Kelp at Twin Beaches
I wonder if Gabriola’s kelp beds will re-establish themselves at some point. There’s an awful lot of kelp on the beaches these days, or maybe I just notice it more than I used to.
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Archive for August, 2010
The new phone
Our phone died, so the Executive Chef went off to town to get us a new one. I would have come back with a basic and boring phone, but the Executive Chef got an amazing one instead. This phone makes technology worthwhile: It can block numbers, so annoying callers will be sent directly to the [...]
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Today’s Gabriola fish
This is the dog’s most recent catch – a flat fish at Whalebone. Is it a flounder? It’s about 8 inches long, and all grey and boring on the other side.
Golf and the Gabriola environment
I often wonder how they do things at the Gabriola Golf Course. Is it a typical golf course, using lots of chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers to maintain the perfect fairway? Or does the management refuse to use chemical products in order to reduce the environmental impact of the course? The New York Times published [...]
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Mutant garlic
Last fall I blogged about planting garlic. We’ve now harvested about 200 bulbs of garlic, so that ought to last us for a few months. This here? These garlic cloves grew half way up the plants’ stems. How weird is that? None of our Gabriola Garlic plants did this, but a garlic variety called Tal [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,gardening 4 Comments so far
Water-wise vegetables
Gabriola is often short of water in the summer, and yet we all want to water our vegetable gardens. Is there a way to garden without using so much water? Apparently there is. One approach is the one explained by Steve Solomon in Water-Wise Vegetables. From the introduction: Without regular and heavy watering during high [...]
The forest in a drop of sap
This is the Gabriola forest, reflected in a drop of sap. I suppose it’s the summertime equivalent of the forest in a raindrop, a photo I showed you in January. Do you happen to know why some conifers ooze sap? Are they injured trees? Are insects attacking them? Or are they just unable to contain [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,photos One Response so far
Groundwater study for Gabriola?
Should the Islands Trust hire a consultant to study Gabriola’s groundwater? The Trust is holding a special meeting next Wednesday evening, August 18th, to discuss this. The blurb says: The Gabriola Island Local Trust Committee is considering participating in a groundwater study of Gabriola Island, along with other agencies. Dr. Gilles Wendling is proposing to [...]
Filed in events,Gabriola Island,Islands Trust 6 Comments so far
Uninvited geranium
When this plant appeared in our Gabriola garden, it took a while to figure out just what it might be. Perhaps it’s one of the plants known as cranesbill geranium; I suspect that a more accurate label for this plant is Geranium robertianum. It’s awfully pretty, particularly now that the leaves are turning red.
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Today’s Gabriola jellyfish
Here’s one of the jellyfish I see around Gabriola quite a bit. It’s a clear jellyfish, with four pink sections inside. Last year I showed you the same kind of jellyfish floating in a tide pool at Whalebone. One of these days maybe I’ll figure out what it’s called.
Reflections on dark-trail walking
See it there, nestled in the tree’s bark? One reflector. Is it a fluke (fell off bicycle, placed on tree), or is it there for the benefit of those who walk through Gabriola’s woods while the rest of us are sleeping?
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Sandwell’s unusual petroglyph
A few of Gabriola’s petroglyphs are at Sandwell (Lock Bay). Perhaps you’ve seen them? If you’ve looked at lots of Gabriola petroglyphs, you might find yourself at humming one of these things is not like the others when you come across this one. Mary and Ted Bentley’s book, Petroglyph Island, shows a rubbing of this [...]
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Rain, puddle, relief
You know it’s been a dry summer on Gabriola when we get excited at the sight of a puddle. Here’s the first puddle we’ve seen on the island since, oh, June or so. This is in the 707, and it’s a favourite puddle of ours because it freezes so nicely in winter. (Dog likes to [...]
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Mama raccoon
Who’s peering into your kitchen window, Gabriola? At our place it’s mama raccoon and her three babies. The woman we know who shoots raccoons (!) if they wander into her yard tells us that raccoon droppings are a health hazard. Well. There’s your trivia for the day. And no, we won’t be shooting any raccoons [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,wildlife 6 Comments so far
Gabriola Island aquifers in trouble?
From the Daily News: Gabriola Island aquifers may be in trouble, many residents fear. Some people on Gabriola Island are worried they will lose their water supplies as hot, dry weather and increased use strain aquifers, says the Gabriola Groundwater Management Society. Society president Jenny MacLeod has heard from three people so far whose wells [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island 11 Comments so far
