Beespeaker Saijiki

Who Inspires You Right Now?

2012-01-30T20:20:00.001-08:00

"I've gotta go grocery shopping," my friend kvetches. "I need inspiration. What should I cook?"

"Read the food blogs!" I say. The best bloggers are often good at creating seasonal ingredient-based meals. But these day it seems like some of the best bloggers are too busy editing cookbooks to post what they're making. In that case, let's turn to the chefs.

When I am really stuck for ideas I look to what Alice Waters is offering at Chez Panisse. The daily menu at the café reads like found poetry.

My current Vancouver chef crush is Quang Dang. His menu at West makes me pine for a lottery win soon, like tomorrow. I so want to go to the Hendrick's Gin Dinner! Don't you? Well then, you know who to take with you!

The Dine Out Vancouver Menu that appeals to me the most right now is the one at L'Abbatoire. Some of the menu choices would be very difficult to make. It all sounds so good.

It's a shame that Sooke Harbor House and The Willows Inn on Lummi Island don't publish their daily menus to feed the voyeuristic souls that peruse their web pages. Sigh. A woman can dream.

The reality is that right now I am very excited about making apple sauce with lots of cardamom for my morning yogurt. Simples! Who inspired me? Nigel Slater. Making apple sauce in the winter out of apples that are starting to go soft is a grounding ritual. It's great for a Sunday morning when you have that extra bit of time before choir practice. I'm going to find some ricotta and pears now to riff on Nigel's recipe.

Oh, and I just found this lovely little winter salad at Oh Joy! that is inspired and inspiring.

High Spirits Choir Concert this Sunday!

2012-01-27T15:50:00.000-08:00

Our choir is having their big winter concert on Sunday at 3:30 pm in Unity Church, 5840 Oak. (Click on the poster to enlarge.) We are singing a wide variety of songs, including "We Once Beheld the Stars" with lyrics by Dante. If you read music and are interested in singing challenging repertoire, this might be the choir for you to consider joining. We could especially use tenors!

Occupied Territory

2012-01-26T19:37:00.000-08:00

Humor provided by the 1%.

I had a downer of a morning. You know when you're in an environment where every single person is treated like a moron by staff who see themselves as superior beings on a more evolved plane? Yeah that. Oh well, bad experiences make good stories and by god I'll be writing about that one. I decided to cheer myself up by heading to the VAG and checking out the food truck action.

Well, the lineups were insane. People were lining up to take photos of lineups. Stuff sold out. I went around the corner to Ensemble Tap for my lunch.

There's a three course deal on right now and I started with the popcorn shrimp with tempura sea asparagus and spicy mayo which cheered me up immediately. Flavors were bright and layered. It hip checked other popcorn shrimp I've had and put them out of the game. (Wow, I sound like such a dude!)

Oh, look at those plump, juicy bangers. I love mushrooms and spaetzle but the sauce was wrong. The mushroom onion pan gravy tasted like honey mustard. I craved vinegar notes and wanted to axe the honey. Is it made sweet to go with the bitterness of beer? Big portion, maybe enough for half the Sedin twins, or half of half of them. I liked the onion slaw--good crispy vinegar tang.

Lovely little key lime pie. Tangy and creamy with a buttery crust. I would have liked a lime curd swoop instead of cream, but then you'd have to charge me more, wouldn't you?

Still feeling a bit out of sorts I headed to the Juice truck for the Beta 5 hot chocolate almond milk with chai marshmallows for (choke) $5.50. It occupied my belly, but not my heart. Go to French Made and have the Earl Grey Chocolate instead or go to La Nouvelle France where she knows her drinking chocolate. It is more "evolved" as they say at Mink. Pretentious? Moi?

Unfinished Business

2012-01-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

The latest Stephen Lewis Foundation newsletter describes arts therapy in Africa. I was very moved to read how one artist Mbulelo Duma works with children who have suffered in the Aids epidemic.

We also use clay to help children deal with what we call 'unfinished business.' With the clay, they make objects depicting the things that they would have liked to have said to their late parent, and then they use their voice, saying, "I would have loved to have a bicycle," for instance. Then they would also use the voice of the deceased saying what is it that they think would have been their response. So in that way, we give them an opportunity to say the things that they didn't get to say, and to get the responses that they didn't get while the person was alive.

I think clay can also be helpful in that it is a form of expressing anger without hurting others. For example, children make objects that have made them angry or that represent a situation in which they were angry. Then they work in pairs to share about what is it that had made them angry. Through the clay activities we help them realize that anger is a feeling that is worth talking about, but what matters most is the expression of their anger. After that we talk about what other ways they think might be helpful to express their anger without hurting themselves or hurting others.

His n' Hers Gin

2012-01-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

Whiskey and boxer shorts. That's what the local doc in our small town in Saskatchewan prescribed to every couple that was having trouble getting pregnant. I think of that every time I toss my man's boxers in the wash and rinse out his scotch glass. The cycle continues.

My dearly beloved likes his nip of after dinner scotch and he guards that bottle like a passive aggressive guard dog. I can hear him growling in my head when I approach the liquor cabinet (which in our house is also the cookbook, magazine and kipple cabinet). I decided I wanted lady's tipple and so I went out and bought a bottle of Bombay Saphire Gin. I bought some tonic water, grapefruit and blood oranges and imagined myself relaxing with a citrus slurp while cooking dinner. Ummmm, so guess who's drinking all the gin cocktails. "But it's so refreshing!" he says. Dude, that's supposed to be my refreshment. Anyhow, good thing Valentine's Day is coming up, 'cause mama needs her gin!

Art's Birthday 2012

2012-01-24T15:39:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Art's Birthday at W2 Community Media Arts with a wacky cake made by the baker at the W2 Media Café in the form of a sound wave. We watched interesting archival images of Martin Luther King recently unearthed from Sweden. Artist Bryan Mulvihill (aka Trolley Bus) served fine green tea in a pot he made as a copy of an ancient tea pot design.

Brian sees sharing tea as a form of "social sculpture" and he has been in many World Tea Party events and projects. He is very hospitable and generous with his knowledge of tea culture. There's an article in the Georgia Straight outlining his philosophy. He is a really lovely person and a Vancouver treasure.

Raincity Chronicles this Friday!!!!!!

2012-01-24T13:41:00.000-08:00

Check it out! I am so excited about this gig. Get your tickets now because they will sell out. (Click to enlarge.) Isn't the poster amazing?

From the Raincity Chronicles website:

We are very excited to announce the next batch of storytellers for our special edition event in conjunction with the great folks from the City of Vancouver Food Policy.

Emily Wight

Ilana Labow

Luke Brocki

Maryvon Delanoe

Peter Ladner

Lori Weidenhammer

Preet Marwaha

Brent Mansfield

music by Reid Jameson

These incredible Vancouverites will be sharing tales about their experience and passion for local food and communities, something near and dear to our hearts. You can read more about the night and the work the City of Vancouver has been doing here.

Grab a pair of tickets here.

Winter Kimchi: Gimjang

2012-01-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

Now that I am addicted to Korean tacos, I felt it was time to learn how to make kimchi. I have had lessons in making saurkraut, so I felt I had a little bit of experience in fermenting cabbage. I turned to David Lebovitz because he is my go-to-guy for recipes these days. His recipe made it seem possible to make kimchi without too much sturm und drang.

I enlisted my friend Catherine to help with moral support and hard labor--ie chopping all those ingredients. I gathered as many ingredients as I could find, heading all the way to South Seas in Granville Island to pick up the Korean chili flakes. (Apparently it does not include the seeds of the chilis.) I found just about everything except the daikon, which is always everywhere you look in Vancouver when you're not looking for it.

I prepared the Chinese cabbage ahead of time. Now that was my biggest stumbling block. David says to remove the tough bits of stalk. Ummm how much do you remove? I removed almost all of it and was left with a tiny bag of leafy bits. This was obviously wrong, so we added most of the stalk. Now I have been looking at kimchi making vids online and those cabbage vary greatly in size. I think I'd picked one that must have been about half the size of David's. Anyway we decided to wing it, adding in some Easter egg radishes instead of daikon and hand chopping the ginger and garlic instead of putting it in the food processor. I didn't leave the leaves of the cabbage whole, btw. I wanted it in bite size pieces to put on tacos.

We drank strong tea, chatted about dogs, the universe and everything and we chopped cabbage, onions, garlic, and ginger. Here it is, all mixed up with the fish sauce, honey, and chili flakes. Catherine tasted it and declared it addictive. She said I needed to take it home to ferment or else she'd eat all of it. We got excited about the variations we could make in the future.

Here us our jar of kimchee which it is supposed to ferment outside the fridge until it starts to fizz or bubble. Then you can keep it for about three weeks in the refrigerator where it will gradually get stronger in flavor. So I looked kimchi up on the Wikipedia and of course it has a long and venerable history and back in Korea people make different kinds of pickles depending on the season. Winter kimchi is made though a process called Gimjang. Koreans even take kimchi holidays to get together and make the stuff and they store it in dedicated fridges to keep it at the optimum temperature and also because the smell can leach into other foods.

The new kimchi, made with fish sauce and less salt is healthier than the really traditional stuff, in fact it is considered by many to be one of the healthiest foods in the world. I'm really looking forward to those kimchi tacos and to learning more about this super food.

A Winter Stroll in Kits

2012-01-13T18:55:00.000-08:00

After a long grey spell we are finally enjoying some sunshine, so I have taken the time to catch some rays. I love walking around in other people's neighborhoods looking at gardens and houses, so I headed to Kitsilano for a stroll. Click on the photo to take a closer look at that amazing leopard print door.

The top part of the outside of this house is covered in astro turf. Talk about kitsch.

The heather is bloomin' in the gloamin'.

I love this wonky raised bed that's tucked into the corner of a curb with its crops of winter greens and herbs. I am kicking myself for failing to plant a winter garden this year, especially now that I am addicted to kale.

Check out the psychedelic ornamental kale. Apparently you can eat this although it is not as tender or tasty as the other varieties because it's bred for beauty. Kind of like me. Ar Ar.

I love the mop heads of these clematis vines for winter interest.

I couldn't figure out what kind of tree this is, but I love the silhouette against those wispy clouds.

Winter Treats: Gougeres

2012-01-12T16:26:00.001-08:00

I am so excited that someone is finally making gougeres in Vancouver! These savory puffs made of choux pastry are perfect for appetizers with bubbly and if you make them larger you can even use them to make sandwiches. I made mini sandwiches out of these French Made mini gougeres which are flavored liberally with cumin. I mixed some of Vij's garam masala into mayo and mixed it with chopped chicken and topped with fresh avocado. It's a perfect snack for afternoon tea.

