Protecting Primary Forests in this Reconciliation/Climate Emergency

May 2, 2024

Hello NDP Government officials:

The Vancouver Island Forest Focus group is alarmed by the fact that BC Timber Sales has at least nine cutblocks of old-growth ecosystems on auction for this year. Three other cutblocks have already been given license to be clear-cut.

We all know that primary forests are under serious threat from clear-cut logging. Estimates show that less than 3% of these irreplaceable ancient stands remain, yet they are being sold off to the highest bidder with little or no oversight by BCTS. Deferrals suggested by the Technical Advisory Panel only included a very, very small percentage of primary forests.

We believe that BC has an ethical and global responsibility to protect the abundant plant and animal biodiversity that these forests are home to. Primary forest biodiversity has been proven to mitigate global warming, forest fires, droughts, fish stock depletion, landslides and floods.

As far as we know, Indigenous Band Councils are not always being consulted with regards to BCTS auctions and they are not being asked for consent for logging operations outside of deferrals. We heard from a Da’naxda’xw Band Council member that BCTS licensees Teal-Jones and Interfor in the Knight Inlet have given verbal consent to withdraw from logging if they can receive funding to compensate for lost revenues. Can you please outline what avenues you provide for these kinds of situations?

We look forward to hearing from you, in this election year, regarding how you can help us save these fragile ecosystems.

Eartha Muirhead

VIFF Campaigner

250-335-1141

Shortages in the Land of Plenty: THE PROBLEM WITH “TRYING TO PLEASE EVERYONE”

May 2, 2024

“It’s a tough job being a politician because it’s hard to please everyone”

This was recently stated by a local politician and I have spent a lot of time thinking about it. It sounds like a reasonable lament and God knows we don’t envy them. But. The truth is that politicians should not be trying to “please” anyone. That’s not their job.

Trying to please everyone may seem like a good way to secure re-election but it may also be a big reason why our political systems are struggling on every level. From Ottawa to tiny communities, politics have taken over society. We have a situation where politicians believe they somehow have to make enormous decisions about things they can’t possibly understand. They don’t have the time, the resources or the knowledge to make far-reaching decisions in a rapidly changing world and their track record has been abysmal. They are pressured to do so by a government hierarchy that also seems to be lacking in fundamental insights and who remain determined to force their agendas and experimental policies onto the public.

Being reactive to outside pressures has contributed to a culture of politicians going rogue in their decision making. A very bad pattern indeed. We are seeing attitudes in politicians and high ranking bureaucrats that seem completely out of touch with the realities of their constituent’s lives. Widespread protests are becoming the norm in Canada and Mr. Trudeau cannot go anywhere without attracting large and angry crowds. We have become a country of perpetual protests.

Recent revelations in Ottawa expose how the Prime Minister has ignored his own intelligence agency’s (CSIS) dire warnings about foreign interference (Peoples Republic of China) in our elections! Has he been trying way too hard to please China? Who else is he trying to please? The following is eye opening and describes a very disturbing pattern in the PM’s office. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44P8PiNC_xo

As a long standing democracy, we have invested vast amounts of time, energy and resources into designing a system of rules, laws and democratic protocols to give politicians and governments a powerful tool to guide decision making. Why do we continue to see them over-riding those guidelines and making decisions that “please some people” or worse, create new laws and rules when they can’t possibly foresee the consequences? Has the disastrous political response to the pandemic not shown us how utterly inept they are in spite of their refusal to take responsibility?

Making “people pleasing” a priority in the political arena will open the door to corruption, coercion and bad choices. It will result in a population that no longer trusts authority and society will suffer terribly. This is how societies deteriorate and we are seeing it everywhere. Citizens have to remain ever vigilant against this kind of degradation of our institutions. We must hold our politicians to their oaths – to do otherwise is to ignore our civic duty as responsible citizens. It’s been beyond disturbing to see our local political class ignore our Official Community Plan, due process, transparency and ethical decision making while they pursue their personal agendas and focus on supporting the goals of “outside interests” including major corporations.

