I've been writing this post in my head all week. At first I thought I might not write it at all- it would be so much easier to just post a few more pictures of piglets or my kids toes in the grass and leave the hard stuff quiet for now. But this has been a week of witnessing a whole lot of people with hard stuff to say choosing not to stay quiet, an incredible, powerful week of hearing the voices of my community, of so many people I know and love, and many whom I have never met before, speaking out against the potential loss of the things they hold most dear in all the world.

I would like to stop you for a minute here, dear reader, and ask you to picture what you hold most dear. Think of your family, your kids. Think of your favorite places to be with those people you love- perhaps your back garden, your favorite walk in the woods or by your river or across your favorite stretch of mountain or desert or prarie. Think of the places that you love most in the world. Now think- if this precious place you are thinking of was at risk in some way, what would you feel? What would you do? And those people you hold most dear- what about them- what would you do to protect them?

I know this sounds dramatic. Drama isn't really my thing- I avoided drama class like the plague in highschool and if someone at a party suggests a game of charades I usually slip out a back exit as quickly as possible. But this- this is real life drama. This is my very own precious beloved places, my very own precous beloved people, at risk. 


And I realize how much I have taken for granted- that these things I love most in the world would be safe- that in our peaceful, safe, democratic country, the things I hold dear would be preserved for me, and that the health of the people I love would be protected. But they are not. We are not safe. These rivers and mountains are not safe- the water we drink, the food we gather and grow here, all this is at risk from the pipelines and tankers that are proposed to cut right through this natural, rugged, pristine home of ours.

There is lots of information about the proposed pipeline project on line and I will not try to give the whole background here.  Wikipedia  gives a good idea of the project and its scale. There is some info here on some of the risks, and information about the issues surrounding First Nations consultation here.
But anyone who knows this area, who knows the landscape the pipeline is proposed to cross and the coastline the tankers would be navigating, anyone who knows our unpredictable northern weather, our landslides, the extreme winds and storms on our coasts, the rough terrain,  knows this proposal is just plain crazy. 


This project is crazy on so many levels- because it would simply not be safe to attempt to ship bitumen through rugged terrain in pipelines that are known to fail. 


Because this is First Nations territory and they are opposed to the project.


 Because shipping unrefined tar sands oil to China when we know we need to be reducing our dependency on oil is insanity. 


Because our tourism and wild salmon economy is worth so much more to us than the few jobs this pipeline would bring. 


Because the people who live here choose to live here because we love it here. Because the water is clean, the air is clean, the rivers are full of fish, the mountains are full of wildlife, the communities are full of people who are in awe of our good fortune to get to live in such a spectacular place. Because this is our home. Because no amount of money is worth risking this.

This week the Joint Review Panel came to our town to listen to those affected by the proposal. Our federal government has already made it clear that it does not consider itself obliged to take the ruling of the panel into consideration in its decision making, and that it intends to push this pipeline through despite any findings of environmental or social issues. Obviouly this makes those participating a little less than reassured in the validity of the process. Still, thousands of us have signed up to state our opposition to the pipeline. 

In signing up to voice our concerns, our govenment has termed us "foreign funded- radicals" whose intent is to "hijack the regulatory system" by "stacking public hearings." Dear reader- do you see me- in my gum boots and hand knits- as a radical? Was signing up to speak against a project that could harm my family (even as I shook in those muddy gum boots at the thought of speaking in front of the panel-) was that stacking the public hearings, do you think? And if, perhaps, I do not come across as a radical- how about the others whose oral statements I listened to this week- how about the nurses, doctors, teachers, small business owners, engineers, farmers, choir directors, artists, high school students, councilors, biologists, fishing guides, healthcare workers, musicians, foresters, mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers? Were they foreign funded radicals do you think? Or maybe just everyday folks who live here and are concerned about our home? 

This week has been hard- so hard. It was, without a doubt, a difficult thing for me to get up in front of the panel to speak, but harder still was listening to statement after statement by people in my community- people speaking with incredible emotion- many unable to get through their statements without breaking down- all of them given just 10 minutes to lay out the very foundations of what they value, to articulate their connection to this place and their terrible fears of what they stand to loose. Over and over I was brought to tears listening to these voices, and I was able to think of little else.

But, even as I felt that my heart would break with the weight of it all, I also felt something lighter - something that felt an awful lot hope. And like gratitude too.  If you can imagine, dear reader, a community of people who are all thinking- as I just asked you to do- about what is most precious in all the world, and then being asked to stand up and defend those things, and that these people have at least a shred of hope that their words might be able to protect that which they love most in the word- well, you can probably imagine that those words would be pretty powerful. And they were. Those were some powerful words. And I feel grateful to have been able to be witness to them.