French Made Bakery has just opened up just north of Number One Kingsway. I had sampled their canalés at Blim and tasted their macarons at the Farmer's market. Their logo is a little French maid without any eyes. That's okay. I painted a backdrop of Jesus holding a lamb for my grad and he didn't have a nose.

Speaking of the baby Jesus, during January the bakery is making a special seasonal French dessert celebrating Epiphany called "galette des rois". It's made of frangipane with a hint of rum and pastry cream in between flaky pastry. You can order it, complete with a bean cooked inside to represent the baby J. Down south in cajun country they will even put a ceramic baby in their version of galette des rois. Just don't chomp on Jesus! Of course, whoever nibbles on Jesus gets a prize or the answer to their prayer, whichever comes first.

The salty caramel Breton macaron and the Earl Grey Anglais macaron are very toothsome and much more interesting than most macarons I've sampled which I find underwhelming. These two flavors are not too sweet and the caramel has a good salty chew in it's texture.

The shop also sells little brioche loaves, individual quiche, croissants and other treats. There are a few chairs to sit in and they sell Kusmi tea. Looks like they will also be participating in the hot chocolate festival, which is awesome!

Borscht with Vegetable Stock

2012-01-03T11:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was still a school holiday because New Year's Day fell on a Sunday. So P went to work and Ules and I had a cozy day in. I took down the Christmas tree and packed it all up, only to find that I missed tucking in all the snowmen on the windowsill. Now all the snow people are put to bed along with the old artificial tree we bought for thirty bucks at a thrift store many moons ago.

Borscht can be a good "clean out the fridge" kind of soup. I used the dried veggies that Ambercott Acres sells at the winter market to make a rich, ruby vegetable stock. These are the odds and ends of vegetable along with grated beets that they dry themselves, mostly just by laying it out on screens under the sun. This stock is a great base for a pure vegetable borcht. I strained out the stock veg, added freshly grated beets, green onions and garlic and some endamame for a hit of protein eh voila! A nourishing lunch. A loooong time ago I had borscht in a Doukhabor restaurant near Castlegar, and this soup brought back that memory (IIRC that was a vegetarian version as well). Since I didn't make it to New Year's dinner, my MIL thoughtfully prepared a care package on a Pyrex plate which Ules and I shared for lunch: tender slices of roast beef, peas, roasted baby potatoes and mashed squash. Ules said, "The squash is my favorite. Dad days its like melted gold." It is made with lots of brown sugar or maple syrup and melted butter and love.

Last night for supper we had salmon cakes, red cabbage coleslaw with pomegranate seeds, and quinoa. The boys also devoured a loaf of the garlic bread we get at our local grocery store. We also finished off the lovely Meadow Vista "Joy" sparkling mead from New Year's.

Tiger Butter Cookies

2012-01-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

My son told me that the last batch of peanut butter cookies was not peanutty enought, so I made these babies. I had picked up some bacon peanut brittle from Spinnakers Brew Pub in Victoria, so I sprinkled some with that for extra crunch, smokiness and a hit of salt.

Ingredients for the cookies:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup peanut butter (I use crunchy)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp Mexican vanilla
1 1/4 c unbleached flour

Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the peanut butter until combined, and finally the egg. Add the flour and mix until combined. Drop by small ice cream scoops onto the pan, flat side down. (I use my pizza stone.) Using the bowl of the scoop, make an indentation in the cookie to hold the Tiger Butter. Bake at 350 degrees F until lightly browned (about 12 minutes.) Set aside to cool.

Ingredients for the Tiger Butter:

1/2 of a 225 gram package white chocolate chips.
1/4 cup smooth or crunchy peanut butter
3 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate (or milk chocolate) chips

optional: a few teaspoons of peanut brittle, crushed into small pieces

Melt the white chocolate chips on medium heat in the microwave in a medium glass bowl. Stir in the the peanut butter. Using the same ice-cream scoop, half fill it with tiger butter and put a dollop in the indentation in each cookie. Put a few pieces of peanut brittle on top if you wish.

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave oven, then drizzle on top of the cookies. Put in a cool place (ie the fridge) for the chocolate to set, or if you're impatient like me, eat them while the chocolate is still warm and gooshy.

Boxing Week in Victoria

2011-12-30T11:39:00.000-08:00

Let's face it, Boxing Day has turned into a week-long holiday phenomenon. I had never ventured out of the house on the day after Christmas, but this year I spent part of Boxing Week visiting a dear friend in Victoria.

I stocked up on my favorite natural body products at Nezza Naturals. Those folks do amazing things with aromatherapy and natural ingredients such as beeswax.

I was shocked to learn that a local call in a public booth now costs fifty cents! Jeepers. Luckily I was able to use this charming phone booth at Nootka court to let my friends know I had arrived. The sad news was that my favorite restaurant Daidoco was closed over the holidays. In fact many small businesses were shut up tight as a drum.

Even though the weather was gloomy and mild, I was cheered by the blooms and berries on these Oregon grape bushes.

My friend was on a mission to consume maccha (I'm more used to spelling it "matcha"), so we headed to a new shop called "Spiced Water" which boasts excellent tea and coffee. I had a maccha chai. It comes slightly sweetened with cinnamon and black pepper. Delicious! I wanted cardamon too.

These guys are lovely and they know their stuff. It's interesting to meet folks who are dedicated to both coffee and tea.

Spiced Water is across from the Sticky Wicket in a stand-alone shack with a few stools. It is the "yang" to its sister tea shop in Nootka Court called "Jagasilk" which is more "yin" in its location and focus on pottery and tea. Jagasilk is tucked in right next to Daidoco Deli.

Local seasonal eating is easy in a city that takes pride in its produce. I had awesome chocolate porter stout ribs on mashed potatoes with cheese curds and brussel sprouts at the Superior, seafood chowder with a very good smoked tuna salad at Spinnakers, and home made vanilla doughnuts (they're organic!) at Spiced Water.

Discerning penguins agree, Victoria is a good place to spend Boxing Week. What are your Boxing Week traditions?

Remembering Daphne

2011-11-24T08:36:00.001-08:00

The main image of our celebration was an homage to Daphne's goldfish pond. We baked spicy fish cookies on pans that I bought from Daphne's garage sale. We set up cups and hot water for tea on a cold November evening.

Jean commissioned a pond so the lanterns would reflect the water.

Mike helped us to hang the lanterns and Noah helped light the candles.

Catherine made this lovely black and gold fish. Each lantern had a unique personality.

We saved petals from Daphne's garden for participants to create a "teapot mandala"

We featured photos of Daphne generously provided by her family.

We asked friends and neighbors to take the time place a stone in the water and remember.

As night fell we gathered to light candles and I sang 'Soon I will be done with the troubles of the world.' People gathered around the tea pots and visited.

Thanks to everyone who helped create and support Daphne's memorial celebration. This project was supported by the Neighborhood Small Grants program.

Lanterns for Daphne

2011-11-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Remember way back this summer when I showed you photos of a heritage garden in our neighborhood? Well, sadly this year we lost the gardener and her garden. Daphne Holmes was a lovely British war bride who met a Canadian soldier in WWII and fell in love. She moved to Canada, had a family and worked as a nurse. When she retired she volunteered at our local clinic, weighing the babies, including our Ules. She was a passionate gardener and I remember she told me that the gift she loved most was a bit of money to go buy herself a hanging basket of flowers. She was very active up until the very end and she surprised me one day went I met her walking all the way to Oakridge Mall from her home.

She was sad to leave her home, but when I saw her for the last time she gave the nursing home glowing reviews and told me never to be afraid to go into a home. Her blue eyes sparkled as she told me how many committees and activities she was a part of in her residence.

When someone bought her house, the members of our community really wanted to be able to save and nurture her plants as part of the process of mourning and remembering Daphne. We really should have set a formal meeting with the owner to say how much the plants meant to us. Turns out he has a friend with a big garden and he took most of the plants. However, in the end some neighbors got to come and help themselves to the leftovers before the yard was destroyed.

Our creativity circle (now unofficially known as The Three Crones) decided to have a neighborhood celebration of Daphne's life near All Soul's Day. Daphne's garden contained a goldfish pond, so we made gold fish lanterns to create an illuminated installation for the event. Catherine Shapiro has been making lanterns for many years, so she taught Jean Kindratksy and I how to make the fish. Jean had some experience making lanterns, but this was my first attempt. I made the runty fish below!

Stay tuned for part II.

In Remembrance

2011-11-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

My son's great grandfather Hubert "Bertie" Burleigh Douse fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He was wounded in battle and lost three brothers on the Western Front. On the way home from France by ship he missed the Halifax explosion by one day. He went on to live a full life and retired with his family in Vancouver.

I am Canadian

2011-10-25T15:58:00.001-07:00

Tonight's Community Dialogue: Women and War

2011-10-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

Women and War - A Community Dialogue Session presented by The Firehall Arts Centre

October 24, 7pm
at the Peter Kaye Room, Central Library
350 W. Georgia Street

In the final dialogue session of our series, we will discuss the many roles and contributions of women during war times.

Joining the discussion is Siobhan Annand, Critical Care Nursing Officer in the Canadian Forces. Officer Annand has twice been deployed to Afghanistan and has also been posted in Haiti. She will discuss her experiences as a nurse and officer in today's Canadian Forces.

Featuring a presentation by Sheila Zerr and Nan Nartin, members of the BC Nursing History Society, about the role of the Nursing Sisters during WWI. Zerr and Martin will speak on the history of nursing sisters within the war and the chronology of nurses' roles from original inception into the battle ground abroad.

Both will be dressed in WWI Red Cross Nursing uniforms, one of which was worn at a European
uniforms, one of which was worn at a European Front Hospital.

Hops, Quince and Cranberries

2011-10-24T16:07:00.001-07:00

This month I worked with some Langara students at the Moberly Community Herb Garden making herbal wreaths. I pulled down our hops vines to use to make the wreaths and harvested the buds. The hops filled the room we were working in with that pungeant garlic-like smell that is supposed to make you feel drowsy. I've given the hops to a friend who makes beer and he's popped them in the freezer.

I bought these cranberries from a farmer at the Kits market and made a salsa with garlic, honey, and tomatilloes--good with roast chicken.

I also bought tiny crab apples which I made into juice and added some sour cherry juice from fruit I had in the freezer from earlier in the year. I thought I'd have to add honey, but you know I loved it without any sweetener. There was enough residual sugar in the fruit to make it taste tart and refreshing. We've also been making pumpkin pies, which is one of my all time favorite fall foods.

Art at War: A Community Dialogue

2011-10-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

I am speaking about the show of photographs of Vancouver in war time I'm curating for the Firehall Arts Centre on October 17. Please join us and take part in the discussion.

