April 2011, Issue 29

April 2011•Issue 29

ISSN 1920-8200

Easter Specialties Celebrate Earth Day With A Greener Home The Cowichan Valley Artisans Aboriginal Festival of Film & Art

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April Event Cowichan Valley Artisans Easter Weekend Studio Tour

April 22 - 25 10am - 5 pm Tour 15 venues

CowichanValleyArtisans.com

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Community Calendar

April 2011

1, 8, 15, 29 6pm

John Wade & The Night Shade Trio El Centro, 150 Craig St 250 597 0150 No Cover

15 5pm

MexiCanna Chili Dinner & Dance w/ The Smiley Sisters Royal Canadian Legion Malahat Branch 134 $12

2 8pm

Bill Bourne Duncan Garage Showroom, Duncan $20 / $25

15

7pm

Kate Reid / Evalyn Parry Duncan Garage Showroom, Duncan $20 / $25

2

8pm

Seeing and Feeling Aura with Jane Hutchins Nimmo Rd. Westholme, 250 733 2135 $30

16 10am noon

Shamanic Techniques For Everyday Use w/Jane Hutchins Nimmo Rd, Westholme, Register 250 733 2135 $30

2 5:30pm

Art Opening in memory of Sandra Hunter El Centro, 150 Craig St 250 597 0150

Aunty Kate and the Uncles of Funk Dancing Bean Café, 9752 Willow St Chemainus $15

2 7pmish

16 7pm

Open Mic Song Writers Nite Dancing Bean Café, Chemainus Admission by donation

16 11am3pm

Create More Success - Coaching Symposium Quw’utsun’ Cultural Centre 250 743 6126 $5

3,10,17,24 9-2pm

Cobble Hill Sunday Market Cobble Hill Hall, Watson and Fisher Road

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5:30pm & 7pm

Third Thursday Dinner Buffet: “Taste of Mexico” Honeymoon Bay Lodge and Retreat 250 749 4252

3 7pm

Bill Bourne in Concert Shady Grove Folk Arts, Mill Bay 250 483 5435 $20

17 10:30am2pm

Ayurvedic Cooking Class- Spring Menu The Hawthorn, preregister 250 597 3973

April 4 - 30

Painter Linda Skalenda Imagine That! Artisans Designs, 251 Craig St., Duncan

Junction Artists’ Market featuring Master Carver Herb RiceWhippletree Junction, 7km south of Duncan

6 - 10

10am - 5pm

41st Annual Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show Quw’utsun’ Cultural Centre $5 / Kids Free

17 11am2pm 17

Stephen Fearing / Andy White Duncan Garage Showroom, Duncan $30 Advance

6 8pm

Harp Dog Brown Duncan Garage Showroom, Duncan $15 / $20

Bells of Easter: Glenora Handbell Ensemble Duncan United Church $12/ $20 Family 250-715-1664

6 7-9pm

Gala Opening CVAC Fine Arts Show Quw’utsun’ Cultural Centre Tickets $5 250 746 1633

17 3pm 19 5:45pm -

7,14,21,28 7-8:30pm

Follow Your Bliss- Yoga With Asrael Natasha’s Temple Studio 250 597 3973

various showtimes

Opens 21 -

Steel Magnolias Chemainus Theatre Festival, 1 800 565 7738

21 Doors 7:30pm

Ben Sures, Big Bubba Cook, David P Smith Tix $10-15 Rosedale Ridge, Cowichan Station, www.puzzleroot.com

22 - 25 10am - 5pm

Cowichan Valley Artisans (CVA) Easter Studio Tour For more info visit www.CowichanValleyArtisans.com

23 9:30am2pm

Easter Special Children 12 and under EAT FOR FREE El Centro, 150 Craig St 250 597 0150

23 - 24

Easter Getaway! Accommodation & Easter Brunch Honeymoon Bay Lodge and Retreat 250 749 4252

23 10am3pm

Earth Day Celebration! Cowichan Green Community Charles Hoey Park, Downtown Duncan

24 10am 4pm

Lavender Labyrinth Easter Egg Hunt Cowichan Valley Lavender Labyrinth, 250 701 2885

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Easter Brunch at the Satellite Bar & Grille Arbutus Ridge Golf Club, Cobble Hill 250 743 5000 For The Love of Words with Bill Levity Duncan Garage Showroom, Duncan $5 for readers /$10

7 12:30 pm - Tea and Cookies at Sunrise Waldorf School (Preschool) 4344 Peters Road, Cowichan Station 250 743 7253 RSVP 1pm

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6pm dinner

8pm

8 pm

Parasites in Pets and People with Lorene Benoit Travelodge Duncan 250 748 6802 $10 Please Register

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7:30pm

Chapel Concert - Kent Fiddy & David Sinclair Providence Farm Main Building 250 748 3975 $10/$15

9 6pm

Cari Burdett & Sara Marreiros 3 Course Dinner Show El Centro, 150 Craig St 250 597 0150

9 8pm

Celtic Chaos Dancing Bean Café, 9752 Willow St Chemainus $10

9 10am noon

Understanding The Energetic Power Centres of the Body Westholme, 250 733 2135

runs to April 9

39 Steps Chemainus Theatre Festival 1 800 565 7738

9 7pm

Cowichan Folk Guild Coffee House - Jane’s Way Duncan United Church, Duncan For Tickets 250 748 3975

13 7:30pm

“Dark Side of The Moon” with Classic Albums Live Cowichan Theatre, Duncan For Tickets 250 748 7529

13 5:30pm 6:30pm

Aboriginal Film Festival Coast Salish Dinner & Gala Quw’utsun’ Cultural Centre For tickets Call 250 748 7529

14 5 6:30pm

Aboriginal Gallery of Artists Opening & Ceremony Cowichan Theatre, Duncan For Tickets 250 748 7529

26 8pm 26 7pm 29

13 -17 8pm

7th Cowichan Aboriginal Film Festival Cowichan Theatre, Duncan For Tickets 250 748 7529

30

13 8pm

Tim Williams Duncan Garage Showroom, Duncan $20/$25

Meet your Spiritual Guides with Jane Hutchins Nimmo Rd, Westholme, For Info 250 250 733 2135 $30

14 7 -9pm

GET Solar Info Session on Solar Hot Water Heating Shawnigan Lake Community Centre 250 686 0286

St. Ann’s Garden Club Annual Giant Plant Sale 1843 Tzouhalem Rd, Providence Farm, Duncan

14 - 21 Daily

Cowichan Valley Artisans PORTALS Show CVAC Gallery Island Savings Centre 2687 James Street, Duncan

30 9am3pm 30 3 - 5:30pm

Ladysmith Camera Club benefits of using the RAW file feature Hardwick Hall, 3rd Ave , Ladysmith $5 250 606 7011 Sunrise Waldorf School Birthday Anniversary 4344 Peters Road, Cowichan Station 250 743 7253

Floral Workshop: European Dish Garden, w/ Rob Jennings Honeymoon Bay Lodge and Retreat 250 749 4252

Saturday, April 23

El Centro Cafe will be offering an Easter special hard to resist. Between 9:30am and 2pm Children 12 and under EAT FOR FREE from their kids menu! Reservations recommended 250 597 0150.

After brunch check out the CGC’s Earth Day Party at Charles Hoey Park from 10am - 3pm.

Sunday, April 24

Arbutus Ridge hosts Easter Brunch ($27.95 Adults, $24.95 Seniors, $12.95 Children-under 5 are free) Their chocolate fondue fountain and the spectacular view makes this a brunch of choice for many.

Reservations highly recommended 250.743.5100.

Merridale Ciderworks offers brunch from 11am – 3pm, Families visiting the orchard can also participate in a Faerie Hunt taking place all day.

Looking for a view? waterside Easter Brunch will be served at the Genoa Bay Cafe Please call 250 746 7621 for reservations.

Monday, April 25

Merridale Ciderworks will be open for lunch from 12- 3 on Easter Monday and if you missed all the goodies from Easter Brunch on Sunday Genoa Bay Cafe offers Easter Brunch on Monday as well.

How lucky is that!

the valley

Easter Goodies

VOICE

Thinking about advertising?

Easter Baking

Utopia Bakery ( 250 246 9901) in Chemainus offers customers Easter Bread; a super rich bread filled with raisins, currents, candied cherries and almond paste. Amuse Bakery (250 929 3663) will carry traditional hot cross buns made with local currants available at the beginning of April thru the Easter weekend. The Duncan Garage Cafe and Bakery (250 748 6227) offers gluten free, spelt and kamut alternatives as well as all the traditional Easter treats...challah, stollen, bunny buns and more!

All available for pre order. (see page 35 for full menu) True Grain Bread (Cowichan Bay 746 7664, Mill Bay 250 929 1119) will have handcrafted all organic hot cross buns, Easter bread and Pinza. YUM!

Here’s an idea to help you hop to it!

Contact Diana Pink for fresh ideas to help promote your business.

To request a May 2011 Rate Card contact her by phone or e-mail

250.733.2635

diana@cowichanvalleyvoice.com

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Our Local Food Cobble Hill Sunday Market

9am to 2pm • Every Sunday at Watson and Fisher TWO HALLS FULL

of Goodies and Gifts Join us for freshed baked goods for brunch!

Vendor and Busker inquiries welcome.

Call Sheila 250-701-7647.

Victoria Gin Distillers Dinner 4 Courses with Pairings

March 31st 6pm Canapes & Cocktails 6:30pm Dinner

Bistro

Bakery and Market

Simple is elegant.

Now Serving Lunch Daily Soup sm 3.25 lg 5.25 Three Kinds of Salad sm.3 lg.5 Flat Breads 4.25 Quiche Lorraine 5.50 French Meat Pie Tourtiere 6.25 Daily Hot Lunch Feature 6.50

“ Local food for local consumption”

Selection of Sandwiches: 5.95 Quist farm roast pork loin, grainy mustard with apple chutney Little Qualicum Rathtrevor Cheese on Whole grain Bread Oven Roasted Cowichan Valley Chicken breast with little Qualicum Brie Cheese; Quince Chutney; Apple Cranberry Bread Grilled Local Peppers and roasted Codes Corner Farm squash, roasted garlic and Herb Aioli, red onion marmalade Salt Spring Island goat cheese, on Whole Grain Bread

Dinner served Wed- Sunday Open from 5pm 1753 Shawnigan-Mill Bay Road 250. 743 . 3667

1761 Shawnigan-Mill Bay Road (beside Moziro Coffee) www.amusebistro.com

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Eat in or Grab to Go!

April 2011

Vol 2 Issue 29

For those who love to eat, live, shop and play in the beautiful Cowichan Valley.

Published by Cowichan Valley Voice Magazine Sheila & Richard Badman Contact us at: editor@cowichanvalleyvoice.com 250-746-9319

Copy Editors Caroline Manuel, KK Hodder, Maeve Maguire, Becky Black, Nichola Walkden

Writers’ Voice Editor John Steven

Advertising Enquiries Please Call Diana Pink

250-733-2635 or e-mail diana@cowichanvalleyvoice.com *Non Profit Community Ad Rates available please enquire.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR LISTINGS ARE FREE!

Please upload your information through our website or e-mail the Date, Time, Event Title and Place.

Please be advised that space is limited to 1st sent, 1st printed.

Please send info by the 15th Day of the preceding month to: events@cowichanvalleyvoice.com

Valley Voices

Heather Walker, Rick Dennis, Marisa Goodwin, Brad Boisvert, Jenn De Valk, John Steven, Victor Vesley, Ajay Appelar, Tracey Paleczka, Adrienne Richards, Debbie Shkuratoff, Maeve Maguire, Robyn Radcliffe, Cari Burdett, Amanda Reimer, Robin Massey, Tracey Scheck, Spinning Ninny, Gayle Mc Ivor, Mimi Roy, Javan Kerby Bernakevitch, Erika Schade, Sandra Carr, Peggy Grigor, Sandra Greenaway, Jim Musselwhite, Rick Juliusson, John Close, Kenzie Cuthbert, Greg Awai, Christy Lindell, Mayan Hurry Lindell, Evelyn Pereira, Jessica North O’Connell, Louise McMurray, Bruce Stewart, Sheila Jones, Bruce Wood, Karen Curtin, Nicolette Genier, Cindy Dreger, Lorene Benoit, Jenn George, Cynthia Montgomery, Joan Cobham, Tracy Scheck, Tobi Panter, Sue McKitrick, Ciara Halvorson, Tina Buffaro, David Coulson Design, Julia Star & The Lovely Georgia Nicols

We welcome your story ideas & photo submissions, however Valley Voice magazine reserves the right to edit all submissions for space, clarity, content and style. The opinions expressed in Valley Voice Magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, publishers or other authors.

Valley Voice Magazine is distributed to 225+ select locations throughout the Cowichan Valley- Malahat, Mill Bay, Shawnigan Lake, Cherry Point, Duncan, Cowichan Bay, Crofton, Chemainus and Salt Spring Island and to Ladysmith, Victoria, Courtenay and Tofino.

Cover Image “Beautiful Female” by Shawn Sanders www.shawnsandersphotography.ca Valley Voice Magazine is published monthly.

Subscriptions are available at a cost of $35 a year within Canada and $55 a year for US or International subscribers.

Visit us at www.cowichanvalleyvoice.com

Pages

April Events 4 Easter Special Food and Fun 5 Our Local Food 6 Table of Contents 7 Cowichan Gourmet 8 Organic Fair Easter Dessert Recipe 8 Websites, E-Mails and Verbal Lint 9 Hatching Chicks 10 Edible Landscaping 11 Celebrating Earth Day 12 Sustainable Design From The Top Down 13 Alternative Enegy Solar Therma l 14 Hybrid Transport 15 Water : Its In Everything We Do 16 Local Green Heroes : Cowichan Recyclists 17 Cowichan Transition 17 Spring Clean Checklist 18 Green Burial 18 Going Green Q & A 19 Eco For Home 19 Escape To Cowichan Valley’s First Green Spa 20 Upcycling in The Valley 21 Sustainable Fashion in Cowichan Bay 22 A Dog Named Tea and a Tea Named Dog 23 CRAFT by Cowichan Valley Artisans 24 Meet The Cowichan Valley Artisans 25 Talking Arts: Joe Gelinas and Sandra Carr 26 The Many Faces of Clsy 27 Artist Linda Skalenda 27 Featured Events 28 Ciara Halvorson Tree Painting 29 Heart Centred Hypnotherapy 30 Off The Grid 31 Building The Bridge 31 Enough is Enough 31 Water Conservation For Your Garden 32 Helpful Garden 33 Compost Compost Compost 33 Put The Chicken Before The Egg 34 Local Farmers Tales 35 Dream Interpretation 36 Radiation Treatments 37 Wheeling Through Time On A Penny Farthing 38 South Island Fishing Report 39 Anti Radiation Diet 40 Vultures 41 Writing From Within 41 Writers Voice: Jessica North O’Connell 42 Animals Can Be Healed In Many Ways 42 Maple Bay Saga: Maple Bay The Party Place 43 People Pets & Parasites 43 Moonbeams: Moon Gardening 44 On The Farm 44 April Horoscopes by Georgia Nicols 45 Outnumbered! by Sue McKitrick 45 Cowichan Valley Feature Listings 46

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Cowichan Gourmet

E

ggs are one of the most diverse ingredients in the kitchen! Whether you are making something sweet, something savoury, a dish with Italian roots or North American cuisine you will most likely find eggs. Containing one of the highest quality of protein, eggs are healthy for you, they contain vitamin A,B, B12 B6 as well as thiamine and calcium. And it has been proven that children that eat eggs for breakfast can concentrate better at school.

