Article by Dianne Noort It was the first time Julie had come to stay overnight at my cabin-house. Through raising teenagers at the same time, we had become best friends. Then, Julie moved away from the Cariboo and a few years later we moved, too, to a magical spot in the woods in Horsefly, BC Of course, Julie came to visit, and it was that night we made an important discovery.With a lavish August sun setting over the lake, Julie and I climbed into my hot tub, each of us with a glass of chilled chardonnay. She sighed, sinking her…
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Article by Terri Smith – One of my favourite bits of gardening advice comes from Eliot Coleman and goes something like this: If your garden is a place you want to spend time in, you will spend more time there and consequently, it will become even more beautiful, and you will want to be there even more!After market gardening for seven years, I didn’t always want to spend time in my garden. For the first few years after I moved to Quesnel from Williams Lake, I almost had to force myself to tend my new garden space that was full…
Article by Oliver Berger We had everything set up: birth pool, vapour barriered floors, hoses, heaters, towels, and music.We are pregnant and making the choice to have a home water birth. It felt right, and luckily for us we had just received Cariboo Midwives to the region, and they took us on. There is a lot to plan. Mentally, you must be prepared to use your space for something that is usually reserved for a hospital. Firstly, you order a birth pool. Which one? Next, you better make sure you have a hose with access to hot water because you…
Article by Ryan Elizabeth Cope – Coronavirus is (still) here yet we (still) persevere. This might be our new, collective mantra as we welcome a new year with many of the hallmarks of 2020. Many are hitting a fatigue wall with the ongoing pandemic, and it can be hard to remember what day or week it is. And yet, there is much more to be hopeful for this year, as opposed to last. Thankfully, many of the shifts we made in 2020, like growing our own food, supporting local businesses, and helping out our communities (locally and globally), have stuck…
Article by Amy Quarry, Owner, Long Table Grocery – Life as an entrepreneur often feels like I’m on a roller coaster between chaos and despair with only occasional moments of hope. Every day, any number of minor things go sideways—the freight doesn’t arrive, the internet is down, something breaks, or someone calls in sick. Someone always needs to be paid, and there is never enough money. We are always running out of ingredients, and the garbage needs to be taken out again. The floor is muddy, and I can never find a Sharpie. There isn’t a single day that I…
Sprout Kitchen, a member of the BC Food Hub Network, provides space and support for emerging and existing food entrepreneurs to get their ideas off the ground or to scale their business for new markets. Sprout Kitchen serves the area from Vanderhoof to 100 Mile House and offers new and established food businesses and community groups access to shared processing infrastructure, including processing, packaging, and testing equipment; cooler and freezer storage; food business advisory services; product development services; analytic services; applied research opportunities; and education and training related to food processing and food safety.Through Sprout Kitchen, food entrepreneurs can make…
Ingredients130 g white quinoa, soaked overnight120 g butter50 ml coconut oil1/3 cup almond milk5 ml vanilla2 eggs130 g coconut sugar110 g cocoa powder1 tsp baking soda1 tsp salt Method Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour a 9 x 13 glass pan.Cook soaked quinoa with 2 cups of water until a bit mushy. Cool slightly, keeping warm enough to melt butter.Combine butter, coconut oil, quinoa and almond milk in a blender and blend. Add eggs and vanilla, blend until smooth.In a large bowl, sift coconut sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Pour wet ingredients into dry…
Article by David Suzuki – In 1970, to make the world safer from humanity’s worst self-destructive impulses, most nations joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. (Only India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and South Sudan are not signatories.)Now the world faces a threat as great as or greater than nuclear weapons: global warming. That’s led to calls for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Recently, 101 Nobel laureates—in peace, literature, medicine, physics, chemistry, and economic sciences, including the Dalai Lama—signed a letter to world leaders endorsing the proposal.“Climate change is threatening hundreds of millions of lives and livelihoods across…
Article by Stephanie J. Rousso A new scientific discipline engages the intersection of our brain with our only one Mother Ocean. Neuro-conservation is an emerging field, proposed and led by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, the author of Bluemind. Nichols scientifically explains how water heals us and empowers our creativity, happiness, and compassion for life. Dr. Nichols also founded Grupo Tortuguero de Las Californias (GTC), a non-profit sea turtle network in Northwest Mexico.Nichols’ work inspired my current PhD research that feeds into my new business venture: Blue Turtle Sustainable. My research aims to continue the legacy Nichols started by working with…