Art at War - Community Dialogue Session
October 17, 2011

This dialogue will look into the practice of documenting war through art and how it has evolved over the years.

Seeing as how we will be discussing art, rather than having this session be a straight dialogue, we have prepared readings of literature and poems written about and during war times that can then be discussed as well featuring images created about combat.

DATES: October 17, 7pm
at the Audain Gallery, SFU Woodward's
149 W. Hastings Street

When Spiders Grow Bold

2011-09-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

You must notice it too. That time of the year that marks the transition between summer and fall. The spiders build their ostentatious webs in very conspicuous and often inconvenient places. What's that all about? The hops flowers are lengthening. It might rain tomorrow and we sure need it.

Natural Dye Workshop at the MOP

2011-09-08T21:40:00.001-07:00

Last week Penny Coupland and Emily Smith gave a wonderful workshop on natural dyeing at the MOP Garden. Participants brought jars and animal fibers to practice some eco-alchemy. Penny and Emily showed us beautiful samples of naturally dyed wool and cotton. Many of the women at the workshop were into fleece: the wild, woolly women of Vancouver!

Those really bright pieces of raw wool are actually dyed with Kool-aid.

As Penny gave us a tour of the dye plants in the garden a fritillary landed on Sharon's hat. Penny has been experimenting with Natural Dyes for about a year and she highly recommends the book Wild Color by Jenny Dean.

One of the cool things Penny Does is buy grapes that are on sale at the grocery store because they are overripe. These are perfect to use for dyeing. She also says you can have your fruit and dye with it too: use blackberry juice to dye and dry the pulp to make fruit leather. Clever!

Some dye stuffs such as golden rod (which is blooming right now) can be frozen or "canned" as a dye stuff if you don't have time to use it while it's fresh. Preserving the flowers this way will give a brighter color than the dried blossoms.

We all headed into the garden and chose plants for our jars. Then the participants poured water from the kettle into the jars. Some plants will lose color if you get them too hot, whereas others need to be made into a decoction and boiled.

Sharon got good results with these bright pink geranium petals.

Some people tried using Rudbeckia and others the blossoms of the tall coneflowers.

As a general rule of thumb you need about the same weight of plant stuffs as your fibers. We added a small pinch of alum as a co-mordant.

Todd got some good yellow color with the roots of Oregon grape.

Some people made "cocktails" of mixed plants.

Penny also noted that the internet is a great source for info on eco-dyes but you can often find conflicting results due to many wild cards such as ph readings and different varieties of plants.

Penny says you can get a pink color from rose hips and rose petals. Tansy will give a neon yellow color when the pollen is fresh and a duller browner yellow when the flower is older or dried. Emily reminded us to keep all dye containers separate from food containers because many dye stuffs are toxic. Some should be handed with gloves because they contain skin irritants as well.

This should be a really good weekend for solar dyeing because the forecast is for some really hot days. I have a jar of blackberry, a couple of fennel, and one of coreopsis and goldenrod on the go.
Thanks to Penny and Emily for a great workshop! Good luck to everyone with their experiments in eco-alchemy!

Scones with Gypsy Jams

2011-09-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

It's a beautifully sunny Labor Day, which is supposed to be unusual. According to my father-in-law it always rains on Labor Day in Vancouver and then the sun comes out when the kids go back to school. Well, we struck it lucky today, but it's cool enough in the kitchen to bake fresh scones.

I had an unopened jar of lime marmalade from Gypsy Jams that was tempting me from the window sill. "Open me! Eat Me!" I heard the little lime voices calling me. And so I made my favorite lime scones. My son came pounding down the stairs. "Scones." I said. "I haven't made them yet." So he headed back up to the computer.

My favorite scones recipes is lightened up with the tang of yogurt:

2 cups flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C cold butter
3/4 cup yogurt

You know the drill. Mix the dry ingredients, cut in the butter and work it lightly until the pieces are the size of peas. Add yogurt and just barely mix together until it holds its shape. I used a small glass to cut out the scones. Note to self: buy the bloody cookie cutter ring set. Bake on a pizza stone if you have one at 425 F. They take 15-20 minutes to bake. Once the smell of fresh scones wafted up to the second floor, I heard the whump whump whump of a hungry boy coming downstairs. He lathered his scones with raspberry jam and they disappeared.

Sivia's lime marmalade lists three ingredients: lime, water, sugar. It's got a lovely tang that sits well on top of a smear of creamy labneh. We enjoyed our warm scones with jasmine pearl tea that was a gift from my sister. I'm going to ice some of that tea and take it with me today to the natural dye workshop at the MOP. Happy Labor Day!

Celandine Yellow

2011-09-04T06:16:00.001-07:00

My friend Robin gave me some greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) plants for a dye experiment. She says they are somewhat weedy, so it was no problem to pick a handful with the roots. The stems and the roots ooze a bright yellow liquid. It is considered an invasive plant in North America if it escapes the garden and moves into the woods or other natural areas. Its latex sap is a skin irritant and the plant is toxic. How charming!

I simmered them in water for half and hour and then put them in a jar with some pieces of cotton mordanted in tannin. I just put the jar in the garden in the sun for a day or two.

The cloth came out a lovely soft, buttery yellow.

Robin has created her garden with an artist's eye. It's always a pleasure to visit and feast on its colors and textures.

Seed Study

2011-08-30T18:53:00.001-07:00

It's already time to start saving seeds. I harvested my poppy pods a couple of days ago because I felt damp in the air and wanted to save them in case it rained. Turns out I didn't need to, but in a Pacific Northwest climate you have to be ready to take in those seeds before the rains start. Let's hope for a nice dry fall. When the poppy pods are completely dry, the lid pops up and reveals the holes designed to release the tiny black seeds. You can see in the photo, the pod on the left has popped and the one on the right is still sealed.

I love the sinewy muscular quality of these poppy pods.

Each pod and stem has a personality of its own.

My sugar snaps are starting to dry up and the cerinthe and borage are just about finished as well.

I love the bumps and ridges on seeds, carrying a profound sculptural resonance. Enjoy your seeds and take the time to meditate on their beauty. Let your fingers explore them in order to lodge their aesthetic power in your memory. Our souls need seeds.

Shade and Song Tea Party

2011-08-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

Sad to say that this is my last tea party as a member of MOPARRC. It's been wonderful working with Sharon Kallis, Lois Klassen, Jody MacDonald and David Gowman and the Environmental Youth Alliance. Blessings and thanks to Oliver Kellhammer for creating such an incredible space and leaving us with this profound legacy.

We had a sunny, yet shade-dappled party with bee talks by the EYA, an invitation to participate in Haruko Okana's new project, tours of Peter Leichner's garden, and music by the League of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra and the Pan Flautists.

These little spikey balls are the seed heads of Echinops.

Folks were eager to hear what the EYA had to say about their hives at the MOP.

Participants were invited to make their own bee hats and have a close up look at honey extractor.

We collected chamomile, mint, fennel and little white roses from the garden for our tea blends created by Jody MacDonald.

Fritillaries, syrphid flies and all kinds of bees were having their own tea party in the mint flowers.

Sharon supplied parasols to help participants to stay cool. We really needed them!

Haruko Okano talks about her project which will take place at Granville Island in September. Check out her Ocean Flotilla blog to find out how you can participate. Don't just think about it, do it!

Participants wrote messages of hope to send in Haruko's beautiful boats. On her blog, Haruko states:

"Experiments have shown that when positive thinking is done in unison with hundreds of participants in different locations concentrating on one vision that it can improve a situation needing positive change. This was done for a short, sustained period of time for a specific problem. Therefore, I invite you to begin changing the destiny of the planet and all its inhabitants for the better by taking the time to compose an affirmation. Hold this thought in your mind, knowing that there are others doing exactly the same thing."

Dr. Legume told us the sad story of trying to undo the damage done to plants by the artist Peter Leichner.

This pea is one of his experiments.

There were some awesome sun hats at the party.

I love the patterns of shadows on this umbrella.

Best wishes to all of the fabulous folks I have met through my involvement in MOPARRC. Please keep in touch and check in to this blog to find out what projects I'll be doing in the future including more performing, gardening, natural dyeing, writing, and teaching.

UBC Farm Sunflowers and Bees

2011-08-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

We are finally getting some nice dry heat in August, although as I write this, it is overcast and cool. This is the best time to moon over the beautiful sunflowers at UBC Farm and watch a variety of bees sipping the florets. Sunflowers are composite flowers, made up of hundreds of mini flowers. Each of these florets sits atop an achene which contains a sunflower seed that plumps up and becomes viable if and only if its floret has been visited by a pollinator.

You can buy bouquets of sunflowers at the UBC Farm market on Saturdays, or you can purchase them by the stem. UBC Farm can also provide flowers for weddings and other special occasions.

Sweet Peas, Bumble Bees

2011-08-22T19:32:00.001-07:00

My heart is dangerously filled with pride from the profusion of sweet peas spilling from my raised garden bed. As I pick them in the morning shade I imagine dressing up as Eliza Dolittle and selling bouquets of flowers on the street. One pictures oneself as an Edwardian lady, fussing about the choosing of the proper vases and doilies for the end tables in the parlour. Some colours are racy sexy and others demur and delicate, but always ultra feminine. The scent is too strong for the dining room, but flirty in the boudoir and pretty in the powder room.

The large bumble bee queens will sip the nectar, and seem to prefer the two-tone heritage variety called Matacuna. This variety was brought to England in the 1700's by an Italian monk named Cupani. I'm going to try to save some seeds for next year when I will build even higher bamboo pyramids to prop up these prodigious climbers.

Tips on Growing Native Plants in Vancouver

2011-08-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday evening as the August sun was creating patterns of shadown in the MOP Garden, we had the final talk in a series created between MOPARRC and Evergreen. The speaker was Andrew Appleton, who is the Regional Project Manager of Evergreen in Vancouver. Evergreen is an organization that creates, supports and implements urban greening projects and school greening projects. Andrew has years of experience ripping out invasive species and planting native plants in areas such as Jericho Park, and Still Creek in the Grandview cut. He gave us some great advice on which native plants good to plant inVancouver and how to deal with some of those nasty invasive species in our gardens.

First of all, Andrew explained that it takes about three years to establish many native plants. In the first years they may look less than robust, but you just have to have patience and faith that they will eventually look healthy. Of course, you have to match the plant with the right location in your garden, and sometimes even a couple of feet can make all the difference. Evergreen seeks to plant small areas with a diversity of species, a community of plants that work well together to promote biodiversity.