However, given all these redeeming qualities, one should know that all eggs are not created equal. How the chicken has been raised will determine the outcome of how healthy that egg is for you. So I recommend eating local island eggs. Stop in at your neighbourhood egg

stand, you know the ones I mean! Every country road in this valley must have at least a half a dozen egg stands where you leave your money and get your eggs. What an amazing honour system so lets all support it. Well sounds easy but there are a few things to do, as I mentioned not every egg is the same. With out being to invasive to the farmer talk to them and see if their chickens are free run and eating natural, GMO free feed, these are all important things to know to get the best out of the eggs you eat.

As I mentioned before; eggs are one of the most diverse ingredients in the kitchen, that being said I like to serve them for dinner, no not just with bacon (which is a good dinner as well!) I like to serve them poached on top of a rosti potatoes with some local prawns topped with crème fraîche and local arugula for a peppery finish. As you are eating and you break into the egg the yolk runs out and “wala!” you have your sauce. If you don’t already, try using local eggs

Michelle Rose CSF Fisherman Guy Johnston

Interested in buying the freshest catch of the season straight from your local fishermen?

Become a member of Cowichan Valley’s first Community Supported Fishery for access to top quality, sushi grade seafood mindfully caught using low impact fishing methods. As a member you would commit to buying a share of the year’s catch before the season commences at prices that are fair to both members and fishermen.

2011 Prawns • king shrimp • sockeye • pink • For more info contact mrfishing@telus.net or 250-715-6647

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next time you make a dinner.

A Culinary Institute of America trained chef, Bradford Boisvert combines his passion for local food with his passion for French cuisine at his restaurant Amusé Bistro in Shawnigan Lake.

Looking for a special Easter dessert? Check this recipe out!

Chocolate Pecan Banana Cake

Looking for an Easter treat? Here’s one from Marisa Goodwin of Organic Fair’s family kitchen.

Serves 8 Prep Time: 20 mins Bake Time: 45-50 mins or until test stick comes out clean Preheat oven to 350F Grease & Flour large rectangular baking pan

Ingredients

Amount

Cake Batter Unsalted Butter (room temp)

Panela Brown Sugar (from Level Ground) Raw Cane Sugar

Local Free Range Eggs

Vanilla Extract

Mashed Ripe Bananas(approx.4)

Full Fat Plain yogurt

Orange Zest

All Purpose White Flour

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Sea Salt

2/3 cup 3/4 cup 3/4 cup 2 medium 1 Tsp 1 cup 2/3 cup 1 Tsp 2 cups 1 1/2 Tsp 1 1/4 Tsp 1/4 tsp

Middle Layer & Topping Ceylon Cinnamon Panela Brown Sugar Smashed Raw Pecans Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

2 tsp 1/3 cup 1/4 cup 1 1/2 cup

Method 1. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy 2. Beat in eggs one at a time then mix in mashed bananas, vanilla, orange zest and yogurt ; blend till smooth 3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt 4. In a small bowl combine the chocolate chips, Panela brown sugar and cinnamon 5. Blend the dry ingredients in two parts with the banana mixture.

Be careful not to over-mix the batter 6. Pour half the batter into a prepared pan and sprinkle with half the chocolate cinnamon sugar 7. Spread the rest of the batter on top and sprinkle with the remaining chocolate cinnamon mixture and pecans 8. Place on the middle rack of a 350F oven and bake for 45-50 mins or until a test stick comes clean 9. Cool for at least 30 mins before enjoying. This will take serious self control!

WEBSITES, EMAILS AND VERBAL LINT LES AND MORE: I first met Leslie Kleiman when she was staging fashion shows at 2740 Dundas (known affectionately as the Big Purple Building) in Shawnigan Village. A former Chicago attorney and real estate developer Leslie sold Big Purple awhile ago and is now focusing her considerable energies on a career as intuitive life coach and Reiki Master and has designed a website (www.questionsofspirit.com) “devoted to helping people develop their insight, intuition and feelings of worthiness to create the lives they desire to live rather than the lives they have been programmed to live.” The site includes information on classes and workshops and a link to Leslie’s Wednesday 11 am talkshow on newsforthesoul. com HOUSE MUSIC: Speaking of busy people, Marian van der Zon is an instructor at Vancouver Island University (Media Studies & Women’s Studies), author/editor (Islands of Resistance: Pirate Radio in Canada) and musician (banjo player, guitarist, singer and songwriter with Island country/roots band Puzzleroot). She also hosts house concerts at Puzzleroot’s home base in Cowichan Station.

Canadian singer/songwriters Ben Sures, Big Bubba Cook and David P. Smith perform April 21 at 7:30 p.m. For ticket prices and directions log onto www.puzzleroot.com FAB FOUR: Devon Bailey Quartet are back at The Bay Pub in Cowichan Bay. Sax maniac Bailey along with stand-up bass ace John Robertson, guitarist Geoff Johnson and drummer Nick Jarvie play a broad selection of jazz and big band favourites from 6 to 9 p.m. every Thursday.

OOWATANITE! “You Could Have Been a Lady” but you’re a “Roller”. “I’m on Fire For You Baby” but “You Won’t Dance With Me.” Maybe if I buy two tickets to April Wine April 12 at Cowichan Theatre you’ll drop the “Attitude”. “Just Between You and Me” it’s gonna be the classic rock concert of the year. For more info on the band (how can you tell I’m a fan?) check out www.aprilwine.ca.

By Rick Dennis

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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The Joy of Hatching Baby Chicks

W

e have a serious obsession with rare breed heritage chickens here at Organic Fair Farm & Garden.

The only way to sustain this avian love affair is to hatch them ourselves. While our chickens are incredibly healthy being fed an exclusively organic diet and given a free run of the farm, it is dangerous to be a chicken in the Cowichan Valley. Ravens being the main killer of our birds but raccoons, minks, hawks and eagles are all on our farm’s public enemy list.

Raising our own food is integral to our farm’s sustainability, hatching chicks is a part of this process. We raise some dual purpose birds meaning chickens good for egg

laying and good for eating like Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps and Cuckoo Marans. We also raise some birds just for their supermodel good looks like Russian Orloffs, Ameraucanas, Belgian Brown Leghorns and Silkies. We hatch all these chickens’ eggs and have even done some interesting crosses like the Buff Orloff.

When it’s time to start hatching eggs in the spring, we divide the chickens according to breed and collect these eggs daily. They are then placed in toasty warm incubator which is kept at 100F -102F and about 55% humidity. We hand turn our eggs between 2-4 times daily. After

Marisa Goodwin

about 2 weeks, we candle the eggs to see how they’re developing. This is a magical moment! You will never look at an egg the same. An egg almost always takes exactly 21 days to hatch into a chick.

Sometimes Mother Nature is very punctual! The sweetest part of hatching is the peeping noise. It communicates an adorable ‘ Hello! I‘m alive and I can’t wait to meet the world”. Once the chick frees itself from the shell, the haggard little creature dries to it’s cute fluffiness. Our chicks are not only yellow, just like the

.

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multicoloured eggs they hatch from, they represent an avian united nations of colours. We love hatching our chicks and the lessons of life’s full circle are invaluable to our children.

This is my favourite spring event.

Happy spring!

.. .

Marisa co-owns Organic Fair and is immersed in food,farm and family. www.organicfair.com

Edible Landscaping

Dinner Show w/ Cari Burdett & Sara Marreiros Performing

solos and duets APRIL 9th 6pm Tickets $38 250 597 0150 El Centro, Duncan Join local vocalists Cari Burdett & Sara Marreiros as they perform solos and duets, for an intimate concert of ‘eclectic chant’ and spring dinner.

Chef Daniel will be featuring a spring menu with your choice of the Soup of the day or grilled asparagus, organic poached egg with hollandaise to start. Fresh handrolled pasta, wild pacific salmon, lemon & parmesan cream or warm goats cheese salad, fresh anyou pear with candied pecans as your main finishing with cheese cake or milk chocolate terrine served with salted caramel & fresh orange.

The duo will be accompanied

by John Robertson on Bass and another musician - their last 2 shows at the Duncan Garage Showroom sold out so get your tickets early as there are only 26 seats available.

Tickets available at El Centro - reserve your date, tickets and come out for a romantic evening meal.

empowerment and excitement of our clients. When someone decides to create a garden, they are making a choice to nurture life in all its forms; the best surprise is when nature returns the favour with a bounty of healthy, free food!

Ceres Edible Landscaping is an eco-friendly, landscaping, and garden maintenance enterprise in the Cowichan Valley. They offer year-round gardening services, as well as provide learning opportunities and workshops for those who wish to know more about gardening and growing their own food.

From consultation to installation, their work is inspired by the principles of permaculture (to design and create landscapes that equally mimic and complement nature). Whether it is building soil, conserving water, or planting edible landscapes, Ceres is focused on using natural alternatives to create outdoor living environments that are beautiful, productive, and self-sustaining. By supporting Ceres, a Cowichan Green Community social enterprise, you also support an environmental non-profit organization making every effort to create a strong, local food system right here in the Valley. Ceres is run by Jay Greenwood and Kristi Tomlin.

VV: Why is growing food in our own spaces important today?

KT: It is generally estimated that Vancouver Island only produces 10% of the food which its population consumes. This will certainly pose a challenge for future generations of Islanders.

If we can better utilize our existing cleared lands, both rural and urban, by planting more edible species, creating productive gardens and using non-toxic chemicals, we are giving an important gift to future generations. Every single person has the power to make a difference.

VV: Are the services affordable to people who have the desire but perhaps not the time?

KT: Gardening is always affordable, it just depends on

the scale. You could fill an old boot with a fistful of soil and grow some nettle in it (technically gardening), or you could spend a cool spring afternoon planting some fruit and nut trees with your friends and family.

If time is a big concern, then well-planned hardy perennial plantings are your best bet. The right plant in the right place, with some simple irrigation during our often hot and dry summers, should take care of itself quite well.

VV: Are there different packages available?

KT: Because every client and property is unique, we do not offer any specific packages, but I think most families and individuals would benefit greatly from a small herb garden for seasonings and medicines, and a larger kitchen garden for fresh greens, root crops, and other vegetables to enjoy. If space allows, you can plant a food forest to provide fruit, berries, and nuts. There are endless options for what you can do with your space, and Ceres can help tailor a plan that works for you.

Spring on the Farm is a beautiful time!

Valley Voice: Is there one particular aspect of Ceres you enjoy most?

Kristi Tomlin: My favourite part of working with Ceres is getting to participate in the

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Earth Day – A Grassroots Movement Gone Global Earth Day Party Saturday, April 23 10am - 3pm Charles Hoey Park Heart of Duncan 250-748-8506

You could say the Cowichan Green Community (CGC) quietly celebrates Earth Day every day, but when it comes time to throw a proper party, CGC is at the front of the parade, ready to kick up its heels in reverence for Mother Earth.

Earth Day was born back in the spring of 1970, after Senator Gaylord Nelson, who had been working tirelessly to bring to light the fact that there were no regulatory mechanisms in the U.S. to protect the environment, declared a nationwide grassroots demonstration. Over 20 million Americans responded by hosting peaceful gatherings across the country. Thousands of colleges, universities and groups organized protests against environmental damage including oil spills, polluting factories, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, air pollution and loss of wildlife habitat.

As a result of this massive grassroots response, in December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Since then, Earth Day has been adopted globally as the movement that recognizes the need to tread lightly on the planet.

This year, Cowichan Green Community is hosting its annual Earth Day Party, Saturday, April 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Charles Hoey Park in the heart of downtown Duncan. In partnership with the Duncan Business Improvement Association, the Cowichan Valley Bottle Depot (CVBD), Cowichan Intercultural Society, Cowichan Valley Regional District, Jean Crowder, City of Duncan, Duncan Mall and OUR Ecovillage the day will celebrate all things eco-friendly.

Exciting green demonstrations, including how to build your own potato tower planter, bicycle powered displays, and a “can”-struction contest sponsored by the CVBD (to see who can create the best functional object out of mate-

Image Robert Cerins

rial otherwise destined for the landfill or recycling depot) will be on hand. Children of all ages are invited to join an Earth Day Party Easter Egg Hunt throughout downtown Duncan, where participating stores will hide paper-mache eggs in their window displays.

A green mall will include vendors of all kinds, including non-profit environmental groups, artisans who focus on sustainable crafts, and eco-minded businesses with a goal of creating a cleaner, more sustainable planet. Live music at the park will round out the day.

Overlapping with the festivities at Charles Hoey Park, the Duncan Mall is running its second annual “Discover Your Parks - Green Footprint Challenge” where participants are invited to use clue sheets to locate the green shoes hidden in two different Duncan parks. Call 250-748-8506 for more information on the Earth Day Party, the Green Footprint Challenge or the Cowichan Green Community.

Heather Kaye works as Food Security Coordinator for the Cowichan Green Community. She enjoys tending her garden or hiking the trails with her family on Maple Mountain where they are lucky enough to live.

For full design/build service, give us a call

 250.746.5372 • coulsondesign@shaw.ca • www.davidcoulsondesign.com  12





Earth Overhead: Sustainable Design from the Top Down Close up of a mature roof sod.

DCD studio with 900 sq ft sod roof – one of the first in Cowichan

Efficiency is the thing these days, and not only in terms of that dreaded heating bill.

Looking back to fundamental principles of recycle, reuse and attempting to understand the life cycle of materials in our home and work environments is now de rigeur for any builder worth his salt.

Or perhaps we should say, worth his sod.

But are sod roofs, or ‘green’ roofs (as they are called when plants grow from their earthen heights) a new concept? Not really. “Similar materials were used centuries ago in rural Scandinavian architecture,” says local design builder David Coulson. “In that case, with sod laid down over a naturally waterproof birch bark base layer.”

Then, as now, the insulating

properties of the dense sod covering were a great asset. But green roof benefits don’t stop at savings. Green roofs provide a sound barrier, a cooling solution to the Urban Heat Island effect and improved air quality. When used in conjunction with rain chains, they manage storm water runoff in an aesthetically playful way, easing the burden on local drainage systems.

rainfall and gently directing it to wide overhangs filled with drainage rock, through which rainwater percolates to the rain chains and into the planters and gardens below.

Coulson says the modern sod roof underlay (taking over from the birch bark of Viking

times) consists of, “a 2-ply bituminous membrane, a recycled plastic dimpled membrane, and a covering sheet of commercial-grade landscape fabric.” All set to begin planting, which he intends to do this spring.

Energy savings (for heat and A/C) are estimated at 25% and going green is believed to extend the lifespan of your roof by up to 3 times what it would otherwise be. With the added garden real estate the rooftop provides, fresh herbs and other culinary helpers only sweeten the deal.

The sod roof on Cowichan’s David Coulson Design studio does exactly that, absorbing Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

13

Alternative Energy: How Does It Work?

Go Solar with Solar Thermal

For our temperate climate the evacuated tube system can obtain better results for moderate to cooler temperatures or on cloudy days. It offers a unique approach to harvesting the sun’s energy.

A row of glass tubes 6’ long and 3” in diameter contain two vacuums. The glass tubes have an outer vacuum and an inner copper tube with a partial vacuum. The partial vacuum contains a few drops of water. The low pressure created by the vacuum allows the water to boil at 25C. Steam rises and enters a chamber surrounded by heat transfer fluid. Transferring the thermal energy allows the steam to condense and run back down the copper tube to be reheated by the sun.

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ot water heating uses the second largest amount of energy in our homes. The way of the future is “going solar” and a thermal hot water heater can cut energy needs by as much as 80%.

In the 70’s, the most popular system was the glazed flat panel.

Sunshine enters through a sheet of tempered glass. Heat is gathered in copper tubing inside an insulated box. For warmer climates, this is still the best system for harvesting solar energy.

Solar thermal hot water systems collect energy from the sun and convert it into heat using three basic steps: 1. Energy Collection Energy is collected by a glazed flat plate collector or a series of evacuated tubes. Energy is received into a heat transfer fluid using a glycol-based or a drain-back system.

2. Energy Transfer Energy is transferred with water by a double-walled heat exchanger or by a space-heating loop and a single-walled heat exchanger.

