The seed catalogs are starting to arrive just on the heels of the spring and summer catalogs. Not that I need commercial signs of spring this year since nature has been providing them aplenty in spite of our west coast style wintry bluster. I spent all of one of those stormy evenings poring over the seed catalogs planning my garden for this spring. It will be much smaller since Stevie is taking over the big one. Mine will be the kitchen garden and hers for the market.
Caylen came and carefully felled the huge willow that has been leaning over and shading my garden before the wind did the job, not so carefully, on my fence and apple tree. The willow has pussies already; the earliest I have ever seen them. Those branches will be saved to dry or sprout for new trees somewhere other than the garden. To be fair, the willow was there first and I will miss it but it will surely sprout from the trunk and become a nuisance again in another twenty years.
The tentative date for Sara’s Seedy Saturday is confirmed for March 12 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM in the Port Clements Hall. Our GIECFI secretary, Linda, pointed out that it’s actually going to be the 7th annual, and not the 5th. Where did the two years go? I’m not the only one getting spring planting fever as folks have been asking about Seedy Saturday since New Years. If you want a table, call Linda at 250 559 8975. The PC Grade 7 students are providing lunch to raise money for their grad.
My February school board calendar is filling up already from local events to a trip to the provincial council meeting in two weeks. There will be a presentation of the new curriculum today (Feb. 5) and this weekend, inspired by that, the school board will meet to initiate its strategic planning process. The board is hoping to involve the whole community of Haida Gwaii in deciding on the future of education for our children. Contact your trustee and see how you can get involved.
My woofer from Norway left last Thursday after a number of construction improvements to both my and Kim’s little farms.
As he left, Mark arrived. Taro and Darrel have also returned home while Celina and Yoshi have stayed on in Panama but they will also be returning soon. Silviculture work begins early on Haida Gwaii so I expect Darrel will be back to work immediately as is Mark.
Ever since I first heard Buffy St. Marie some 50 years ago she has been my favorite female vocalist for more reasons than her beautiful unique voice. I have admired her ideals, the songs she wrote as well as the art she created to express them, and her life that she lived by those ideals.
So last week a chance meeting with Roland made my day and began the next six months of anticipation. As the director of the Edge of the World Music Festival, Roland was pretty excited himself to have booked Buffy St Marie and her band as headliner for this summer’s festival. Are you as excited as we are?