With the help of volunteers from the community they install shade plants, flowers and berries, bushes and trees. Some favorites include Red Flowering Currant (be sure you get the native Ribes sanguineum as the nurseries will only have cultivars in stock), Mock Orange (Philadelphus lewisii), Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus), Oval Leaf Blueberries, Red Osier Dogwood, Rosa nutkana and bald-hipped roses (Rosa gymnocarpa). The three most popular ground covers are Fringe Cup (Tellumia), Piggy Back Plant (Tolmea) and Foam Flower (Tiarella).

For some of the troublesome invasive plants such as lamium and goutweed, Andrew recommends putting down sheet mulch--cardboard or paper and bark mulch and digging right through those layers to do your planting. Some of the more tenacious plants like broom require special treatment--removal with root wrenches and vigilant removal of any seedlings because the seeds are viable for up to 30 years. One of the plants that was just declared a noxious weed is yellow flag iris, a European transplant that colonizes bogs with its huge root systems. Evergreen holds work parties where volunteers don rubber boots and dig out the iris rhizomes.

Once native plants are established they require less water and care than exotic plants and they support the native birds, insects and specific pollinators. Urban environments often contain a variety of cultivars which often contribute to biodiversity, but a wide variety of native plants makes for healthier city ecosystems. Climate changes mean that Andrew keeps an eye on the micro-climates Evergreen targets for their restoration projects. He says they no longer plant Red Cedar, our provincial tree because it has become generally too dry to have a successful survival rate here. Andrew also took a look at the native garden at the MOP. One plant that he says is not doing too well because it needs more water is our elderberry tree but our Arbutus tree and Ocean Spray (holodiscus) are thriving.

Evergreen works with the community and they are always looking for volunteers. They also work with offices and businesses to create team-building exercises with their urban greening projects. If you are interesting in helping out, check out the Evergreen BC web site. The best way to get a free education is to volunteer. It's good exercise and you can think of it as a form of horticultural therapy! Evergreen supplies the tools and snacks. In fact you can come to Jericho Park this Sunday (August 13) to lend a hand from 9 am to noon.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

UBC Farm Bouquets

2011-08-07T18:54:00.001-07:00

Now that the amaranth and sunflowers are blooming at UBC Farm it's a great time to head to the market to buy a bouquet or two.

I love this light pink yarrow with against the dark sunflowers and amaranth sprays.

There's plenty of variety: phacelia, sweet peas, calendula and more.

The salad greens look incredibly lush.

Tim, the farm manager says they finally decided that the best place to hang the garlic to cure was right over our heads, as long as a bunch doesn't fall and conk someone on the bean.

I bought some of those filet beans and I'm going to add my own little crop in to make something beany. Any suggestions? My favorite green bean dish is made with bits of bacon and slivers of almonds.

I've been reading the story of Clara and Mr. Tiffany about the woman who invented the Tiffany lamps and this sunflower reminded me of the stained glass. I'd love to see the original lamps. I think we've become over-exposed to bad copies of the real Tiffany lamps from the early 1900's.

Catherine identified this as sorghum.

I love the velvety texture of these chocolate sunflowers. Catherine and I wandered through the flower garden and some of the student plots adjacent to the bee hives. We both felt uplifted and inspired from our visit to the farm. I'm sad to see many of the nearby trees chopped down by recent development and I appreciate that any of the remaining trees have been fought for by supporters of UBC Farm. Bouquets of thanks to them for keeping up the good fight.

School Garden Chores

2011-08-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

The bumble bees were sleeping in this morning when I went to water the school Art Garden. Sadly, I couldn't get water to the garden because for some reason the tap is turned off, most likely due to work on the water mains by the city. On Monday I'll have to water, even if it means a bucket brigade from the kitchen sink.

In the mean time the weeds are thriving, so I put in an hour of weeding and gave myself a classic weeding blister in the middle of my palm under my glove. Ouch!

This looks like a very snuggly place for a nap.

I'm thrilled the garden has become a haven for the bees.

Now that the August plants are blooming, some surprises are showing up in the flowers. Some of the rudbeckia are smooth-stemmed, like this one.

Some are hairy-stemmed, like this one and some are actually echinacea. I think that's great. I like surprises.

Most of the blue-eyed widow grass is blue, but....

this sisyrinchium is yellow and the bees love it!

August means we have some scarlet red flowers to pop out against the green foliage.

I know hummingbirds love these crocosmia, but this is the first time I've seen a bumble bee take a dive inside one.

This is from the garden created by the VSB gardeners that wraps around the school. I love the scarlet of these blossoms against the blue grey of the grass.

The thread-leaf coreopsis is blooming.

And we have some echinops, which are great plants for children's gardens. Luckily we have a summer camp using the school so they can appreciate all these August blooms.

On the way home I passed by my neighbor's spirea which is an excellent native bee plant for Vancouver.

Twilight Blues

2011-08-04T19:13:00.000-07:00

Elecampane Experiment

2011-07-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I discovered this plant at VanDusen Gardens. It was tucked way in the back west and I was thoroughly charmed by the brown and yellow variations in the blossom heads. I finally figured out that it is elecampane, or Inula helenium. It was one of the featured flowers at VanDusen Gardens last week and so I was able to identify it. They have planted a stand of it near the front entrance along with a bunch of other plants that bees love.

In looking for information on elecampane I discovered a website from the Pagan Rights Coalition that gives very detailed information on the medicinal benefits of this plant. Elecampane has been used to treat skin problems in farm animals, and bronchial, heart, and blood sugar ailments in humans.

The name elecampane comes from the belief that Helen of Troy carried a bouquet of the flowers when she was kidnapped by Paris. Some of the other names such as scabwort and horseheal come from its treatment of skin diseases in sheep and horses. Some other olde worlde names include elf wort, elf dock, velvet dock and wild sunflower.

Since it is in the sunflower family, one might expect that the leaves and flower heads can be used as a yellow-green dye. I have a pot of flower heads on the boil right now. A few plants ended up in the MOP garden as a wee gifty from the fairies. We don't know where they came from. Since the bees love them, I collected flower heads that were fading and wilting and left the more robust heads as a source of nectar and pollen. Some sources suggest that the roots were used in traditional Scottish dyes, perhaps as a mordant to be used with "blaeberries." Another source, digherbs.com cites using the roots as a dye with "whortleberries" and ash. I will have to experiment with that after we've collected some seeds. The plants seem to thrive here, so if you have a large garden, it would be worth trying to grow these. Nicholson's Herb Farm has a good blog post on propagation tips for Inula helenium. In the mean time, please look for the flowers at VanDusen Gardens or the MOP and have fun watching the bees!

What You've Been Missin'

2011-07-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Don't sleep the summer away! Come out to the engaging and informative talks at the Means of Production Garden! This summer MOPARRC has partnered with Evergreen to give some fabulous talks at our garden. We've had two so far and there are two more to come. They are informal, in depth talks with plenty of opportunity for dialogue, so to tempt you to come to our August talks, I will present some sneek peeks at what's gone on so far.

(BTW this is a mystery plant that's popped up in one of our beds. Anyone have any idea what it is? It's sprawling and over five feet tall.)

Erin, a student intern from Evergreen presented a talk on growing your own sprouts at home and she brought us some tasty treats and the recipes.

This is the correct angle to tip the jar while growing your sprouts.

This was a delicious sprouted hummus we got to try. We also sampled some incredible bliss balls made with sprouted almonds. Helen from Evergreen is going to be blogging in depth about the talks, so I will post a link to those blog posts soon.

The talks are from 6-8 pm in the garden and people are encouraged to bring a picnic supper if they like.

Those who come early can pick ripe berries from the garden!

You can watch the summer mason bees carry mud and pollen to their condos.

You can relax to the sound of the honeybees in the blossoms.

Last week we had a fantastic presentation by Todd DeVries who is an accomplished cedar weaver.

Todd told us about his journey of discovering his art through a special vision and meeting other weavers and Haida elders.

I gave him some New Zealand flax from the garden and he quickly braided it and twisted it into a small rope.

Hats take about a month to make, and are finished in unique ways that are a part of the artisan's and the tribe's signature.

This hat was made with two contrasting tones of cedar.

I love this contemporary application for an ancient skill--the water bottle holder.

As I walked home from Todd's talk I took some photos of the linden trees blooming on Broadway while a crow warned me away from her nest.

There you go! Now don't miss our final two talks:

August 4, 6-8 pm, MOP Garden
Travis Warren Landscape designer Travis Warren will be discussing ways of increasing habitat for birds through plant choices, what different bird species add to biodiversity and how to foster a variety of birds in backyards and community gardens

Aug. 11, 6-8 pm, MOP Garden
A Greener Vancouver – Native Plants and Creative Restoration: Stephanie Levy, Project Manager at Evergreen, will give a presentation on the native plants of Lower Mainland, the creative solutions Evergreen has used as part of its restoration work, and provide some thoughts on how to make Vancouver a greener city.

Moberly Tea Party

2011-07-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

As a wrap up celebration of MOPARRC's residency at the Moberly Community Herb Garden in east Vancouver, we held a community tea party with music by the Legion of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra. We had teas Sharon Kallis made from herbs in the garden and traditional chai made by Mohinder.

Sharon has a silver tea service for these special occasions and she has made this beautiful tent out of doilies and embroidered linens.

Sharon and Jody keep the teas steeping and the cookies flowing.

Good cookies are worth waiting for!

Jody always puts together amazing tea serving outfits.

I always have to take a photo of her funky matching shoes!

The weather turned a touch cool and windy, but it was almost perfect for the occasion. Families played in the park while they drank tea and listened to the music. Some of the children had worked with David Gowman that afternoon to make rhythm sticks and they joined in a couple of the songs.

And here are those Monkeys! Not THE Monkeys--OUR Monkeys.

At my table, I showed how to make infused honeys and shared a recipe and method developed by Danielle Charles on her lovely blog called The Teacup Chronicles. For details on how to infuse honey with herbs and flowers, check out her post here. The infused honeys were very popular and accessible enough that many people said they were going to try it at home using plants from their gardens.

I also encouraged people to draw the recipes, or at least have a go at drawing some of the herbs in the garden.

Rose petal honey,

lemon verbena honey,

and lavender honey. I wanted some people to try their hand at illustrating herbal recipes. One girl did a great job and even translated the recipe into Spanish!

Of course she did a much better job than me at illustrating the recipe!

I took some people on a tour of the garden to chat about the herbs and help them identify the ones they were interested in learning about.

The echinacea is popping up in several parts of the garden.

Thanks so much to Cyndy Chwelos for creating the garden and inviting us into this residency and to Aimee Taylor who was also a part of the Cultivating Connections residency and helped create the Moberly Community Herb Garden. Thanks to all the folks who came out and participated. Happy Gardening!