3. Energy Storage Energy is stored in a separate solar storage tank which pre-heats the water for your regular hot water heater. If space is an issue, a single tank system can be used.

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Once the heat has passed into the heat transfer fluid in either system, it is stored in a large container that feeds your regular water heater, solar pre-heated water, cutting back your energy needs and enabling your home to do its part in reducing your carbon footprint. Free energy from the sun can be your homes most valuable asset.

Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages and you can learn more about the right system for your home by contacting a qualified solar installer or by attending the free community info session on Switching to Solar at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre (see page 32 Jim is a Shawnigan Lake for more details). I will be there resident whose goal is to to explain the basics about solar contribute to the future and energy and to answer all your health of our environment. www.getsolarsolutions.ca questions.

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Hybrid Transport

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n a gasoline powered car, gasoline is supplied to the engine by the fuel tank. This is then ignited and used to power the transmission which then turns the wheels giving the car motion. An electric engine uses batteries to provide power to the engine. The power is again sent to the transmission which drives the vehicle.

An electric car produces no emissions because there is no combustion involved in the driving of the vehicle. The hybrid car combines electric motors and a gasoline engine to give greater performance and longer traveling distances, it utilizes the electric batteries to greatly reduce emissions and improve fuel consumption. The end result is a vehicle that is better for the environment but still offers a viable means of transport to the owner.

One of the biggest advantages in creating a hybrid car is that the gasoline combustion engine can be considerably smaller than the one in a standard gasoline car. This can mean fewer cylinders, lighter parts, and a more efficient engine load. This means that

the car will use substantially less gasoline while being driven under normal circumstances offering better fuel consumption and less damaging emissions pumped into the atmosphere. The most efficient hybrid cars not only combine two power sources to create the required drive but they utilize the advantages of a smaller engine to even further reduce gas usage. 1 Another cool bit of information supplied to us by Brett Donaldson, manager at Metro Toyota in Duncan is that all Toyota hybrids are made in hybrid plants! The factories where they are made use a combination of coal, solar energy and hydroelectric power at ground level. They utilize the sun and some factories are built next to a river for the hydro side of things, plus every factory has a tree planted by each employee around the factory itself to lower the co2 emmisions that are generated from the factory.

Brett also tells us that besides reducing your carbon footprint in a major way and the fuel savings, hybrid cars cost less to maintain (on average a hybrid needs to replace the brakes about every 100,000 kms) they have a higher resale value compared to similar vehicles, are a unique driving experience and are very quiet to drive.

Interested in reducing your carbon footprint?

G.E.T Solar Solutions can help!

G.E.T. Solar Solutions is an eco-friendly plumbing company specializing in solar hot-water heating systems.

Consider installing :

• a solar thermal system • radiant in-floor heating • an on-demand hot-water heater • a hot-water tank guaranteed for 25 yrs • grey-water collection and redistribution • low-flow showerheads, toilets, and faucets Quality installations guaranteed by * Journeyman Plumber and * Renewable Energy Technician INCREASE THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF YOUR HOME! Act locally – think globally!

G.E.T. Solar Solutions * Jim Musselwhite and * Jason Sam Shawnigan Lake, BC 250-686-0286 www.getsolarsolutions.ca

Giving you back the luxury of time and a naturally clean home to enjoy it in!

Providing professional, eco friendly cleaning services for residential and commercial properties.

250 929 8381 www.cleanchoicecleaners.com Licensed - Insured - Bonded Check out our tips for Spring cleaning on pg 18!

1 Jeff Carey, “ How Hybrid Cars Work” Hybrid Kingdom 2008 - 2011 HybridKingdom.com

new vendors welcome Call Bob 250-749-7233 or 250-510-1113 Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Water: It’s in Everything We Do

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ore water is cycling through the atmosphere and falling on northern latitudes. British Columbia gets more rain and snow than it used to. So we needn’t worry about water in the future.... right?

Wrong.

BC is getting damper overall.

But the south may dry out even as the north gets wetter.

Likewise, most rainfall in the CVRD lands west of Lake Cowichan; most of us live and work in what geographers call a dry ‘rain-shadow’ along the region’s east coast. In short: any extra water isn’t falling where our growing population needs it.

It’s also falling at the ‘wrong’ time. Winter and spring rains are getting more intense,

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and more likely to overflow river banks and storm sewers, creating costly and hazardous floods. Summer droughts are more severe and last longer into the Fall, affecting us all.

Gardens require watering.

Farmers must irrigate their fields to ensure they harvest a crop. Fish and wildlife struggle: in some seasons lately, not enough water flowed in the Cowichan River for salmon to spawn.

Many of us rely on wells drilled into underground aquifers. Yet several of these are vulnerable to contamination.

Others are dropping, indicating we’re drawing out more water than is being replaced.

And while the Cowichan’s water is generally clean, our rising use of lakes and rivers leaves more pollution behind

Koksilah River Image Rory Hill

in the water —everything from gasoline to human waste. When stream flows drop in late summer, sewage and other contaminants concentrate in the trickle that remains.

Not one of us can live long without water. Neither can our economy or the rest of

nature. But just as water is involved in everything we do, so everything we do— from how we log to how we landscape—affects our water.

If we don’t take water into account in all our daily choices, we run the risk of running CVRD Environment dry.

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Local Green Heroes - The Cowichan Recyclist’s : Aaron Bichard & Katie Harris

Cowichan Recyclists mage Andrew Leong

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their zero-emission recycling program called The Cowichan Recyclists.

In 2007, Aaron & Katie started their home-based business after discovering that Duncan’s downtown businesses and apartments had no recycling program. “We’re really passionate about building community and supporting local businesses, so our first step was to find locally made trailers,” states Aaron.

. Campbell wrote that, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself,” but such a quote only scratches the surface of the selfless effort and hard work that Aaron Bichard and Katie Harris have done, and continue to do for recycling in our community. You may not know them by name, but they’re local green heroes because of

“We were lucky to find Tony’s Trailers in Mill Bay.” For the next six months, Aaron and Katie hauled these trailers up and down stairs to their apartment and stored them in their living room. The first week started with 6 clients, the second week their numbers doubled.

Now, alongside another avid recycler, Patrick Devlin, Aaron and Katie are collecting recyclables and compostables from over 100 businesses, apartments and condos throughout Duncan for a nominal fee.

Within a year of starting their business, Aaron and Katie received a Black Tie Award for a home-based business, and were also voted ‘New Business of the Year’ by the Downtown Business Improvement Area Association. From cardboard, paper, plastics, metal, glass, and styro-foam to even compostables, Aaron and Katie recycle over 1000 pounds a day which

adds up to 330 tonnes a year!

Another endeavor these local heroes have initiated is the Cowichan Community Trailers, which is a free service available for people to use trailers with their bikes. With over 50 members, run by volunteers, these trailers are meant to promote cycling throughout the Cowichan Valley.

“When we started, no one thought our idea would work,” says Aaron. “Almost four years later, with our community’s support, we have shown that lowimpact recycling and bike-based businesses do work.”

To learn more about these local heroes, visit their website: www. cowichanrecyclists.com Amanda Reimer is a writer for CGC

How Do You Transition ?

Transition Towns is the grassroots response to three global challenges: climate change, post-peak oil, and economic instability. Originating in the United Kingdom, Transition Towns asks the simple questions, “If your community was to be sustainable, regenerative, and resilient what would that look like? How would it happen? And what are we waiting for?”

Think local, economy, seed banks, barter/exchange systems, community currency, food production and processing, renewable energy production, cultural creation and community building are but a small sampling

Tree Frog

By Tina Brufatto

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he Cowichan Valley is an island within an island.

Self-reliance, community, and food security are deeply woven into the geographic and cultural fabric of the area. The Cowichan Valley was, and continues to be, a Transition Town before the term was created.

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of many positive action-based solutions that Transition Towns promotes. Based in the ethical science design methodology of Permaculture, Transition Towns takes a whole-system approach to community sustainability and regeneration. Everything is considered and integrated, just as in the Earth’s complex biology and diverse ecological systems.

Involved community members remark that Transition Cowichan is the most fun they’ve had working towards solutions. The work is positive, local, and action based, and produces tangible results. The 120 fruit and nut trees planted throughout our

valley on 10/10/10 is an example.

With energy descent already happening, climate changing before our eyes, and our life-support system showing signs of failure, Transition Towns and Permaculture provides the understanding, tools, and actions for a happy, healthy, and wealthy Cowichan Valley. The only question now is How do you transition? Start by joining Transition Cowichan at www. transitioncowichan.org. We welcome enquiries.

Javan Kerby Bernakevitch is the owner/ operator of Permaculture BC, a locally based permacutlure education and design company. www.permacutlurebc.com

Duncan Dynamics Gymnastics Club We host Children’s Indoor Birthday Parties!

Contact us for more information or to book a birthday party today!

Island Savings Centre, Duncan – 250-746-0193 – www.ddgc.ca Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

17

Green Living: Spring Clean Checklist

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pring is a beautiful time of year when everything is fresh and new outside. It provides an excellent opportunity to renew things indoors as well! I am often asked what tasks should be conquered in a deep, annual clean so here are some suggestions.

Equipment needed: vacuum, microfiber cloths and mop, squeegee, concentrated citrus cleaner, bucket for water and a step ladder.

1. Clean windows, inside and out. Be sure to remove screens and gently spray clean with a garden hose. Take this time to also clean out the window tracks, vacuum first then spray with citrus cleaner and wipe clean. If you have any mould or mildew built up during damp winter months, use a diluted tea tree spray (1tbs/500ml water) to kill the spores.

2. Dust everything in all rooms. Vacuum first then wipe clean with a damp cloth.

This includes hard to reach places, books and other items on shelves, ceiling fans, light fixtures and lamp shades, tops of cabinetry, window and door casings and remove cobwebs as you go.

under them. Small rugs can be shaken/beaten outside and vacuumed, larger ones need to be steam cleaned along with the wall to wall carpets.

3. Pull all furniture and appliances away from the walls and thoroughly clean under and behind them. Clean the floor and baseboards back there as well as the backs of the furniture pieces, which may not look dirty but will have been collecting and holding dust, pet dander, pollens etc. Gently beat cushions and throw pillows outside as well.

5. Fabric draperies hold dust and odours, some can be vacuumed with the upholstery attachment on your vacuum, or taken down and washed in your washer, while others need to be professionally cleaned. Check labels if you’re washing them yourself and make sure they are preshrunk before tossing them in your dryer. Blinds can be dusted or damp wiped, slat by slat on both sides. If they are metal or plastic and are very dirty the citrus cleaner will help remove the “greasy” dust that tends to accumulate.

4. Roll up area rugs to clean

6. Flip and rotate your

mattresses, launder pillows, duvets and blankets then swap them out for summer weight bedding.

Have a plan for your deep cleaning projects and work in logical sequence so as not to undo all your hard work.

Complete all your dusting before having carpets cleaned for example and clean blinds before doing your windows.

Whether you take on the job yourself or hire help, completing a deep Spring clean will be rewarded with a fresh, healthy home.

Tracey Paleczka, local mompreneur and owner/operator Clean Choice EcoFriendly Cleaning Services

cleanchoicecleaners.com

Local Green Burial Options

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t is fairly common knowledge that conventional burials are far from environmentally friendly. But, what most people don’t know is that buried within a typical cemetery are 4,500 liters of formaldehyde-based embalming fluid, 97 tonnes of steel, 2,000 tonnes of concrete and 56,000 board feet of tropical hardwood. In addition, cemeteries generally require large amounts of water, pesticides and herbicides.

One response to this unnecessary stress on the land has been a movement toward

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green burials as an alternative to conventional methods.

Green burials allow for the natural decomposition of one’s remains by solely burying one’s body or cremated remains in the ground.

Having a green burial entails foregoing toxic embalming fluids, metal caskets and concrete vaults, keeping the burial site in as natural a state as possible. Green burials are increasing in popularity as people become more environmentally conscious, and see the importance of protecting the environment for future

generations. (There are about 600 green burial grounds in the UK!) O.U.R. Ecovillage, located in Shawnigan Lake is a park, education centre, site for residential stewardship and a production farm which is welcoming the green burial movement into Canada. By offering their woodlands as a “scattering ground” for people who choose to forgo the use of concrete vaults, metal caskets, and chemicals, this facility provides an opportunity for people to align their end of life process with their environmentally conscious values.

The “Commemorative Conservation Grounds” at O.U.R. Ecovillage is part of a conservation partnership with

The Land Conservancy of BC and provides an option of personal legacy planning.

By choosing a green burial you are not only greening your departure from this world, but also contributing towards the protection of 25 acres of land and educational activities at O.U.R. Ecovillage.

“I would certainly do the natural burial.”

–Margaret Atwood, on CBC: The Bottom Line For more info visit www.ourecovillage.org.

Erika Schade, O.U.R. Ecovillage www.ourecovillage.org

For Home & Family Custom Chair Cover Nikki Designs N

Find out more about NikkiDesigns line of handcrafted soft furnishings on-line at www.nikkidesigns.ca. Readymade and custom options can be shipped all over the world.

These organic and eco-friendly alternatives are healthy to have in the home, made in Canada, and are made to last.

Norwex Microfibre

Local Designer Creates Eco-Friendly Furnishings

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ring earth friendly comfort and beauty to your home with custom crafted home décor made of organic fabrics.

NikkiDesigns features slipcovers, draperies, cushions and bedding that are made with natural and eco-friendly fabrics.

Owner and interior designer Nikki MaCallum has always loved working with natural fibres. When she learned of the harmful effects that conventional cotton can have, she decided to specialize in organic fabrics such as hemp, cotton, linen, silk and tencel. Hemp can be grown without any pesticides or extra water, it is the strongest fiber known to man, and it is naturally mold and mildew resistant.

Natural Cleaning

Local resident Tracy Scheck sells an enviro cloth designed to improve the quality of life by radically reducing the use of chemicals in home cleaning.

When using Norwex Antibacterial microfibre and just water, 99.9% of the bacteria will be removed from the surface being cleaned due to the silver embedded in the fabric. Microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, yeast and viruses can not survive or adapt when exposed to silver eliminating cross contamination plus the rapidly drying clothes prevent bacteria growth in the cloth itself. It is a superior microfiber cloth for picking up and trapping more dirt and bacteria from any surface. For more info contact Tracy at 250-597-1540.

Thinking of Going Green?

Hello Adrienne, I would love for you to give me a quick lowdown on non stick varieties of cookware. Are they all unsafe, and if so what are my alternatives?

Melville North Cowichan

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oatings used in the cookware industry are made from either a silicone base or a fluorocarbon (P.T.F.E.) base.

PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) can be recognized by its matte finish. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), non-stick pots and pans can reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit (370 C) in 3-5 minutes, releasing 15 harmful gases and chemicals (including two carcinogens, two global pollutants, and MFA, a chemical lethal to humans at low doses). Non-stick coatings break down to a chemical warfare agent known as PFIB, and a chemical analog of the WWII nerve gas, phosgene. The shiny finish is silicone. Silicone is fine for bakeware but reacts badly with animal fats. Avian Veterinarians have known the dangers of non-stick cookware for decades. In a single year a Chicago veterinarian documented 296 bird deaths involving toxic fumes from non-stick cookware. A “Teflon toxicosis” causes the birds lungs to haemorrhage and fill with fluid, leading to suffocation. The canary in the coal mine comes to mind! DuPont acknowledges that the fumes given off by non-stick can cause a sickness in humans called “polymer fume fever” which presents symptoms the same as a common flu.

The secret to having a non-stick pan without the Teflon is temperature. The pan needs to be hot so food instantly sears, if you put the food in too early, moisture will make your food stick. What can you use instead? Use ceramic coated (un-chipped), enamelled, bamboo, glass, silicone (for baking), cast iron, stainless steel (if not pitted or scratched) and carbon steel (for woks). When you sear food, wait until the underside is quite browned and slightly crispy before you flip and you should have a non-stick effect! Recycle your Teflon- they get classed as ‘dirty aluminum’. With so many Adrienne Richards is a mother, alternatives, using nonowner of Going Green - Green stick has really become a living consultanting in the non-issue!

