I am staring out the window watching the Okanagan Lake get smaller and smaller. The unusual cold weather is slowly forming ice along the shore, and in the three days I have been house sitting on the lake, I have watched the shore ice move out several feet a day.
The geese
are huddled on the ice with their heads tucked under their wings, just as I am
huddled under a warm blanket watching yet more snow fall on this first day
of 2022 – not exactly where I expected to be right now...
Judith and
I drove home from Palm Springs quite unexpectedly after analyzing the potential
of possible border restrictions due to the new Omicron variant. Along the
way we did some hiking in Yosemite and Shasta National Parks – both worth
visiting. Our last day of driving we encountered our first snow, and felt relieved to
be safely back across the border on December 4th.
That left me back in Kelowna with a flight to Puerto Vallarta leaving from Los Angeles, and finding a way to get there within the one-day window for a negative covid test proved to be near impossible. In the end I cancelled my flight and booked another direct flight. I am heading to Puerto Vallarta for two months on January 5, and although there are suggestions we should not travel right now, my own instinct tells me I will be much safer in an area where all social gatherings are outdoors.
The Mexican state of Jalisco is in the “Green Zone” and covid numbers are dropping as the temperature there cools and people are moving their activities outdoors. Kind of the opposite here: just as we do not want to be sharing air – we are all huddled indoors breathing each other’s droplets. Ick….
I am looking forward to getting back to the warm weather (and away from the chocolate I have been gorging on), and I desperatly need excercise (something I find too difficult to motivate myself to do in the cold). I also am anxious to have some time to get back to my book, which was supposed to be completed and sent off to the copy editor by the end of December.
I am especially excited to begin planning and designing the website for my newest business venture which will involve me transforming a piece of property I bought in Oliver, BC last week, into a demonstration urban farm built on permaculture and food forest practices.
My interest in permaculture began on my first trip around the world when I was in Kumasi, Ghana where I taught a class in marketing at the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture. I was inspired by their commitment to sustainable, small-scale farming which was effectively feeding poor families, one backyard farm at a time.
Since then, I have been researching and learning and practicing various techniques, and finally feel ready to demonstrate and share my knowledge in a way that will not only meet my own needs, but that has the potential to give back to the community.
If this global pandemic has taught us anything, it is that food security is something we should all be concerned about – and I want to do my part to contribute to part of the solution, which I believe, is a return to backyard farming and local food supplies.
It is my intent to offer a residency program combining permaculture and backyard farming courses in conjunction with a luxurious stay in my Global Village vacation rental suite complete with gourmet breakfast (made of course, from backyard fruits, veggies and of course eggs). Yes, I will once again be the chicken lady - as my new house already has installed a small flock of chickens who lay beautiful blue eggs).
These courses will also be offered for free to local students and people on income assistance who will be sent home with both knowledge and seeds.
I am very excited about this next venture. I have operated a highly successful bed and breakfast business in the past, and I have showcased some beautiful backyard farming, but the piece that was missing for me was about giving back to the community and working towards a cause I am passionate about. I want to live my dharma.
Dharma is a Buddhist belief about finding fulfillment through combining something you are both passionate about and good at with affecting positive change in the world. In 2022 that is what I intend to do, so stay tuned for a play by play on the development of the “farm” and once I get moved and settled, come on by for some blue eggs and ham!
Happy New Year and until then, think about which of the following modules you or someone you know might be interested in:
- Chicken Poo – the urban gardeners best resource
- How to Make Your Own Soil (by stealing your neighbours leaves)
- Edible Landscaping: if you water it, you should eat it!
- Companion Planting and Building Tree Guilds
- Landscaping Design: permaculture does not need to look ugly
- Budget Saving Through Seed Saving and Food Preservation
- Mushroom Foraging and Backyard Fungi Cultivation
- Worms: a girl's best friend!
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