Summer might still seem a long way off, but you can already warm up in Willow Point. At Classy Katz Consignment, in the plaza on the west side of the Island Highway at the corner of Westgate, owner Chris Wiegerinck has made a new addition to her store that is proving to be popular with her clients. Wiegerinck has installed an infrared sauna, a unique unit that takes up only a small amount of room but offers tremendous benefits to the user.
Owner Chris at her busy store
The Far infrared sauna is different from a standard sauna in a few respects. While the purpose is the same – to perspire and clear toxins out from the body through the skin, the heat is different, and no steam is used in the sauna itself. Rather than heating the air, as the traditional sauna does, the infrared heat targets the object, or person in the sauna much the same way as the sun does. Users of the sauna enjoy not only the direct, dry heat, but the way they feel after a session. Among benefits sighted are: relief from pain (from arthritis and fibromyalgia), relief from muscular pain, all over feeling of well being, and weight loss. Wiegerinck says the most frequent comments she hears from clients is that they feel relaxed after a treatment, and experience improved sleep.
The Infrared Sauna
Wiegerinck herself uses it almost daily, and finds that after using it, she can count on having a good night’s sleep. She initially had it in her home for three years, but decided to have it installed in the store as she enjoyed it so much and wanted to share it with others.
At Classy Katz, sessions are ½ hour long and can be purchased either singly or 10 at a time. The sauna that Wiegerinck installed is a double one, and two people can actually use it together at one time. The only thing you need to bring is your towel!
Call Classy Katz at 250-923-6066 from Tuesday to Saturday for an appointment.
This summer for the first time, I went halibut fishing off the waters of Port McNeill, which is situated on the north east coast of Vancouver Island, BC. It was a foggy, overcast day, in contrast to the bright sunny weather we had been experiencing. Having been on the water before on such days, I went out fully clothed (that is, wearing shoes, socks jeans and sweaters, and forgetting about the summer shorts and flip flops) – it could get chilly, especially in the wee hours of the morning and being out on an open boat.
Alder Bay sunset
My hosts for this event were John and Myrna, experienced halibut fisherpeople who had been operating a fish chartering business in these waters for several years. We were visiting them at Alder Bay Resort, an RV camping spot just off the road that takes you to Telegraph Cove (a well-known whale watching centre). Alder Bay has terrific views and each day we were there, enjoyed gorgeous sunsets and refreshingly cool air. We took out their 26 ft fishing boat, the Johnny Five, especially rigged out for catching halibut. The day before, the fellows had been out and had no luck. However, it was the ladies’ turn and there was definite promise in the air.
John likes to start the day with a bang. With vintage music blaring (a la 1960’s), horns blowing and chicken’s squawking (yes, I did say chicken) albeit a rubber one, we were off in search of the wily halibut. We left at 6:30am, with plenty to eat and drink for a six hour sojourn at sea.
The Johnny Five has all the latest equipment – fish finder, depth sounder, GPS… and a ‘no bananas’ sign. It wasn’t long before our seasoned captain found the area he was looking for. My companion, Molly Francis and I, were sworn to secrecy that we wouldn’t reveal where we were, but that was easy, because we had no idea where we were. All we could see around us was mist and some vaguely outlined islands. In fact, at one point a crew from a local resort stopped to ask directions because their GPS had failed and they couldn’t find their way home.
Four fishing fools, myself, John, Myrna & Molly
Once John was satisfied that we were over a promising spot, it was time to bait the hooks and drop the lines. Having been cod fishing several times, I thought I would catch on to jigging for halibut pretty easily. But as it turned out, it was more difficult and definitely more strenuous. John baited the large hooks with salmon, and to each was attached a heavy lead ball – that I think weighed three or four pounds, but it was probably just that it felt that heavy. Then you lower the line by letting it run out until you feel it hit bottom. That sounds easy, but in fact, it was quite often hard to tell when you were on the bottom – especially since bottom was 270 feet below. John said we had to go this deep, because halibut are bottom feeders and tend to group themselves in ‘holes’ on the ocean floor.