Cowichan Valley. You can Contact me with any green questions you may have!

e-mail her at gogreen1@telus.net

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Soul Escape Spa 4 - 5777 Trans Can Hwy Duncan 250 748 2056 www.soulescape.ca

Escape to A Cowichan Valley Green Spa

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ust a few steps from the hustle of the Trans Canada Highway is a haven free of parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate and harsh chemical fragrances.

Branded as “Cowichan Valley’s first and only green spa”, it is run by a delightfully charming owner Eva Walker, and provides an exceptional spa experience for those looking for natural and organic skin or body treatments.

Last Mothers Day, I received a gift certificate for Soul Escape Spa. I had heard that facials were their specialty and having never had one before, I was keen for the experience.

Soul Escape uses Éminence, a handmade luxury skincare line from Hungary composed of natural fruit pulps, seeds and

herbs. Eva loves the products and so do her clients, they are gentle on the skin and body and have won multiple awards for their sustainably farmed ingredients and dedication to using wind, solar and geo thermal energy in the making of their products.

To begin, Eva gently prepped my face with a Coconut Cleansing Milk followed by a refreshing lime tonic. She massaged and exfoliated with an Almond Mineral Treatment and then explained that a hint of paprika in the recipe would begin to warm up. She left me for a few minutes to relax and upon returning began delicately massaged my arms and hands, finger by finger. After the cleanse she performed a skin analysis, Eva tells us “Assessing the condition of your skin is a very important step in a professional skin care consultation.

I determine what products are best suited to your skin type, then figure out a customized daily skin care routine perfect for you. Many times your skin care routine is fine, but eating habits or other things need to change.” After my skin analysis we identified that an area where I am prone to breakouts relates to my digestion.

In a few problem areas she dotted me with Strawberry Rhubarb Serum and then applied a rich combination of both Coconut and Chocolate masques

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in different areas specific to my skin’s needs. Hot towels are used throughout the facial soothing the shoulders, décolleté and wrapped around the head and face.

The facial gracefully ended with a Tomato Sun Cream moisturizer, Herbal Eye Cream and Citrus Lip Balm. My face was the softest and brightest it had ever been and I was truly amazed. Just a few weeks ago I had wondered if the condition of my skin was due to my age, work or neglect. Now I know - it’s because we all need an “Eva“ to care! As I leave to the soundscape of falling water and Eva’s friendly smiling face... I was so relaxed I truly felt like I had escaped. A Mother`s Day or any day gift I`d recommend.

Sheila Badman is raising twin boys in Maple Bay with her husband Richard.

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Upcycling in The Valley

OU

ESCAPE

ESTHETICS Est. Since 2006

The first and only green spa in the Cowichan Valley.

Mixed Mimi Metal

Offering Certified Organic skincare Eminence from Hungary. We specialize in skin care, foot care and offer a full range of spa treatments.

Local Eco Designers

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ashion designer Gayle McIvor is inspired to live in a world where we can create sustainable community.

“By up-cycling high-quality discarded textiles we are preventing them from entering the ever overfilling landfill sites”, she explains. Through forged partnerships with local organizations, Gayle sources raw materials from ‘free store’ donations. She also hunts local thrift stores, garage and rummage sales for items of interest, carefully choosing quality natural fibres such as cottons, wools, silk and hemp in need of fresh design and rejuvenation. She washes all items, checks for flaws, weak spots and stains and sorts fabrics by colour, weight, and fibre content. “I enjoy harmonious colour and have a playful spirit. I am continually creating original patterns for one of a kind creations.” This is obvious in her use of handcrafted wooden buttons for added embellishment and hand dyed wool for tassels and embroidered accents. Gayle believes that “by recycling our fabrics into new garments we are further supporting each other as an Island community and reducing our

#4 -5777 Trans Canada Hwy, Duncan BC 250.748.2056 www.soulescape.ca

Earth Elf Designs

dependence on items mass produced and shipped from foreign countries”.

After completing a Permaculture Design program, Gayle created Earth Elf Designs and hopes to encourage conservational and environmental awareness through her pieces and her process.

guitar strings, jewelry pieces and beads, but always uses sterling silver for ear wires.

“I love the intricate designs and textures that are found in these mixed metals, also it is a great way to reuse items that are already floating around the planet.” Mimi Roy.

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ixed Metal Mimi is a local jewelry designer and silversmith offering well priced, beautiful pieces by giving new life to discarded silver and copper treasures.

Through reforming and redesigning vintage metals found in thrift stores, recycling depots and treasures given to her by friends and family. She creatively upcycles chains,

Colourful Grass

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local family company out of Ladysmith is creating ethical and sustainable shoes that are stylish and trendy.

Colourful Grass shoes are made from organic and eco

friendly materials including recycled rubber, organic hemp and cotton as well as coconut shell buttons. They believe that planting the right seeds in our own generation is the best thing we can do to ensure a sustainable future.

The Colourful Grass mandate is to reduce our environmental footprint, reuse resources that were deemed trash or recyclable and reincarnate those salvaged resources into the hottest pair of shoes on the market.

For more info on these great local designers visit www.earthelf.ca

www.ourtreehousedesigns.blogspot.com

and www.colourfulgrass.com

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Sustainable Fashion In Cowichan Bay

Morena Clothing

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Growing Your Organic Closet

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hile visions of bold jewel tones, bell bottoms & clogs (yes clogs!) may be what’s hot for this Spring 2011, there is another major factor to consider before spending your hard earned dollars on the latest fashion trend.

Try to think of your closet like a garden by imagining the life cycle that your beloved t-shirt endures. For example; a garment made from hemp starts it’s life as a seed, grows into a beautiful plant that provides food, oil & oxygen and then it’s stalks are transformed into your t-shirt. Finally, when the tee is old & worn it can be placed back into the ground to nurture the soil and give life back to our planet.

There are simple ways to apply this “garden” method of thinking to your next shopping experience. Firstly, recycled items are your best choice as they don’t use any new resources. Vintage, Second-

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hand or “Upcycled” clothing is in abundance these days and provides fun pattern, color and variety. (It’s like eating your leftovers and not having to pick from the garden at all!).

Your second choice should be garments made of Hemp fiber.

The hemp plant needs little water, uses no pesticides and is easily renewable. It’s an amazing plant which warrants more credit then this tiny article can provide. Just google “hemp” and you’ll see for yourself!

Lastly, opt for other sustainable fibers such as, bamboo, wool, soy, linen, organic cotton, jute, banana, pineapple... and the list goes on. Options for sustainable fibers are growing everyday, which means your closet garden can easily blossom into a beautiful selection that is both vibrant and kind to our earth.

Sustainable Fashion Available Here!

Angela Erskine, Owner of Radway Eco Boutique in Cowichan Bay Upcycled • Handmade • Organic • Fair-Trade www.radway.ca

rom the red high heels growing sedums to the bathtub converted to a change room, this cute little shop in Cowichan Bay tucked beneath Bo’s Boat Store, has taken holistic alternatives to clothing, jewelery, and other handmade treasures. Recycling forgotten tid bits, do dad’s and everyday thing-amabob’s into functional everyday uses.

Spinning Ninny has a unique collection of reclaimed materials transformed into wearable, usable pieces of art. Morena Clothing designs upcycled sweaters made with a playful

mixture of vintage pieces and fuzzy fabrics. Annie Fulton’s beautiful hats, scarves, bags and whimsical figures, hand felted with natural fibres. Jill Rockwell’s stunning jewellery made with a collaboration of both precious metals and antique findings, together becoming modern beloved relics. Even the eye catching sign above the boutique’s door is a 8 foot long Mosaic composed of recycled mirror and tile. The girls at Spinning Ninny encourages one to “use what you have, be creative, shake your sillies out, and make beautiful things.”

A Dog Named Tea and a Tea Named Dog

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eet Tea (pronounced TEEYA) the newest member of the Teafarm family/pack. She joins fellow dachshunds Sigi and Gus as the welcoming crew of the tea garden. I was planning to write about ‘quiet’ this month.

Quiet being the place and space between what is happening to us and around us. This time of the season feels wedged between the vibrant growth of spring and the gentle and not so gentle decay of winter. Then Tea came along.

Hello unfettered boundless energy of pure joy and excitement. The farm is experiencing ‘spring’ (or maybe its metaphor) a bit early this year.

We love sharing the way of tea at the farm. You can always count on fresh tea being sampled at the tasting bar.

Interestingly enough Dog tea has been one of our most popular Chinese Zodiac teas. Dog is a wonderfully smooth malty Assamese tea that we blend with organic Bourbon vanilla bean and freshly cracked cardamom pods. We have created a generously spiced, distinctly aromatic tea that will start your day off on the right paw. This is one of our most reliable and

The Bells of Easter Glenora Farm Handbells

Ensemble - Benefit Concert April 17th 3pm Duncan United Church 246 Ingram Street, Duncan $12 Adults / $20 Families Tickets available at all the bookstores in Duncan The Bells of Easter are ringing and the award winning Glenora Farm Handbells Ensemble is proud to present a ConcertBenefit that will be held on Sunday April 17th at the Duncan United Church on Ingram St.

You will have also the chance to see and hear other performers such as the Cowichan Valley Youth Choir, the Jubilate Choir and Bopoma Marimbas. Come and join us at this well-worth-it and unique experience. Contact Annette 250 701 0687 or Pierre 250 715 1559 for more info.

Hope to see you all there!

trustworthy blends and we are fortunate to partner with a biodynamic tea estate in India that produces the excellent quality black tea in Dog. Teafarm will be at the Saturday Duncan Farmer’s Market on Ingram Street beginning April 2nd sampling tea and contributing to the flavour of the Cowichan Valley. You are also invited to the farm to introduce yourself to a little Tea and get to know the other Dog! Victor Vesely is a tea farmer and purveyor of fine and fun organic teas. www.teafarm.ca

Call or ema 737-1331 or org

Listen Globally, Play Locally.

•Classes • Performances

African-rooted community music... for everyone!

250-737-1331 www.bopoma.org Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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craft

With spring finally upon us, it’s time to get out of the house and do something fun! Go see the first wild flowers emerge along the Cowichan River, go to the farmers’ market, and—most importantly— go experience some fine art and craft.

Venturi-Schulze Vineyards 4235 Vineyard Rd. Cobble Hill 250. 743. 5630 venturischulze.com

John Robertson Potter 3375 Boyle Rd., Cobble Hill 250. 743. 2001 harriethiemstra.com

Cowichan Valley Artisans is launching an exciting new season with an ‘All Studios Open’ studio tour. Join us Easter weekend, April 22-25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and experience some of the best fine craft offerings in the Cowichan Valley. With our new line up this year, we just may be the most eclectic studio tour anywhere!

Venturi-Schulze Vineyard in the Cowichan Valley is home to artisans Giordano & Marilyn Venturi and daughter Michelle Schulze, who have been crafting renowned fine estate grown wines, ancient method balsamic vinegar and other culinary delights in a pure and natural way since 1987.

John Robertson has been making pottery since 1972. For the last 22 years he and his artist wife Harriet Heimstra have been living near Cobble Hill producing a large range of table ware and one of a kind art pieces.

Sometimes John can be seen around the Valley with his double bass.

We are very pleased to have Mary Fox, Doc the Barber, and Venturi-Schulze Vineyards joining us this year. These individuals represent the best in their respective fields—and they offer a great experience for visitors. Of course, we encourage you to visit our other returning artisans as you rarely see (or taste!) the same thing twice.

We are launching our tour with a group show and sale at Portals, the new gallery of the Cowichan Valley Arts Council. The show runs April 14-21 at 2687 James Street in the Island Savings Centre.

Members are in attendance from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Many artisans are also participating in this year’s exciting Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show April 6-10 at the Quw’utsun’ Cultural Centre. See the CVAC website (www.cowichanvalleyartscouncil.ca) for details.

Brochures available at Excellent Frameworks and Experience Cycling in Duncan Sandra designs and builds one of a kind furniture with her partner Joe. gelinascarr.com

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Meet The Cowichan Valley Artisans CVAC Portals Gallery 2687 James St Duncan Group Show April 14 - 21 Easter Weekend ALL ARTISTS Studio Tour April 22 to 25 10am to 5pm

Harriet Hiemstra Potter 3375 Boyle Rd., Cobble Hill 250. 743. 2001 harriethiemstra.com Harriet Hiemstra is one half of Cobble Hill Pottery, handbuilding earthenware vessels decorated with colorful images of women and flowers; but is currently immersed in mixed media wall pieces that are complex and fabulous.... .

The studio is open and filled with examples of both mediums, even some still in progress.

O w t f f c S c a C o v b o t f

Mary Fox Ceramic Artist 321 3rd Avenue Ladysmith 250. 245. 3778 maryfoxpottery.ca Original artwork that will stand the test of time. Mary Fox is known for creating beautiful, original works of compelling simplicity.

She creates works for contemplation as well as functional table ware.

Currently she is working on 2 shows so when you visit her pottery you will be able to see a preview of the vessels and sculptures that she’s creating for these exhibitions.

Jennifer Lawson Watercolours 1516 Khenipsen Rd. Cowichan Bay 250. 748. 2142 jenniferlawsonart.com This award winning artist renowned for her colourful watercolours, enjoys a successful 40 year career in art.Yorkshire born, Jennifer has a BA and a Design Arts degree.

Sip coffee at the warm welcoming Log House Gallery. Picnic overlooking Cowichan Bay at this historic and flowery location Commissions accepted. year round by appointment.

Doc the Barber Traditional Barber #3 9739 Willow St. Chemainus 250. 324. 0362 docthebarber.com Tonsorial Artist Doc the Barber offers an authentic barbershop experience. Specializing in men’s hair cutting and traditional straight razor shaving.

A great place to stop for a pampering or just to explore Doc’s collection of antique barbering supplies and equipment.

Ken Broadland Woodturner 5846 Curry Road Duncan 250. 746. 5480 heartwoodstudio.ca Long-time woodturner Ken Broadland salvages beautiful Maple and Arbutus from around the Cowichan Valley and turns it into decorative and functional items.

Specializing in salad bowls and servers, his delightful studio also offers cutting boards, kitchen utensils, small bowls, lidded containers, trays, utensil holders, artistic pieces and other useful items.

Jo Ludwig Craft Glass Vessels 1588 Adelaide Steet Crofton 250. 246. 3991 kilnartglass.com

Peggy Brackett Glass Jewellery 1588 Adelaide Street Crofton 250. 246. 3991 kilnartglass.com

Brock Windsor Fine Organic Cuisine

Jo Ludwig makes fantastic things: the palmsized glass vessels he makes are mesmerizing, hypnotizing, magical ... fantastic.

Peggy Brackett’s dichroic glass and Sterling bracelets, earrings or pendants showcase her keen eye for colour and pattern.

Consumate craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail ensure a crisp, clean finish and unfailing durability. The latest, jewel-toned hair clips make lovely jewels for the hair.

Stone Soup Inn is a Restaurant and B&B .Our small working farm has pigs, sheep and various poultry, vegetables, herbs and flowers, supplying some of the menu.The food is very local, featuring local mushrooms, seasonal and wild foods. Rated 5th place in “Canada’s Best New Restaurants” by enRoute magazine.

Michael Moore Fine Woodwork 3400 Glenora Road Duncan 250. 701. 0665 michaelmoorefine woodwork.ca

Cathi Jefferson Salt Fired Stoneware 5656 West Riverbottom Road Duncan 250. 737. 1463 cathijefferson.com

And the UFOs and Treasure Boxes he makes exhibit fantasy in spades!

Not to be missed!

Joe Gelinas and Sandra Carr Furniture Makers 6259 Mina Drive Duncan 250.748. 9737 gelinascarr.com Joseph and Sandra design and build contemporary studio furniture from their workshop in the Cowichan Valley. Many of the local materials available in the region figure predominately.

