Suddenly Dark

This is at about 7:15pm. Dark. Summer is over my friends.


I had the best day.


Monsoon until 1pm-ish. I sat in Beans next to the fake fire (warm!) with my notebook and a coffee, while the floodwaters broke over the curb onto the sidewalk. Absolute best Playing-Hooky-Morning this year (not counting the Playing-Hooky-Afternoon floating on air-mattresses at Lighthouse Park during the heatwave this summer--that's Lighthouse Park on the silhouetted peninsula, above)! After a morning like this, I think the writer-lifestyle suits me fine. All I need is a rainstorm and my cafe-hat, which instantly transforms me into Remote Intellectual Seeking Refuge. Oh yes, I also need focus. To write a book I mean.


Then the clouds broke and I rode over to Roswitha's and rescued her tomatoes (into the greenhouse with you!) because the runes say this weather's here to stay. We planted eight different varieties in pots and they are still loaded with fruit as green as beans so I'm hoping the somewhat remote and dilapidated greenhouse will finish the job. The hose reaches. The tomatoes are so good they make me weep. Some don't even taste like tomato. Like melon. I have forgotten the true taste of tomato. Save-On, how could you forsake me? (This is what happens when I spend a morning writing.)


Here's a few shots of the floral pots on the patio, in fond farewell to summer. I actually took them last week, noting that I am impressed with the performance of delphiniums in pots (see white delphs with white roses below). Delphiniums are decadent, and will flower twice if you cut back the first spent blooms. The cannas and tuberous begonias shown in the other pots are overwintered, so I'll wait a couple weeks before I pull them. Begonias are bodacious--I swear that pot came from a handful of shrapnel-bits I discovered in the garage a little later than I'd've liked.


So I'm also wearing my Plant-Hunter hat these days--sourcing for a few designy-type projects. Tomorrow, will be attending a gardener-soiree at a supplier's open house, so rain-or-shine I suspect the gumboot crowd will be out and about. It's so rare we're offered wine and cheese, we might even dress up. I'm sure I have a Garden Soiree hat here somewhere..

Addendum to Previous Pesticide Post

Ah, the old pragmatist vs. romantic idealist debate. I bring this up because I portrayed the factions in the pesticide bylaw preceedings as the dualistic Lawn Care Dudes vs. Crochet-Tuque Radicals.

This of course does not represent the Reality of the New Millenium, whenever that is. Fact is, the pragmatists couldn't live without the romantic idealists, and the romantic idealists couldn't live without the pragmatists. And we won't go starting wars between them, because all the romantic idealists would be dead. And then the pragmatists would be lonely. And bored.

As our awareness grows, the chasm between the two lessens--it is simply pragmatic to factor in the effects of pesticides on ourselves and the environment.

This is the direction we are moving, I do believe. For instance, during the pesticide bylaw preceedings, the sole golf course industry representative present was...one of my home garden clients.

Yes, the golf courses got their concession for limited pesticide use--triggering much crochet-tuque-rending--but I do note on http://www.pesticidefreebc.org/ that the Seymour Golf Course is noted as having "significantly reduced its cosmetic pesticide use." Which is the direction we are moving! Good. So I thought this a better note to end on.

And besides, I do contract two days a week with a Dude With a Truck. Because I like to, and it's handy to have help on my projects now and then. And the rest of the time I love riding my bike. It's also pragmatic to do what you love.

Pesticide Bylaws...

Within the past few years, there's been a wave of municipal bylaws passed across Canada, to inhibit/prohibit the use of cosmetic (aesthetic use) pesticides in home & public gardens.

Here in North Van, a cluster of Concerned Citizens voiced our opinions at council meetings. It rather felt like the same people showing up over and over, which makes me wonder if every issue is like this: 6 people know about it, because it's related in some way to their livelihood, and everyone else is at home watching Survivor Bachelors Who Think They Can Sing.

Actually, in 2007 the Canadian Cancer Society officially came on board and launched a big awareness campaign, making the connection between pesticides and cancer. Wow, that was a refreshing infusion of energy, to shake up the crowd of crochet-tuque "radicals" and spray-tanker-lawn-care dudes. It was just such a hard crowd to work:

"Oh. I see you're a Lawn Care Dude. How's the chemical cocktail going down?"
"Oh. I see you're a Crochet-Tuque Radical. Maybe you'd be more interested in the granola bar."
Such a short mingle.

So in 2009 we got a new version of a pesticide bylaw, which, I would like to say, prohibits use of pesticides completely, but there are in fact exemptions for licenced professionals. I do notice that the locally-owned and chain garden stores on the North Shore have reduced their pesticide aisles to Safer's products and other exempted pesticides (see list at bottom). Yay! Retail sales are regulated by provincial law rather than local bylaws, so I don't know if this phenomenon is occurring throughout the Lower Mainland and the rest of B.C. or? Ontario has passed provincial laws already. I do see on http://www.pesticidefreebc.org/ that the big box stores across Canada are claiming to be phasing out these products but I have yet to do a reconnaissance mission on that. Seeing is believing! This new website is a great information hub for the issue.