A politician that tries to “please everyone” will be frustrated and disliked by most even if they manage to make a few happy. Unfortunately for them, they will be respected by no one. If they stick to due process and focus on the long-standing democratic systems at their disposal, they will have a far better chance of making good decisions for the communities/societies they serve. Above all, they must be willing to listen. Hearing from the public at large, directly, is the only way to understand a problem and have any hope of making an informed decision. That’s their number one job. They may not be liked by all but they will be respected and that is a much more honourable goal.

Remember, All This Fascism Would Feel Way More Fascismy Under Trump

May 2, 2024

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE

MAY 1

Okay, yes, police are currently in the process of violently stomping out political dissent on university campuses across America following multiple statements from President Biden attacking the protesters as “antisemitic” for opposing the genocide he’s been enthusiastically facilitating in Gaza. And okay, fine, bands of right wing thugs are currently going around terrorizing students who don’t align with the US government’s support for the state of Israel.

But before any of my fellow liberals get any wild ideas about ceasing their support for Biden during an election year just because of a little tyranny and genocide, I think it’s important to remind everyone that all this fascism would feel way more fascisty if Trump was president.

Think about it. If Trump was presiding over jackbooted authoritarian suppression while mobs of marauding fascists attack dissident youths with impunity, wouldn’t that just feel way worse? Wouldn’t it feel way more scary and upsetting in your feely bits? When cops are cracking skulls at Columbia University to punish young people for protesting their government’s actions, wouldn’t the cracking sound way worse if the president was being all crude and impolite about it?

https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1785476467809292589

After all, if Trump was allowing these things to happen in the United States it would be because he is the second coming of Adolf Hitler, but when Biden does it it’s because he’s walking a fine line of nuance and diplomacy and something something political pragmatism. Whatever, my point is we don’t have to think about it too hard or feel too bad about it.

And if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last seven months it’s that the only thing that matters is you and your feelings, and the way your feelings are feeling inside. Are campus protests making you feel unsafe and threatened? Then that’s all that matters; we needn’t get into the details of whether those feelings are based on any factual circumstances. Does someone saying “from the river to the sea” make your feelings more uncomfortable than US war machinery being used to massacre children? Then we’ll focus on that to the exclusion of all else.

If Trump was letting these horrible things happen, we’d feel outraged and upset. We might even feel obliged to get up and go protest the things he is doing, which as we all know can often cause us to miss brunch. But because a trusted Democrat is in office, we can just relax and think pleasant thoughts and drink bottles of wine and Nyquil in the bathtub.

You don’t have to like what’s happening to your country. You don’t even have to pay attention to it. All you have to do is make sure you keep telling everyone to shut up and stop criticizing the president and to tick that little box next to Biden’s name in November. Because it’s just a tough fact that in order to defeat Orange Mussolini, we’re going to have to get comfortable with fascism.

________________________________________________________________________

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Racist Egg

May 2, 2024

Banishing broom from the Denman butterfly reserve to help wetlands

April 25, 2024

Taylor's checkerspot butterfly, Mission Creek Corrections Center

Banishing broom from the Denman butterfly reserve to help wetlands

By Chris Junck, Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project Team

BC Parks is continuing to implement the wetland restoration plan that was developed in 2021 for the Denman Island Park and Protected Area butterfly reserve. The primary purpose of the 10-hectare reserve is to sustain suitable habitat for a subpopulation of endangered Taylor’s checkerspot and other butterflies. Ongoing vegetation management within the reserve is required to maintain open meadow and wetland habitat that the butterflies require.

In 2023, the focus was on clearing invasive Scotch broom from the wetlands that were constructed in the southwest corner of the reserve in the fall of 2021. Last spring, four BC Parks student rangers swept through the wetlands to remove dense patches of small broom plants. They then moved to adjacent areas to take out mature Scotch broom. Two Denman Island residents were contracted in the fall to remove any remaining broom from the southwest lobe of the butterfly reserve, and clear large broom that blocked the trail on the west side and near the information kiosk.

“The crews removed an astounding amount of Scotch broom,” said Erica McClaren, BC Parks protected area ecologist and one of the project leads. She added, “when they finished there were nineteen huge piles of broom, and the total area cleared was almost 22,000 m².” That’s approximately the same area as three soccer fields!