Molly and I tried to emulate Myrna, who had the technique down for sensing where her line was and for jigging without wearing out her arms. John explained that when tides were moving, you had to reel up a bit or let go. Molly and I took turns pulling up on the line and letting it drop. John intervened when he thought we had a bite or something was snagged. He said that halibut were tricky, because you had to tease them a bit to induce them to bite and sometimes they would take the bait, then spit it out again!
It wasn’t long before Myrna had a bite, and she immediately called John over to assist her. She didn’t want to take a chance on losing it. Feeling as foggy as the weather, I can’t remember how and when the first fish was caught, only that when it was my turn and I had one to reel in, it was hard work! At one point I brought in a dog fish – like a small shark and unfortunately not something you would keep. All of us allowed John to help bring the catch into the boat. By noon we had three nice halibut around the 25 pound mark. John figured we should call it quits at 12:30 but we were all hoping that we would get that last one, as that was our quota. Then it happened, at 12:25 Molly felt a definite bite. With John’s help she reeled it up to the boat and it turned out to be the prize of the day – a nice 35 pound fellow.
Molly and the big catch
We got back to camp to find that the fellows had done well with salmon – catching two nice Spring of about 22 pounds each. It wasn’t until we hit the dock that Molly and I realized what a phenomenal day we had had and we were both really thrilled to have caught this great eating fish. John’s son Jonathan, who works with him chartering, sliced up our halibut for us. Halibut are all meat with a very small stomach – so you don’t have to clean them, just filet them. We divvied up our fish and packed it for the trip home. I was too tired that night to cook it, but had some fresh the next day. What a treat!
If you want to try halibut fishing at Alder Bay, you can reach John and Myrna at JZ’s Charters you can call them in Port McNeill at 250-956-3104 or in Campbell River at 250-850-1050, or toll free at 1-866-347-4009. Email: jzs-f@telus.net. Visit them at: http://halibuthaven.wordpress.com/ Photos are courtesy of Molly Francis.
With all the recent talk about closed containment fish farming being the solution to the perceived damage caused by current practices of the west coast fish farming industry, many must wonder where and what it is. As Rob Walker, Operations Manager for Agrimarine Industries says, “Closed containment is viewed as the ‘Holy Grail’ of aquaculture.”
Like the holy grail, the idea seems both mythical and illusive. There hasn’t been any concrete evidence in our area of the concept in operation, yet environmentalists are urging the aquaculture industry to move in this direction. There was an initial land project in Cedar (just south of Nanaimo) operated by Agrimarine from 2001 to 2005, and they produced a desirable product, but found that the cost of raising Chinook on land was prohibitive as sea water had to be pumped into tanks some distance from the ocean. This discouraged fish farm companies from adopting their methods and it was perceived that closed containment didn’t work. Now however, Agrimarine is taking a different approach, and instead of on land, their tanks will be in the ocean.
Based at Middle Bay, just north of Campbell River BC, their new operation shows promise. Alexis Helgason of Agrimarine tells me that their new tanks for raising Chinook should be in the water within six months.
Illustration of closed tank operation at Middle Bay
It has been a long process. While Agrimarine has been at Middle Bay for about two years already, there have been many hoops to jump through – getting permission from the DFO for example on their location, and perfecting the technology of their system. As Walker told me last year, closed pen technology differs from open net pen technology in that they need to take into consideration how to supply enough oxygen to the fish and how to deal with waste; two considerations solved by open net pen fish rearing.
What isn’t solved by open net pens is how to protect the ocean environment directly surrounding the pens from what potentially comes from the farmed fish (like waste and sea lice), and how to protect the farmed fish from predators and algae blooms. Closed containment could result in fewer losses of fish as they would be protected from predators like sea lions, and water drawn into tanks would be below the level of algae blooms. (Algae blooms or ‘red tide’ can be deadly: a bloom killed 20,000 fish at one Grieg Seafoods fish farm site in 2009).
Jean-Luc Williams, a manager with Grieg Seafoods, welcomes the idea of closed containment. “I think it’s a great idea”, he said, “and I hope they can make it work”. Some benefits would include better feed to fish ratios, (as feed can better be monitored in an enclosed environment and not lost), fish can be raised in higher densities in closed tanks and be monitored by fewer staff. The staff wouldn’t need to be housed or fed, and this would reduce the carbon footprint associated with traditional fish farming as staff, supplies and harvested fish would not have to be transferred to and from remote areas by boat and truck.