They also incorporate other materials in interesting ways; metals, glass, local stone and paper have all found their way into projects.

Michael Moore is an accomplished craftsman with a great knowledge of wood. He often uses local woods to create one of a kind furniture pieces for his clients.

Michael’s design sense is classic contemporary and he incorporates curves, hand cut veneers and fine details into his work.

6755 Cowichan Lake Rd

Cowichan Valley 250. 749. 3848 stonesoupinn.ca

Cathi produces sculptural and functional salt-fired stoneware. Her passion for Nature is expressed in the colour tones and designs she creates with her light and durable pottery, suitable for everyday use. She believes that using handmade objects elevates the ordinary in to something special.

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Gelinas Carr Furniture Joe Gelinas & Sandra Carr 6259 Mina Drive Duncan 250 748 9737 gelinascarr.com Can furniture be Art?

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t’s easy to look at a painted canvas or sculpted stone and know it is Art. Most people don’t look at the more utilitarian objects around them with the same appreciation, and—if we’re being honest—many objects today don’t deserve it. Joe and I believe that surrounding ourselves with things of integrity, beauty, and meaning can enhance our lives. We think of what we do more as fine craft than fine art, but we continually strive to make pieces that go beyond functionality and provide something greater.

A piece is successful when it provides that something.

Joe and I both learned woodworking, although several years apart, through the Fine Furniture Program at Camosun College. We met a few years later while working at our separate custom furniture businesses. It wasn’t long before we joined forces and began working collab-

Talking Arts • Joe Gelinas & Sandra Carr oratively. That was ten years ago. Now we are fortunate to live and work together on our five-acre parcel in this beautiful valley.

Over the years, we gradually moved away from working with imported materials. We made a conscious decision to use the more familiar woods indigenous to British Columbia; woods available locally like maple, arbutus, fir, and garry oak. We are always on the lookout for windfall and salvage trees, or trees cut down to make room for urban development. Last fall, we worked with a local community group to recover an enormous garry oak that had blown over in a hayfield. Although it will be a few years yet before any of the wood is dry enough or ready to use, it feels good to know that we will eventually create many

lasting pieces out of this fabulous material. To think it could have been firewood.

Although the majority of our work is commissioned by private individuals, we often take on commercial projects, especially those that let us create outside the (wooden) box. Recently we completed a bar for the Stone Soup Inn, and I can still see Joe, hour after hour, drilling holes through boulder after boulder. Furniture making is not always glamorous!

Joe and I love to share what we do, which is why we occasionally exhibit our own designs. Currently, we are building a gallery addition onto our workshop, and hope to have it completed this summer. Until then, you can see more of our furniture on our website, and check out our

blog for a behind-the-scenes look at some of our other projects. We’ll be open April 22-25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the Cowichan Valley Artisans studio tour if you’d like to drop by the workshop.

The greatest reward of working with wood—from live tree, to milled and dried lumber, through the design process and construction— is to craft that ‘something’, knowing it will likely be around for a very long time.

Gelinas Carr Furniture will be showing work with the Cowichan Valley Artisans at Portals, in the CVAC Gallery Space, Island Savings Centre, 2687 James Street April 14 21 or visit then at their studio during the CVA Easter Studio Tour April 22 - 25.

Specializing in one-of-a-kind pottery, unique tiles, and contemporary clay sculpture, Daniela can be found creating and selling her wares in Tofino. Available for teaching workshop retreats and private classes. Drop-in for a visit to her studio nestled in the lush coastal rainforest.

functional & sculptural ceramics • Tofino

for studio appointments • www.danielapetosa.com • ceramics@danielapetosa.com • 250 266 0056 26

Artist: Linda Skalenda thank several esteemed artists for sharing their knowledge through workshops. In each painting you learn something new for the next.”

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orn and raised in Victoria, Linda Skalenda started her art education early with youth lessons at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. These classes proved to be a great inspiration to Skalenda, who has since continued to express her creativity across a variety of mediums. Her interests in design—particularly the use of colour—led her to a career in interior decorating. Working closely with clients, Skalenda created perfectly tailored living environments through colour.

It was during this period that she began a more personal exploration of emotions and mood through painting.

While mainly self-taught, exploring watercolours, pastels, acrylic and oils independently, she has also gained knowledge from workshops with mentors.

In her own words, “I want to

Skalenda has juried fine art exhibitions and ran her own studio/gallery for two years in Nanaimo and three years in Qualicum Beach. She now works from her home studio near the beach. She gathers inspiration for her colourful canvases from scenes witnessed while hiking, kayaking and traveling that she documents with sketches or photographs. These scenes of whimsical animals, sensitive land-and sea-scapes engage viewers with their vibrancy and passion.

Skalenda has garnered Awards of Excellence, Honorable Mentions and People’s Choice Awards in many Federation of Canadian Artists and juried fine art shows. Her works are in collections across Canada, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Linda Skalenda www.lindaskalenda.com Showing at Imagine That!

251 Craig Street, Duncan April 4 - 30

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New Classes for Spring 2011!

Tea & Cookies

at Sunrise Waldorf School for Preschoolers April 7 12:30pm - 1pm 4344 Peters Rd (off Lakeside) Cowichan Station RSVP 250-743-7253

Celebrating Childhood, Creating Play from Within

Monthly Guide to Living In The Valley

www.cowichandale.com

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Joy, imagination and spontaneous wonder are essential ingredients to developing a wellspring for creative original thought and later intellectual accomplishment. Creating play from within is the hallmark of early childhood education in the Waldorf tradition. In a world where children can grow up all too quickly, a Waldorf Preschool/Kindergarten strives to renew this art of play. In a beautiful and nurturing classroom environment a child’s imagination is awakened by simple playthings made of natural materials. The warm and nurturing atmosphere and daily rhythm of active play, puppetry, storytelling and gentle circle time inspire a sense of wonder.

On April 7th all parents & their young children are invited to join the preschool teachers at Sunrise Waldorf School for tea & cookies and an afternoon of play. Learn more or RSVP at www.sunrisewaldorfschol.org or call 250-743-7253.

Hike For Hospice

Providence Farm, Duncan May 1st 10 am Fee $22 To register call Hospice at 250-701-4242 or e-mail cvhospice@shaw.ca I’m was one of two students chosen to come to hospice for a two-week practicum to learn about community services relating to health care. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at the warmth and comfort I encountered through all of the people I met during my time with hospice. We sat in on some of the workshops for the volunteertraining program and I was quite moved by what I learned. One of the speakers was a woman who had been involved with pastoral care at the Duncan Hospital for 20 years, and she spoke of people’s need to express their feelings about dying as part of the healing process. Something she said really resonated with me. She said, “Even though a person’s dying, they can still be healed.” That’s something that I think will really stick with me as I approach my new career as a nurse; sometimes a person can’t be physically healed, but they can still be healed emotionally as they find that place of acceptance and peace with death.

I hope to bring that knowledge with me throughout both my career and my life.

Submitted by Heather Young

the Elders and the community for their ongoing support of this gathering. Our festival theme for this year is Sacred Spaces.

Ciara Halvorson, Age 9 When I think of Earth Day I think of a desert but I thought I should paint something with lots of plants in it instead.

Two Indians Talking, directed by Sara McIntyre and Darlene Choo

Dark Side of The Moon performed by Classic Albums Live April 13th

7:30pm

Tickets $35 / $32 / eyeGo: $5

250 748-7529

Cowichan Theatre, Duncan cowichantheatre.bc.ca

Cowichan Theatre presents Classic Albums Live performing note for note, cut for cut Pink Floyd’s album “Dark Side of The Moon�. Classic Albums Live is a group of diverse, multi-talented musicians who are not a tribute band nor do they do impersonations. They play Pink Floyd’s famous and most commercially successful album intact, faithfully rehearsed and professionally performed, with the result that audiences everywhere revel in the authenticity of the music.

Take a step back in time, close your eyes and you’ll swear you are hearing the real thing.

7th Cowichan Aboriginal Festival of Film & Art April 13 - 17 •April 13 Gala Event

Qwu’utsun Cultural Centre Films will be shown at Cowichan Theatre, Duncan Tickets 250-748-7529

Featuring a mix of film, discussion, stories and song, new to this year are special afternoon film screenings and discussions scheduled for Friday, Saturday & Sunday, April 15-17. (see www. aff.cowichan.net for schedule) Ticket prices are kept as low as possible, to provide everyone with the opportunity to attend.

Revenue and donations go towards the youth film programs we run throughout the year and scholarships to assist emerging Aboriginal film makers. Each year special events are included for an opportunity to meet and connect with the artists, film makers and performers.

Wednesday April 13 Coast Salish Dinner & Gala Doors 5:30 / Dinner 6:30 pm Quw’utsun’ Cultural Centre Event will feature a full bbq salmon feast in the company of His Honour Steven Point, Lieutenant Governor of BC and Her Honour Mrs Gwendolyn Point, respected patrons of the

Cowichan Aboriginal Festival of Film & Art. The guest speaker will be internationally acclaimed actress, Tantoo Cardinal. Featured film is The Road Forward, directed by Marie Clements.

Thursday April 14 Gallery of Artists Opening followed by Opening Ceremonies Opening begins at 5pm at the Cowichan Theatre View the works of up of 20 internationally recognized and emerging contemporary and traditional artists. Special to the opening will be the unveiling of the carvings of Tth’uw’xe’luts’ & Kwukmitsiin, a community arts project that was created during the Living Legends Festival. Immediately following the Gallery Opening will be a traditional welcome from the Cowichan people.The evening’s presentations will include the Eagle Mask dance led by Dididaht Elder, Helokwi, bringing traditional masks to life through dance. Featured film is a beautiful documentary short from Bella Coola called “Cry Rock�, directed by Banchi Hanuse.

www.aff.cowichan.net

The 7th Cowichan Aboriginal Film Festival presents thought provoking films, discussions, and a unique insight into Indigenous Knowledge.

Indigenous voices throughout the world are increasingly being acknowledged for the wisdom they carry and within that the recognition of the need for social change. The event takes place in Duncan on the traditional lands of the Cowichan people. This festival is deeply rooted within the Coast Salish traditions of the people of this land and carries with it a sharing of culture, and teachings through spoken word, art, song, & dance.We thank

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Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy

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Tibetan Acupressure System Workshop

April 15, 16, 17 Salt Spring Island To register call Jenn at 250. 743.8943 or e-mail jenn@twobees.ca The Tibetan Acupressure System (TAS) is an ancient system of reflexive pressure point healing, harkening back to the times of the Tibetan nomad. TAS accesses the body’s natural corrective energies in order to bring balance to the body as a whole. This system can be used to treat specific conditions or for the overall well being of the body and the mind. Health conditions that can be successfully treated with TAS include chronic pain, insomnia, depression and anxiety, mental and emotional distress shoulder and back tension, PMS and menopausal symptoms, digestive disorders including reflux, heartburn, constipation and IBS, allergies, back pain including sciatica, headaches/ migraines and cancer to support immune response and reduce localized pain.

An entire TAS classical treatment takes 45 minutes to 1 hour. Nurses, palliative care workers, caregivers and people wanting an introduction to body/mind healing will also find the system easy to learn and useful for reducing stress, pain and illness.

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Happy 30th Birthday Sunrise Waldorf School!

April 29th 4344 Peters Road Cowichan Station RSVP 250-743-7253

Celebrating 30 years of Education in the Cowichan Valley.

Sunrise Waldorf School (SWS) was founded by a group of parents in 1980. The school, which started with 10 students in a rural cabin on Sunrise Road, is celebrating a milestone of success this April 29th in marking its 30th birthday. SWS is now located on 7 beautiful rural acres in Cowichan Station and has aprox 175 students. With a Parent & Child program, Preschool, two Kindergartens and Grades 1-8, the school continues to grow and plan for a bright future.

Encouraging choice in education for discerning parents, the school attracts families from all over the globe, who have moved to the Cowichan Valley especially to enroll their children at this rural Waldorf School. SWS feels a deep gratitude at being a part of this warm and wonderful community and looks forward to the next 30 years of lovingly educating children and now also children of our alumni here on their beautiful Cowichan Station campus. After the birthday festivities planned for April 29th, SWS will continue in the spirit of celebration by inviting the wider community to join us on Saturday, May 9th, at our 30th annual Mayfest celebration for maypole dancing, music, medieval costumes, and children’s crafts & activities.

ike many people, my exposure to hypnosis has come through stage shows in which people were made to “cluck like a chicken” so when a respected colleague suggested I train to be a hypnotherapist, I was highly dubious. What I have discovered is that hypnotherapy is a powerful way to access the source of problems and effectively change current behaviour.

As a hypnotherapist, my work is to facilitate a safe space in which the client can do his or her work. I do not lead the client but rather listen intently and intuitively to support each person as he or she explores the source for behaviours and patterns that no longer serve and to elicit from the client an articulation of the new behaviour that will serve health and wellness.

Hypnotherapy is a valuable means of working through fears, anxiety, codependency, addictions and eating disorders, and for stress-related illness. It is a highly effective adjunct to “talk” therapy.

The client selects the issue to be worked on during the session. “Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy” is a model that addresses body, mind and spirit. A session will involve emotional release in age regressions to early traumas.

The session always ends in a place of gentle self-acceptance, worthiness and love.

The hypnotic state utilized is a light trance akin to profound relaxation. The client hears and remembers everything and maintains free will. It is a state that allows subconscious material and the body’s wisdom to emerge for the client to work on.

Lori Austein is a certified “Heart-Centered” Hypnotherapist practicing in the Cowichan Valley.

She can be reached at laustein@shaw.ca

Shawnigan Lake Walk Shawnigan Lake Walk

Early Bird Registration Deadline

April 30th

Volunteers are needed! If you’d like to help please call 250-743-7621. www.theshawniganlakewalk. com

Join us on the 7th Annual Shawnigan Lake Walk presented by Peninsula Co op. Choose one of five walk distances from 4k to 27k or kayak 10k or 15k.

View the magnificent Kinsol Trestle and Trans Canada Trail as you make your way to the finish line for a delicious lunch, comforting foot care and live entertainment.

The Walk benefits Cowichan Family Caregivers Support Society, dedicated to supporting family caregivers and enhancing the quality of life of families coping with illness or disability. Train now to walk or kayak in honour of a caregiving family you know!

Start collecting pledges - for every $50 you collect you will be entered into a special prize draw. Individuals can register for $15 before or on April 30th $20 after. Teams cost (groups of five or more) $12/person and $16/person on or before April 30th. The walk takes place Saturday May 28th.

OFF THE GRID Waiting for the ‘Big One’

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atching the horrific scenes from Japan these last weeks made us pause and ponder “What if...?” or rather “When...’ After all we have all been warned!

Here on our ‘boat access only’ property its safe to assume we would be on our own. With only a scant half-dozen properties in this part of Sansum Narrows and the probability of multiple casualties on the mainland, we would be among the last to receive help.

After the Haitian earthquake I looked dubiously at the ‘struc-

ture’ underneath our cabin and resolved to order some long pieces of wood to shore up the underpinnings. Are they in place?

No! We have a spring which runs year round but what are the chances it would still be running after an earthquake? I went out to the back of the property which borders Stoney Hill and surveyed the massive boulders lying at the foot of the cliffs. Undoubtedly there from the last big tremor 300 years ago and resolvedagain to buy several packs of ‘emergency’ water. What about

Enough for Everyone

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rom politics to big business to nationalism, the world seems to be based on competition. The notion that one’s success must build upon another’s failure. The social profit world could also be construed that way – an ever-expanding number of organizations responding to an ever-increasing demand in an environment of ever-decreasing government and donor and grant funding. We could spiral into mutually-destructive competition.

