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GARDEN WISDOM: I love columbine!

by Mark Macdonald on 17 May 2013
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Columbine

The second half of May heralds the blooms of Columbine here in south coastal BC. The flowers only appear for a couple of weeks, but it’s so worth the wait. Take a walk through the UBC Botanical Gardens at this time of year, and you’ll see many variations on the theme, although only a sampling of the 70 or so species that exist. The flowers have an aesthetic attraction for me, in terms of simple beauty and daintiness. But the academic side of my personality cannot see past the flowers as potent symbols of Darwinian evolution.

BLOG: With the Liberals still up, it’s not time to sit down

by Mary Woodbury on 16 May 2013
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Photographer credit: Liz Sperandeo

If there’s one thing to take away from the recent election’s loss of a voice for the rainforest, it’s that protecting the largest temperate rainforest in the world is still possible–with or without politics and money being pushed into the controversial oil sands expansion that would potentially devastate this rare and critical ecosystem–one of the last of its kind.

GARDEN WISDOM: Bean Counting

by Mark Macdonald on 16 May 2013
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Last year’s packet – with the seeds I didn’t use!

Mid-May is an excellent time of year to plant drying bean seeds like red kidney beans, orca beans, or black turtle beans. These are all very productive crops, and the seeds are easy to extract and dry for use later in the year. Last year I planted an 8 foot row of kidney beans in one of the beds at Kirkland House in Ladner. I only used about half the package of seeds. I used, as I do with all my veggies, a small amount of Gaia Green’s All Purpose 4-4-4 organic fertilizer, but did not use a seed inoculant or any other method.

GARDEN WISDOM: Roses for Mother's Day

by Mark Macdonald on 12 May 2013
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Select Roses – a rose lover’s paradise!

Okay, I confess to having made more or less the same post previously, but it is wholly warranted by the exquisite beauty to be found at Select Roses in Langley, BC. My friend Brad Jalbert has dedicated his life to raising and breeding roses. He has authored a book on keeping roses, and he’s traveled the world touring famous rose gardens. He is, in fact, one of the world authorities on the subject of everything rose. I admire his dedication absolutely.

GARDEN WISDOM: An Abstract Testimonial

by Mark Macdonald on 03 May 2013
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Tiny white coffee flowers with a sweet smell like stocks or jasmine

I have written frequently about the results I get in my veggie beds from using the All Purpose Complete Organic 4-4-4 Fertilizer from Gaia Green. I love this product, and I use it with nearly all my vegetable plantings. The idea of a “complete” organic balanced fertilizer has been around for many moons – at least since Steve Solomon’s first edition of Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades, published back in 1981, and probably long before that.

Washtub Bass Instructional Video

by Michael Gifford on 10 Apr 2013
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Rossland resident, Michael Gifford, has a new handle. Call him "Gut Bucket Giff". He recently released his two-part YouTube instructional video, "Compleat Washtub Bass". Part One (18 minutes) covers understanding and hearing the bass line. Part Two (36 minutes) deals with building and playing the single string instrument.

Watch Salmon Confidential

by Gravity on 18 Mar 2013
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See video

Salmon Confidential is a new film on the government cover up of what is killing BC’s wild salmon. When biologist Alexandra Morton discovers BC’s wild salmon are testing positive for dangerous European salmon viruses associated with salmon farming worldwide, a chain of events is set off by government to suppress the findings. Tracking viruses, Morton moves from courtrooms, into British Columbia’s most remote rivers, Vancouver grocery stores and sushi restaurants.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez IV Will Not End: Just Here To Get The Show

by garycvliet on 08 Dec 2012
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Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez have talked a big game over the past few months. Each one has insisted that, because of a mutual distrust for judges and how bouts are scored, they will aim to knock the other out this Saturday.

It’s not going to happen.

Ronald Wright, a bore and not inspiring. Underwhelmed by his address.

by chjeanes on 11 Oct 2012
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Wright was awful. The man is dull, his inability to speak informally is painful.

What did he offer us for solutions? "Political will."

Did he have an opinion why our wills have not brought an end to our many problems, human and natural. No. Did he say why 2008 had not changed anything in capitalism? No. Why do the powerful have power over us? Why can Harper lead us into more military spendiing and degradation of our envirnoment etc etc ?

Overall, I failed to see any light in this man, when we need it so badly.

Washington State Wolf Slaughter

by Longintooth on 04 Oct 2012
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It was sad to hear that Washington State allowed and participated in the unnecessary slaugthering of healthy wolves.     They perform a vital function in the wildlife cycle and for the State officials to be a part of the slaughter...especially of the alpha pack pair...is abhorant.   Clearly the State has demonstrated its' priority is not in the protection of wildlife but in the ranchers back pocket!