Two years ago, the Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture stated in their recommendations that they would like to see all open net pens move towards closed containment within the next five years. Is this wish attainable? As Alexis Helgason says, Agrimarine has been in the business for ten years. If they are only just now making some real progress, then how can those who are just starting expect to be fully operational in just three years?
These questions can’t be answered yet, but at least one company had the foresight to begin trying long before open net pen farming became a critical issue. “Our intention is to change the paradigm,” Rob Walker told me, “to do the right thing instead of doing the thing right.”
“It [aquaculture] is a necessary industry,” he assures us, “and the more people thinking positively, the better the industry is going to be.”
Helgason tells me that the public will soon be able to follow Agrimarine’s progress on their website, www.agrimarine.com. The site currently offers an explanation of their technology and an excellent chart that illustrates how closed containment works. If it does work, then there is a possibility of creating a truly stainable aquaculture industry in British Columbia and making wishful thinking a reality.
While our children may not want to hear about it, those of us in our middle years are enjoying ‘it’, yes that three letter word: SEX. My 28 year old daughter for example, feels entirely free to discuss her sex life with me, but I am forbidden to express anything to her about my sex life, beyond saying that it happens.
Love in the middle ages
Sex is definitely not just for the young. Maturity can bring pleasures that were absent in youth. For example – most mature couples are past the reproductive stage of their lives. Either one or the other has had permanent surgery (vasectomies for men, tubal ligation for women), or menopause has arrived, and ovulation has ceased. Therefore, there is no need for contraceptives, and most couples in a monogamous union chose not to use any form of condom. This means there are more opportunities for spontaneous love making and not ‘waiting for the right time’ and many middle aged couples don’t have young children, so have no fears of being ‘discovered’ or interrupted. In addition, as they get older, men generally take longer to reach orgasm and both sexes have picked up a few tricks along the way, resulting in increased pleasure to both parties.
Another drawback to enjoying ourselves when we are young is that in our youth, we tend to be much more conscious and critical of what kind of shape we are in, but as we get older, there is generally more acceptance of how we look, and the knowledge that a loving partner doesn’t harbour a media-induced notion of how we should look. (I personally like a little belly on a man to give him that ‘teddy bear’ feel). I have heard it said that “what looks good, doesn’t necessarily feel good between the sheets”. In fact, I recently heard a radio announcer on 97.3 the Eagle in Campbell River say that only his wife or a mortician should see him naked.
You may have seen the CIALIS commercials, which I find quite hilarious; about the couples who went strolling, antiquing or were constantly redecorating until their sex life was re-kindled with the help of this drug. While I don’t know all the implications of taking CIALIS, I like to believe that the benefits outweigh the risks, even if those benefits are simply in helping people achieve closeness.
We often hear that sex is favourable to our health. When my father developed prostate cancer several years ago, I started to do some research on the reasons it can be so prevalent in middle aged men. Apparently, one thing that contributes to prostate problems can be the decline in sexual activity as men get older. It has to do with fluids and carcinogens getting backed up in the system, and these can be released through ejaculation. This seems to make perfect sense, and ladies, if your partner seems less than willing these days, tell him that it is all in the name of a good cause – cancer prevention. If that doesn’t motivate him, then try slipping CIALIS into his coffee. (I’m joking of course; he should see his doctor first!)
I found a terrific article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16282622/ that discusses sexual activity tests made on middle aged men and offers more than enough reasons why sex is good for us, especially as we get older. Here is a brief synopsis:
That should motivate a few of you to go running to the bedroom!
I will admit it, I love the Weather Network. Each morning it assails me with its perky jazz music that sets the tone to my day, and as I get ready for work, I listen to the announcers tell me about the snowstorms in Newfoundland, the floods in Manitoba and the fires in Quebec, knowing that these disasters don’t touch me in lovely Lotus Land (Vancouver Island, British Columbia) where all I am challenged with weather-wise is an unusual amount of rain and a little wind now and then.