The site is hosted by a family adversely affected by pesticide exposure. I find that a more reassuring information source than an industry that can be traced back to Agent Orange and the Vietnam War. Whoop, where's my tuque...

Here's a few "common household" pesticides that should be safely disposed of at the North Shore Transfer Station @ 30 Riverside Drive (turn in at the Paint/Metal disposal yard right before the main entrance with the truck scales etc.). 604-929-0372

All disrupt the functions of human/birds/bees/fish in silent invisible lethal ways. I know I'm being general and fear-mongering by listing some effects, but it is well-placed fear-mongering: asthma/reproductive toxicity/ADHD/neural toxicity/endocrine disruptors/estrogen enhancers/carcinogens etc.

2-4-D*(active ingredient in WeednFeed/Killex)--herbicide
Diazinon--insecticide
Glyphosate (active ingredient in Roundup)--systemic herbicide
Carbaryl (active ingredient in Sevin)--insecticide
Malathion--insecticide
Chlorpyrifos (active ingredient in Dursban)--insecticide
*not kidding: ingredient in Agent Orange

The point being: chemicals are rated according to lethal dosages, not toxic accumulation over time and in combination with other substances in the environment. It is well known that, once in the environment, chemicals metabolize into substances that are different (and possibly more toxic) than their original formulation. And if a chemical cocktail enters an environment, each substance of low toxicity on its own, the combination can wipe out, for example, the fish fry/tadpoles in local waterbodies, to the bemusement of all.

Several years ago (2005-ish) I was working in a back garden when I experienced the tingly-tongue sensation I've since come to recognize as pesticide drift. Going around to the front, I saw a Lawn Care Dude (with a tanker on his truck) expertly pacing across the lawn, applying his wares. Not only was I in the vicinity, but a pregnant neighbour was chatting with the owner's daughter on the driveway. Even at that time, pesticide applicators were supposed to clear the area, and post signs advising re-entry times. I asked the young man what he was spraying, and he told me the classic lawn cocktail: 2-4-D, dicamba, and mecaprop, which was "perfectly safe" because he "sprays it all day, every day." Ya, that's a good indicator.

I went home and looked it up, discovering that 2-4-D in particular disrupts the nervous system, is associated with Agent Orange, and pregnant women are prohibited from applying it. Of note: the owner of the house, RIP, was afflicted with Lou Gehrig's Disease, a mysterious neurodegenerative disease in which the sufferer gradually loses all motor control. When I told them what was being applied to their lawn, they promptly stopped the service, because this was a particularly important time to keep the environment toxin-free.

The "mystery" in our human diseases may be solved when we recognize the enormous blindspots of a culture that is just learning to expand from linear to lateral thinking. What goes around comes around.

A great resource for alternatives to chemical-cocktail gardening is the North Shore Recycling Program educational website: http://www.gardensmart.ca/

And here's a helpful, readable list I found under the Nelson bylaw, of all places, of exempted pesticides that we can STILL USE.

Exempted Pesticides
The following substances are exempted from the provisions of this Bylaw:
(1) a product that uses pheromones to lure Pests, sticky media to trap Pests or quick-kill traps for vertebrate species considered Pests such as mice and rats; and,
(2) a product that is, or contains, any of the following active ingredients:
(a) a soap (insecticidal/herbicidal);
(b) a mineral oil, also called dormant or horticultural oil;
(c) Silicon dioxide, also called diatomaceous earth;
(d) Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), nematodes and other biological control organisms;
(e) borax, also called boric acid or boracic acid;
(f) ferric phosphate;
(g) acetic acid;
(h) pyrethrum or pyrethrins;
(i) fatty acids;
(j) animal repellents;
(k) sulphur (ex: Bordeaux mixture and Lime Sulphur);
(l) fertilizers which do not contain chemical or synthetic pesticides within the meaning of the federal Pest Control Products Act;
(m)dormant or horticultural oils;
(n) pheromone traps;
(o) diatomaceous earth (silicon dioxide);
(p) pruning paint;
(q) non toxic sticky media; or
(r) any other substances approved through the Canadian General Standards Board for Organic Agriculture will be deemed permitted pesticides.

Wow

I finally dropped in at the new-ish West Vancouver Community/Aquatic/Rec Centre on Marine Drive (refuge from rain!) and had a breath-taking moment, looking up at this Gordon Smith drift-wood collage in the main atrium.

I think I love it because of the imagined process--beach-combing is such a random timeless activity that seeing such a massive collection in one place somehow conveys lifetimes and generations of finding simple treasures. But really, just the fact that that much driftwood is stuck up on a wall is pretty fabulous. I wonder what other people think it's about. Maybe it's a profile portrait of Lord Baden Powell. I can't see it.

Walked in just in time to run into Sheila, who works there, and she said it's really amazing in the spring, when the sunlight reaches in the south window and casts it all in relief. Apparently, it was commissioned, but the artist ended up donating it. So this is on my Recommended Spring Art Tour of the North Shore. Or anytime.

