Tuesday, July 22, 2008
So I'm back in Toronto. I took a bus from Nelson to Winnipeg and spent about a week in Winnipeg with Matt, who was there for a conference of urban planners. We had bought tickets for Saturday at the Winnipeg Folkfest, and the weather was pretty godawful that day. Apparently it was the first time in all 35 years of the Folk Festival's history that a whole day was cold and rained out like that, and Matt and I were lucky enough to choose it! (Of course, all the other days were sunny and warm.)
But we still had a great time. We got to see some good performers, like Hayden and Calexico, and we drank hot maté from the Twelve Tribes booths - Maté Factor and Common Grounds. The Twelve Tribes have a community near Winnipeg, but I heard about them when I was in Nelson, where they have another intentional community as well as a café, which is very beautiful, in-town but on a hillside surrounded by trees. The people who work there are very hospitable and generous (forcing much free food and drink upon me), and not preachy at all (though I didn't bother asking about the Christian-based religion their movement seems to be founded upon). Their maté and their food are incredibly good.
I spent the rest of my time in Winnipeg getting to know the city a bit. City of empty parking lots, I like to call it. It's a little strange. The streets were pretty empty in general, especially of pedestrians. The mosquitoes weren't bad at all while I was there, though I was expecting them to be bad considering that the city has been getting fogged for them regularly (since West Nile broke out, I guess?). I'm not sure why this year the mosquito presence was so low. The mosquitoes weren't nearly as bad as usual in Winlaw, either.
I'm back in Toronto now. I'm not really all that happy about the air quality. I suppose I was pretty spoiled when I was out west. The heavy, humid, yellow, smoggy air seems to go as far east as Cobourg, probably much farther. The humidity itself I can bear, it's just all the pollutants that mix in with it that I find make it barely bearable to breathe. Yes, I guess I've become somewhat overly sensitive to these things... ;) Food, water, and air quality rank pretty high on my list now.
Anyhow, I'm in Ontario for the time being, but chances are I'm bound for Winlaw again in a month or two. I think I've succumbed to the lure of the West.
But we still had a great time. We got to see some good performers, like Hayden and Calexico, and we drank hot maté from the Twelve Tribes booths - Maté Factor and Common Grounds. The Twelve Tribes have a community near Winnipeg, but I heard about them when I was in Nelson, where they have another intentional community as well as a café, which is very beautiful, in-town but on a hillside surrounded by trees. The people who work there are very hospitable and generous (forcing much free food and drink upon me), and not preachy at all (though I didn't bother asking about the Christian-based religion their movement seems to be founded upon). Their maté and their food are incredibly good.
I spent the rest of my time in Winnipeg getting to know the city a bit. City of empty parking lots, I like to call it. It's a little strange. The streets were pretty empty in general, especially of pedestrians. The mosquitoes weren't bad at all while I was there, though I was expecting them to be bad considering that the city has been getting fogged for them regularly (since West Nile broke out, I guess?). I'm not sure why this year the mosquito presence was so low. The mosquitoes weren't nearly as bad as usual in Winlaw, either.
I'm back in Toronto now. I'm not really all that happy about the air quality. I suppose I was pretty spoiled when I was out west. The heavy, humid, yellow, smoggy air seems to go as far east as Cobourg, probably much farther. The humidity itself I can bear, it's just all the pollutants that mix in with it that I find make it barely bearable to breathe. Yes, I guess I've become somewhat overly sensitive to these things... ;) Food, water, and air quality rank pretty high on my list now.
Anyhow, I'm in Ontario for the time being, but chances are I'm bound for Winlaw again in a month or two. I think I've succumbed to the lure of the West.
Labels: intentional community, music, smog, winlaw, winnipeg
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
I'm back from my week-long farm holiday – and what a holiday it was. I loved every bit of it, and I was sad to have to leave. I'm so in love with farming! I'm actually starting to reconsider whether I still want to do this bike trip down south, or just drop everything I'm doing and commit my life to farming. The latter option is now more tempting than ever.
See the latest pics:
I spent about a week at Everdale, and I had a great time. I loved all the interns, volunterns, and volunteers – particularly Braham, a 62-year-old volunteer of east Indian background. He spent a week at the farm, and seemed as impressed by the interns and other farm volunteers as we were by him. He wants to buy some farmland in the near future, and I expect he'll keep us in mind for the future.
2006 Everdale interns Jo and Jen visited for the weekend, and it was splendid. I got to witness the beginnings of the trebuchet project. Garrett constructed a 1/3-scale model one evening and launched rotten apples and bags of gravel to get a sense for what adjustments to the trebuchet affected distance and trajectory. The interns plan to have a trebuchet party when the full-size version is complete.
