Here’s our minivan. We bought it about 18 months ago and it transformed my driving experience. It made access to alpine hikes a breeze. Road trips and drive-in movies were awesome. I loved not having to hike in from the
Mushrooming
Yesterday we went to the Nakusp Hot Springs, and I had Chuck drop me off in town to run the trail out to the springs. It ended up being about 11 km because the access road was closed due to
Bokashi experience so far
Last fall we started using a bokashi waste system. All food waste, including meat, bones, dairy and small amounts of oil and fat, went into a plastic 5-gallon bucket with a lid, combined with sprinkles of a microbial starter. We
Bokashi
Bokashi bin, and wheat-bran starter Okay, it isn’t pretty, but it’s pretty cool. We’ve been outdoor composting for more than 20 years. We tried indoor vermicomposting for a while, but despite our best efforts couldn’t entirely prevent fruit-fly outbreaks. We
Thermos hack: yogurt-maker
I have a large plastic thermos, and inexpensive item that is world-weary and not particularly water-tight. It has a capacity of about 3 Litres, and is perfect for making a large batch of yogurt for our family. Since we’ve been
Artisanal day trip
I had to go pick the van up. With our family shrinking, and the monthly trips to Calgary no longer happening, my desire for a more winter-worthy minivan is no longer a pressing need. We decided to put some work
Dandelion syrup
About 6-8 cups of dandelion flowers yielded about 1 cup of packed yellow petals. We mixed this with 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water, brought to a simmer and allowed to cook for an hour or so,
Hello, trees
Fiona and I have been visiting the trees in the forest that surrounds our home recently, appreciating them anew as they emerge from the snow and prepare for a new season of growth. Yesterday we checked out the red cedar
March Break for Fiona
March Break, the one- or two-week spring schools holiday, has never had much to do with us, other than loosening up our out-of-home activities schedule. But with Sophie in school full-time, and Noah part-time, it’s gained relevance this year. Those
Best Pizza
We make pizza almost once a week around here. It’s a flexible go-to meal for us. So long as someone takes ten minutes to get the dough started sometime between 2:30 and 4:30 pm, it’s a quick and easy meal
More bedroom
You can look at this photo for purposes of comparison. With the lower bunk gone, there is actually a 140 cm width of floor space in Fiona’s bedroom now. Sophie is happily, very happily, ensconced in her purple room in
Veggie Pâté
Veggie pâté has become popular around here. It’s so simple to make, and it adds substantiveness and protein to summer sandwiches and crackery snacks. Veggie Pâté 4 medium onions, chopped6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed0.5 kg sliced mushrooms2 cups
Market upgrades
It’s market day tomorrow. Sophie got an order for 20 lollipops, so she’s been busy stockpiling. Her dad made her a lollipop display stand and we are all very smitten with the fetching rainbow of colours. From left to right:
Tea progress
Fiona’s tea business is taking shape. Some organic ingredients have been purchased. These have been combined with wildcrafted ingredients like rosehips, peppermint and wild ginger. The wild ginger in particular has entailed several trips along trails for collecting but we
Making hard candy
Here is Sophie’s system for making hard candy. Her basic recipe is from the LorAnn Oils site. They make great concentrated oils and dozens of awesome flavourings, though natural foods stores are a good source of basic essential oils as