And I felt a great deal of hope listening to those voice. I felt hopeful that those three human beings on the panel would hear these voices and be moved by them. I felt hopeful that people coming together can make great change. I felt hopeful at the strengthening of our community. And I felt hopeful for the world as I saw how much love and connection people feel for their lands. I felt part of something bigger than this little room full of people in our little northern town- I felt all of us connected to a larger force of people who want healing in this world, and who are not willing to sit by and watch more of what is good in the world be ripped up before our eyes.

So for now the hope and fear sit side by side. The fear sits there deep in my gut, and it is not going to leave until we get the word that this project is not going through. But the hope- that isn't going anywhere either. That hope is just going to sit here in my heart and keep me beliving that we human beings are capable of terrific, beautiful things when we care deeply. And this graditute, it is going to stay put too- and it is going to help me remember that I am surrounded by incredible, powerful souls all wanting something better from this world.

But now it is time to get back to our normal lives again for the time being- get back to the garden and the seedlings and the piggies and to dig us out of the piles of laundry and start eating square meals again. Oh and my kids would love it if I would stop slipping away to "adult meetings" and to stop listening to people talking on the computer and read them some books already. Right. Back to my beautiful precious life then.
Goodnight friends.

We had such a lovely weekend here on the homestead- we had some glorious weather and we spent most of our time outside working around the farm together, which are my very favorite kinds of days. The boys were so contented playing in the sandbox, helping us with whatever we were working on, or creating their own projects- like  hammering rocks to "get the limestone out of them" and driving this boat to "Northen Bay." 

The snow is all gone except a few patches in the shady spots. As soon as I step outside I start going over the list of things I want to get done out here. The list is never ending, but I haven't been feeling overwhelmed, just excited to be outside doing all these things I'd just been dreaming about by the wood stove all winter.

We started building a bigger composter (inspired by Jules again! Thanks for this terrific pallet composter idea Jules!) Even with the new composter Perry built last year we were running out of space and realizing we really needed a bigger 3 bin system, especially with the pig and chicken manure we are dealing with. So Perry set to work building a big one out of pallets at the bottom of the garden and we are loading it up and hoping to get a good hot compost working.

I finished the huglekultur bed (yes, I realize it looks a little like a burial mound, I'm hoping it will look less halloweenish once the plants start growing and it settles a bit!)  and stuck a bunch of perennials in that my mom had given me- she didn't know what most of them were, so this is an experiment in many ways. I  found some amazing stashes of old wood on the property and had a grand time hauling the large boards back to the yard- they were so dry and light I could impress my boys by carrying them over my shoulder looking super tough- always a bonus.

The seedling are growing like crazy and many need to be transplanted soon. My soil blocker is waiting to be picked up, so I will give it a go this week sometime and give these little seedlings more room to grow.

We had our first cookout of the year and is was so lovely to eat outside together. Ah, spring.We love you so.

And now, I must make myself a cup of herbal tea and hope I can sleep a bit before the JRP oral statement tomorrow. I am trying not to think about it too much, I'm just going to go there and do it. But if anyone wanted to send me some good vibes tomorrow, I would gather them up gladly!
Goodnight friends.

We've been outside as much as we can be this week. Bare toes in the grass and little boys petting pigs in their PJ's- what could be better?

 These pigs are so much fun- and look how well they dig- it is amazing really. They are still so small, yet have nearly dug up the pen we have them in (the coop we used for turkeys in past years.) We will move them soon to the old gardens and take advantage of their amazing rototilling abilities, but we have to build some kind of easy portable house for them, and are still trying to settle on a design. One pig got out today- he didn't mean to get out, he just got really excited to see the boys with the treats and ran right through the electric fence, poor fellow. He was desperate to get back in and we were able to get him in pretty quickly, thankfully. The kids proved to be good pig herders, a skill we will need as we get them moving about on pasture.

There has been lots of farm and pig inspired play lately. I love it.

I am working on another hugelkultur bed, this one in the front yard around one of the fruit trees. I have been wanting to get rid of the grass around our house and have a bunch of raised beds instead, so this is a (very small) start. It is good to have helpers.

Even if they are quickly distracted by the wonderful kite flying wind we've been having- it is entertaining to watch as I haul sod and shovel rocky soil.

We still have a fair bit of food in the freezers and pantry to move through. We found a box of frozen fruit in the bottom of the freezer much to our delight and have been eating strawberries with just about everything. Next year I aspire to using my brilliant friend Jules' wonderful food organizing system- sharing out each item we preserve into boxes divided by month and bringing out a box at the beginning of each month- I love this idea!

There were some rainy days this week and some silliness ensued inside. The above game is called "duck bomb," for no reason I can tell other than it is exciting to yell "1,2,3 duck bomb!" while leaping simultaneously onto your beds over and over and over.  

Dorian really wins the silliness awards around here though. He just loves to be goofy and make faces and tell jokes and make us laugh. 