Best of all, are the cherished moments when Chris St. Clair gives his special report. St Clair has that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that intrigues the female viewer (or at least yours truly). I have imagined how fascinating a date with a man who so glibly spouts forth wisdom about the weather would be, especially as weather is one of the most potent topics of conversation for we Canadians. My imagined date with St. Clair would go something like this:
(We are in a fine dining seaside restaurant, with lots of windows and a spectacular view of the ocean.)
Server: “And can I interest you in wine with your dinner”.
“Certainly”, says suave St. Clair , “we’ll have a bottle of the Golden Beaver Merlot”
“You know, Kasha”, he says as he turns to me, “these wines of the Okanagan Valley owe their excellence due to the weather”.
“Is that so”, I reply (tell me more…)
“Yes, you know it’s the hot dry growing season that produces the right conditions for fruit growing, just as the temperate, wet conditions here on the island result in such lush gardens”.
I nod.
“Weather”, he reveals conspiratorially, “is at the root of everything…”
I hold my breath.
“The food we eat, the air we breathe, the conditions we wake up to everyday.. what do we owe it all to?”
“The weather” I reply (yeah, one point for me). But there is more to come.
The server overhears us and quickly slips in his two cents worth.
“Did you two hear about that major tornado in Ontario yesterday. It lifted up a barn; can you imagine?”
“Absolutely”, states St Clair with authority, “Tornadoes are the most powerful storm on earth”.
“Really”, I whisper (this is music to my ears)
“Do you know how these most potent storms form?” I shake my head. “Warm moist air currents will rise up (yes!) to the intersecting cold currents (I’m with you) from a thunderstorm. (Wow!!) and form a funnel cloud. (Heart be still!)
If this funnel cloud touches the surface of the earth…”
“OH STOP!” I exclaim.
“What”, asks St. Clair, “what’s wrong?”
“This is too much for a first date,” I manage to say, heart pounding, “I think we should change the topic”,
“But darling”, says my weatherman as he reaches across the table and covers my hand with his, “There is no other topic”.
I had the opportunity this weekend to rub elbows with some of the West Coast’s most well known artists at the opening reception of the 16th Annual Painters at Painter’s event at Painter’s Lodge in Campbell River, on May 29 & 30. For those of you who haven’t heard about it, years ago, Bob Wright, the chieftain of the Oak Bay Marine Group, conceived of the idea of bringing together a group of Canadian artists to showcase their work, after having seen a fantastic collection of art in the south of France at the Colombe D’or Hotel. The result has been an event that not only displays their work, but has a full schedule of workshops and presentations that would satisfy the need of any art enthusiast.
Artist Suzanne Northcott
There are only a select number of artists chosen to participate in this event and with the passing of Glenn Howarth, a new member was added this year. I had the pleasure of meeting this most recent member, Suzanne Northcott from Fort Langely, who introduced herself to us. She explained that the applicants submitted three images and a bio, then it was up to the other artists to vote on who they favoured. Her sister Janice Robertson has been participating in the show for several years and her brother-in-law Alan Wylie has been with it since the beginning, making it almost a family affair.
The artists all certainly come with a good pedigree, as demonstrated in the gorgeous
Northcott painting at show
full colour and glossy catalogues we received from one of the organizers, Jill Smillie, Oak Bay Marine’s Director of Marketing, that includes bios of each artist and an example of their work. Jill said that she was extremely pleased with how well the show had been coming together this year; from the placement of the artwork to the number of artists who were able to attend – all but one out of 33 were there.
The collection of work is certainly impressive and worthy of the attention it receives. Situated around the lovely Painter’s property, now in full bloom are huge tents to house the artists’ work, and both the upper and lower levels of the main lodge are also used to showcase the exhibits. We visited the lower level, and it was heartening to see so many well executed and gorgeous landscapes; and interesting to see how many artists were working in oil after it had been abandoned for several years by many painters in favour of watercolours and acrylics. The collection included an especially stunning still life by painter Mickie Acierno (see photo) and an exquisite sculpture by Maarten Schaddelee.
