If you’re in Vancouver next Saturday April 20, please come to our reading! It’s at the Capilano Branch library, 3045 Highland Blvd, North Vancouver (Registration link: https://nvdpl.ca/node/5884/register) Please pass the word to North Shore poetry pals!
I’ve made a couple of delicious visits to Riley Park Winter Market and here are some of the sights I’ve seen…..
My first foray was in early March, when Vancouver had received an unwelcome dump of snow. Which didn’t deter shoppers or stallholders!
Lisa Virtue, baker
Lovely winter squash
Exotic radish varieties
Roots!
Organic apples
Self serve nettles
Say cheese…
Mushrooms!
Shiitake, Lion’s Mane, Oyster, Maitake (Hen Of The Woods)
Vancouver has an abundance of parks, and I’ve been enjoying many a forested stroll in Pacific Spirit, but also got a nice walk in somewhere up the side of Cypress Mountain, on the north shore, which has many trails.
At Pacific Spirit Park I’m particularly taken by the determination of young trees to grow from the stumps of the old giants who were long felled here. The elders nurture the new growth until they dissolve, leaving the youngsters to sort out their root system which is far above ground level.
I’m in Vancouver at the moment, so will be missing the annual Seedy Sunday that my community food security group will be holding this weekend. It’s lower key than some of the fancy schmancy ones we used to enjoy in the beforetimes; no speakers or commercial vendors, just a good honest seed swap. Most of the seeds are harvested from local gardens, meaning they are well adapted to local (though ever-changing!) conditions and pests, and are open-pollinated, aside from the surplus from seed packets retrieved from drawers and cupboards.
However, making a pre-emptive strike, I irresponsibly wandered into a community seed swap here last month, at the Britannia Centre, on Commercial Drive. I say irresponsible given the quantity of seeds I have in my seed box back home… but I did bring contributions (parsley and cherry tomato seeds). Came away with a few packages of some new and interesting things to try: Ethiopian kale; Tokyo long white onion; Flamingo Pink Swiss Chard; Scarlet Nantes Carrots (well, I’ll try again!).
The seed table.. before!
The seed table… with seed-lovers!