It’s a challenge to keep up with Scotch broom invasions. A mature broom shrub may produce more than 18,000 seeds annually. The seeds can be viable in the soil for decades. Left unchecked, broom will rapidly recolonize cleared areas. The butterfly reserve wetland restoration plan indicates that ongoing work to remove invasive plants, seeding and planting native species, and monitoring the results will be required to ensure the success of the project.

BC Parks and the project team thank the Cowichan Tribes, Halalt, Homalco, K’ómoks, Lake Cowichan, Lyackson, Penelakut, Qualicum, Snaw’Naw’As, Stz’uminus, Tla’amin, We Wai Kai, and We Wai Kum First Nations for allowing us to restore ecosystems in their traditional territories. Several local volunteers also contributed to the success of this wetland project.

The recovery project has benefited from funding and in-kind contributions from the BC Parks Licence Plate Program, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, the Environment Canada Habitat Stewardship Fund, and the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (Ecosystems Branch), and others.

The Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project Team includes biological consultants and representatives from the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, BC Parks, Denman Conservancy Association, Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team, Greater Vancouver Zoo, Mosaic Forest Management, Wildlife Preservation Canada, and others.

Learn more about the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly:

https: //goert.ca/activities/taylors-checkerspot/

and

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/species-ecosystems-at-risk/implementation/conservation-projects-partnerships/taylors-checkerspot

Background Information

Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori)

Also known as Edith’s Checkerspot.
Historical range was Hornby Island, southeastern Vancouver Island, Puget Trough and to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. In B.C., they were once abundant at 10 sites in the Greater Victoria Area, one site each near Mill Bay and Comox, and sites on Hornby Island (including Helliwell Provincial Park).
They were thought to have been extirpated (became locally extinct) from Canada by 2000 when no Taylor’s Checkerspots could be found in their last known sites on Hornby Island despite intensive searches. However, new populations were discovered on Denman Island in 2005 and near Campbell River in 2018.
It is federally listed as Endangered (COSEWIC, SARA Schedule 1), and is on the BC Red list of at-risk species.
Taylor’s Checkerspot butterflies need open sunny meadows where they can find suitable host plants (food for larvae and nectar producing flowers for adults), such as woolly sunflower, common camas, small-flowered blue-eyed Mary, wild strawberry, sea blush, and yarrow.
Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation are major factors in the species’ decline. For example, the meadows along the coastal bluffs in Helliwell Provincial Park became less suitable for butterflies due to invasions of non-native plants and encroaching forests.
Habitat enhancement work (weeding, selective limbing +/or removal of conifers, re-planting and seeding with native species) has been ongoing in Helliwell Provincial Park for several years.

The Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project

The Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project is led by Jennifer Heron of the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship and is guided by the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team’s Invertebrates at Risk Recovery Implementation Group. It is a collaborative effort to restore Taylor’s checkerspot populations in British Columbia through habitat enhancement, captive butterfly rearing and release, monitoring, public outreach, and other activities.

Team Members

Jennifer Heron (Chair), B.C. Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, Vancouver, B.C.

Erika Bland and Andrew Fyson, Denman Island Conservancy Association, Denman Island, B.C.

Deborah Bishop, Denman Island, B.C.

Menita Prasad, Greater Vancouver Zoo, Aldergrove, B.C.

Eric Gross and Ross Vennesland, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Delta, B.C.

Crispin Guppy, Entomologist, Whitehorse, Y.T.

Molly Hudson and David Vey, Mosaic Forest Management, Nanaimo, B.C.

Chris Junck, Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team and B.C. Conservation Foundation, Victoria, B.C.

Suzie Lavallee, University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry, Vancouver, B.C.

Patrick Lilley, Private Consultant, North Vancouver, B.C.

Erica McClaren and Stephanie Govier, BC Parks, Black Creek, B.C.

Kristen Miskelly, Satinflower Nurseries, Victoria, B.C.

Derek Moore, Area Supervisor Von Donop Area, BC Parks, Black Creek, B.C.

Nick Page, Raincoast Applied Ecology, Vancouver, B.C.

Hazel Wheeler and Andrea Gielens, Wildlife Preservation Canada, Guelph, ON.

Bonnie Zand, B.C. Conservation Foundation, Fanny Bay, B.C.