Article by Venta Rutkauskas – Single file, ten women snake the trail above the ‘Fraser’ River. They move along the dirt track up ‘Desous’ Mountain in Esk’etemculucw in the unceded territory of the Northern Secwepemc First Nations. They are mothers, friends, they are white women of European descent, they are climbing, and they are learning. I am one of them, raised in Canadian privilege, a white body with blue eyes, granddaughter of displaced persons from World War II. I put one foot in front of the other, moving towards something intangible on the mountain. I am thinking about decolonization.I was…
By Lisa Bland Print is not dead, but virgin paper should be. Dear Readers, We’re back, and we are glad to be publishing a summer issue of The Green Gazette. After taking a break because of the economic downturn and COVID’s effect on many businesses (the advertising from which we are 100% funded), producing this issue is a welcome new beginning as the spring blossoms into summer. Many of our favourite writers are back with contributions, and the community support and enthusiasm from new and returning advertisers continues to grow. We genuinely feel we were missed.Much has happened collectively and…
By Dr. Suzanne SimardPublished May 4, 2021, in Canada by Allen Lane Canada A world-leading expert shares her amazing story of discovering the communication that exists between trees and shares her own story of family and grief. Dr. Suzanne Simard was born and raised in the rainforests of British Columbia and has forged a lifelong relationship of love and respect with the trees. This relationship was the driving force behind her decision to dedicate her life to better understanding the forest and the network that connects the plant life within.With humour, emotion, and the narrative drive of a lifelong storyteller,…
Article by BC Parks Foundation – Lonesome Lake is a place where Grizzly bears gather in autumn to feast on spawning salmon and Steelhead trout, serenaded by a chorus of migratory birds, including Trumpeter swans saved from extinction on these waters.The poetically named Lonesome Lake rests in a dry valley at the wild heart of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park and is an area of exceptional ecological importance. It is part of an area known as the Chilcotin Ark, flanked by the Chilcotin and Coast mountains and graced with endangered old growth stands of Interior Douglas fir.Lonesome Lake feeds the Atnarko, a…
Article by Ron Young – But I still got struck by lightning.Actually, it was a bright day with light drizzle. I was standing in my basement finishing the hook-up of a new Chinook wind generator that I had raised on a 20 meter tower. Before hooking up the wiring I looked outside to check that the windgen blades were motionless and there was no wind because I did not want any current in the wires. The windgen is 46 meters away and connected to an underground cable that runs to my house’s mechanical room where the batteries and inverter are…
Recipe by Jessica Kirby Wheatberries are a delicious, chewy, wholesome grain that make a hearty alternative to couscous or quinoa. They are fibrous and filling, but with a light dressing and some summer herbs can make a great side salad that doubles as a main dish. This recipe has dairy and vegan options and options for adding nuts versus seeds. In our home, serve this up with seasoned tofu or seitan chunks for the three vegetarians and broiled chicken for the meat lover. Enjoy! Ingredients1 1/4 cup wheatberries, dry3 1/2 cups water1/4 cup green onions, chopped1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved1…
Recipe by Jessica Kirby — If I could eat any one thing for the rest of my life it would be street tacos. I make them about a zillion different ways, but this is my favourite for impressing the veggies and meat lovers in my life. For the Tacos 1 can black beans 1 can corn (optional) 6-8 street taco shells, warmed 1 cup cheese, grated or feta, crumbled 1 cup cauli crumble–make fresh (see diretions) or use Big Mountain Foods pre-seasoned ready to eat 1/4 cup water or veggie broth 1 Tbsp chili powder 1 tsp garlic powder 1…
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By Sage Birchwater — Has filmmaker Michael Moore, the darling of the progressive left, gone rogue? His Earth Day, April 22, 2020, release of Planet of the Humans received immediate backlash from the global environmental community. Many were furious at his trashing of the decades-long efforts by the climate change activists to move away from fossil fuel dependency and into more earth-friendly renewable energy sources. The film, directed by Jeff Gibbs and produced by Ozzie Zehner, suggests that green energy is a scam. This message stood the alternative energy movement on its ear. Maybe that was the filmmakers’ intention. Unlike…
By Jonathan Hand — Springtime this year arrived unlike most, flooding our lives with uncertainty as we rallied to mitigate the risks of a global pandemic. While overcoming the many hardships created by COVID-19, we have also begun to see the seeds sowed for the better. Just as winter fades to the promise of spring, adversity is often the starting point for growth and newness. We can understand this same lesson from watching fire sweep the land and create balance in the ecosystem, or fasting in the sweat lodge to pray for clarity and guidance—suffering can bring about a lasting…