Life is an adventure, a journey, taking many twists and turns along the way, filled with goodness and suffering. It's good to have plans and goals, but even more important to remain open to what might arise along the way. Everyday life can seem mundane, especially...
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and...
The most commonly seen zucchini is dark green, long and cylindrical. This was the zucchini of my childhood; the kind that my maman used to make moist chocolate zucchini cakes. Only recently have I discovered the many shapes and sizes of zucchini. This year...
My parents took us camping every summer. I don't remember when we started our camping adventures. I must have been around eight because I have memories of my little brother toddling around and getting bathed in a rubber bin. Camping was something I looked forward to....
Our resident hawk moth caterpillar.I always find it exciting to explore my garden after being gone a while. It's like walking through a time warp. The potato and zucchini plants are taking over and sprawling all over the place. I can't even mow the lawn near the...
We have just returned from a six day car camping trip with our three little children (ages 5, 3 and 1) at Kokanee Creek Provincial camp ground for the awesome Jam Camp! It was our longest camping trip as a family of five and while camping with little...
Sometimes I lie on the floor, right in the middle of my living room. Within seconds my children find me and the playing begins. There is an openness and vulnerability to taking this position on the floor. I usually get stepped on or my glasses get bent but the...
For the last week we've had hot sunny weather. As the temperature climbs to the mid 30s our daily rhythm has shifted to adjust to the heat. We wake early, break our fast and complete any necessary tasks around the home. There isn't much work that needs to be done in...
Peaches are available at our local u-pick and I was thrilled to be out there picking yesterday. We picked about 50 lbs of big beautiful peaches and brought them home to preserve for the coming winter. This morning I woke to the smell of peaches ripening in my kitchen,...
When it comes to making jam the variations are endless. I have comes across quirky combinations like blueberries + basil, strawberry + Thai herbs and plums + cardamom. I made plum + cardamom jam last year and it was pretty good, but nothing can prove equal to the...
The plants in my garden are focusing their energy on fruit production. While it wasn't long ago that we celebrated our first cluster of green tomatoes, now the plants are covered in tomatoes of all shapes and sizes. Even the pepper plants are dangling their prizes,...
The three most common ways of preserving basil are dehydrating, curing and freezing. It's worth considering how you plan to use the basil before preserving it or you could experiment with each way to discover what you prefer. Dehydrating basil is inexpensive and space...
While I was away the latest issue of Taproot arrived in my mailbox. The theme for issue six is water. I think about water often. Every time I fill my cup I look out of our windows at the lake that we draw from. It's a deceptive thing being close to a lake while living...
Homemade pizza is where it's at around here. It's the perfect vessel for summer garden vegetables, homemade tomato sauce and plenty of cheese. But delicious pizza toppings cannot stand alone, they need the support of a chewy, crispy, yet tender pizza crust and I have,...
/This morning we spent some time at one of our favourite organic u-pick farms. I was hoping to pick a bushel of strawberries but the plants were picked over and we only gathered half a pail, minus a few that Teddy ate. There will be more strawberries in a...
A great deal of change happens in a garden over the span of two weeks. Thanks to my husband's attentiveness while I was away the gardens are in good shape. With the hot weather that we're having some of the crops are spent. I had to pull out the remaining spinach and...