Supporters

B.C. Conservation Foundation

B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy

B.C. Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship

BC Parks

BC Parks License Plate Fund

Conservancy Hornby Island

Denman Conservancy Association

Environment Canada Habitat Stewardship Fund

Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team

Greater Vancouver Zoo

Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation

Hornby Island Community School

Hornby Island Co-op

Hornby Island Natural History Centre

Hornby Island Provincial Parks Committee

Mosaic Forest Management

Sea Breeze Lodge

University of British Columbia

Wildlife Preservation Canada

For more information about the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project, visit: www.goert.ca/activities/taylors-checkerspot/

Or contact:

Project Lead/GOERT Invertebrates at Risk RIG Chair

Jennifer Heron

Provincial Invertebrate Conservation Specialist

B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship

Office: 778-572-2273

Jennifer.Heron@gov.bc.ca

Public Outreach Coordinator

Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project Team

Chris Junck

chris_junck@hotmail.com

* More photos available by request

BC Parks

Erica McClaren

Protected Area Ecologist

Office: 250-331-9922

Erica.mcclaren@gov.bc.ca

Tree Huggers, Art and Activism

April 25, 2024

Tree Huggers, Art and Activism

On a cold February day last year, a mutual aid group called Friends of Denman Forests emerged spontaneously to stop the logging of more than 150 trees at Gravelly Bay Ferry Terminal. The cutting of these trees was a part of B.C. Ferries’ planned expansion of the access and parking area at the terminal’s approach. More than 100 people showed up to declare its intentions to block the logging crew and force B.C. Ferries to reconsider their design plans. Members of this group stayed for another 48 hours to make sure that no trees fell until solid assurances were made for that work to stop.

A year later, the trees remain, mostly unscathed, and an extraordinary art installation has taken shape in and around some of these trees, designed and created by an art and activism group called Tree Huggers. Mary Jane Stewart and Joy Brockman began collaborating on sculptures made from branches of a downed weeping willow tree, and from there, Wendy Boothroyd, Lorraine Martinuik, and Cynthia Minden were inspired to create more of these sculptures using basketry willow, maple, bramble, and other prunings. This group was inspired by a similar project in Europe, also named Tree Huggers.

At present, B.C. Ferries has postponed terminal expansion at Gravelly Bay for the remainder of their new contract term, and we can celebrate, at least for now, the success of ad hoc activism that can be credited with protecting this small forest ecosystem and many beautiful and mature fir and arbutus and other species of trees. The direct action of Friends of Denman Forests led to these beautiful activist/art installations, hugging these trees and reminding us of what is possible when we use creativity to imagine the world we wish to see. If you can, go have a look for yourself.

Possible Lessons that can be learned from the way that Covid 19 was handled on a global scale

April 25, 2024

Possible Lessons that can be learned from the way that Covid 19 was handled on a global scale

Given the possibility that another pandemic will occur or be orchestrated, depending on your point-of -view, in the next few years, some very interesting issues were raised at The World Council for Health conference in Geneva, Switzerland recently. This is a volunteer organization with no formal leader. It appears to be a truly democratic group, made up of medical professionals from around the world.

Here are some of the key questions that were debated:

1- Why were we not told that the Covid 19 virus was patented by Moderna in 2018?

2- Why did Moderna produce 100,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses in 2019 before the pandemic started?

3- Why, against all scientific evidence, were lockdowns and masks used?

4- Why were we not told that the ‘vaccine’ does not remain in the arm, but accumulates all over the body?

5- Why was PCR testing recommended when it is not designed for diagnostic purposes?

6- Why were the definitions of ‘vaccine’, and ‘herd immunity’ changed prior to the Covid-19 outbreak?

7- Why was a pandemic declared when the case fatality rate was akin to ’flu?

8- Why were tests on genotoxicity, teratogenicity, and carcinogenicity not carried out, and yet we were told the ‘vaccine’ was safe?

9- Why was there no proper follow-up of all people injected when using a new gene therapy product?

10- Why were doctors and the public not reminded regularly about the need to report adverse reactions to these new and experimental genetic ‘vaccines’?

11- Why was a ‘vaccine’ recommended during an ongoing pandemic, which is contraindicated in vaccinology?

12- Why was a ‘vaccine’ recommended for those who had superior natural immunity?