But we don’t. Here in the Cowichan Valley we work together to serve the community. In the true spirit of the Warm Land, we seek out ways to support each other and celebrate others’ success. For example, Volunteer Cowichan and FreeRange Consulting have collaborated to create the Cowichan Fundraisers Exchange – a free monthly gathering to share funding opportunities, special event plans and networking. During the first hour we regularly discover ways to publicize each others’ events, coordinate schedules to avoid conflict, and create openings to collaborate on grant proposals and projects. We learn to trust that others are not there to steal ideas, but rather to help them grow. These exchanges also feature a speaker and dialogue around special fundraising topics. In past months we’ve welcomed experts to explore corporate sponsorships, social enterprises, grants and government support. April’s meeting will look at funding for Arts and Culture with CVRD’s Kirsten Schrader – contact Rick@FreeRangeConsulting.ca to join this free group.

The first step to opening to collaboration is to reject the notion of scarcity. There is enough for everyone. The Cowichan Valley has the resources, the energy and the will to serve all members of our community. It happens when Rick Juliusson everyone works together, and the supports non-profits with sustainable fundraissocial profit organizations are ing and organizational leading by example. development.

FreeRangeConsulting.ca

food? In the past I had purchased 2 cases of tuna for emergency rations. Are they still there? No! eaten long ago. Better add them to the list! Blankets? It’s snowing at this moment in Sendai Japan, right now blankets could make a big difference. Probably our solar panels would be damagedso how would we communicate with no electricity? With our radio and cell phone wind-up flashlight of course except (sigh) its not currently working! I asked Aubrey “where’s our emergency first aid kit? his reply- ”Don’t know. Maybe in the bathroom?”

Worse and Worse. Dry matches? tent? candles? primus stove?

We are situated high on a hill so probably out of reach of a tsuna-

mi but spare fuel for our boats?

Oars? (didn’t one get broken last fall)? spare rowlocks? where did we put them? and what if we were not at home? Are there emergency supplies and tools in our car? Er...not exactly!

In the past year alone there have been earthquakes in Haiti, New Zealand, Chile, and now Japan.

Working round the ‘ring of fire’ Who’s next? We need to get our supplies together and stored in an accessible place and we need to do it today, not tomorrow. It could make all the difference!

Joan and Aubrey Cobham are the parents of 7 and grandparents of 3.

They live in their “off the grid” cabin in the Sansum Narrows

Building the Bridge

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uring these past few years, our community has created some unique and long lasting relationships. We have taken time to get to know more about our neighbours and new friendships and partnerships have emerged. In my role at Cowichan Tribes, I have been able to witness the makings of some exciting government partnerships, most recently the Independent Living BC (ILBC). The ILBC project is 7 years in the making and construction finally began this past month at the infamous ‘Duncan Mound’ site. The Groundbreaking Ceremony was held last month and included a blessing from Cowichan Elder Philomena Alphonse and the Tzinqwa Dancers. This project is the first of its kind in British Columbia; it includes a First Nation partner on First Nations land. Other partners include BC Housing, M’akola Housing, and the Vancouver Island Health Authority. The facility will provide 50 assisted living units. Any community member (First Nation or non- First Nation) is eligible to apply for a suite.

Working together can produce amazing results. Locally, our leaders have set an example by collaborating on a number of projects and initiatives including the Integrated Flood Management Plan, Cowichan Watershed Board, Cultural Connections Council, Walk of the Nations…the list could go on and on. I am so encouraged to know that our governments have made ‘bridge building’ a priority. The unofficial slogan of Cowichan 2008 NAIG was ‘Nuts’amut Shqwaluwun’, which Jenn K. George is the in Hul’q’umi’num means ‘One Project Manger for Water, Sewer & Energy Projects for Heart-One Mind’. We are comthe Cowichan Tribes and munity and we need to work on-call news broadcaster for 89.7 SunFM together. Huy ch q’u.

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Water Conservation for your Garden

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Thursday, April 14th

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Looking to reduce your footprint and save money?

G.E.T. Solar Solutions invites you to a community information session to find out more about making the switch to solar hot water and heating opportunities.

Shawnigan Lake Community Centre • Round Room For more information please call Jim Musselwhite 250-686-0286 www.getsolarsolutions.ca

ater, and the lack of it, continues to be at the forefront of environmental and world news! In Canada we have grown up in a culture of an abundance of water making us the second largest consumers in the world (329 litre/ person/day). Water is a limited natural resource – learning smart water practices in our homes and gardens is becoming increasingly important due to watering restrictions and environmental concerns.

Of all yard care tasks, watering is often the most misunderstood of efforts. As simple as this may sound, far more plants die from over-watering than from a lack of water. One of the most effective ways to water a garden is with a micro-watering system.

Micro-watering is the precise delivery of water directly to the root zone of the plants keeping it moist, but never saturated.

The plants retain their proper air and water balance and avoid the stress and shock of the “drench and dryout” cycle associated with conven-

tional watering methods. This results in optimum growth and healthier plants and the yield from vegetable gardens increase significantly.

Advantages include reduced water usage and evaporation by up to 70%, weeding and maintenance are reduced in many instances as the water is applied only to the plant, and water is applied at the rate the soil can absorb, reducing run off, leaching and erosion. And of course, there is all that time saved spent dragging hoses around the garden.

Warm Land Waterworks is a Cobble Hill company designing and installing micro-watering systems. We started by installing systems for family and friends who saw our watering system and asked if they could have the same in their garden. In 2009, we opened to the public and we have many happy customers from Mill Bay to Nanaimo.

David Pink is an eco-preneur who enjoys playing in peoples gardens. http://warmlandwaterworks.wordpress.com/ T – 250.733.2635

Life in the Cowichan Valley www.cowichandale.com 32

Daylily Woes...

Helpful Garden

I love daylilies. hey are reliably hardy, have attractive foliage, and hundreds of beautiful flowers over a long blooming period. Unfortunately, the daylily gall midge also loves daylilies—and nothing else.

Daylily (or Hemerocallis) gall midge first arrived in North America around 10 years ago. In that brief period, this pest spread from the American West Coast to the lower mainland of BC, and also to Vancouver Island. The microscopic flies are wreaking havoc among daylilies and daylily lovers alike. Here’s what these little buggers do: they emerge from the soil as an adult fly in early May. For a month, they mate as only flies do and seek out developing daylily flower buds still contained deep inside the foliage.

They lay masses of eggs on these buds and then die. As the buds mature, the eggs hatch and tiny larvae force their way into the bud where they take up residence and sustenance, gorging on the flesh of the buds from inside. These affected buds are easily identified by their swollen, bumpy, and striated appearance. Once the larvae are mature, they either chew their way out or emerge as the affected flower bud partially opens.Then they fall to the soil, dig in and begin their pupae stage. In 10 months or so they emerge as adult flies. Then the whole course of destruction begins again.

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Here’s how to control these little buggers: simply pinch out any distorted buds as you notice them. Daily is best as these buds develop quickly. Don’t just throw the worm-filled capsules in the compost or garbage. Microwave them for a minute or so, put in a ziplock bag, and toss in the trash. If you are diligent with this method, the following season you’ll have significantly fewer midges fouling your perennial beds. Alert your neighbours and ask them to be diligent too. Another safeguard if purchasing or trading daylilies is to remove the plant from the pot and discard all soil in a sealed bag. Give Ajay Oppelaar is VP of the Mill Bay Garden Club. For club the roots a good soaking in a bucket of water, agitating the roots until they’re clean. Dump that membership information or water on the road, so any pupae contained in it won’t have the chance to survive in the soil. Now other questions contact him at dangerboy2490@hotmail. plant your clean, bareroot daylily in your own soil and watch for any distorted buds. Take that com. midge! We’re gonna kick your teeny, tiny, wriggling, daylily-eating butt outta here!

Compost Compost Compost

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sk any organic-gardening specialist the secret to beautiful blooms and a lush lawn, and they’ll tell you compost, compost, compost— Steps to a Lush Lawn 1. Remove any moss and/ or weeds (naturally, of course; pesticides kill microbes) 2. Mow, then aerate your lawn 3. Measure your lawn’s square footage (length x width) 4. Calculate how much compost you need. One yard of compost covers 500 square feet of lawn space to the depth of ¾ inch (one yard fits in the back of a pickup).

5. Fill your wheel barrow with compost and drop it in strategic piles on your lawn.

6. Using a landscape rake, rake the compost evenly across your lawn 7.Remember to water.

just can’t get enough.

Compost is the result of kitchen- and garden-waste decomposition. In other words, it’s the black gold left over after bacteria and fungi (microbes) have had their way with your leftovers. Many of you probably have makeshift compost piles in your backyard, but unless you stir it weekly, it probably looks more like waste than gold.

You can purchase the black gold I speak of by the truckload at your local nursery or garden centre–just make sure to ask where it comes from as cheap sources are full of weed seeds.

So, what does compost have to do with a lush lawn? In my experience, everything. Topdressing your lawn with ¾ inch of compost in the spring and fall is the best thing you can feed your grass. Rich in organic matter, compost feeds the microbes in your soil, which in turn feed your

grass, resulting in the lush lawn you’ve always wanted.

Refer to the box to see how you can do this for your lawn.

Best time to do this is right now! This is also a great time to add seed and other organic

nutrients.

Let us know how it goes!

John is the owner of Lush Eco Lawns, an organic lawn care company serving the Valley through Parksville.

St. Ann’s Garden Club Annual Plant Sale & Arts at The Farm Art Sale at Providence Farm

April 30th 9am -3pm FREE ADMISSION 1843 Tzouhalem Road, Duncan For more info or to donate plants call 250 746 4204 Its the annual Providence Farm “Helping Us Help Others...”

Annual Giant Plant Sale! They will be selling Providence Farm’s bounty of plants, perennials, selected annuals, seeds, houseplants, garden ornamentals, garden accessorie, bean poles, soil sifters, cedar planter boxes, birdhouse and feeders plus tasty goodies, baking, and preserves. For hungry shoppers lunch soup or chilli with bun, baked goodies, tea or coffee will also be available.

In conjunction to the plant sale, on the same day Farm staff and family artistic members will be hosting Arts at The Farm, Art Show and Sale. the first show and sale presenting personal works.

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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PUT THE CHICKEN BEFORE THE EGG! of E. coli— and a host of new diseases, increased immune deficiency, diabetes and obesity. To become enlightened about where your food comes from, watch documentaries like Food Inc., Future of Food, Fast Food Nation, The Omnivore’s Delimma and the locally produced movie by Nick Verseeg called Food Security, It’s Up to You.

Avoid GMO’s ! Most chicken feed today contains genetically modified corn and soy. Here in Duncan we can buy GMO free chicken feed but without third party certification, contamination remains a risk.

In truth, certified organic feed is your only guarantee against GMO’s.

Peace of Paradise Chicken Mayan Hurry Lindell

t the Community Farm Store we are very proud to offer oodles of farm fresh eggs that have been laid by happy chickens; chickens that get to scratch about outside, eat bugs, roll in the dust, cluck about with other hens and ideally, hang out with some handsome rooster dude.

Chickens that are “free range” get to live a natural life that includes the daily cycles of the sun and the passing of the seasons.

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Did you know? Here in Canada, approxi-

mately 98% of all eggs purchased come from battery cage hens. Labels like “fed vegetarian feed”, “all natural”, “farm fresh” or “Omega-3” along with images of little red barns and happy looking hens mean nothing as far as animal welfare is concerned.

Farm Fresh? When you are out for a

drive in the country and you see a sign that says “farm fresh eggs” but there is not a chicken in sight – only large industrial looking buildings devoid of activity – you are probably witnessing a factory farm for chickens. I think the sign ought to read “factory fresh”.

Not so Happy Chickens: In a battery cage,

the rate of food and water, and duration and intensity of light are tightly controlled.

There is no access to the natural environment, nor any opportunity to conduct natural

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behaviours such as perching, dust bathing, wing flapping or nesting. These cages inhibit almost all the natural behaviours of hens (Rollin, 1995). Battery barns in Canada began in 1940. They hold thousands of cages, five to seven birds per cage, in tiers of two to eight cages high, with farms averaging 18,368 birds (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2006). Some farms have numbers as high as 400,000. In 2003, 26 million Canadian birds lived and died this way. The numbers are far higher today.

Ban the Battery! The European Union is ending the use of conventional battery cages by 2012. In Switzerland, they have been banned since 1992. In Britain, Sainsbury’s (one of the Big Four supermarkets) announced in 2009 that it will only sell eggs from uncaged birds. Change seems to be a little slower here in Canada although we do have the Vancouver Humane Society campaigning to end this cruelty. (www. chickenout.ca) Know Where Your Food Comes From! The nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicideresistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains

Backyard Chickens: You can’t get more local than your own backyard. Luckily, most municipalities, in light of the urgent need to address food security issues, have changed their bylaws to allow backyard chickens -- and speaking from my own experience, it’s great fun. My six friendly chickens give me at least four eggs per day while cleaning up all the slugs and woodbugs in the garden.

Chickens are friendly creatures that control pests, provide entertainment for the whole family, including the cats, and best of all, they produce an abundant supply of manure for my compost pile.

Farm Store Farmers: At this time we

have certified organic eggs from Glen Eden Farm and Terra Nossa Family Farm; organic eggs (farm is not certified but the feed is) from Black Tomato Farm and Acres of Grace, organic soy free eggs from Koksilah Farm (the feed is certified organic and soy free) and nonGMO eggs from the farm of Cat Shepherd. All of our eggs come from chickens that are vegetarian fed by farmers who are committed to providing a healthy, happy environment for their flocks. We sincerely appreciate and applaud their efforts. For a chance to meet some of them and hear their stories, check out the 2009 Summer issue of the Community Farm Store Newsletter on line at www.communityfarmstore.ca.

Nicolette Genier is the wonderfully happy store manager of The Community Farm Store.

Easter Baking Schedule at the Garage Cafe and Bakery

Good Friday, April 22nd

Mayan Christy Lindell

Local Egg Farmer Tales Our son, Mayan named the rooster Blackie when one of our little hens turned out to be a rooster.

We didn’t plan on getting a rooster, but waking up at 4 am in the summer indicated that we definitly had a rooster amoung us! His first crows were a practice run and they really made us laugh. The hens are named “the girls” and “the chickies”. Mayan loves the chickens so much and can catch them better than anyone. He can hold Blackie in his lap and they are good pals.

The birds love all our juicing grinds and get the best food.

They till up our garden, provide us with great fertilizer and give us happy chicken eggs.

Christy Lindell Last year, after I changed the bedding in the nest boxes Major Tom ran over, jumped up into the box and started making noises and preparing the nest like he was getting ready to lay an egg.

Rooster Major Tom Greg Awai

a rooster, so he had to come back to the farm. Unfortunately, as he was small and different , the other birds picked on him pretty badly.

All except for one hen, who gave up her status with the flock to be his friend. During the day these two would hop the fence and wander around together, and at night they would go back in but sleep on top of the chicken house, away from the other birds.

Greg Awai

Challah braid- $6 or Challah Wreath $7.50 Kamut Challah $6, Kamut almond braid $9.50 Spelt or Gluten-free pies $16.50, Easter Stollen Dove - Single $11.50, Doubled marzipan $13 Tripled marzipan $14

Saturday, April 23rd

Finnish Easter Bread (walnuts, raisins and spices) $9 Spelt Easter Braid (lemon, nutmeg, raisins) $7, Cornbread $6, Wheat pies $15

Easter Sunday, April 24th

Challah loaf $6 or Wreath $7.50, Kamut almond braid $9.50 Buttermilk loaves, rolls ($0.50 ea) Cinnamon swirls Canadian Country loaves, rolls ($0.50), Gluten-free or spelt pies $16.50

Any day throughout April

Hot Cross Buns ($6.50 for 4 Bunny Buns $0.75, Butter Buns $0.65

Fridays in April

Gluten-free Hot Cross Buns are available ($8 for 4) Now taking orders for Easter Baking!

