By Terri Smith – I love goats, and I love hats, so really, what could be better than a goat in a hat? For Amadeus’ fourth birthday at the end of April we decided to throw him a Mad Hatter-esque Tea Party Picnic. We wanted to do something fun before our wonderful farm helper, Svenja, went back to Germany. Setting up a farm is a lot of work so it’s good to take time out for absurdity. Svenja, Mark, Amadeus, and I dressed up in fancy hats, packed some treats and cold tea, and headed up the trail through the…
Author: thegreengazette
By Terri Smith – With any luck I will never move again! I knew that moving a farm was a ridiculously large undertaking, but the reality of it took so much longer and was so much more difficult than I had even imagined. I didn’t even really go very far. In retrospect, it may have been cheaper and easier to rent a U-Haul rather than making the uncounted number of 210 km trips between Road’s End and my new home. Mark, my best friend and partner, whose home I have moved to has a 12-foot trailer and with that, his…
By Angela Abrahão – He is quite the sight in the marsh, right at home with his hat and binoculars, 12 students dutifully following along looking for birds. My classmate whispers, “I hope he does that bird call thing again!” Tom Dickinson has just irritated a male bird in the rushes by imitating another male bird of the species. Competition! The bird sounds the alarm, puffs up, and flies overhead to another tree and back out into the marsh. It is spring; things are happening. I take a breath of fresh air, sigh, happy to be outside learning. I have…
By LeRae Haynes – More than 2,000 First Nations Elders from across the province are expected to arrive in the Cariboo mid-July to share and celebrate the heritage of BC First Nations. Over the past 40 years the Annual BC Elders Gathering has become the top event for Elders to celebrate continued education in the histories, cultures, and ways of Aboriginal communities and in the experiences and contributions of community Elders. This year it’s taking place in Williams Lake, with the hosts Tl’etinqox, one of six Tsilhqot’in communities, along with their united support from the Tsilhqot’in (Chilcotin), Secwepemc (Shuswap), Dene…
By David Suzuki – If people keep rapidly extracting and burning fossil fuels, there’s no hope of meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement climate change commitments. To ensure a healthy, hopeful future for humanity, governments must stick to their pledge to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Many experts agree that to meet that goal, up to 80 per cent of oil, coal, and gas reserves must stay in the ground. That makes fossil fuels a bad investment—what analysts call “stranded assets.” Putting money toward things that benefit humanity, whether investing in…
By LeRae Haynes– Four moms who are homeschooling their children with the support of the Distance Education program through School District #27, said when it comes to their children’s education, this is the best of both worlds. They have home learning kids ranging from kindergarten to grade 7. Kat Sheppard, Carrie Becotte, Treava Marklinger, and Abby Shoults from the Parents Advisory Council (PAC) for home learners said that one of the biggest challenges they face is being both mom and teacher 24 hours a day. “It’s always changing with new boundaries for everybody and a challenge to find a…
By LeRae Haynes – Transforming a heap of rusty scrap metal and discarded engine parts into art for your garden is a great example of art meeting recycling face to face. Wayne Ball and Bridget Lusignan have launched Bridget’s Rustic Garden, a unique garden shop in connection with Blocks R Us. Ball said it all started with a pile of flat rusty scrap metal and grew from there. “Bridget started cutting hearts and stars and moons, and then we started in on things like old beds, mufflers, gears, a rototiller, old sinks and bathtubs and a fridge door,” he…
By Ciel Patenaude – Martin Prechtel, a New Mexican teacher, author, and healer, has frequently spoken on what he calls the ‘recovery of the indigenous soul,’ a process he believes paramount to healing ourselves and our planet. Speaking not only of those persons who would be specifically classified as ‘indigenous’ – the approximate five per cent of the world’s population with specific rights, traditions, and languages tied to a particular geographic area – Prechtel believes the loss of the indigenous soul in every human on Earth is the true source of the destruction and chaos we live in today. He…
By Brandon Hoffman– Just heading south from Williams Lake there’s a charming old farm house tucked into the landscape. There aren’t a lot of buildings like this one around the Cariboo these days, so it might stand out a bit. Almost as distinct as the folk-Victorian style of the house is the big red barn next to it. It is definitely picturesque, but this property also has a pretty darn interesting history to it. Allow me to do my best Sage Birchwater impression for a moment, and gush about the Cariboo’s own Onward Ranch. From his Suffolk England home in…
By Brandon Hoffman – Even though it just came out last month, writing about Marin Patenaude’s self-titled debut record, Marin Patenaude and the Follow Through, already feels like old news. She has established a loyal local following as a musician, festival organizer, and contributor to the Potato House Community Sustainability Society. There are a lot of us who could sing along long before she even started recording the album. We had been waiting, mostly patiently, for a while. When Marin released the album last month, it felt like a matter of minutes before it was on the collective CD…