The Friday evening reception, replete with wine, cheese and a witty introductory speech from Wright himself, was just a jump start to a weekend devoted to thinking about art, discussing art and enjoying art. Wright commented that he recently had his portrait painted by one of the participants, David Goatley, who has also been commissioned to do a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. All in all, just being there is stimulating and enough to make a person want to pull out those stiff paintbrushes and dusty canvases and tackle that five year old project again!!
A trip to Yorke Island is not for the faint-of-heart. The stretch of water off Sayward that surrounds the island is known to be one of the most dangerous in Johnstone Strait (between Vancouver Island and the BC Mainland). Yorke Island is situated six kilometers northeast of Sayward, where the strait meets Sunderland Channel. However, if you are in the hands of a good skipper like Ron Rennison, who knows the area and has been there many times, you are off to a good start. Yorke Island is worth a visit especially if you are a military history buff, as it was once a gunnery outpost created to be the first line of defence against a possible attack from the Japanese during World War II.
Once you get there (and fortunately for us it was a calm day), you will discover that there is no way in which to actually land on the island. There is no dock or place to tie up a boat. That was my first surprise. My second was when my host and guide Ross Keller, who had brought along his nephew Nick Bowman, told me they were staying till Monday. “What”? I was only prepared for a day trip and couldn’t picture myself shivering in the open with no sleeping bag. Then they reassured me that ‘Captain’ Ron would be back for me at whatever time I requested. It was early, so I figured 2pm would be good and give me enough time to explore and learn about this unusual place.
Ross then threw his two person dinghy in the water (see photo) and we commenced our shuttle to shore. I managed to get out of the dinghy without getting wet (unusual for me, as I can never seem to climb out of a kayak without getting well soaked) and Ross perused the shoreline to see how we would get to the trail. Normally, this part wouldn’t have been a challenge, but a very large tree had uprooted itself over the winter and blocked the beginning of the trail. It was clear that we were going to have to clamber over the upended tree’s exposed roots and clumps of dirt in order to reach the trail, or bushwack; so that is what we did.
The trail was quite visible after that and Ross commented that the team from Sayward Futures, out-of-work forest employees, who had been organized to make improvements on the island, had done a great job tidying up the trail. It was wide and comfortable to follow, but fairly steep. It wasn’t long before we encountered our first evidence of the World War II occupation of the island, a shell of a building that was once the officer’s quarters. (see photo) There was more to come.
At the top of the trail, the real gems of its history are revealed. Yorke Island is small (55 hectares) and slopes steeply upward from shore. Here the military placed their observation posts, at about 200 feet above the shore, in strategic positions that would offer an unobstructed view up and down the strait. And these were not just flimsy shelters. It boggles the mind in fact, to imagine how these poured concrete structures were ever put up under such difficult circumstances, when there was (and still is not) any infrastructure, amenities or even resources on the island . One of the biggest challenges was to provide enough water, as Yorke Island has no fresh water supply (and I was thankful I had the foresight to bring my usual bottle of the precious stuff). Along with the 250 to 300 troops, there could be as many as 200 construction workers there at any one time. As the military deemed that each man should be provided with one gallon of water per day, a huge amount had to be delivered and stored there in a 50,000 gallon (200,000 litre) tank. While those campers among us might think that several outhouses would suffice, there was a concern over cholera – which had been known to develop where several people were crowded together in unsanitary conditions, so flush toilets with adequate washing facilities were assembled.
Ross’s favourite place is the Observation Post. Like a pair of kids in a tree house, he and his nephew scrambled up onto a rickety bench then squeezed through a slat in the wall. Was I supposed to follow? Not to appear cowardly, I did, and found myself on a sort of platform that offered a magnificent view of the strait facing west. But this was not all, Ross figured I should attempt the next phase, which would offer an even more fabulous view, and with his help I managed to crawl up the ersatz ladder that led to the roof top of this building. Although not particularly comfortable with heights, I had to admit that the climb was worthwhile. I could see why Ross was excited about camping here.