Birthday Raspberries

2011-07-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

Eleven years ago today I was in Women and Children's Hospital giving birth to our son who surprised us by being one month premature. I was trapped in a hospital room for ten days and I was in love with the Tiny One, but I was scared. He was so vulnerable and mysterious and we were responsible for nurturing and protecting him. Now he's well on his way to becoming a premature teenager, stubborn, shy, and very much his own person.

We celebrated with pompadums and Spicy Pepper jam from Gypsy Jams. The boys had lime soda and we sipped La Vielle Ferme Rosé. Peter cooked the pink salmon I purchased at the Oak Street market and UBC Farm potatoes.

We had a salad of UBC greens and broad beans with a tarragon mustard vinaigrette, and flowers from the back yard.

The birthday boy requested a mango and chocolate ice cream cake, so I made the cake with mango gelato and whipped up a thick chocolate sauce to pour on top. The cake was garnished with raspberries Ules picked from the garden.

His friend made a lovely raspberry pie which we also served with chocolate sauce because at our house chocolate is always in season.

Of course he'd been waiting all day to open his presents, this one in particular.

We partied until midnight, with the boys snacking on their candy bags with selections from Grenadine and Co.

May all your birthdays be filled with fresh food and giggles.

Cherry Obsession

2011-07-21T10:36:00.001-07:00

It all started out on a rainy Saturday at UBC Farm Market. My friend Catherine and I caught the bus and trudged past the new shiny Wesbrooke development to our destination. I huddled under a tent to peruse some jars of preserves and lo and behold, it's my friend Sivia with her new Gyspy Jams. We were excited to be invited to taste them all--so many choices--and each bursting with fruit-forward flavor. Sivia uses all natural ingredients and as little sugar as possible so she achieves an incredible depth of flavor.

It was hard to choose what to buy, but I chose three jars for 20$: hot cherry preserves, lime marmalade and spicy pepper jelly. This week I've been enjoying the spicy cherry preserves on the loaf of fig bread I bought from the vendor next to Sivia: A Bread Affair.

We stocked up on produce from UBC Farm: radishes, salad greens, and I even got that day's last bag of potatoes. Woot! We bought some Hungarian sour cherries from Jobst-Hof Orchard in Oyama and I have to say Catherine and I are both hooked. We both made cherry pies and I had the cherries on my porridge and yogurt in the morning. They are so ripe they don't even need a lot of sugar, but they have that lovely tart edge in the flavor.

Now where can I score some more of those babies?

Mercredi Sans Mots

2011-07-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

Work Party and Talk this Thursday at the MOP

2011-07-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

We'd love you to come out to a work party and/or talk at the MOP this Thursday. The work party is from 3-5 pm and if you like, you can bring a picnic supper or snack and stay for the talk by Todd Devries.

Thursday, 6-8pm July 21,
Todd DeVries:“ ith kil gaa” and “gannyaa” designate is of the Tsiij Git’Anee Eagle (Guud) Clan of the Haida Nation on Haida Gwaii. This talk and demonstration will focus on Todd’s discovery of working with cedar. Todd will be sharing harvest principles and techniques of working with cedar and bring examples of his work.

The Means of Production Garden is located at 6th and St Catherines Street in East Vancouver at the edge of North China Creek Park. We have an alternate rain date if it is really pouring down. Fingers crossed!

Bee Watch

2011-07-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

As much as I love the color and form of these black peony poppies, I don't think they are great bee plants. The poor bees spend a lot of energy foraging in the frills. This poppy above is a lot less frilly than its compadres, perhaps reverting back to its no-frill genes. This is actually better for the bees because they have easier access to the pollen. I will tag this pod and make a note to see if these seeds bear this trait next year.

I can just feel the frustration of the bee above, getting lost in the petticoats of that poppy.

Here's a tiny visit to the cornflowers today.

I've seen lots of these bright yellow bombus this year.

I love the delicate nectar guides in these geraniums.

So I realize I've got lots of shallow flowers and lots of these nasturtiums with deep nectar spurs, but not a lot of good nectar plants with mid-size nectaries. I'll have to do some research to remedy that gap.

Did the old lady who swallowed a fly ingest a syrphid fly, perhaps? "Dude, that's too deep for me, I just wanna hang out on this bean leaf and catch some sun."

California (poppy) dreamin'....

My First Eco Print

2011-07-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the work of India Flint, I have begun to explore the natural dye process that she created. I placed leaves between pieces of mordanted fabric and wrapped them around rusty bolts I found in my garden. In a funny way I felt that the pieces of broken crockery and bolts had strong residual emotions tied to them from the people who used to live here. I couldn't throw them away, so now they will become part of the stories of these used fabric pieces, which also carry their own history.

I just kept the detritus in a pot on the back steps with shells from our trips to the beach.

Here's my first eco-print on cotton mystery blend with an alum mordant, a rusty iron bolt and eucalytpus leaves from the MOP garden. It was wrapped for a week.

Here's some dye I created from UBC Farm black currants.

These samples are wet, so the colour is a bit muted when they have dried. The folded samples were created with more rusty junk. The darker samples are unbleached cotton. They've just been in the jar for 2 days. I love working with rusty wire and wrapping the samples in wire. I'm also going to experiment more with using shells inside the wrapping. Fun times!

July Bloom Day

2011-07-15T10:25:00.001-07:00

A ladybug's work is never done. Sigh. Welcome to my first ever official Bloom Day post at Beespeaker Saijiki and thanks to May Dreams Gardens for hosting. It's overcast and drizzling today in Vancouver and we are thankful for the rain. Here's what's been happening in our garden in the past three days.

Aphids and ladybugs love the hops and I love ladybugs, so I am happy that things are kept in balance here and the vines seem to thrive in spite of all the action.

Hello little one!

Meanwhile, over on the west side of the house, the golden hops is just about to bloom and the bumble bees love it. It is climbing over the climbing hydrangea and normally they bloom in succession, but because of the late spring, everything got compressed into a shorter season.

The Bombus love this climbing hydrangea and since we have a nest living in our shed, we need to keep them fed.

This is a little blushing alyssum I grew from seed.

Here's some borage for the bees, a companion plant for the strawberries I had on my pancakes this morning.

We have had an excellent crop of sugar peas and now I'm ready to start freezing them because I must admit I'm getting a bit tired of them. We eat the pods in salads when they're young--more bang for your buck that way, but my son likes to pick out the peas so I let some fatten on the vine.

This is salad burnet and you can see the nasturtiums in the background. I notice the bees get frustrated by the long nectar spurs on those flowers, so they tend to pass them over in favor of the other flowers that are blooming right now. If they were desperate they'd rob the nectar by biting a hole in the back of each nectar spur. Of course hummingbirds love nasturtiums.

I hope the bees are finding the zukes. I guess I should pollinate by hand just in case.

This is one of those plants I call a "supermarket salvia". I lost the tag long ago and I'm not a big fan of this sprawling perennial, but the bees do love it. I see the wool carder bees competing for its nectar like roller derby thugs, bumping each other out of the blossoms.

This is cerinthe, another bee plant. The bumble bees make a heck of a racket when they pollinate those blossoms.

So now this is a series of plants I grew from a group of "black" flower seeds I bought from Florabunda Seeds. I'm going to save these violas in the freezer for some natural dye experiments inspired by India Flint.

This is the centaurea that came in the seed packet bundle.

I put one of the blooms in my little oasis for thirsty bees.

And here's the magnificent "black" poppy which may produce some pigment for dye as well.

I also planted some black hollyhocks, but they won't bloom until next summer.

My neighbor planted honeysuckle which chooses to bloom on my side of the fence. Of course on the other side of the garden my honeysuckle blooms on the other neighbor's fence and so on and so on....

I inherited some beautiful roses with this garden and this is my favorite because the colors morph and change as they develop. It also has a lovely fragrance, which is the best reason to grow roses IMO. I also have some lavender, geraniums, a few California poppies, some campanula and a couple different kinds of malva, which you can see in the post below.

Happy Gardening!

Playing Rude

2011-07-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

What is this tiny ghost

I see as I water the raspberries,

a honeybee covered headtotoe in pink mallow dust,

frantically she preens powder out of her eyes,

plops down on a hollyhock leaf to perform her ablutions,

then heads for a bud on the vulgar malva sylvestris,

tries to pry it open with her tongue,

craving still more.

Note: "Playing rude" is an expression I read in a story by a B.C. author Annie Scoones. I need to reread her books to find that reference, so please bear with me and try to track down those books--they're great.

Warming, Cooling, and Fuzzy Herbs

2011-07-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

This week I worked with kids at the Moberly Community Arts Centre summer camp. The herb garden is looking lush and whimsical with its new willow fences and arches created by Sharon Kallis and David Gowman. Apparently, during the weaving workshops one child suggested they make a small arch just for kids, and it makes the garden very enchanted. The kids love swooping through the little arch which is entwined with heritage sweet peas. The garden is so abundant at this time of the year that I can let the kids cut generous samples of their favorite herbs.

It's lovely the way the weaving integrates the marguerites right into the structure.

The garden is filling in nicely and the nepeta is thrumming with bees.

There are three colors of yarrow in the garden and I find it odd that the kids automatically thought they were three different kinds of flowers. I guess I was a real geeky kid, pouring over seed catalogs and wildflower books in my spare time.

There are rustic informative signs in the garden, which are really helpful (when they're in the right place). They like to wander around the garden when no one's looking.

When I teach kids about herbs, we talk about how important they are for the bees and we inevitably end up making messages for the bees. I have a punch that makes tiny envelopes and they really appeal to girls who are about 8 or 9 years old.

I love this little drawing of the marguerite blossom. One little girl made three labels: warming, cooling, and fuzzy for the three categories of the herbs she was drying. I think that's a great idea.

Here are all the herb triangles hung up until the kids can take them home at the end of the day.

The girls who loved envelopes made secret messages for the bees and decided to hide them all around the garden. I'm happy this captured their imaginations.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T17:27:00.001-07:00

Kiwi Blossoms in Surrey

2011-07-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends have set up a homestead in Surrey and they invited us out for a salmon barbecue a couple of weeks ago. We hopped on the bus, then the skytrain, then they came and picked us up in their truck. They've inherited a cool backyard with several small raised beds.

Sandra made us a freshly picked spinach salad.

We sat under an arbor filled with kiwi blossoms.

The dude cooked us up some lovely fish and Polish sausages from the neighbors.

This is what summer looks like in the burbs!

All hail to the lawn mower deity.

And for those who love doggies, this is one of the two blue heelers they rescued after Laika passed away, may she requiem in pace.

