I have learned a lot during the renovation process that is currently going on in my building. I now know who to talk to, but I have also learned that there is not a lot of help for tenants in terms of protecting their health during renovations, especially when it […] Read More
Long before the Canadian Cancer Society got on board, many groups were working hard to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides in this country. Hudson, Quebec was the first municipality to initiate a ban in 1991. When I was at City Farmer, we paid a visit to the City of […] Read More
After I left City Farmer, I thought I might develop a small green tours business. I began to shop the idea around. A colleague encouraged me to take it to Mark Roseland at Simon Fraser University (SFU). That was the first I’d heard of him. He headed up the Centre […] Read More
At the end of every wormshop, I used to take the school children on a tour of the compost garden. I’d already shown them how to turn food waste into black gold, now they could see the food growing and understand the full cycle of life. On their brief tour […] Read More
Multi-tasking is a myth. Let writers write and artists draw. Although writing would be considered my specialty, I am more of a generalist than a specialist. There are advantages and disadvantages. I have noticed in job postings lately that employers are asking for the moon in terms of qualifications, so […] Read More
We had a latecomer show up to my compost workshop at the Coquitlam Inspiration Garden last Saturday. He spoke proudly about his rotator. He had missed the part where I had trashed most rotating bins. I had explained to the group that it was better for the compost bin to […] Read More
In memory of a loving mother and grandmother Hou Ma Mei-Jen 1920-2012 Jules Hou and his family, including his parents, immigrated to Canada from Taiwan 17 years ago. When they arrived in BC, farming offered the simplest pathway to a new livelihood. Back home trees and plants were prized commodities, […] Read More
I am in the process of revamping the business side of my blog. So now under the Garden Heart tab above you will see a revised description of what it is I actually do for a living, including project highlights. You can also tap into blog posts about past projects […] Read More
Nearly a month after I developed a horrible hacking cough, it persists. The smell from the toxic sealant the construction crew used on the new sliding doors had almost dissipated this week. Then yesterday I returned from an outing around midday and was hit with a wall of chemicals as […] Read More
Last weekend, my friend Mark and I were working at one of my two community gardens. While I weeded and seeded, he pulled up the bricks around the plot, built up the ground with more sand and relaid the path. I’m so happy to have a garden helper who likes […] Read More