FULL TIME POSITION IN OUR PRODUCE DEPARTMENT! We are looking for a highly organized, multi-tasking, team player that is super passionate about organic produce. Must be available Saturdays.

Market gardening background an asset. Call Nicolette at 250-597-1414 to arrange for an interview.

Terra Nossa Farmily Farmsi

PT POSITION also coming available. If you have retail experience along with a background suitable to working in a community-minded health food store, nutritional training, a passion for organic food and you are available weekends, give Nicolette a call @ 250-597-1414.

Our chickens roam freely about on our 5 acre pastures providing the most awesome local, free range CERTIFIED ORGANIC (IOPA 1904) eggs to the Community Farm Store and Bakery!

Evelyn Pereira

Another (sort of) nice story about our birds happened a few years ago. We had a bunch of baby Ameracaunas, one of which had a crooked beak. My friend took that bird and another home to his place in the city. Turns out, Chiggins Crooked Beak was Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Dream Interpretation

Try This!

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1. Record a recent or powerful recurring dream. hen you dream, do whole body falls into spasms of Connect this dream to a past experiences, and see what people who have long grief and loss. Sometimes you new insight the dream brings to it. gone, appear and talk to you are so filled with joy that you as if nothing has happened? drift away on a breeze.

2. Now, bring your dream mythology into the presentOr are you ever fleeing down When you wake, you sense the what is happening right now that pertains to the dream? a long dark alley, crazy with dream had great significance, panic because a shadowy mon- but you don’t know what it is.

3. Finally, what does the dream tell you about the future? ster is chasing you? Is there Since ancient times, humans Is it a warning, a guide, a nudge in the right direction? an old familiarity of recurring have interpreted their dreams themes- a bus which cannot because they recognized that 4. Record and commit to some action which will embody ail:drfeiyang@gmail.com • Nowareaccepting new patients your new realization. stop, a train from which you dreams one of most intithebeing Spring Cleanse program are falling, someone dying? • Inquire mateabout ways of connected One of the first recorded dream This is because dreams are Perhaps you sob and your to our deepest creative self. interpretations is from the Old one of the most direct ways Testament. Joseph of the multi we return to the source of our colour coat interpreted the being.

Egyptian pharaoh’s dreams Dreams guide us to release the and because of his correct past, integrate the present and interpretation, the Egyptian plan for the future. Our dreams nation survived seven years connect us with all other beings Traditional of drought. From the story of in a mysterious collective Chinese Joseph, I speculate that in the unconsciousness.

Herbal absence of modern technology Today we have rich teachings Medicine and warning systems, ancient from many traditions which peoples turned to dreams to can help us interpret these deep A c u p u n c t u re foretell of coming disasters. messages from soul. I will be Diet Thera py sharing some of these traditions The physics of dreaming is in April at the Boat House.

Dr. Fei Yang complex and little understood Please check my website for Dr TCM, Reg. AC by contemporary psychologists details.

Improving your health & and brain scientists. Dreaming well being through a natural, is absolutely necessary for each We dream for ourselves, our personal approach incarnate being. It is how we community and for the world. maintain the life force within Julia Star is a spiriutal Traditional Chinese Medicine counsellor in the Cowus. Scientific study subjects, ichan Valley. She is the 250.733.2917 who are consistently woken author of “The River Books-Love, Work, Wiswhen they start to dream, enter dom For appointments with Dr. Fei Yang a psychotic state within days. call 250-709-9673.

Healthy Living

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Just a minute walk to Chesterman’s Beach for sand, surf and amazing sunsets.

Spring special : rent 3 nights and the 4th is free!

1-877-906-2326

www.blueheronhouse.ca 36

Dream Interpretation

7-9 pm At the Boat House, Cowichan Bay Cost: $80 for four sessions

Bring your dreams and let’s dream together!

Julia Star is the founder of The River Institute - a school of mysticism which offers courses in the mystic arts, including Dream Interpretation.

For registration and information, visit www.longboatcounselling or phone 250-709-9673

Julia Star BHD.BEd Counsellor

Healing for Japan us CAN make a difference.

No matter how small the gesture, it all helps. May our Hearts and Prayers go out to our Japanese friends and colleagues as they start the rebuilding process. While sending your Light and Love overseas, remember to take the time to keep yourself healthy as well.

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can’t even imagine what it would be like to experience such devastation.

We are so fortunate to have escaped the global disasters that have occurred in the last few years. Through energy, we can help the situation in Japan in many ways.

Sending our healing thoughts, energy and prayers can help.

Visualizations of Japan rebuilding, the nuclear reactors cooling off and stabilizing, food, clean water, as well as the Volunteer Aid Workers getting to the people quickly.

If you could take some time to send your healing energy, love, light, Reiki, prayers, donations - whatever resonates with you. Visualize sending love and healing strength with intentions to help heal the hearts of so many. These exercises will help calm the emotional & physical pain felt on so many levels, as well as the extreme sadness that is so overwhelming to all.

More and more people are awakening to higher consciousness and the power of being one. Every one of

Drinking alot of alkalized water (if you don’t have a specialized water system, squeeze some fresh lemon or lime into your water) will assist in neutralizing acids and remove harmful toxins from our systems. IF there are any foreign particals/radiation in the air, alkaline water can help as well.

For those with a heightened concern, our Wellness Centre offers a selection of Herbal Body Detox Cleansing Kits, Alkaline Ionizing Water Systems and Detoxifying Foot Spas to assist with the removing and flushing out of toxins from our bodies. For the heart and soul, we offer a spectrum of Energy sessions to help keep the body calm and in balance.

Blessings, Debbie

Debbie Shuratoff Reiki Master-Teacher, Foot Spa Detox Practitioner, Natural Health Consultant. www.reikiwellness.ca

For other ways to help Japan please contact Médecins Sans Frontières, www.msf.ca, 1 800 982 7903 or the Red Cross www.redcross.ca, 1-800-418-1111 Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

37

Wheeling Through Time on a Penny-Farthing Penny-Farthing “Time Machine” introduces Arnold Williams to William Arnold

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ny business that operates for 96 years has a wealth of stories, but Experience Cycling, located in Duncan, carries a further air of synchronicity.

The story starts in 1915 when a certain Mr. Phillips, opened a cycling shop, the first on the west coast. He had brought a penny-farthing bicycle from England, which began his signatory tradition every Canada Day of dressing up in a top hat and tails and riding in the parade. With a huge front wheel, much smaller rear wheel and “moustache” handlebars, the penny-farthing and rider cut a distinguished figure.

Nearly forty years later, in 1953, Mr. Phillips sold the

shop to one of his young apprentices, thirty-year old Arnold Williams. He had worked for Mr. Phillips from the age of thirteen, after leaving his job as a newspaper carrier.

The penny-farthing remained on loan to the store for use in parades, but over time and change of ownership decades later, the bicycle had retired quietly to the pages of history.

And this is where the synchronicities from the past and present get weird. In 1995, a thirty-year old man who also had been a newspaper carrier and left the job to work in a bicycle shop at thirteen years old, bought Arnold Williams’ old business.

His name? William Arnold.

When you drive south through Duncan on the Trans Canada Highway, Experience Cycling is on the left, visible amongst a row of other businesses by its bright yellow sign out front

Will Arnold on a penny farthing.

with a logo that resonates with history – it’s a penny-farthing bicycle and Will Arnold in a top hat and tails. Unaware of Mr. Phillips’ and Williams’ tradition, Arnold had chosen this logo for the store because of his own procurement of a penny-farthing bicycle,

which he rides every year in the Victoria Day parade, the Duncan parade, and at the beginning of the MS Grape Escape fundraiser bike ride.

“It’s a little spooky, says Arnold. I didn’t know the history of the store, the tradition of the penny-farthing, nor even Mr. Williams’ first name. All these coincidences make me think that I’m really doing something that was meant to be.”

As we celebrate Earth Day this month, the bicycle is considered to be a poignant symbol for green living. The penny-farthing’s popularity coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport and inspired the beginning of many bicycle innovations that we enjoy today. The story of Experience Cycling reminds us that the past, present, and future are inextricably linked, often in surprising ways, and these connections bring a deeper meaning to the way we continue to live on this earth.

Karen is a Salt Spring writer, triathlete, and loyal customer at Experience Cycling in Duncan.

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$25 registration - limited to 100 ‘Hunters’ Includes basket, treasure map

South Island South Island

Fishing Report

Fishing Report

Culinary Treasure Hunt Saturday, May 14, 2011 Draws for Great Prizes!

A fun, tasty and educational event featuring 25+ farms, wineries, restaurants and food producers in the region!

The event begins at the Mill Bay Centre at 10am and culminates with a Picnic/BBQ at the Cobble Hill Fairgrounds at 4:30pm.

$25 registration - limited to 100 ‘Hunters’

Includes basket, treasure map and entry in the draw.

For more information & registration go to www.southcowichanchamber.org Norm Mackenzie with an approximately 11 pound Fly caught Cowichan river Steelhead

Fellow fishers… Brrrr.

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Call 250-743-3566 or email southcowichanchamber@shaw.ca

*Remember , to target Steelhead you must purchase the proper conservation stamp…

opefully we are through another cold and slightly miserable winter. It has definitely impacted the fisher- For the local lakes, the trout ies with colder than normal fishing has been a bit slow water temperatures. The but should pick up as soon as colder waters are surely going the weather turns more spring to effect this springs fishing like. Basically, once we get as the insect hatches and some warmer weather to start fry hatch will be later, not to368 –warming water.

2720 MilltheBay Road mention some lethargic fish.Mill Bay, Suggested lures would be BC V0R 2P1 gang trolls with either worms, 250-743-3566 (ph) What’s happening now? flies or quick 250-743-5332 (fax) fish (flat fish) in For the river fishers we are southcowichanchamber@shaw.ca tow approximately 18 inches just getting to the tail end ofwww.southcowichanchamber.org behind the troll. what some anglers are calling the best winter Steelhead Check your regulations to angling in 10 or more years. be sure of what is allowed in Some great catches of water you are about to fish.

Cowichan River Steelhead have been recorded this For the fly fishers, I would past January, February and suggest wooly buggers and March. Any anglers looking leaches in olives and black for a chance at a Steelhead colors. will want to get out as soon as possible as your chances Note: For the Bass anglers, we are just around the corner dwindle as April comes to an to getting some fantastic Bass end. Some suggested lures would be, pink rubber worms. action on Fuller, St Mary, and Shawnigan Lakes. This fishery Gooey Bobs, spin-n- glows generally starts heating up in and Jensen eggs.

Voted Readers’ Choice Favourite Charter for SIX years!

early to mid May.

For the fly fishers, egg sucking leaches, Minnow patterns, single egg flies should do the trick.

This report was provided by Kenzie Cuthbert 23 years of local guiding www.kenzies.com

www.oceanoutfitters.bc.ca Mention this ad for 15% off tours!

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

39

Anti Radiation Diet

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here is a lot of confusion, apprehension, and fear swirling around our Valley regarding the explosions and potential meltdowns of the Nuclear Plant in Fukushima, Japan after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. Many people along the coastlines are feeling at risk and have been seeking measures of protection from radioactive exposure. Here at the Community Farm Store the most popularly requested items have been products containing iodine. Some have asked for iodine supplements but mostly, our customers are stocking up on seaweed, miso and other such whole foods. We thought we would do some research on foods best suited for “radiation protection” and interestingly enough, these foods are one and the same as the foods that we already recommend for cleansing, cancer prevention and optimal health. So, here is a rather condensed list of foods to eat more of everyday, whether you are worried about radiation or not.

1) Miso. Miso broth is the classic food for prevention of radiation damage. Although the reason for miso’s protectiveness is not really known, it was observed that the Japanese who ate miso everyday did not die from radiation induced cancer after the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Remember: Do not add miso to soup while liquid is on heat or boiling, as you will kill the good bacteria in it.

2) Sea vegetables and their products. Kelp and dulse, excellent natural sources of iodine are highly recommended for protection and detoxification. Taking kelp as a source of iodine is much safer than drinking iodine or eating potassium iodide, which can be especially dangerous for pregnant women. Other available seaweeds are Kombu, Wakame, Hijiki, Nori, and Arame.

3) Mineral-rich nettles infusions – High in iodine, as well as many other nutrients. including vitamins A, B complex, C, D, E and K, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, chromium, silica, silicon, selenium and sulphur. It’s perfect timing to start watching for the young nettles!

4) Reishi Mushroom Eating any amount of reishi mushroom is said to reduce damage from radiation. We have excellent medicinal mushroom products as well as locally made tinctures. Shitake mushrooms are also very medicinal.

5) Burdock root (Arctium lappa) – Removes radioactive isotopes from the body.

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6) Orange and dark green vegetables like kale, spinach, collards, sweet potatoes, winter squash – According to herbalist Susun Weed, “Japanese researchers found that diets high in carotenes significantly reduced DNA damage in humans exposed to radiation.

Supplements of beta-carotene (or of vitamins C or E) did not show this effect. Eating lots of orange and dark green foods (sweet potatoes, winter squash, beets, carrots, kale, collards, chard, and spinach, for example) can protect you from radiation-induced cancers.”

7) Broccoli, cabbage, mustard greens, arugula, cauliflower, bok choy, radishes, and other cruciferous vegetables – crucifers, the mustard family or cabbage family is a family of flowering plants that can help protect your cells from radiation damage.

8) Dried beans such as lentils and mung beans – Contain protease inhibitors, known to block and prevent formation of tumor cells.

9) Black and green tea: Steven Schechter N.D. says that both black and green tea showed “radioprotective effects” whether taken before or after exposure to radiation. Black Tea and honey is said to be used for radiation protection in China. Other teas recommended are Pau dárco, Saffron tea, Thyme Tea and of Holy Basil Tea. 10) E3LIVE: Foods containing chlorophyll like barley grass and chlorella are very protective; especially E3Live.

Chlorophyll closely resembles

human blood and is used to cleanse, detoxify, purify and heal many conditions.

It retards bacterial growth, detoxifies heavy metals from the body, inhibits radiation and the metabolic activation of many carcinogens and much more.

11) Barley or wheat grass: a totally balanced food. It contains all of the nutrients required for life; vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other proteins (amino acids), essential fatty acids and chlorophyll.

A true miracle food.

12) Fermented (Lactic acid) vegetables like sauerkraut and juices: Lactic acid fermented foods possess medicinal properties.

13) Cultured (fermented) milk products: yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, Bio K, unprocessed cheese.

14) High fiber foods: whole grains, fruits and veggies.

Avoid processed foods and sugar.

15) Selenium: protects DNA from radiation damage and helps prevent damage to the skin surface, too. Get plenty of selenium by eating a daily dose of 2 cups/500 ml of nettle infusion, one-half ounce/15 g kelp, 2 ounces/60 g cooked burdock root, or 1 cup/250 ml organic yogurt daily. Shellfish, green and black teas, and garlic contain significant amounts of selenium, as do many mushrooms. The best sources however are nettles, kelp, burdock, catnip, ginseng, Siberian ginseng, and astragalus.

16) More! Fresh cilantro, fresh garlic, bee pollen, all sprouts -- especially broc-

coli sprouts, FlorEssence, Ashwaganda, Black Walnut, Essential Fatty Acids, Coenzyme Q10, Holy Basil capsules by New Chapters, Holy Basil Teas, Grapeseed extract and anything else known to have powerful adaptogenic and/or antioxidant/free radical scavenging properties.

17) Mindful eating. Eat what you have available to you with mindfulness and gratitude – imagining your body receiving the nourishment it needs and envisioning yourself as a most worthy recipient of protection and grace. As we, the staff at The Community Farm Store, have always advocated, Let Food Be Your Medicine. Regardless of whether this current situation in Japan is of danger to us or not, we encourage all of you, our friends and customers, to remain calm, present, proactive, strong and resilient. Empower yourself with good thoughts, good food and of course, good company.

Om Shanti!