 Though he also is quite happy sitting in a patch of sun cutting paper.
And now we are getting ready for an evening out- the boys are having a PJ party at my parent's house while Perry and I go on a date to see the students at his school perform "Flashdance"- should bring back some good 80's memories!
Happy Friday everyone!

Up here on the homestead the snow is melting quickly and we are outside enjoying the spring weather even when that spring weather is blustery and not entirely warm- but we've had some lovely sunny warm days too. It is such a thrill to watch the snow recede and seeing all it uncovers. The rhubarb is growing quickly and the herb bed looks healthy and there are a few plants that have survived the winter under the snow- a couple kale plants, some chard, parsley and a whole bunch of skinny (but hopefully tasty) parsnips.

The spring also uncovered all the work we never got to in the fall- there are still lots of plant stalks and weeds about, and much to clean up and get to. But the great thing about spring, unlike autumn, is that it is a time when we all have boundless energy for the garden, and want to be out there every minute, so the digging and compost tending and general garden maintenance tasks are welcome now. 

I spent some time building a small hugelkultur bed this weekend- this is a new idea to me- a friend recently introduced me to Sepp Holzer and his ideas seem very applicable here, so I thought I'd give a couple of his raised beds a try- though mine is just a little taller than a regular raised bed, unlike some which can stand 5-6 feet high! I don't have a picture yet, but I'll take one once I finish the job. I have big plans to make a few more of these around the house, but my back is aching after all that digging yesterday and asking me go slow- it is so easy to get ahead of myself with all the spring plans!

The kids have been so excited to be out digging and running about. They even had a stint of running  barefoot this weekend, though that didn't last long. As they work in the garden they have been playing a game called "Alex and Fonz" inspired by the couple episodes of Tales of the Green Valley they have seen over my shoulder on YouTube. I am loving this show (despite the sloooow internet up here that makes watching it a lesson in patience.) It is a BBC history show that has experts running a farm for a full year as it would have been run in the 1620's using all the traditional tools and methods. I am a wee bit obsessed. As are my children who are reenacting the reenactment here in our garden!

As you can see there is still a fair bit of snow in the fields, but it is raining hard today and melting quickly. I am looking forward to some tromps through the woods without sinking through the snow, but the kids are more interested in working on the "rivers" on the driveway, so we will be spending some time in the mud this week for certain.

Many of our seedlings are up now, I love seeing these little green shoots emerge! They are going to need transplanting soon- I am going to try a soil block maker this year and have all the assembled soil making ingredients, but the tool didn't arrive in time to get them started in the blocks so I have my fingers crossed that they will transplant into the larger blocks from these little plugs. 


I have also been doing a bunch of reading about cover crops and green manures, and have made a mix of a few different seeds (inspired again by Sepp Holzer, who has over 50 different plants in his seed mix!) and have been tossing them into the beds as I clear them, hoping that some of the seeds take. We don't usually plant until the end of May, as that is when it is typically frost free, but I am wanting to try pushing the edges a little this year and see what we can manage to get in earlier. I have plans to plant some garlic, lettuce, green onions and radishes under a frost protection this week, and fill the rest of the beds with cover crops until it is time to plant into them. Always some new experiments to try!


Our other farm adventure this week was finding 3 feet of water in our crawl space and our sump pump just sort of swirling it around in a surreal looking tempest. Perry has been pumping it out and we finally can see the ground again, and it seems to be draining well now but there is some insulation to replace and it will need some time to dry out. It was quite a feeling looking at that swirling water just a few inches from our floor!


Otherwise, things are well on the farm, the piggies are growing and rooting around and learning to respect electric fences and enjoying their daily treats and pats from the boys. We have some new chicks coming soon and have some cleaning and whitewashing to do to be ready for them. So much activity and adventure after our quiet winter- hurrah for spring!


Happy Monday, friends.

This week it is feeling so springy around here. We've been getting our seedlings started in the big house. We've got cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, a couple different lettuces, celeric, chamomile, sunflowers, nasturtiums, calendula, lupines, milk thistle, snapdragons, and onions going, with more to start soon. The lettuce is just starting to peek up, and we'll keep our fingers crossed on the rest!

When the kids get tired of helping they go off and play. There has been an ongoing game of "sailors" being played on the back porch with the coffee table being hauled back and forth for a boat and lots of climbing up and down the fire escape ladder. Seeing how engaged they are when they are able to play outside like this makes me excited for all the fun they are going to have this summer with more room to enact their elaborate plots and explore around the property.

The nature table has made its change with the seasons- birds, sheep, pussy willows, root children.

And the spring books are out and being enjoyed.

There have also been several marble runs built;

pies made and eaten,

 friends to play with,

and plenty of arts and crafts made (above is Ari's easter bunny, and below is a very wet watercolour by Dorian.)

A lovely week all round. Happy Friday, friends!