Garden Carnivores

Pictured below:
~top--a lovely specimen of Sarracenia rubra (Pitcher Plant)
~bottom--my backpack, covered with the slobber of Ursus americanus (Black Bear)

(both in Sheena and Terry's garden)



The Pitcher Plant has all a manner of devices to trap insects inside its rather blatantly throat-like leaf structure: intoxicants, slippery footholds, backwards-hairs, and a plummet-pool of oozy digestive juices. Bottom line: it must smell good. Like my backpack for example. Note pool of oozy digestive juices.

For illustrative purposes, I have retrieved an archived photo of the back steps (below). I was seated just to the left of the amber-coloured pots this past Monday evening, filling out an invoice, when said BEAR walked by, between the deck and the table. What is that? Let's say 5 feet, for dramatic purposes.



This was a large bear (let's say 4 feet, for dramatic purposes) who, in spite of the crunchy gravel pathway, made not a sound. In fact, s/he seemed to drift by, like a (large furry) shadow in a Bear Dimension in which I did not even Merit Concern. For this I am thankful. Nevertheless, in a token tribute to prey-species everywhere, I let out a startled squawk and translocated inside the house. Sheena, who had warned me that said Bear had made an appearance a few days before, had left the kitchen door unlocked for just such an occasion.

There he goes...

Bear was heading for the scrawny old plum tree on the other side of the yard...plums on the ground...and my backpack in the front yard, which was very funny, because when we finally emerged from the house I exclaimed "Well, at least he didn't get into my backpack!" and promptly stuck my hand in a puddle of bear goober. I had already eaten my lunch, and the empty lunch bag was on the ground.
Very Good Nose.

I hear that the latest tactic in Urban Bear Management is scaring bears with loud noises and rubber bullets and bear dogs so they learn to be afraid of humans.

In the interim (of acquiring a bear dog/rubber gun etc.), if you see a bear, stay reeaallly still because he probably won't notice you, unless you're wearing your fruit hat. Try not to scream too. And Sheena, we should mulch your sarracenia for the winter.

Highrise development...

This is an archived shot (2005?) of a cedar in R's garden. When I walked down there and saw wood chips the size of
Fritos scattered around the trees, I thought her crazy tree-stalking neighbour had finally gone on a bender with a little hatchet.





The real culprit (of course, silly me) was...

















...a Pileated Woodpecker (photo from the Internet). But who says there are no straight lines in nature?? That's one left-brained woodpecker. Looks like a little high-rise condo.

...Which it would have been if the stump was left standing as a snag/wildlife tree. Arborists can "sculpt" the top-cut to look as if it broke off in a dramatic storm instead of leaving a blunt 40-foot stump. Then you can spy on your bird-condo with your binoculars (an otherwise frowned-upon activity if you yourself live in a high-rise complex).

As for the crazy neighbour, big-tree vandalism/arboricide is a not-infrequent crime on the North Shore in general, when million-dollar views are impinged-upon.

Some individuals seem unaware that they live in a rainforest and send threatening letters from back-pocket lawyers, condemning leaves that drift over the property line, roots that threaten devastation of driveway tarmac, etc. Is a Save the Driveways Society on order? I suggest that these people should automatically lose land rights and be relegated to concrete highrises forever.

In reality, I suggested that R connect with West Vancouver Streamkeepers, a volunteer organization that monitors activities in stream corridors (there's a stream on crazy-neighbour's property). They have been terrific, and most importantly, there's a community-based watchdog of the goings-on on both sides of the fence.

Also in reality, big tree safety issues are legitimate concerns, especially with our big storms of late. A certified arborist can help assess whether a tree is hazardous. If you're wondering about legalities, check out your city's website and search "tree removal." The North Vancouver District search sends me to Frequently Asked Questions and the following reference to the Environmental Protection and Preservation Bylaw. Here's a cut-n'-paste:

Does the bylaw protect all trees? If not, how do I know if I need a tree permit?
A: The bylaw does not protect all trees. It protects trees within stream corridors, trees on steep slopes 30o or greater, wildlife trees, heritage trees, large mature trees of 0.75 m in diameter or greater and Western Yew trees of 0.25 m in diameter or greater (diameter measured 1 m off the ground).
A permit is required to cut or remove a protected tree.
A permit is not required for general maintenance and tree pruning done according to the International Society of Arboriculture's standards

And, for clarification, a "stream corridor" is within 30 m/100 feet of the top bank of a fish-bearing stream. Let's assume all streams are fish-bearing.

And the Bicycle-Kayaking Award goes to.....

I scanned the sidewalk coffee-crowd for the obvious hipster who's in charge of this rig, to no avail. Wow. Seen at Park Royal Village today, on my way home from work. Whoever it is jimmied an extension ladder into a trailer. I am in Build-It-Yourself Awe. My Bicycle-Gardening rig is parked behind, completely unremarkable in comparison.