13- Why was a novel gene therapy launched after three months, instead of the required ten years?

14- Why were we not told that, in the Pfizer trial, more people died in the vaccinated group than in the control group?

15- Why were we told that Covid injections were ‘safe and effective’ when the evidence did not substantiate this?

16- Why were – and are – opposing voices from science and practicing medicine discredited, punished, and jailed?

17- Why were doctors, for the first time in history, discouraged from treating a disease, and told to wait for a vaccine?

18- Why was early treatment discouraged, whilst we know it is the most important tool to address any infectious disease?

19- Why were effective and very safe medicines like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin discredited and even prohibited?

20- Why did the producers of the novel gene therapies not want their data to be published for 75 years?

21- Why were Covid injections, masks and lockdowns recommended for children when it was known that they were not severely affected and did not spread Covid?

22- Why were the Covid injections recommended in pregnancy, when over 80% of babies were lost in trials when women were vaccinated in the first trimester?

23- Why was emergency approval guaranteed when over 2,000 people died within the first three months after vaccination roll-out?

24- Why is there no scientific outcry after over 3,500 papers have been published demonstrating side effects of the Covid-19 injections?

25- Why are conflicts of interest tolerated among medical authorities, with the FDA, EMA, and WHO being 80-90% funded by industry?

26- Why was there no adequate education of doctors, patients, and the public, and thus no possibility of informed consent?

27- Why and how were the media captured so that they pushed only one agenda worldwide?

28- Why were and are effective treatment protocols, which have existed since 2020, banned and declared illegal?

29- Why are we not told about the unnecessary deaths that were attributed to Covid but actually caused by iatrogenic measures (e.g. Midazolam, ventilation) carried out in early 2020?

30- Why was the fundamental role of Vitamin D status, diet, and the microbiome not communicated, when these measures could have prevented almost 100% of Covid deaths?

31- Why was and is a certain medical procedure forced upon people against their will, whilst the Nuremberg Declaration clearly opposes this?

32- Why is gain of function research, like that relating to Covid-19, not banned worldwide?

33- Why is an mRNA product still being used, when we know that mRNA is being incorporated into the human genome, and resulting in the production of other, unknown, proteins?

34- Why has the failed mRNA concept not been stopped, when we know it increases the likelihood of the recipient getting Covid-19, thus demonstrating negative efficacy?

35-Why do these products continue to be recommended, when at least 17 million people are believed to have died due to the injections?

36-Why is there no investigation into excess deaths, and increases in rates of cancer and heart problems, etc., which started in 2021, not in 2020?”.

In my opinion, these are all questions that we should review and reflect upon in light of what happened during Covid. I am hopeful that more and more people around the world and in our communities on Denman and Hornby Islands will become aware of mistakes that have been made and stand together to prevent them being repeated in the future. Carpe Diem and a hearty toast to that heartfelt goal.

A Global Security System (Part 3)

April 25, 2024

A Global Security System (Part 3) Sally Campbell

The core premises underpinning World Beyond War are that war is unnecessary, unjustifiable, does not keep us safe or bring security, contributes more to planetary destruction than any other human activity, and can indeed be replaced. If you hear yourself thinking: “Now wait a minute. They’re going a bit far there. Surely WW2 was necessary,” then register for what will be a fine on-line examination of that very subject on Saturday May 4^th at 3pm. That’s when David Swanson (co-founder of WBW) will debate Jared Ball, Professor of Communication & Africana Studies, on the topic: “Can War ever be Justified?” (Go to World Beyond War to register).

The manual our WBW book club is reviewing, A Global Security System: An Alternative to War, was originally written by Swanson, Kent Shifferd & Patrick Hiller, with input from a wide range of peace researchers & scholars. It sets out a 3-pronged framework for an alternative global security system (AGSS):

Demilitarizing Security
Managing Conflict Without Violence
Creating a Culture of Peace

The book clearly lays out the structural deficiencies of the current UN (the composition of the Security Council and the veto of the “permanent 5” being prime examples). It describes as well the weaknesses of our system of international law as structured. What is hopeful is that we have established much that is of value for creation of a system of humane global governance – a system that is not immersed in our, now dominant, cultural narrative of militarism.

