Postcards from Victoria

It's a tradition for my visit to Victoria, to hop on the 11 am ferry and head to Uchida as soon as I get off the bus in Victoria.

(Note: If you are looking for the source notes for my lecture on Gardening for Bumblebees on Vancouver Island, it's in the post below.)

Tucked in beside the Bug Museum in Nootka Court, it makes simple, fresh, and delicious Japanese cuisine.

Uchida are only open until they sell out, and they were already out of the special when I arrived.

Now I follow Nourish on Insta, and I was so happy to finally get to visit their new digs in the city.

So cozy and airy, with my kind of food, this is my new happy place.

 Turmeric, almond milk and herbal chai make the Imperial Sunrise. I had one every day of my trip!

Yes, I broke my diet for the cashew cheesecake with quince compote. IT WAS WORTH IT! I really want to learn how to make that cheesecake.

Hello, the second floor is brilliant!

You can tell they serve a lot of breakfasts and brunches: maple syrup and brown sugar corner. Also, please note that the sister restaurant to Nourish, Charlotte and the Quail is located in the Horticultural Centre for the Pacific, only a few minutes outside the city and well worth the visit.

Nourish is just around the corner from the frozen fountain at the Ledge.

 

This was the first time visiting Victoria since my friend Donna passed away. I used to visit her here every winter. I thought there would be a real heaviness in my heart, but I actually felt very peaceful and deeply grateful for the memories we shared here.

There she is, the Dowager Empress Hotel.

This was the first time I ever visited the museum. The good thing is you can check your suitcase  and go in and out of the museum all day. This is a great way to spend those last hours before hopping on the bus to the ferry!

 Hello Hairy!

I was so pleased they carried my book in the gift shop that I spent a ton of money buying other people's books! The museum has a coffee shop and I wanted to make sure y'all know there is a really great exhibition on the herbarium just facing the shop. I almost missed it, but it was my favorite part of the exhibition! Also, I recommend breaking the museum visit up into two parts. Do the natural history, go have a snack and then do the anthropological displays, or vice-versa.

And here's my new friend Maisy. She's always ready for her close-up! Special thanks to my hosts who gave me a lovely warm place to sleep and helped make my trip so fabulous.

The Maccha Trail

This weekend I had a lovely respite in Victoria B.C.. While the cyclists were geared up and following the Galloping Goose Trail, my friends and I followed the Maccha Trail, which inevitably started at the Jagasilk tearoom, where they are all about the maccha. (Actually, we found the Galloping Goose Trail and the Maccha Trail intersected at various points.)

Teas are expertly and lovingly prepared and served in gorgeous handmade ceramics.

 The Jagasilk tea room has recently expanded so that there is now seating available upstairs as well as on the main level. The space is very calm and meditative, which is perfect for getting all gunned up on maccha madness!

There are also treats available, baked at Fol Epi.

 Here are some of the places I passed by on the Maccha Trail.

Dude, where's my maccha?

There's mo' maccha at Silk Road, but I bought Tanzanian Gold for my beau and some "mermaid oil" pour moi-même. I think the lavender and petit grain in the mermaid oil is really good medicine for lifting one's spirits at this time of the year. They also have mermaid bath salts which are DIVINE. Peter really likes that Tanzanian Gold tea, a full-bodied black tea which "brightens the mind."

 I had a lovely time shopping at the Victoria Winter Farmer's Market. I bought some local fleur de sel for Peter from the Vancouver Island Salt Company.

 I stayed in a whimsical retreat with a beautiful eucalyptus tree in the back yard and a noisy little hummingbird.

 I also made friends with the resident cat, Eddie.

 Unfortunately Fry's was closed on Sunday, but we headed to the baking district and visited Lone Tree Bakery and Fol Epi.

Our final maccha was at the funky Spiral cafe, which we decided lacked the potency of other maccha drinks on our trail.

To be continued . . . .

Spring Ridge Common

When I was in Victoria last week I visited a unique garden in Fernwood called Spring Ridge Common. It has an interesting mix of herbs and plants that can be used for materials such as willow and bamboo. According to the LifeCycles website:

Springridge Commons is a productive food forest designed with permaculture principles and open to everyone. The site was formerly a gravel lot, and now, thanks to sheet mulching, is flourishing with mulberries, cherry, plum and fig trees, gumi and logan-berry bushes, sage, oregano, mugwort, milk thistle currants, rose bushes and other medicinal, edible, mostly native plants to nourish the community and the soil.

Someone has decorated the arch with this cute homemade heart.

This willow has been harvested, which keeps its size manageable. It's a wonderful renewable resource.

This rosemary is actually from another community garden, but I was amazed to see it in bloom at this time of the year. Apparently it has been so mild that the banana tree in Beacon Hill Park has produced fruit this year.

This is what I was really curious to see--black bamboo. It's really lovely and I think we should plant some at the MOP garden.