The Joy of Compost at City Hall Community Garden

2011-07-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Compost: Oh joy, oh bliss. I must admit I really need reminding how wonderful compost is, especially when it involves a hella good composter which needs to be completely and utterly vermin proof, not to mention lots of back breaking labor and chemistry. Sigh. Compost is really important to the future of the planet, but let's face it, it's not the most glamorous part of gardening. That's why it's better to compost and dig out troublesome weeds (see above) with friends.

This Sunday folks at Evergreen held a compost-themed work party and workshop at the City Hall Community Garden. We needed to fortify the bottom of the three-stage compost bins just in case we had unwanted visitors. Max had the plans, the tools, the engineering know-how and we provided the muscle.

This is the all-important brown matter one must layer in between the green matter which has been cut into small pieces and watered to keep moist.

Straw and leaves only please and thanks.

Here's some stage 2 and 3. Stage two being somewhat broken down and stage three being the nice rich compost that you sieve and put on your garden. We had to empty all the bins to do the carpentry and then put it back into the appropriate bins.

In the meantime, I watered the school garden and picked us a wee snack to supplement the nosh put out by Evergreen.

The baby zukes are growing.

There was a nice little crop of snow peas.

Our borage was a big hit with the volunteers and the bees. I was a bit alarmed at how big the plant has become, overshadowing the strawberry plants. I'll have to trim it back or move the berry plants.

Borage does like to sprawl out and make itself at home. On the other side of the garden is a plant called Cerinthe which the bees also love and soon there will be some sunflower heads for our buzzy friends, (fingers crossed). Thanks to Helen and Max at Evergreen for a fun and informative compost hoe down.

Missed a Bus, Caught a Garage Sale

2011-07-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

It's definitely garage sale season and today I was tempted to visit two of them, even though it is practically verboten to do so in our cluttered house. I bought some fabric for trying out natural dyes and bought a game for my son's birthday. I was given a puzzle with the vintage image of a map of Canada. I love puzzle maps and it's a great way for us to brush up on our geography.

As I was walking home from garage sale land I smelled this mock orange before I saw it. I love the luxuriant fragrance of this bush and we have a corner in our neighborhood with three trees that have bloomed and finished. I love to stand in that corner and swoon. My Fantasy Garden has mock oranges that bloom the same time as honeysuckle and the fragrance mingles as it reaches my bedroom window.

The Wasps are Hungry

2011-07-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, the wasps are starting to seek human food just as we reach the heart of the season to eat outdoors. Yesterday we set up to eat dinner in our own rustic backyard rather than the glamorous backyards of others. I made a curried potato salad with mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard seed, Hawaiian salt and Vij's garam masala powder in the dressing. I killed the fatted onion in my raised bed, and added salad burnett and curry plant leaves from the herb bed. I also made a green salad with a Dijon vinaigrette and cooked up some tandoori chicken. For dessert, our wee guest made a fantastic strawberry pie which we ate with lashings of organic whipped cream. We had a dry blush with dinner and a sweet blush for dessert. Santé!

VanDusen or Bust

2011-07-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friend Catherine and I went to the Oak Street Farmer's Market at the Unitarian Church on Oak Street. We found lots of goodies including zucchini, garlic scapes, hazel nuts, strawberries and lime tarts. It is a very laid-back market with friendly, chatty vendors and a food truck selling smoothies, tea, and fruit popsicles. I was determined to spend some time at Van Dusen Gardens because it was such a glorious day and close to the market. We had a short but fruitful visit, smelling the heritage roses and laying in the cool grass looking up at the impossibly blue sky.

I didn't get a good photo, but there was a bright turquoise dragon fly posing on these purple buds.

I'm not sure what these are, but they should be called kitten tails.

I'm very happy with these nepeta borders around the roses. It increases the amount of bee forage at the garden and you can actually smell the roses. Out with the box hedge I say! Roses for the people!

This damask rose smells like heaven. Note how dark the buds are.

This is the Bourbon rose.

We both liked this red rust on brown rust foliage and vowed we'd come back on another day and bring our drawing materials.

Canada Day Garden Dinner

2011-07-06T10:15:00.001-07:00

The long, sunny days of July have finally arrived along with some of the showiest blooms of summer. The pollinators are out in full force, making the gardens sing. At our family dinner on July 1 we slurped prosecco while the bees sipped nectar.

I brought a salad with nasturtiums and violas and a honey cinnamon dressing.

We were warned not to eat the seedlings on the buffet table!

We were treated to old fashioned strawberry shortcake for dessert and it was cool enough after the sun went down to light a fire in the living room. I can't remember ever having an indoor fire in July!

Wild Strawberries on Panna Cotta

2011-07-02T15:00:00.001-07:00

They are like tiny edible jewels. I have one wild strawberry plant in my yard and this is the first year it has born fruit. I was reading David Lebowitz's post on wild strawberries just a couple of days ago which reminded me of the tiny berries we used to find at summer camp. I went to a ranch camp in Sundre Alberta and sometimes we'd get off our horses and search for the tiny berries that covered the foot hills at this time of the year. It was the best kind of treasure hunting.

So when I discovered a new shop called Commissary (right beside La Buca) selling their panna cotta I knew what I'd pair with my strawberries. I spooned some of the pudding into a fiesta bowl revealing the tiny vanilla seeds at the bottom. I sat in a shady corner of the garden and savored the boozy, silky panna cotta and the burst of tart berries. Panna cotta must be one of the sexiest desserts on earth.

A Heritage Garden

2011-06-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

We are going to lose a beautiful heritage garden in our neighborhood. I can't tell you where it is right now, but we will be sad to see it go. Gardens like this contain years of stories, memories, and a great deal of mystery. No one really knows what goes on in the mind's eye of the gardener. What songs did she hear in her inner ear when she planted the roses 40 or 50 years ago? What conversations did she have with herself over the years of raising her family? How did the garden twine itself around her heart? How did its sensuous appeal affect her spirit? Does her spirit return to the garden to relish in all her work and care?

She had a passion for roses.

There are flowers I just never noticed before now, like the irises below.

Her columbines bloomed on the summer solstice.

If you look closely, there are unexpected delights, like this lone dianthus blossom.

She also reveled in big and showy blooms.

I hope to take many pictures of the garden this summer. We will collect some of the memories and stories of its creator and share them with you in the fall.

Twilight Tea Party Photos: Part 2

2011-06-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

David Floren holds an MFA from Concordia University where he studied sculpture and integrated media. Currently Floren's creative work focuses on event collection, discrete networks, and remote systems. Floren's work has been shown internationally at venues including Berlin's Sony Centre, Répliques in Algiers, Send and Receive in Winnipeg, À la nuit tombée in Grenobles, and at Icons in Washington state.

(COME SEE) THE FRENECIRCES: A two-thirds scale Ottoman/Czarist styled gondola remembers journeys between oasis caravanserai. It absorbs solar energy during the day and at night it emits light, and text (wirelessly), and skitters along its support wire. Intermittently, the gondola will transmit prose to ground-based wireless handsets (iPhones or other WiFi equiped devices). The text alludes to Marco Polo-like traveller(s) in mid journey between oases, and to the context of the original gondola among the opulent architecture near the resort city of Gagri on Georgia's Black Sea. The Park-to-Spa line once carried czars, dukes, and aristocrats.

These are the solar lights designed by Peter Courtemanche and created by the community in a workshop at The Britannia Community Centre for the Light Headed Lanterns below.

Naomi Singer is the Artistic Director of the Secret Lantern Society and has been a practising artist since graduating with honours from the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in 1989. She has created and participated in countless festivals and community projects as an artist, performer, director and designer and has taught workshops throughout BC and Alberta. She continues to produce and direct the annual Winter Solstice Lantern Festival in multiple Vancouver neighbourhoods, collaborating with over 500 artists and performers, dozens of community associations and countless volunteers. Over 15,000 participants attend this annual event.

Light-Headed Lanterns: In a workshop for the commmunity, participants created head-shaped lanterns using tissue paper, petals, twigs and natural materials from the MOP garden. Once complete the new lanterns were outfitted with solar technology created by participants in a workshop with Peter Courtemanche. Light-headed is a solar powered lantern project that plays on the concept of personal illumination. Ten head-shaped portrait lanterns will invoke the "eureka moment" we hope to inspire regarding the conversation between art and science. A head lit from within is inspired, it contains spirit, it holds an idea. And when we put our heads together, anything is possible.

Les Serveuses! Sharon Kallis and Jody MacDonald serve up garden tea and bannock.

Lori Weidenhammer is a Vancouver performance-based artist originally from Saskatchewan. For four years she has been appearing as the persona Madame Beespeaker on a regular basis. Lori created an Artist Run Bee Garden at the MOP (2009). Her collaborative media works with Peter Courtemanche have been shown in Canada and abroad. As a food security volunteer and activist Weidenhammer works with colleagues and students of all ages on identifying native plants, eating locally, gardening for pollinators, and guerilla gardening.

In her installation and performance Lori Weidenhammer will embody a psychic medium called Madame Moth appearing in an illuminated cocoon. She will enter into a trance state with the help of a sound track she listens to created from fortunes from a vintage scale and 19th century recipes. Moths have eaten away at the memory of Madame Moth as she struggles to channel her own past.

Twilight Tea Party Photos: Part 1

2011-06-29T10:02:00.001-07:00

Crow hour happened during the twilight on June 26 above the MOP Garden. My son was on documentation duty and took this photo.

Robin Ripley is a Vancouver artist who often works with recycled and natural materials as they reflect her environmental concerns. Gathering sorting and reconfiguration are all processes she uses to draw attention to the often overlooked details of our world. She focuses on the re-examination of mundane objects as a way to explore sense, memory, and knowledge. Her working processes are often laborious, questioning current economic models of speed and "efficiency" while suggesting that transformation is still possible through small gestures if we make time to notice the details of the world. Her works have been widely shown throughout British Columbia.

TRACES employs a specific site, the Means of Production garden to draw attention to the complex web of often unobserved activities found in nature. The work was created in collaboration with students from Simon Fraser Elementary. Transparent plastic sheeting provides a surface to trace and illuminate the multitude of activities within the garden. The patterns of activities will be delineated with phosphorescent materials recording the ongoing transitory records left behind by insects, birds, and animals. Slug trails, paw prints, woodpecker holes, insect chewed leaves, bird and insect flight paths are some examples of the elements of the patterns to be transcribed. Painting on individual transparent sheets with phosphorescent paint participants created specific patterns to portray an aspect of the garden which intrigued them.

Peter Courtemanche is a sound and installation artist from Vancouver. He creates radio, installations, network projects, performances, curatorial projects, and handmade CD editions. His art works often have a literary basis - inspired by narrative texts and the history of specific installation sites. His "outdoor" works include: "Divining for Lost Sound"(1996-99), "Preying Insect Robots" (2006), and Poison Mentor (2009).