Our culture of militarism is all-encompassing and elusive at the same time. As “the water we swim in”, we most often don’t notice it; it’s simply all around us. The idea of “us against them” and our competitive, distributional thinking around resources – either “they” get them or “we” get them – complement the mindset. My gentle 6 year-old grandson tells me about his latest video game – Minecraft – explaining the meaning of “pillage”: “The bad guys come to pillage the village, that means take everything, and the good guys in the village fight them off. The hero is the one who goes after the leader of the pillagers and gets him. If I win, I’m the hero.” In this innocent explanation of an exciting game lies the seed of what the field of conflict engagement calls The Drama Triangle, that seductive trap of labelling victims, villains & heroes. The good guys who fight are always justified as long as there exists a villain, no matter the devastation they cause in defeating that villain. My husband recalls the ubiquitous childhood game of “Cowboys & Indians”. The cowboys always won in his game. No one wanted to be an “Indian”. What he has only recently realized, he tells me, is that they were enacting as children a game of genocide. A game where the losers were literally wiped out.

The game that we see unfolding now in Gaza, where Israel, armed, aided & abetted by the Western powers, is hell-bent on wiping out, erasing, the Palestinians from the map. Israelis are the eternal victims; Hamas, which now stands for all Palestinians, are the villains; and the US is, of course, the hero sending the weapons.

What fuels our unquestioning acceptance, time and again, of the good guys/bad guys paradigm, as if it’s about immutable character rather than behaviours? Perhaps we’re oblivious to the pervasiveness of the propaganda our media delivers. Perhaps it’s our deep win/lose cultural conditioning. Or the multitude of distractions in our world. How can we become so numb as to consider “endless war” normal? Endless war is not normal behavior, it is suicidal behaviour.

The madness has to stop. In Gaza, the War System profits by sending more weapons, and Israel continues its cruel rampage unchecked. Now that Gaza’s entire healthcare system has been decimated, we will see vastly more people dying of human-caused starvation, living breathing people who could have been saved if aid were allowed in and medical care was available.

The work of restructuring and rebuilding is going to be massive. Israel-Palestine will have to become a place where all its inhabitants are free and equal, not just the Jewish ones. It is one land that will have to be shared by two peoples; there are plenty of organizations and individuals who can help bring that new reality into being. We must imagine it and insist on it.

The global community will need to bring forward our best ways of problem-solving and we will need to create better narratives. The AGSS manual is filled with ideas and stories from peacemakers, strategists, academics, and global thinkers about life-affirming, non-violent ways of addressing war-perpetuating differences. The power-hungry and the arms industry should not be running the show. Dialogue, mediation, partnerships, peace education, systemic change to address racism and inequality – we have so many avenues to pursue.

As my grandson’s story about Minecraft shows, we can’t insulate our young ones from the values currently being embraced by the general culture. Children see, children do, as the saying goes. That said, many children’s books and games feature cooperative play, integrative stories & non-violent approaches. Yet our predominant system of problem-solving globally is now a War System. It seems to me we have responsibility to figure out and implement other ways than the ones our leaders are currently choosing to resolve conflict – threats, competition, provocation, drones, bombs, retaliation, us vs. them, in endless cycles of violence.

If we as adults can’t imagine better ways to solve problems, how can we expect our children to feel safe and secure, let alone be safe and secure?

Coffee tasting and talk: regenerative farming and Mayan Resilience

April 25, 2024

Coffee tasting and talk: regenerative farming and Mayan Resilience

Join us on May 12th at 11am at the Back Hall for a coffee tasting and talk with Neydi Yassmine Juraccan from the Comité Campesino del Altiplano (CCDA). Come taste this amazing shade-grown Guatemalan coffee, grown in a regenerative polyculture. Coffee beans will be for sale following the talk and tasting.

The Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) was founded in 1982 as an organization to defend the rights of workers on large coffee, sugar and cotton plantations, to recover lands taken from the Mayan communities over the past centuries, and to promote and recover Mayan culture and spirituality.

