death toll. Otherwise, nada.
Yes, okay, Lybia is big thing right now. A huge thing. But the tragedy is Christchurch is no less a tragedy, just because that lunatic Gadhafi is running around inciting civil war. But honestly, the past couple of days, you wouldn't think anything had happened in New Zealand a week ago.
Except this morning. When I woke up, the MooseFM news at 6 a.m., and a brief mention of the earthquake and the death toll. Stands at 148, he said. But perhaps, it was only mentioned because a couple from Grande Prairie, AB had narrowly escaped being crushed by the falling Cathedral spire? I'm glad they escaped. At least 20 other people were not so lucky.
Reading the NZ Herald website (www.nzherald.co.nz), there are a million stories of bravery, self-sacrifice, and of Kiwis banding together to help the people of Christchurch. Yes, there are also more stories of tragedy, of family members missing or killed by the quake. But overall, Cantabrians are getting on with the task of rescue, clean-up and putting their beloved city back together.
Does the world news media care? I think not. Except, perhaps, for the BBC.
Take the University of Canterbury (my alma mater) - for example. The students put up a website, looking for a few volunteers to help clean up the liquefaction . . . the UC Student Army, now has 18,000 students throughout the city, cleaning up the mess.
Does this not warrant recognition? They'd probably say they're just doing what needs to be done - but I think it's fabulous.
Come on Canada, pull your head out of your ass and take a look at the things that are going on in Christchurch. The tragic and the positive. Surely a fellow Commonwealth country deserves news coverage just as much as a raving Lybian lunatic does?
If you take a look on the NZ Herald website, there are links for international donations to help the victims of the quake, as well as a plethora of stories about the quake.
And at 4:51 p.m. MST, I urge my fellow Canadians and Kiwis abroad to take 2 mins, to stand in silence, to remember the victims of Tuesday's earthquake in Christchurch.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Adendum to We'll Soldier On
Looking back at my earlier post today, I have to just add this:
I'm such a fake - I was trying to be all upbeat and positive about the future of Christchurch after the quake on Tuesday (and all the aftershocks which followed), but you know what?? I'm not really feeling upbeat at all.
Don't get me wrong - it is awesome that the clean-up has started already, and that the people of Christchurch are banding together. My aunt told me that her boss asked for a few volunteers to help clean up their factory (she works for Independent Fisheries in Woolston), and he got 120. Amazing. I've seen the photos of the Canterbury University students out there, digging up the liquefaction . . . totally amazing. And such a contrast from Haiti's tragedy a year ago (don't take offense, this is my PERSONAL opinion, okay), where they had help pouring in from all over the world, yet a year later, it hardly looks any different.
But still, in spite of all this progress towards cleaning up and soldiering on, I am totally bummed. Obviously, not on the scale of those who live in Christchurch and experienced the quake first hand, but I am truly devastated by the destruction of my most favourite city in the world. Technically, many might think I have no right to grieve, my family and friends are all alive and well. Houses can be replaced, yards can be cleaned up. But people cannot be replaced, and I haven't lost anybody.
Yet everytime I see the pictures on the news, the wasteland of what was Columbo Street, for example, I just want to cry. I can talk about it now, without my voice breaking, but holy crap, what a bloody disaster! I've only seen pictures and video, but I lived there for 8 years and I know what it's supposed to look like. For the rest of the world, yeah, its tragic and the destruction is horrible, but for me, and for others who call Christchurch home, it is just devastating.
And it breaks my heart.
I love Fort St. John too, in its own way, its a pretty special city - and my husband and children are here, but somehow, Christchurch - in spite of my reluctance to move there in 1985 - is closer to my heart. It is where my family is from, where my grandparents and mother are buried, it is full of beautiful gardens, architecture, steeped in history, and I have wished every day since this happened that it was all just a bad dream.
Unfortunately, its not a dream, and I'm hanging out here on the outer edge of this nightmare, wishing I could do something, grieving and feeling a bit like a doofus for doing so. After-all, I'm safe, my family and friends are all alive and uninjured . . . but I'm sitting up here, in the Frozen North, blubbering every time I see pictures of the rubble.
I'm totally bummed, but she'll be right. Eventually.
I'm such a fake - I was trying to be all upbeat and positive about the future of Christchurch after the quake on Tuesday (and all the aftershocks which followed), but you know what?? I'm not really feeling upbeat at all.
Don't get me wrong - it is awesome that the clean-up has started already, and that the people of Christchurch are banding together. My aunt told me that her boss asked for a few volunteers to help clean up their factory (she works for Independent Fisheries in Woolston), and he got 120. Amazing. I've seen the photos of the Canterbury University students out there, digging up the liquefaction . . . totally amazing. And such a contrast from Haiti's tragedy a year ago (don't take offense, this is my PERSONAL opinion, okay), where they had help pouring in from all over the world, yet a year later, it hardly looks any different.
But still, in spite of all this progress towards cleaning up and soldiering on, I am totally bummed. Obviously, not on the scale of those who live in Christchurch and experienced the quake first hand, but I am truly devastated by the destruction of my most favourite city in the world. Technically, many might think I have no right to grieve, my family and friends are all alive and well. Houses can be replaced, yards can be cleaned up. But people cannot be replaced, and I haven't lost anybody.
Yet everytime I see the pictures on the news, the wasteland of what was Columbo Street, for example, I just want to cry. I can talk about it now, without my voice breaking, but holy crap, what a bloody disaster! I've only seen pictures and video, but I lived there for 8 years and I know what it's supposed to look like. For the rest of the world, yeah, its tragic and the destruction is horrible, but for me, and for others who call Christchurch home, it is just devastating.