By Thomas Schoen, Chair of CMBC – As the chair of the Cariboo Mountain Bike Consortium (CMBC) I often get asked: “What do you guys do and why do we need another bike club?” Well, the answer is very simple. The CMBC is not a local club and has no membership beyond the Board of Directors. We are a regional marketing organization, the second largest in the Interior, promoting mountain biking in the 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Quesnel, and Wells/Barkerville corridor. We have no individual members, as we do not wish to compete with local clubs and split up…
By Christina Mustard – We’ve all been affected by the increase in produce prices in British Columbia. From January 2015 to January 2016, the cost of fresh vegetables in BC rose 26 per cent, compared with only a 4.6 per cent increase for food in general, because most vegetables are imported from the US against a low Canadian dollar. When the most nutritious foods become prohibitively expensive, choosing natural and healthy options becomes impossible for those already struggling to provide food for their families. More than 12 per cent of Canadians live in a state of food insecurity, lacking…
On July 1, 2017, Canada will turn 150 years young! Canada’s 150th birthday needs to be planned for soon rather than later and that’s why since 2008 photographer and creator of the Canadian Mosaic Project, Tim Van Horn, has been busy capturing the essence of what makes Canada such a special place we call home. Whether it be a remote fishing village, a small prairie town, or a metropolitan centre, Tim Van Horn has been embedded in the field documenting everyday, hardworking Canadians. In the past seven years, Tim has traversed the country five times and created an impressive 44,000…
By Margaret-Anne Enders – Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era. For a long time, the 60s loudly called my name. Crazy clothes. Wild hair. Peaceful revolution. Freedom and love, man. Last night I went to the Youth Fiddlers’ evening of old-time music, dancing, and socializing. I was transported back into a different time and felt the pull of pioneer days where families joined together to celebrate with music, communal dances, and wholesome fun. A friend commented that the world would be a better place if we got together like this more often and danced. I…
By Kristin Lehar – It seems like only yesterday the tree buds burst open with the first greens of the year, temperatures finally allowed for open windows during the nights, and weeds started popping up everywhere. The last jar of fermented vegetables from the previous year’s harvest marked the end of a cycle and I began to feel the need to eat something new and fresh, which, if you think about it, coincides perfectly with the new beginning that is spring. Anyone eating a significant portion of his or her diet locally and seasonally inevitably feels the indwelling need for…
Presenting a collaborative by your local recycling representatives: “Five local recycling representatives from our region recently attended the 42nd annual Recycling Council of British Columbia’s Annual Zero Waste Conference in Whistler. There were many presentations from other municipalities, suppliers, government officials, and non-governmental organizations to discuss all aspects of solid waste and the future needs of this ever expanding industry. There were many ideas exchanged over the three-day conference that can be used by all attendees in achieving their needs and goals in their respective organizations. This was a great venue to get people of like interests…
By Brianna van De Wijngaard– Earlier this year, the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society (aka CCCS) decided to revamp its Green Event hosting efforts. We wanted to create more incentive for folks to make their events, meetings, and parties more sustainable, and that’s because they’re the perfect venue for “lead by example” change-makers: people not only see how easy and beautiful it can truly be, but they also feel a sense of pride taking part in the initiative, just by being there. This is how wasteful behaviours can slowly be changed over time. So we updated our Green Events guide, added…
By LeRae Haynes – Fencing, calving, harrowing, haying, and fixing fences are only the part of the juggling act that is ranching—add in full-time off-ranch jobs, a commute, and looking after family and you have a true balancing act. According to Charlotte Attrill and her husband Charlie on the SL Ranch at Rose Lake, it’s worth it all. Charlotte’s parents bought the cattle ranch 50 years ago, running about 200 head. Now the ranch runs 40 head of cattle and mom and dad, now in their 80s, still live on the ranch. “We have four sons between us who all…
By LeRae Haynes – Living in Canada has been a true gift and a wonderful adventure for two local residents who look forward to celebrating Canada Day as grateful citizens. Lubna Khan and Carmen Mutschele each chose Canada as a destination and a home—a place to make their dreams come true. Family was the pull for Khan, who moved from Pakistan to Chicago and then to BC. She’s been in Williams Lake for nearly nine years. “I was born in a family with five daughters and one son—it was hard in Pakistan for a family to have…