When Guatemala’s armed conflict ended in 1996/97, the CCDA used the peace accords to obtain land for member communities. Some purchased the coffee plantations where their families had been farm workers for generations. Today, those plantations, reorganized as cooperatives, produce Café Justicia, a Solidarity Trade coffee, processed by the CCDA and exported to Canada and other countries. Profits from Café Justicia help finance the CCDA’s ongoing work for land reform, community development and an end to impunity and corruption in Guatemala.

Today about 800 communities in 20 of Guatemala’s 22 provinces belong to the CCDA, but the organization is strongest in the Madre Vieja valley of Sololá

Green Wizardries Preserving the Spring by Maxine Rogers

April 25, 2024

Green Wizardries Preserving the Spring by Maxine Rogers

The cold weather this spring has preserved a lot of blooms for longer than usual. My camellia, in a sheltered spot at the edge of the forest, has never been lovelier. The species tulips are coming in waves, as wildflowers do, and the chilly weather has kept them at their best for longer than usual.

The dandelions are out on the pasture, a welcome feed for the bumblebee queens who made it through the winter. They need lots of pollen and nectar to breed up the next generation of worker bumblebees. I do collect a dandelion flower here and there, being sure I leave lots for the bees. I fill a quart jar with dandelion blooms and apple-cider vinegar and I leave that for four to six weeks and strain it. I use the vinegar for salad dressings. It aids digestions and I feel it contains some of the marvellous spring sunshine.

I do not have enough dandelions and a friend brought me a box of dandelion plants from her yard. These are a superior strain and have very large leaves. I planted them in a row in my vegetable garden as I cannot grow enough dandelion on the pasture to satisfy everyone. The sheep love dandelions and will eat them to extinction if left to graze a paddock for too long. Finely chopped dandelion greens are just the thing to feed chicks and ducklings. I also like to give it to lactating rabbits as the lore states that dandelion is good to increase milk flow.

Another weed that is very important for bumbles, humans and livestock is the dead nettle. A friend just taught me about them and they are a wonderful, nutritious spring herb. The are among the first plants to bloom and they provide some of the first food for the bumblebees and other early native bees. They are the herbs next to the dandelions in the photo. These small herbs are good to eat, steamed with other wild greens such as nettles, dandelion greens and chickweed. They also make a great spring tonic for poultry and rabbits. I cut them carefully so I do not damage their roots as I consider them a very valuable food, forage and nectar supply.

Dead nettle is a type of mint as you will be able to see by its square stem. It is an astringent which means it stops bleeding and is also antimicrobial and antiviral. You can make a salve out of olive oil that you have macerated the dead nettles in. Always fresh-wilt fresh herbs for a day so they have a lower water content before adding them to oil. Too much water in the oil can cause mould to grow.

After steeping the herbs in olive oil in a warm place for four to six weeks, the oil should be strained and bottled and labelled with the contents and the date. To make a salve, you melt a quarter of a cup of bees wax in a cup of medicinal oil, over a double boiler, and that is all there is to it. Of course you can add essential oils such as lavender or thyme for scent and for their anti fungal and antimicrobial properties.

Another herb I like to harvest now is lovage. I cut small bundles of lovage and hang it from a beam in my living room to dry it for winter use. Lovage has a strong celery flavour and I like to keep a jar of dried lovage next to the stove in the winter to flavour stocks and broths. Lovage is also a medicinal herb with a long history of use in ancient Greece and Rome. A tea made from the leaves helps settle the stomach after overindulgence.

Last year, I learned about English daisies, the little white or white and pink flowers that grow almost everywhere and are used in the production of daisy chains. What I learned was the English daisy is the poor man’s arnica. Arnica is a daisy that grows in the alps and is used for bruises, strains, sprains and sore muscles. I went out hunting for daisies and found to my dismay that they had all finished blooming. This year, I was ready for them and went out daisy hunting as soon as the started in the pasture.

As with any flower, I make sure to pick only a few here and there and leave lots for the pollinators. Daisies are a special charm for moths and butterflies and they are having a really tough time of it now so we need to help them wherever we can.

I left the blooms out on a saucer for a day and then added them to some olive oil. The next day, I did it again and soon had a small jar of oil saturated with daisy blossoms. I will make this oil into a salve and experiment with it. Daisy blooms dried and saved for winter are useful in treating bronchial colds, coughs and catarrh. We really do have most of what we need growing right here on our enchanted Islands.