And it breaks my heart.
I love Fort St. John too, in its own way, its a pretty special city - and my husband and children are here, but somehow, Christchurch - in spite of my reluctance to move there in 1985 - is closer to my heart. It is where my family is from, where my grandparents and mother are buried, it is full of beautiful gardens, architecture, steeped in history, and I have wished every day since this happened that it was all just a bad dream.
Unfortunately, its not a dream, and I'm hanging out here on the outer edge of this nightmare, wishing I could do something, grieving and feeling a bit like a doofus for doing so. After-all, I'm safe, my family and friends are all alive and uninjured . . . but I'm sitting up here, in the Frozen North, blubbering every time I see pictures of the rubble.
I'm totally bummed, but she'll be right. Eventually.
Christchurch: We'll soldier on
My beloved ancestral home is in ruins this week, following Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The 7.1 in September was bad enough - it ruined a lot of homes and caused much stress for family and friends. But this one, although smaller in magnitude was literally a kick in the teeth to Christchurch, which was still picking up the pieces from September's quake.
I say ancestral home, because although I don't live there now, much of my family does and my mother traced our history back to the First Four Ships, which landed in Lytellton Harbour in 1850. My ancestor, Charles Bourn, came over on the Randolph. There's a plaque in Cathedral Square with the names of the passengers on it - no doubt covered in rubble now. For 160 years, Christchurch has grown and endured everything that Mother Nature has thrown at it, including several other strong earthquakes. It's architecture, beautiful gardens and temperate climate have beckoned people from around the world, to visit, and to settle in the Garden City.
I've spent many an afternoon, walking in the Botantic Gardens, surveying the city from the balconies atop the Cathedral's spire; many evenings with friends, just hanging out in various spots around the city, never thinking for a moment, that in February 2011, it would be in ruins.
Today, the spire of the Cathedral lies in the square. A pile of 130-year old bricks. Underneath, the bodies of visitors to the Cathedral wait to be recovered. It is nothing less than a resounding kick in the teeth to the people of Christchurch and Canterbury. Homes and other historic buildings throughout the city are ruined. Liquefaction oozing out of foundations, up from sinkholes in the roads, and in the middle of school playing fields. The Central Business District (CBD) is an utter shambles.Many are still without water or power, on this, the fourth day following the quake.
But in spite of this devastation, in spite of the 113 confirmed dead, and the 200 people still missing, Christchurch is not sitting on it's laurels, bemoaning what they have lost. Not even close. In the words of my aunt, "We'll soldier on." In the minds of Cantabrians, there's no other course of action. They pick up the pieces and carry on. Houses can be rebuilt. Yes, families have been tragically shattered, there's no bringing them back, but like the living, the dead would no doubt be saying, We'll soldier on.
Much of the CBD will have to be torn down and rebuilt. Christchurch will never look the same. But it like it's people will soldier on. They will rebuild - in fact, I read in the NZ Herald yesterday that they are already planning to rebuild the Cathedral, and the NZ Historic Places Trust is looking at repairing many of the damaged historic buildings in the city.
All is not lost. It's a kick in the teeth, to be sure. And I, like many, many others, am grieving for all that has been destroyed this week. One day, a day that will come much sooner than anyone thinks perhaps, I believe that Christchurch residents will no longer say We'll soldier on - they won't need to, because Christchurch will rise again from its ruins. We'll be able to look at the progress we've made and say, She'll be right, mate.
And she will.
I say ancestral home, because although I don't live there now, much of my family does and my mother traced our history back to the First Four Ships, which landed in Lytellton Harbour in 1850. My ancestor, Charles Bourn, came over on the Randolph. There's a plaque in Cathedral Square with the names of the passengers on it - no doubt covered in rubble now. For 160 years, Christchurch has grown and endured everything that Mother Nature has thrown at it, including several other strong earthquakes. It's architecture, beautiful gardens and temperate climate have beckoned people from around the world, to visit, and to settle in the Garden City.
I've spent many an afternoon, walking in the Botantic Gardens, surveying the city from the balconies atop the Cathedral's spire; many evenings with friends, just hanging out in various spots around the city, never thinking for a moment, that in February 2011, it would be in ruins.
Today, the spire of the Cathedral lies in the square. A pile of 130-year old bricks. Underneath, the bodies of visitors to the Cathedral wait to be recovered. It is nothing less than a resounding kick in the teeth to the people of Christchurch and Canterbury. Homes and other historic buildings throughout the city are ruined. Liquefaction oozing out of foundations, up from sinkholes in the roads, and in the middle of school playing fields. The Central Business District (CBD) is an utter shambles.Many are still without water or power, on this, the fourth day following the quake.
Much of the CBD will have to be torn down and rebuilt. Christchurch will never look the same. But it like it's people will soldier on. They will rebuild - in fact, I read in the NZ Herald yesterday that they are already planning to rebuild the Cathedral, and the NZ Historic Places Trust is looking at repairing many of the damaged historic buildings in the city.
All is not lost. It's a kick in the teeth, to be sure. And I, like many, many others, am grieving for all that has been destroyed this week. One day, a day that will come much sooner than anyone thinks perhaps, I believe that Christchurch residents will no longer say We'll soldier on - they won't need to, because Christchurch will rise again from its ruins. We'll be able to look at the progress we've made and say, She'll be right, mate.
And she will.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)