After my stay at Everdale I biked to Whole Circle farm, where Maggie greeted me with a glass of cold kombucha tea. This year Jeff, Leslie and Ali (all former Everdale interns) operate a CSA at Whole Circle independent of Maggie and Johann's meat, dairy, potato, grain, and dry legume operation. Their interns are Jon (whom you all know), Jared, and Amanda. I started off by helping roll in row cover from the squash plants, which looked incredible – not a trace of cucumber beetle, and they looked healthy and lush. It gets me thinking that Everdale should seriously consider making better use of row cover (which means they'll have to construct a decent spool dispenser/collector, because it's hell otherwise).
Dinner was fantastic, because it consisted mostly of Whole Circle pork that was more tender than any I'd ever tried to cook myself. I always find the cooking at Whole Circle to be incredibly, almost mystically good. (Must have something to do with the farm being biodynamic.)
I got up at 3am the next day to bike the long stretch back to Toronto. I left at 3:50am and got home at 8:45am, so it took about 5 hours. Whole Circle is closer than Guelph, and it's also downhill the way back, so that seems reasonable.
Now I'm back in smog-saturated Toronto (yes, smog! SMOG SMOG SMOG), and I wish I didn't have to be here. In fact, I don't, really. I have the option to walk away and start afresh if I really want to, and I think I just might. Soon.
See the latest pics:
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| Farm holiday, summer 2007 |
I spent about a week at Everdale, and I had a great time. I loved all the interns, volunterns, and volunteers – particularly Braham, a 62-year-old volunteer of east Indian background. He spent a week at the farm, and seemed as impressed by the interns and other farm volunteers as we were by him. He wants to buy some farmland in the near future, and I expect he'll keep us in mind for the future.
2006 Everdale interns Jo and Jen visited for the weekend, and it was splendid. I got to witness the beginnings of the trebuchet project. Garrett constructed a 1/3-scale model one evening and launched rotten apples and bags of gravel to get a sense for what adjustments to the trebuchet affected distance and trajectory. The interns plan to have a trebuchet party when the full-size version is complete.
After my stay at Everdale I biked to Whole Circle farm, where Maggie greeted me with a glass of cold kombucha tea. This year Jeff, Leslie and Ali (all former Everdale interns) operate a CSA at Whole Circle independent of Maggie and Johann's meat, dairy, potato, grain, and dry legume operation. Their interns are Jon (whom you all know), Jared, and Amanda. I started off by helping roll in row cover from the squash plants, which looked incredible – not a trace of cucumber beetle, and they looked healthy and lush. It gets me thinking that Everdale should seriously consider making better use of row cover (which means they'll have to construct a decent spool dispenser/collector, because it's hell otherwise).
Dinner was fantastic, because it consisted mostly of Whole Circle pork that was more tender than any I'd ever tried to cook myself. I always find the cooking at Whole Circle to be incredibly, almost mystically good. (Must have something to do with the farm being biodynamic.)
I got up at 3am the next day to bike the long stretch back to Toronto. I left at 3:50am and got home at 8:45am, so it took about 5 hours. Whole Circle is closer than Guelph, and it's also downhill the way back, so that seems reasonable.
Now I'm back in smog-saturated Toronto (yes, smog! SMOG SMOG SMOG), and I wish I didn't have to be here. In fact, I don't, really. I have the option to walk away and start afresh if I really want to, and I think I just might. Soon.
Labels: bike trip, everdale, farm, smog, whole circle
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
I was working outside today for quite a while, doing my typical gardening tasks that I do every day. I went for a walk with Meta down Roncesvalles as we often do. I also mowed the tiny lawn using garden shears that I just bought. And I feel pretty shitty right now. Usually after spending a day working hard outside I feel refreshed afterwards. But today I've felt nauseous and a little lightheaded, especially after trimming the lawn, which was somewhat strenuous.
I thought, today has to be smog day. I couldn't think of what else would cause me to feel so crappy after exerting myself. And sure enough, today is the fourth smog alert day of the year. The previous three occurred in the first half of May. So today I guess I've absorbed a load of toxins by working outside. Crap. Meanwhile, I've been spending the last few months trying so hard to detox.
From now on I'm going to be a lot more cautious with regards to smog days and check the forecast before I head out.
I thought, today has to be smog day. I couldn't think of what else would cause me to feel so crappy after exerting myself. And sure enough, today is the fourth smog alert day of the year. The previous three occurred in the first half of May. So today I guess I've absorbed a load of toxins by working outside. Crap. Meanwhile, I've been spending the last few months trying so hard to detox.
From now on I'm going to be a lot more cautious with regards to smog days and check the forecast before I head out.
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