After a picnic lunch on the heights, we continued on our tour, with Ross
Yours truly inspecting the barracks
explaining the purpose of the various buildings and gun ports. We then headed down a very steep and dry, crumbling slope to the west shore and stopped to investigate the buildings that once housed the gigantic generators. For anyone who has ever seen the power generated at a mine site, it is comparable. The generators are no longer there, but were a necessary apparatus for a war time outpost when light might be required at a moment’s notice in case the enemy was spotted.
The dining hall and camp area were at the bottom of this hill, and Ross was thrilled to find evidence in the form of an artifact – a half pottery bowl with the Sovereign stamp, that had been unearthed by an uprooted tree. We then went down to the shore, which involved more clambering and hopping over the rocks, then followed the shoreline back to our landing spot.
All in all, it had been a great day. Ron arrived with his boat at the prescribed hour and on board were his wife Sharon and Robert Theoret, a former photographer with National Geographic, who was scouting out good shots of eagles for his photo library. As Ron said when we got back to Kelsey Bay, his greatest concern is for the safety of visitors to the island. So far, no tour operator has endeavoured to take groups of people there, although the Campbell River Museum has conducted a tour and Marine Links provided the transportation for last year’s 70th anniversary trip. The year prior, Ross brought two war veterans John Rorison and Bill Lewis, who had been posted to Yorke Island during its years of occupation. Ross’s dream is to eventually bring people there on tours, but in the meantime it remains a remote and not easily accessible place, which of course, adds to its intriguing charm.
Frank Assu is a man with a mission, and a very busy one. He just finished self publishing his first book, ‘Lekwiltok Anthology’, that came out in January of this year, is attending Vancouver Island University in order to become a teacher, works for the Canadian Coast Guard and is married and the father of four children. On top of all of this, last year he submitted a petition to the City of Campbell River to clean up Campbell River’s famous landmark, Big Rock, and have it declared a municipal historic site.
Assu’s book is a collection of essays about his people, the We Wai Kai of Quadra Island. (Assu is a grandson of the well known Chief Billy Assu). The book deals with the stories and legends of the Laichwiltach First Nations and as Assu puts it, he felt compelled to capture his family’s oral traditions on paper – for his children, and for anyone else who might be interested. Although this project did not directly affect his decision to try to do something about Big Rock, he admits to be being inspired indirectly while reviving Laichwiltach legends for the book. So what is the connection?
Big Rock has long been the focus of legend and has an air of mystery surrounding it . It is a geological anomaly. The 30 ft high rock, sitting perched between the Island Highway in Campbell River and the ocean (see photo), appears to have no physical relationship to anything surrounding it. There are no other big rocks nearby, no deep holes, no cliffs or mounds… the area is quite flat. It is perhaps because of this that local First Nations peoples created legends surrounding its meaning and how it arrived where it is. There is more than one legend, and as Assu explains, each tribe that settled the area created their own legend. The legend he grew up with involves a grizzly bear from the mainland and its desire to jump over to Vancouver Island; although warned by the Great Spirit, that if it missed it would be turned to stone. It did miss and became Big Rock. At the Campbell River Museum, the animated video story of Big Rock is based on a Comox legend, and involves an octopus. It is also thought that it could be a remnant of the Ice Age.
However, Assu does not like to assign the history of Big Rock to any one group or individual. As he says, the Big Rock is really part of “the collective history of Campbell River”.
What concerns Assu is the fact that this legendary rock has been the target for graffiti, which often includes profanity, and it has been used by protesters and demonstrators. If designated a protected historic site, signage woul be put in place, it would be cleaned up, and a coating of clear protective paint applied, so that it could easily be wiped clean of markers and paint should attempts be made to defame it again. Big Rock is a tourist attraction, and Assu would like to educate visitors and residents alike about the significance of the rock. In fact, he intends to collect stories from others, not just First Nations stories, about how the rock might have been important in their life – as a landmark, a meeting place, associated with an early memory…, and produce a second book that would be ready at the time of the site’s unveiling.
