Early morning visitors
I’ve been woken up in the early morning by songbirds plenty of times but, this morning marked the first day I’ve even been woken up by the sound of 30 wild horses munching on grass just outside my bedroom window!
Dill
Kale – sadly some enthusiastic new gardeners removed the kale from the weeds instead of removing the weeds from the kale!
Sunflowers
The recent rains have been a relief – so far no smoky days yet this week! The community garden has benefitted greatly from almost daily, soaking rains. I’ve got a few photos here from about two weeks back, the progress since then has been excellent and beans and peas are flowering. Unfortunately the hot days that proceeded the rains caused the spinach to bolt. We’ve had a few different hands in the garden recently and it has been an exciting learning opportunity. However, some very agitated bees have been displeased with all the activity, and in the last week I’ve been stung 6 times! (4 at once).
In other plant related news – it is Saskatoon season! This week was my first time trying Saskatoon berries and I agree with the general sentiment that they are indeed quite delightful. Raspberries are starting to come too!
A few weeks back, I had to pleasure of travelling to Prince George, BC with some community members to attend the BC Food Systems Network Annual Gathering. After a VERY long drive in a 15 seater van – which included an adventure at 1am in the morning lost on washboard logging roads, in total darkness and pouring rain, we finally arrived. And although the drive was long it was also beautiful – from Dunvegan to Dawson Creek and through Chetwynd to PG. We saw this waterfall en route:
The three days that followed were an incredible opportunity to connect with others who were working in Indigenous food sovereignty (both in Canada and Guatemala), to learn some new skills and get up to speed with developments in food movements both in BC and across Canada.
Workshop on learning to make and preserve strawberry jam
Pre-canned jam
Russell in the Bush 
