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?
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
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!
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