His petition has passed the first step through the Culture and Heritage Committee, and is now in the hands of city council. He has been assured that the future looks rosy for the rock, and it will take about a year for the process of designating it a municipal historic site to be completed. The next step will be to get provincial designation (and he has at this stage received both verbal and written support from MP John Duncan and MLA Claire Trevena); then on to the federal level to have it declared a national historic site (the Honourable Kevin Krueger has given written support in principal), then finally, he hopes it will be recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site.
Assu wrote his first book so that “my people would have a reference for their own history – something tangible”. Now he aims to present the “life” of Big Rock, which again will be a collection of stories, and make it a respected and tangible symbol for all residents of Campbell River to be proud of.
Assu will be giving his first reading of Lekwiltok Anthology at the Campbell River Museum Saturday, May 8 at 1pm – the book is for sale at the museum, We Wai Kum House of Treasures, Ocean Pacific, and Campbell River Touris Information Centre in Campbell River; Courtenay Museum, I-Hos Gallery and the Laughing Oyster in Courtenay; and the Book Bonanza, Nuyumbalees Centre and Quadra Crafts on Quadra Island.
If you are planning a garden this year and wondering where to put it, raised beds just might be the answer for you. I talked to president of the Campbell River Garden Club, Susan McEwen, about why raised bed gardening is gaining popularity and has so many advantages over digging it all up.
What is a raised bed? Essentially, it is just what it sounds like. Instead of digging into the ground and turning over the dirt, the gardening area lies on the surface of the ground. The raised bed, for example, can be placed on top of any area on a lawn, under a tree, against the house – in other words, wherever you want it. And this is only one advantage – the flexibility of location.
Susan has been gardening for many years, but this year decided to invest in the raised beds for several reasons:
Sound wonderful? How do you get started? Once you have chosen where to put your bed or beds, the next step is to figure out how many you want and how large to make them. Susan decided on two 8X4 beds for her backyard, and wanted to make them two feet deep, so that the roots would go straight down, instead of spreading – which they do in shallower earth.
The next step was to lay down landscape fabric over the grass, as in her case, or whatever the current surface might be. The fabric will eventually kill the grass, and keep any unwanted plant life like weeds from growing up into the bed. Once the fabric is down, the boxes to contain the soil (see photo) can be placed on top. In this case they are made of cedar, and Susan used a sealant on the wood to protect it. Attractive, and functional too! The soil used was order from Brymix – located on Woodburn road. They will deliver soil, which in this case is composed of their recommended one third seasoil and two thirds topsoil, and it is sold by the cubic yard. In this case, six cubic yards was sufficient to fill the boxes with some left over for other gardening areas.
Susan recommends adding worms to the soil to aerate it, and especially when the growing season is over, to add compost and seaweed. This will prolong the life of the soil, which will probably stay productive for at least five years. She suggests testing the soil to see what nutrients it may be lacking and if you treat it properly, like anything else it could continue to work for even longer.
We had covered quite a large area of our backyard with fabric last year so decided on six beds, but went just one foot deep. Instead of cedar, we used fir for the boxes, but lined them with waterproof fabric so that the wood lasts longer. Where we live, we have to protect our garden from deer, so as you can see by the photo, we have prepared them so that netting or chicken wire can be wrapped around the beds.
No matter what you decide to do, the investment is well worth it for many years of low maintenance vegetable production. I know we are looking forward to a great growing season, and yes, it is only April and the seeds have already been planted!
Harry and Cathy Thurston
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing author Harry Thurston, who has had a long career as an environmental writer and as a poet, contributing to such well know publications as Equinox, Audubon and Harrowsmith. He recently completed ‘The Atlantic – A Natural History’ which should be out later this year. He and his wife Cathy, who hail from Nova Scotia, are staying at the Haig-Brown House until the end of March this year (2010) as part of the Writer In Residence program, organized through the Campbell River Museum. As Writer in Residence, he has been busy mentoring other writers and speaking at events like the Words on the Water Festival.
Thurston feels quite at home in the Haig-Brown House and is well acquainted with the writings of Roderick Haig-Brown, Campbell River’s famous author, who wrote extensively on conservationism and who was strongly influenced by his natural surroundings and by living next to the Campbell River. Thurston feels that Haig-Brown was “ahead of his time, and underappreciated”, discussing environmental theories that were 30 years ahead of any ‘environmental movement’.
