Back 2 The Rain

A week ago I was sweltering and today I am cuddled under my wool blankets and duvets in my long underwear. Happy September. School is about to start, the grant deadlines lurk like nuclear subs and I'm worried about my tomatoes getting the dreaded blight. Anyway, the weather's supposed to clear up for the weekend and hopefully we'll get some beautiful fall days. So cheer up, Ms. Zucchini.

BTW, I made zucchini cupcakes for breakfast. That is the second batch I made out of one zuke from Catherine and their is still a big hunk of zucchini left! That's over four cups of zucchini already. Strewth!

Write, Rehearse, Repeat

So good to be writing and rehearsing again. Feels like I'm getting my mojo back. Mojo, mojo, mojo. (Sorry, private joke. You'll have to see the show to understand.) Repetition features prominently in our piece. As does the MILF.

Checked the bees again with J and gave them varroa mite treatment number two. They are doing all right, but not as vigorous as we'd like them to be. Fingers crossed. There were lots of practice queen cells too, which is odd.

We had a nice little rain shower today which the tomatoes need. I am looking after my neighbor's cat and their plants. I couldn't find the cat anywhere which kind of freaked me out, but finally I checked in a tiny crawlspace under a bed and there she was: pupils dilated and freaked out by a strange woman clomping about her house. She's so shy. Poor thing. Then there's Homer, the other neighbor's cat who is not shy about trying to let me into the house so he can eat all her food. Sorry mate, I'm on to your tricks. He fooled the last cat sitter who let him pig out and then puke all over the floor. Not on MY watch.

Shaktea has upped their game. The girls are now making their own desserts and have added some tea sandwiches to their menu. The chocolate chai pudding is to die for. Ules loves it as much as I do.

16 Oaks

The other day I visited this lovely community garden on Oak Street. It's fascinating how each plot is a reflection of the gardener's personality.

There is no water source here so the gardener's have to haul all their water in buckets.

In spite of this, and the dodgy quality of soil in some of the plots the garden is chalk full of produce.

I love the fact that many of the vegetable gardeners have added flowers to their plots.


And then there's this garden which is full to the brim with flowers.

Agapanthus. I just love that word.

In this flower you can see the lines leading to the center of the flower which are the nectar guides, directing the bees to the flower's stamens and nectaries. Given their ability to see ultra violet light, these lines would be even clearer to bees.

I gave a talk this weekend on biodiversity and encourage people to plant a rainbow of color in their garden.

Just look at this purple kohlrabi. I want to eat one right now.

Lots of people' tomatoes were late this year, so they are just beginning to ripen.

This garden is well pollinated and they've been smart to create a rock garden along the edges, adding even more food for pollinators.

Standing on the corner, watching the zucchinis grow.

Hoodoos and Banff Snails

What is this man doing? He is counting snails! There is a tiny brown snail that lives in the mineral waters in Banff and this scientist is working on a Sunday performing a snail census with a clicker in his hand. The cave basin is closed for renovations for two years, but the board walk up the hill is still open and you can see and smell the sulpherous mineral wasser. Yes, the pools are really that colour.

There is a little wild garden at the base of the hill in front of the mineral bath.

We took a mini hike up to view the Banff Hoodoos and I was thrilled to see some wild onions growing along the path. If you look closely you can see the river rafters in the bottom right of the photo.

Hot Enough fer Ya?

I am baked. I am alive in the morning and the evening, but in between, I am in zombie mode. Our house is getting warmer by the day. I stayed up late last night baking cookies and watering the school garden by moonlight. I've been pruning the tomato plants that are turning into Christmas trees. I've got to get them producing bigger fruit, so I've been trimming the plants every three days, but I can hardly keep up with the growth. The lemon cucumber plant is pumping out the fruit. The sunflowers are glorious.

On hot days like this, Thai takeout is a blessing. How are you coping with the heat?

Peaches, Green Tomatoes, and Cookies

The main ingredients we are focusing on these days are Keremeos peaches and green tomatoes. I eat my peaches for breakfast with hemp hearts and chia seeds and for dessert they are dolloped with a teaspoon of whipping cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I put the green tomatoes from Keremeos in an improvised green gazpacho, with crunchy cukes, amaranth and onions from my garden, veg stock, water, lime juice and garlic. It may be re-invented as a green salsa for our block party tomorrow if I can find some decent tomatillos. It occurred to me you could also make an yellow lemony gazpacho with yellow tomatoes and yellow tomatillos.

Tonight I made cookies to sell at our yard sale tomorrow morning. I made some nutty cookies with hemp seeds and pecans, chocolate mint pinwheels and lime peel and lemon verbena shortbread. I've got to wake up early, put up the yard sale signs and clean the kitchen. Why am I baking in this heat? Because I am a crazy lady.

The Grist Mill at Keremeos

After we stopped to pick up some organic peaches at the Blush Lane Orchard stand, we headed to the heritage grist mill just outside Keremeos.

There's a wee gift shop and tea room with a limited menu. We had some amazing iced tea. Now I have learned that an Arnold Palmer is a drink made out of lemonade mixed with iced brewed black tea (usually Orange Pekoe). I think this is what I really like the best. Maybe 3/4 tea and 1/4 lemonade would be about my favorite recipe. I'm going to have to experiment.

I actually ended up buying three books, one on natural dyeing and another on the biography of wheat. I was disappointed there was no flour for sale, but apparently the grinder the owner was using is broken.

It's a pretty little spot, with space for community events.

It's the Blob!


I'd never heard of a zucca melon before, but now I'm intrigued and I really want to grow one. However, it looks like you'd need a lot of space. That melon is about three feet long. It only blooms at night. Hmmm, I think I feel a story coming on.

I wonder if it's related to the zucchini? Or the blob?