The Illuminated Shroom is a large tree fungus that has become savvy about science. It is inspired by the notion of wind-clocks and alternate scales of time. It perceives the wind as a variable force that blows during the daytime and goes quiet at night. Thus each day has a different length in wind time, and each night the shroom has an opportunity to stop and reflect on the day. The shroom is a solar powered creature that monitors and records the wind during the daytime, and at night it uses its findings to create a pattern of light, played-back on amber LEDs. Connected to the Time Inventor's Kabinet project at OKNO in Brussels, the shroom also sends it's wind data to the Internet.

Diana Burgoyne refers to herself as an electronic folk artist. Her performances and installations have been exhibited internationally. She was commissioned by Telus Science World to collaborate on a permanent piece which is exhibited as part of Contraption Corner. She has created a work entitled "Audio Quilt" as artist in residence at the Roundhouse Community Centre. "Audio Quilt" is an interactive installation that reflects the sounds and voices of the Roundhouse community by utilizing one hundred audio chips, each recording 10 seconds of sound. Many of Diana's pieces involve audience interaction to activate the art. Whereas we are usually taught not to touch anything in a gallery, her pieces rely on the audience handling the art.

Diana created the work in the Twilight Tea Party in three collaborative workshops with the community. In two workshops with students at Simon Fraser Elementary, the students created Buzzy Light Bugs. The audience can use their flashlights to activate the sound circuit enabling the viewer to experience both the audio and visual aspects of the pieces. The second workshop took place at the Britannia Community Centre. By weaving electronics around rocks or plant materials or by modeling the circuit into insect sculptures, participants created solar-powered audio creatures using light sensitive buzzers and make sound recordings. These are also activated with flashlights.

Passport to Permaculture: A Summer Camp

2011-06-28T16:10:00.001-07:00

(Click to enlarge the image)

This promises to be an excellent camp. It takes place in a very special community garden in Kerrisdale. I Wish I could go as a camper! Please spread the word. I'll be spending an hour with each camp exploring the honey bees in the garden. Check out the adult workshops The World in a Garden in holding this summer.

First Days of Summer Blooms

2011-06-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

It's a couple of days past solstice and I wanted to present a seasonal inventory of our garden. First off, we have some blushing alyssum.

I must have been a bit too vigorous in weeding the campanula last year, as I don't have as many this year, so I'll just let it self seed again. The bees like it and it is growing on me.

The climbing rose is will soon be covered in masses of blooms.

The peonies are resplendent.

The lupins are losing it.

The peas are perky.

The strawberries are succulent, but not very sweet.

The bees were really talking to these roses today.

And over here we have the formal wear.

I grew them from seed!

Just the thing to pop into our seasonal salad.

This herb is called Good King Henry.

The nasturtiums are spinning their parasols.

The lacy climbing hydrangea was by far the most active bee plant in the garden today.

There were lots of these lovely little bombus with their orange rumps.

And this is the hole in our storage room they were flying into. Chances are, the queen found an old mouse nest in there to nestle into. Happy summer!

Twilight Tea Party June 26

2011-06-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

You are invited to A FREE COMMUNITY GARDEN ART PARTY

Twilight Tea Party June 26th, 8pm to 10pm

Bring a flashlight and celebrate the long days and the setting sun with solar powered lanterns and phosphorescent installations. Enjoy free refreshments at the tea tent. Celebrate community and artist made installations at the Means Of Production Garden, a garden that grows art materials. Installations by Diana Burgoyne, Peter Courtemanche, David Floren, Robin Ripley, Naomi Singer, and Lori Weidenhammer with community participation. All of the work is illuminated with some form of solar power.

Presented by: The Means of Production Artist's Raw Resource Collective, Second Site and Naomi Singer.

Location: the Means of Production Garden (St. Catherine's and 6th Avenue in Vancouver).

For more information, check out the web site for the Second Site Collective.

Please tell your friends, bring your family, and come in costume if your like: maybe something surreal inspired by the exhibit at the VAG?

Rhubarb Pie and Mason Bees

2011-06-18T14:09:00.001-07:00

I love rhubarb pie season and my mother-in-law makes incredible seasonal pies, so we had our favorite treat at the first outdoor meal of the season. Meanwhile, you can see D's mason bee houses are filling up quickly. He has a friend who insists bees prefer the paper tubes inside the holes, so he rolls his own.

June is Busting Out in Bloom

2011-06-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

There is an incredible biodiversity of flowering plants in bloom right now, but not so much in my garden. I really need to put in more plants that fill this gap. In the meantime, I present you with my father in law's garden, which is burgeoning with color. (These photos are from June 5.)

Behind the Scenes at the Cabaret

2011-06-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to everyone who organized the Reading the Riot Act Cabaret, especially Anakana Schofield. Kudos to the intrepid members of the audience who had the courage to attend on such an unpredictable and volatile night. Thanks to the staff at the Waldorf for working on the occasion and to all the artists--the other Riot Grrlz and one Riot Boy.

Go Against the Flow!

2011-06-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

Be a part of the Vancouver Counter Culture. Come to our event instead of watching the game! See Madame B in her riot gear!

Rereading The Riot Act II
Artists' Performance Cabaret
Presented by UNIT/PITT at The Waldorf Hotel, 1489 E Hastings St, Vancouver
BC Canada
8 - 11 pm Wednesday, June 15 - Free admission

In an ongoing interrogation of the historical events of April 23, 1935 --
when Mayor Gerry McGeer read the Riot Act to the relief camp protesters, their families and supporters gathered at Victory Square -- Rereading the Riot Act II - Performance Art Cabaret offers contemporary responses to Vancouver's turbulent labour history.

Four performance and visual artists -- leannej, My Name Is Scot, Carol
Sawyer and Lori Weidenhammer -- will present new works. The works are
expanded responses to both the events of April 23, 1935 and the reenactment
event that took place in Vancouver on April 23rd 2011.

The Cabaret will feature film, performances, music, video projections and a
sculptural installation by Jeremy Isao Speier.

Rereading the Riot Act intends to provoke an emotional, politicized
engagement with civic space and how or whether we want to narrate (back) to it.

Rereading the Riot Act is a series of actions curated by Anakana Schofield
through a UNIT/PITT curatorial residency project.

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=215530985134027

UNIT/PITT Projects gratefully acknowledges the support of the British
Columbia Arts Council, the Canada Council, the City of Vancouver, the
Waldorf Hotel, SFU Institute for the Humanities, and the support of its
members, volunteers and individual donors.

--
UNIT/PITT Projects
Office: 100 - 221 East Georgia Street, Vancouver BC V6A 1Z6 Canada
Project site: 15 East Pender Street, Vancouver BC V6A 1S4 Canada
+1.604.681.6740
www.unitpitt.ca

Field Trip to the MOP with Robin Ripley

2011-06-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

The Talented Ms. Ripley lead us in an exploration of the creatures that leave traces in the Means of Production Garden. Meanwhile, I documented what's happening to the plants right now. We've got some baby fruit coming on.

It was fun to watch the students gain confidence in the space and explore some of the "wilder" corners of the garden. They found an impressive ant hill in the grass.

The cherries are developing fruit.

The blueberries are coming along.

The chives are in full bloom.

The comfrey is in bloom.

The Pawlonia or Empress tree has blossoms at the very top.

The false indigo is almost open.

Pierre Leichner's installation is starting to take shape.

We discovered a hanging nest made of cobwebs, moss, and lichens.

Unfortunately a bee collided with one student and he got stung on his face. Ouch.

The irises are spectacular right now.

Students check out the new mason bee condos.

The bumble bees were very active in the Nootka rose.

Robin told us about the game where you take a plantain leaf and pull is between two people. The person with the bigger part of the leaf is the bigger liar!

Hello poppy!

Shades of purple grace the site.

Students were asked to get down and really study what was going on in the MOP garden.

Robin is preparing the students for the work they will be continuing in their classroom marking the tracks that insects, animals and birds leave in the garden.

The thornless blackberry is blossoming.

The twin berries look fat and juicy.

So much of this late spring palette is purple and yellow, so the poppy's scarlet really "pops" here.

The new seating area is put to good use.

Mason Bee Catch-Up

2011-05-31T08:35:00.001-07:00

These photos are from a couple of weeks ago. I've been observing the bee oasis and I find that the terra cotta doesn't hold water for very long, which is good for preventing mosquitoes, but demanding for the gardener to keep refilling on sunny days. Maybe glazed terra cotta would be better.

I also used a terra cotta base to hold my mud cake purchased from Brian Campbell (for sale at West Coast Seeds). This is made from muddy clay which you moisten so the mason bees can use it to plug their nests. Less energy spent foraging for clay means more energy for pollinating and laying eggs.

I am happy to say that all the cocoons I bought hatched, and I even held one in my hand while the bee was emerging. It's intelligent eye peering up at me from a hole in the cocoon was very touching. However, the weather has been so cool and wet that I despair as to the fate of those bees and I haven't seen many around since the males hatched. Their doesn't seem to be any activity in my condo.

Meanwhile, in my father-in-law's garden the trillium were blooming and his mason bees were emerging from a neat cocoon container made from a scotch tube. You can see the bee droppings on the outside of the container.

Doug is the perfect person for keeping mason bees being 1) retired, 2) a master gardener and 3) an accomplished woodworker. He started out with rustic homes and has now gone on to make homes with removable tubes. This version is made from hand-rolled paper tubes inserted in foam fitted into a modified scotch canister. (Yes, our family likes double malt.)

They hang on the south face of the garage behind an espaliered fruit tree. It's a shame that his crab apple tree was blooming during that freak hailstorm and the blossoms were shattered.

Here is a wooden home he made with the paper tubes inserted in the holes. I'll have to visit and see if he's got females in his condos.

Flowers in the Hood

2011-05-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

I am extremely lucky to have neighbors with green thumbs and creative gardens. So I took a tour around the hood to see what's blooming and how the veggies are doing.

My neighbor says she's noticed a distinct lack of honeybees this year. It's been so cold and wet. Sigh.

This year I'm fixated on dark plants so this colour combination makes me very happy.

Comfrey for the bees.

Blueberry blossoms.

Jean's garden has a rustic beauty that I admire. She's always got some ambitious projects on the go.

Her cold frame rocks.

The currants are already forming berries.

A vertical palette garden.

The Saskatoon has lots of blooms.

Greenhouses make good neighbors!!!

What's Blooming on Victoria Day?

2011-05-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

I say "What's Blooming?" but I also mean "Whassup?!!!" There's a new hotel in the neighborhood suitable for elves, fairies, toads, and bugs. Snails and slugs need not apply.