Thurston is a writer who has also been strongly influenced by his surroundings, having grown up on a saltwater farm on the east coast, and from a young age observed the link between progress and the devastation of his beloved fishing spot near his childhood home. Currently, he and his wife live by a river near the community of Tidnish Bridge, which is on the isthmus connecting Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Although geographically the locale of their home and that of the Haig-Brown House differ (their area being flat, and the Tidnish River is more placid than the Campbell River) yet Campbell River is reminiscent of home – the nearness of the ocean, the same issues facing the environment linked to ”forestry and the protection of the forest” and fishing.
Thurston has travelled extensively throughout his career, living in different parts of Canada like Guelph, Ontario where his wife Cathy completed her masters degree in Child Psychology. With their divergent careers, (Cathy Thurston was the Regional Director for Mental Health in Nova Scotia) she wasn’t always able to travel with her husband, but now that Cathy is retired, this opportunity in Campbell River has allowed them the spend time in another community together.
“One of the most remarkable places I ever spent time in” says Thurston, was close to home, on an island called Sable Island, located 300km south of Halifax. Sable Island is about 40km long and roughly 2.5 km wide (and takes its name from the French word for sand). It is known for the numerous ship wrecks that are buried in the sand there, that appear and disappear with the shifting of the sands, and for its population of about 400 wild horses, commonly known as Sable Island ponies. Thurston says that although they are referred to as ponies, many are quite large. He was there on assignment with Audubon to do a story about a Tern colony, (Thurston has a background in biology) but ended up writing what he refers to as “an impressionist piece”.
This would come as no surprise to those who know Thurston has a prose writer, which he refers to as a second career apart from his journalistic career. He began writing prose in university, when he was studying biology, and at one time he both published and edited a poetry journal. In fact, while at the Haig-Brown House he held a well received workshop on prose writing. His latest prose project, that he has been working on while at the House, is entitled ‘Lost River’, which consists of a group of fictional stories dealing with fishing and our relationship to the natural world.
Perhaps a time when the two writing careers converged was during his sojourn in the Sahara desert, when he stayed at an intriguing oasis called Dakleh, that had been continuously occupied by human beings for over 400,000 years. Although he went there initially in the late ‘80’s a to write a feature article for Equinox he “realized then, that this is a book”. He returned in 2000 and archaeologists were there conducting a long term study. While it may have seemed incongruous for a coastal person who normally wrote about the enironment to be writing about an archaeological project in the desert, for Thurston “this is an environmental story – it’s a story about the use of water”. On the Dakleh Oasis Project website, it is stated that “The environment is seen as one of the most important influences on all human activity”.
Yet the science was not all that intrigued the author. “The desert has a horizon like the ocean with undulating dunes like waves” he explains, and the beauty of the desert was so inspiring, that he “wrote a poem every night.” His wife Cathy was able to join him there for part of the sojourn and was fascinated to find remains of sea life in the form of shells and fossils in the dry sands. In fact it has been said that the sand surrounding Dakleh predates the history of the Sahara.
‘Island of the Blessed’ (the title is taken from Herodotus) is the book that was born out of his research there. “People gravitated to that place” because it is an aquifer (a porous deposit of rock containing water that can be used to supply wells); but today that source “is being tapped aggressively” for the purposes of modern agriculture, and Thurston predicts “it’s possible that its history of occupation is coming to an end”. In ‘Island of the Blessed’, he writes that “An oasis… is also an island, a place with definite borders and finite resources. Survival depends upon wise management of those resources, for there is no way off this island.”
And in the following poignant analogy, which sounds like pure poetry to me, Thurston concludes: “The oasis is a microcosm for the challenges we face globally. Earth is an island of fertility in outer space.”
If you would like to hear Harry Thurston in person, he will be speaking at the Heriot Bay Inn on Saturday, March 27, an evening event which will include dinner. You can call the Inn directly to make a reservation – 250-285-3322 . If you are unable to hear him in person, the following is a condensed version of the above interview from the Kasha’s Corner Audio Series: Click Here to Play Interview with H Thurston.