The zucchini grows in the jail that keeps the peas locked up safely for their own good.

My clematis is finally taking off! I am filled with post-rapture rapture.

The tiny bees are sipping nectar from the forget-me-nots and the petals are already beginning to fall.

The golden hops is climbing over the climbing hydrangea, which is starting to bud.

The other hops is getting ready to sprint up the wall.

I brought the lemon verbena out to play. Note to self: buy vodka for lemon verbena cocktails.

White lilacs bloom against a brooding sky.

My old faithful poppies are already closing up for the night.

The nasturtiums are recovering from the nasty hailstorm damage and the salad burnett is coming into its own.

I pruned this baby back hard. Boy, she is tough.

Now this is wierd: two kinds of flowers grow on the same azalea. See below.

There are big red blooms and tiny pink blooms. It must have been grafted. Of course there is scilla everywhere. I will let it bloom, then dig a bunch up. It really loves to attach itself to other bulbs. Like the hydra, it tends to grow new "heads" at an alarming rate.

The rhubarb catches falling tulip petals and I need to cut the grass!

We are eating our first spring salads with "Easter Egg" radishes.

The spent tulips have some amazing colours. I deadheaded the tulips and have begun to dig some of them up to store them inside until fall. What do you do with the bulbs when the stem breaks off? I planted them in a pot. We'll see how that works.

Strawberries are blooming. The buttercup is blooming and the dandelions have already gone to seed.

I put in this pic of my neighbour's dogwood tree. There's a nice colour relationship with the Japanese maple behind it and his front door.

Drying Herbs at Moberly

2011-05-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I worked with students from Moberly Elementary introducing them to the Moberly Community Herb Garden and creating herb drying triangles. First, I scoped out the garden to see what was vigorous enough to harvest. I chose the nepeta, mint, and the wooly lamb's ear.

Both classes fixated on the stachys. The first class almost exclusively chose this plant, so I didn't offer it as an option to the second class to protect the plant from being over-harvested. I think it's fascinating that texture won over taste and scent.

I also brought fresh and dried herbs from my own garden, including fennel fronds and lemon balm harvested that morning.

The garden is filling in nicely. I love exploring gardens in the morning light. Most students knew about the garden, but didn't know they were allowed to touch it. I told them they could come and visit the stachys any time.

Here are the herbs from my garden and some from the MOP: anise hyssop, dragon's head, coneflower, fennel seeds, oregano, sage, chocolate mint, lemon balm, thyme, and lavender.

The students wired together a triangle made from twigs and used hemp to create the hanging part and to tie on the tags with the herbs and their names. I also gave my spiel on why we need to grow more herbs for bees. The teachers and students gave us really positive feedback and I was very pleased at how well the kids did with the project. I love the size, scale and raison d'être of the Moberly Community Arts Centre. If only we had more of these in Vancouver!

I'd like to give a shout-out to Kathy at The Branch Pop Up Shop on Main Street for inspiring the final form of the triangles we made. She created a beautiful chandelier that gave me the final eureka moment. There's a photo of her creation here. It's a really cute shop, and I love the way they've decorated the space.

Garden Journals at Britannia Community Centre

2011-05-16T19:20:00.001-07:00

I was really inspired by the creative women who joined me in the skating rink at Britannia Community Centre for a my garden journal workshop. Yes, I have spent many hours in skating rinks, but I'd never thought I'd be doing collage in one! Luckily, it's a fantastic facility and we were quite warm and cozy in our creative space while outside the weather is so cold my friend is calling this month "Movember." Let's hope next month isn't a "Juneuary".

I also want to give a shout out to the artist named Steven Vander Meer at Meer Image who designed some of these wonderful bee-themed rubber stamps we use. They are very good quality and I highly recommend his work. The bee postage stamp is by AsspocketProductions and she also makes lovely bee-themed stamps and personalized rubber stamps.

Catherine Shapiro at Rhizome

2011-05-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Notes from my introduction last night:

The other day I was walking by Catherine's garden. The sun was shining and her two camelia trees were in full bloom. I couldn't help but smile at the beauty of the scene. I passed a man coming the other way and he caught my smile and returned it. Thus Catherine's garden infuses the neighborhood with its special magic. The birds love it, the bees love it and it is also appreciated by the local children and all the rest of us.

Catherine is a VIP in our local garden club. She generously shares her wisdom and knowledge and she gets us all excited about growing our own food. She makes it seem easy. Her plants seem to grow bigger and healthier than ours. What is her secret? Passion, years of experience and meticulous research. Catherine the artist and gardener is also Catherine the reader. And she doesn't just skim the surface--her research goes deep into the history of gardening and the genesis of agriculture.

As an artist Catherine's studio practice is disciplined and rigorous. She is committed to the process, and once she settles on a project, she disappears into her studio for days, or even years until she gets it done. Tonight I am so pleased to be able to show Catherine's prolific work outside the context of her studio. We need to get it out of the laboratory and into the world so it can be appreciated like her garden and her work can perform its magic on us. I have the very good fortune of living close to Catherine and her lovely garden. Her stories are like good soul food--tasty, chewy, and deeply satisfying.

Catherine is an inspiration to us all! Thanks to everyone who came out to Catherine's talk and thanks to our co-sponsors The Herstory Café and to the venue, the fabulous Rhizome Café.

Welcome to the Bug Hotels: Thrip Advisor Reviews

2011-05-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

You know how it is, checking into one flea bag hotel after another. Life on the road is hard, especially for a traveling flea. Our hotels are guaranteed to rest weary exoskeletons and creaking carapaces. Kick back, relax, and enjoy the free wifly. (Click on the photos below to read a couple of the reviews.)

Women with Green Thumbs this Thursday!!!!

2011-05-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

My dear friend and colleague Catherine Shapiro is giving an artist talk this Thursday at Rhizome. Don't miss this rare opportunity and come early to avoid disappointment! I'd love to see you at our event. Please spread the word!

Women with Green Thumbs

Celebrating the Creative and Curious Gardeners of Vancouver
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway
7pm -9pm
Free admission

Herstory Cafe and Means of Production Artist's Raw Resource Collective (MOPARRC) present:
Senior artist and accomplished gardener Catherine Shapiro will give an illustrated artist talk focussing on ways that gardening has inspired her painting, drawing, and sculpture. This will be followed by facilitated “Story Circles” where gardeners can socialize, inspire and share their own gardening stories. Hosted by Lori Weidenhammer aka Madame Beespeaker, community-based performance artist and member of the MOPARRC.

Food & beverages for purchase. Come early and join us for dinner. We have the whole cafe but seating is limited.

More info: www.herstorycafe.ca and www.moparrc.wordpress.com

Catherine Shapiro has been an artist and an organic gardener for forty years. As part of her art practise Catherine loves researching history, focusing on ethnobotany and family history. Her projects often span several years of digging into the archives in between digging in the soil. She has worked with a variety of materials and techniques, including making paper from plant fibres from her garden and the natural environment. She has worked with The Public Dreams Society, All Souls (Mountainview Cemetery), the Powell Street Festival, and has exhibited in many galleries in the Pacific Northwest including The Pitt Gallery, the Simon Fraser University Gallery, Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden and the Burnaby Art Gallery. Catherine grew up in the Hollywood Hills; having lived in San Francisco and the northern town of Wells, B.C. before moving to Vancouver, she has experienced gardening in a variety of climates. She was the first head gardener at City Farmer Demonstration Garden in Vancouver, with a passion for permaculture. Catherine is truly a lifelong learner and a vivacious story teller.

Garden Journal Workshop in North Van

2011-05-07T16:46:00.001-07:00

I had a lovely time with a fabulous group of artists in North Vancouver this past week. They brought their own copies of personal photos to embellish their journals and shared their rich history of gardening and art-making.

This artist made flowers out of garlic skins and glued them to the cover of the journal.

Their collage styles shared a painterly, fluid approach. It makes sense to use organic forms like waves and ragged edges considering the subject matter!

The layering that the artists achieved gave the pages depth and harmony.

Each person was given the same journal kit, but made completely different work from one another.

It was a privilege to get a glimpse into their beautiful gardens.

And now it's your turn! I am giving a free garden journal workshop next Sunday at Britannia Library. The kit I am giving you (for free!) contains every thing you need to make your journal Please come and join us. Note that you do have to buy a membership to the Britannia Community Centre to join the workshop, but they are cheap like borscht! (See below.)

Madame Beespeaker’s Garden Journal

Using collage techniques, participants will create a garden journal out of envelopes which will hold their garden plans, secrets, dreams, recipes, and memories. Each person will receive local flower seeds saved by Madame Beespeaker as well as herbal tea recipes and tips on gardening for bees and other pollinators. Create a garden journal as a lovely gift for yourself or your favourite gardener. To personalize our journal you may bring photo copies or digital prints of family garden photos on regular weight matt paper (5 inches by 5 inches or smaller would work best.) Join Artist Instructor Lori Weidenhammer (Mme Beespeaker) for this fun and creative workshop!! The workshops at Britannia Community Centre are a part of the ongoing free programming throughout the growing season at the Means of Production Garden, for more information about the garden, other workshops and the artists involved visit MOPARRC.wordpress.com. Limited to 10 participants.

A Britannia Community Centre Society Membership is required to register in this program.

Cost:
Family - $5
Adult (19-54 years) - $3
Children, Youth & Seniors - $1

Please contact the centre for further information; 604-718-5800 or come by in person to the Info Centre 1661 Napier St.

42421.203BR
Su 1:00-3:30pm May 15
Art Gallery Lori Weidenhammer FREE

Mason Bees are Emerging

2011-05-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

I was wearing a white t-shirt this weekend and a mason bee landed on my arm. I took that as a sign I should take my cocoons out of the fridge. I waited for a sunny day, placed it on a south-facing ledge and removed the tape from the hole.

Sure enough, a couple of days letter some cocoons were empty and I even saw one tiny eye peeking up at me as I held a cocoon in my hand. I'm pretty sure I saw a couple mating as I was out walking, so maybe some females have emerged as well.

This is an old mason bee house that was given to me. It really should be retired, but I'll give it one last year. I had a class clean and paint these houses to give them the experience. I see they didn't get all the bee poop off the front, but maybe the bees will use the poop designs to help orient themselves to their holes. Shrug. It's a theory.

My New Friend

2011-05-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is my lovely new friend who likes to hang out on the lowest step at the back of our house. He's smaller than a mason bee, and shiny and bronzed, with plenty of fur underneath for collecting pollen. In this photo you can even see the three little eyes on the top of its head. It seems to want to go under the potted strawberry on the step. I'll have to leave it there for a little home or at least a sheltered spot. One antenna is up and one is down--does that mean it's halfway between sleep and wakefulness?