This information is offered for education purposes only and does not substitute the advice of your own physician. As common sense dictates, if you have a thyroid condition or have trouble tolerating iodine, please consult your physician before adding iodine-rich foods to your diet. Thank you to Planet Thrive and Safe Space for providing some of this information.

Recommended reading: Fighting Radiation and Chemicals Pollutants with Foods, Herbs and Vitamins by Steven Steven Schecter, N.C. and Radiation Protection Manual, Lita Lee, PH.D.

By Nicolette Genier and Cindy Dreger

Local Vultures

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ultures have often been associated with death and disease, as harbingers of death even! But vultures are actually an incredibly important and significant element in our environments.

On Vancouver Island, we have seen an increase in the number of Turkey Vultures over the last 10-15 years, and they appear to be increasing their range north. This is

probably due partially to humans increasing their habitats – vultures often do well amid urban environments because we provide food (roadkill etc.). Almost all vultures feed exclusively on carrion. They clean up the dead and decaying creatures that we often don’t even see – in the woods and fields in our backyards.

Although we only have Turkey vultures here on Vancouver Island, there are many species worldwide: in Asia there is currently a distressing population trend in several species of vulture, which is being called the Asian Vulture Crisis.

Vultures in Pakistan, India, Nepal and other countries, are declining at an astonishing and deeply disturbing rate (up to 95% of some species have vanished).Vultures have very strong digestive systems to be able to digest old/rotting flesh and it is thought that the acid in their stomachs is as strong as battery acid! However, they can still be damaged by chemicals. Diclofenac is thought to be the cause of this decline. This drug has only recently been introduced into vet medicine – and when used on cattle, is often ingested by

vultures after the cattle die in fields. This crisis could have a devastating effect on vulture populations in Asia.

The Peregrine Fund, Hawk Conservancy Trust, and various other organizations have research, breeding and protection programs to assist with the crisis. You can find more info online, or contact us if you’d like direct links.

We will post some of the links on our facebook page as well.

cloak of courage, you can assemble your writer’s tool kit: a notebook and pen; and a computer that will help you edit your writing and share it with others. Other essentials include quiet, uninterrupted time during which to reflect; curiosity; some memory prompts such as photographs, recipes, and letters.

“Finding and Expressing Your Writing Voice” at VIU Cowichan. All are welcome to get started on writing their stories from life.

Writing in community is a way to face the fear as someone else is also writing beside you. While weaving stories with others, one realizes: “I’m not alone.” I’ll be teaching

Expressing Your Writing Voice with Mary Ann Moore VIU Cowichan April 16 9am - 4pm

On a happier note: In April: Easter is Celebration of the Egg! At PNWR we will have Easter egg hunts, kid’s activities and lots of information on Raptor parents, eggs and everything to do with baby birds.

Robyn Radcliffe is a falconer at the Pacific Raptor Centre centre, and is responsible for the care, maintenance and well being of about 75 birds.

Writing From Within

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any people would like to write their life stories to leave as a legacy for their grandchildren or simply to share with others.

Getting started is a challenge as people may fear recalling certain aspects of the past. Victoria poet and writer Patrick Lane’s words are encouraging and help to describe the healing nature of writing in his memoir, There is a Season (McClelland & Stewart 2004): “While the past can be a burden, it is also a gift out of time. The clear

moments of memory must be understood. It is only then they can be let go.”

The steps I have come to recognize in awakening our stories are acknowledging the memories; accessing them; letting them go; integrating the experience and the recollection; and living the new story in which you accept all parts of yourself. Personal writing has mental and spiritual benefits and studies have shown that the act of writing boosts your immune system. Once you don your

Mary Ann Moore is a Nanaimo poet, writer and life writing mentor who created Writing Home: A Whole Life Practice. www.maryannmoore.ca

For registration details www.viu.ca/cca

Saturday May 07th, 2011 11:00am – 3:00pm Downtown Qualicum Beach Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

41

Writers’ Voice

Animals Can Be Healed In Many Ways

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Gaia Jessica North-O’Connell In my yard She gives back joy We watch Her wave leafy fingers to the sky in constant prayer: the ground breaks with seedlings pushing through, birthing a new season of gifting In my yard Her heart sings to us in scent and colour; poppies, red, remembrance of brutality and holy blood violet lavender shaped like silent tears and used for soothing ivy, ever verdant, holds to walls encouraging our grasp of inner truths, the queenly rose who calms our troubled skin and aching souls

Meanwhile, while we were talking inside the house, he was left in the open back of her truck in the driveway bordering on a busy street.

She asked me if I would like to think about taking him, Briggs. I took him home with me.

As I bring this bouquet Her gift to me and mine to you I offer to your hand this labour of tears, hardship and pain transformed to joy by Her ceaseless efforts; So may She gift our Gardens yet again. wv

Submissions may be sent to Writers.Voice@shaw.ca

Mea culpa: Oscar Pelta is the name of our March poet correctly spelled.

WV Editor: John Steven

Special thanks to Bucknucks Books for their generous sponsorship of Writers’ Voice.

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et me begin by saying I rescue old dogs. The one previous to Sally was a five year old, pure bred Black Lab who had a life of abandonment and was separated from his faithful companion, his brother, at age four and given to a new home. The home who adopted him said “he’s really easy, he sleeps in his kennel 20 hours a day and if I can, I might walk him in the park across the street, other than that he is really easy - he stays in his kennel”.

He was an absolutely wonderful dog, but came with a multitude of medical problems due to the fact both his parents were Canadian Grand Champions.

He had Dysplasia in both his hips and his shoulders, had leisions on his lungs, paralysis in his bronchial tubes, something was wrong with his larynx as I only heard his bark in deep, gluteral sounds occasionally if a dog in the park excited him. He was allergic to salt water and when enticed in for a swim using treats, the next day a quarter of his body was covered with a “hot spot”.

Due to the pain of arthritis and dysplasia, he was never interested in retrieving.

A medical intuitive told me he was full of Cancer (with

no outward symptoms), and the Vet confirmed his Liver enzymes were three times normal. I de-toxed him and gave him sessions of Healing Touch, and the next blood work, a month later, showed all the Cancer was gone, and never did return keeping the same continual treatments.

When we moved, he travelled with us and with special care, survived a very cold winter.

As the weather turned too warm, he could not walk across the street without difficulty breathing, therefore lying down in the middle of the intersection for a rest, before continuing. At our next vet visit shortly after that, as the contents of his needle were being injected, was the first time in five years I saw him breathing in peace - before taking his final breath.

Sheila Jones is a local certified Holistic Practitioner.

Working with traditional veterinary care, she offers healing touch for pets and alternative solutions to help heal animals in critical health.

Healing Touch For Animals Sheila Jones

Mobile Pet Care Service 250 213 9939 www.holisticnc.ca

Maple Bay: The Party Place Cowichan Valley Museum and Archive, 2003.10.1.7

B

y the mid 1920’s and early ‘30’s, picturesque Maple Bay had overcome many of its logistical problems of a crumbling wharf, commercial foreign fishing, lack of water and dangerously steep roadways. With a new public dock, the newly-built Maple Bay Yacht Club, and the rustically luxurious Maple Inn, Maple Bay became a favored stopping place for wealthy yachtsmen, including the rich, famous and titled of Europe and the US. It was not unusual to see, moored in the Bay, several yachts of 100 feet in length. Dances for 100 people or more were frequently held at the Yacht Club,

and the Maple Inn held parties nearly every night. Big social events were also common at the Bay of Maples Tearoom, now the home of Wilderness Kayaking. Background to all of this, the summer community from Duncan maintained the primitive nature of its cottages, rough cabins and tents, as well as numerous nightly bonfires on the beach, with raucous public singing.

The Maple Inn was the just the sort of place that appealed to the upper class of North America and the nobility of Europe. The guest book was signed by visitors from Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver,

Pets, People & Parasites

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eople have up to 600 parasites that can live in them. Pets tend to harbour less species and some are transferable to humans. Perhaps this is why most people are more conscientious about parasite treatment for their house pets than for themselves.

Roundworms, also know as ascarids , are worms that grow up to six inches in length in pets and up to one foot in humans. Avoid touching feces and frequent hand washing is good prevention.

For years it was thought that

parasites were only a problem in tropical countries. I’ve had clients with worms, Guardia lamblia, Amoebic dysentery to mention a few, never having left the Island.

Anti parasitic herbs have been used worldwide for millennium. Herbal treatments are less toxic to the body than chemical treatments. The herbal formula in this Worm Ball recipe contains well known anthelmintic and parasiticides herbs, which kill worms and parasites. (see calendar April 19 to learn more about Lorene’s parasite workshop)

London, New York, San Francisco, Jamaica, Boston, Japan, and so on, and included personages such as the Lord and Countess of Stafford, the Duchess of Aosta, the Duke of Spoleto, and a Greek consul, to name a very few. What a lively, impressive place it must have been!

It may seem contradictory that such a rough, though scenic, camping area should appeal to the wealthy, but that was indeed the case. Although the locals were overwhelmed by the luxurious trappings of the Inn, to the wealthy these would not have been overly sumptuous. The African spears and grass mats, for example, are indications that this was conceived as an aristocratic interpretation of a wilderness experience: of opulent camping, as it were. For the rich, this was an escape to an unspoiled, nearly wild environment, only enhanced by the presence of tents, beach picnics and bonfires..

You might be interested in the following account of a rich

young lady’s holiday schedule: Arrived at 10:30. Played tennis till lunch. Rowed one hour; tennis two hours; bathed and swam till dinner. Rowed one hour after dinner; danced until 1 a.m. Spent next two hours in a rowboat…Rose at 6:30 a.m. Swam before breakfast. Mountain climbing until 11:30; another swim before lunch. Paddled in a canoe for three-quarters of an hour; then two hours tennis, another boat ride and a swim before dinner. Danced until 12 p.m.; another two hours on the lake. Up at 7 a.m.. Swim before breakfast; boating and tennis until noon. Regatta in the afternoon, and dance until 11:30 in the evening.

(William Fleming’s, “The Possibilities of Maple Bay”, The Leader, May 15, 24, p.9.)

And what became of all this revelry and romance? I will leave all further questions to the reader’s research and surmise.

Cynthia is a teacher-on-call for the Cowichan Valley School District and an amateur folk musician.

You can see her video at www.cynthiemontgomery.com.

Worm Balls Ingredients

Amount

Natures Sunshine Herbal Pumpkin raw ground beef, other meat or canned food 16 oz

12 capsules

Method 1. Open Herbal Pumpkin capsules and mix into room temperature meat.

2. Roll it into a ball, about 1/2” in diameter or ½ tsp.

3. Freeze balls on a cookie sheet and store in a ziplock bag.

4. Give 1 per day per 25 pounds.

Dogs will eat balls frozen or thawed, cats prefer them thawed. Each time you open the freezer they will be waiting for their treat! These also make their fur shiny. “Herbal Pumpkin” contains pumpkin seeds, black walnut hulls, turkey rhubarb root, violet leaves, chamomile flowers, mullein leaves, Lorene Benoit, BEd, MHH, marshmallow root and CHC, CI, CRA. Master slippery elm bark. For Holistic Health, Certified humans, just use the Herbal Consultant and capsules.

Educator. www.naturalpathremedies.com

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Moon Beams: Moon Gardening

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n the spirit of self-sufficiency and sustainability, it is so rewarding to eat the fruits (and veggies) of your own labour of love. If you haven’t had the chance to start your seedlings yet, perhaps draw upon the support of Mother Moon’s energy to get that garden started.

Everything on earth responds to the gravitational pull of the moon and our little green babies are no exception. As the Earth’s tides fluctuate with each moon phase, soil moisture levels change as well.

The 1st Quarter (New Moon) draws moisture into the seed enhancing germination, the

2nd displays the bright moon glow encouraging growth, the 3rd (Waning) sends energy ‘rooting down’ carrying moisture into the roots and the 4th (post Full Moon) is a time of rest, trimming and transplanting. With the world at our fingertips one can easily Google ‘Moon Planting’ or ‘Moon Gardening’ and arrive at numerous sources for your reading and planting pleasure.

When celebrating Earth Day this month let’s give back through our creativity, love and joy of growing our own food. Many blessings to all of you and your gardens during this time of renewal and regeneration! Could giving back taste any better?

Robin massey is a yoga & jr bellydance instructor in and around Shawnigan Lake.www.theomtree.com

On The Farm

At 7:44pm on the 17th we will see the Full Moon also known as:

• Pink Moon (English Medieval) with the appearance of pink grasses or flowering pink moss (phlox) during spring; • Egg Moon (English) where birds begin to lay their eggs and also the Full Moon of Easter; • Seed (Medieval) or Planter’s Moon (Colonial American) both refer to the best time to plant seeds for the upcoming fertile season; • Fish Moon (Coastal Tribes) represents the migration of fish upstream to spawn; and finally • Awakening Moon (Neo-Pagan) the end of the “hibernation” period.

Orca Peas

I

f you plan to save seeds from your garden this year, now’s the time to start strategizing.

Sometimes seed saving is as simple as shaking dried seeds off a dead plant at the end of the season, but factors such as cross pollination and seed type can complicate things.

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We started saving dry bean, soy bean, pea and grain seeds at Makaria Farm a few years ago, which we sell at Seedy Saturday events and at the Cowichan Green Community’s Green Store.

I plan to save seeds from some more difficult vegetables this year. For other newbies out there, here are some seed growing and saving tips that I’ve picked up so far: Open Pollinated vs. Hybrid For seed saving, avoid hybrids.

On seed packets, hybrid seeds will be labelled “hybrid” or “F1.” These seeds will likely not breed true: you might not end up with the same taste/appearance when you plant the seed you’ve

saved. Instead, stick with “open pollinated” or “OP” seeds.

Cross Pollination

Some vegetables will cross pollinate with other varieties. To ensure “pure” seed, seed savers must separate these varieties with distances (sometimes kilometers) or barriers. If your neighbour has a garden, those plants could cross pollinate with your seed plants. Certain vegetables are notorious cross pollinators, such as corn, brassicas (e.g. broccoli), cucumbers, squash and spinach.

Easy Peasy

You don’t have to worry about cross pollination with some vegetables, which makes it relatively easy to save these seeds. These “beginner’s” seed plants include lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, grains, beans and peas.

Heather Walker and Brock McLeod own and operate Makaria Farm Heather is a writer, editor and passionate seed starter. www.makariafarm.com

April Horoscopes Georgia Nicols M.A. is Canada’s most popular astrologer. A Buddhist, this Vancouver-based astrologer is featured in regional papers across Canada, the United States, and New Zealand. www.georgianicols.com

Aries (March 21-April 19)

You’re looking good because, for the first time in a year, the Sun is back in your sign, boosting your energy, attracting opportunities and influential people to you. Allow good fortune to come your way. Schmooze with others. Be patient with partners and close friends because this is where your challenges are right now. But the next few weeks are lucky for you!

You can demand the advantage.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

This is the ideal time to lie low, work alone or behind the scenes, and start to give serious consideration to what you want your new year (birthday to birthday) to be all about. Obviously, you can either let life just “happen” to you, or you can take the reins and give yourself some broad goals. This way, you’re steering your course instead of just responding. If you give yourself goals that can be defined, with time limits, your success rate will be far better.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

You are out there flying your colours!

In the next month, you will socialize much more with others, especially in group situations. This is the perfect time to join a class or club. You have a strong desire now to talk to younger people and to inform others about something. Travel for pleasure as well as romance with people from different cultures or other countries is

likely. You might earn money through publishing, the media, medicine, the law, and higher education.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

The Sun is shining down and acting like a spotlight on you. This high viz. quality makes others notice you more than usual, especially bosses, parents, VIPs, teachers, and even the police. The good news is this great lighting makes you look favourable to others. That’s why you’ll be asked to take on increased responsibilities for something. People see you as competent, capable and resourceful. Ask for favours, loans, an increased budget, whatever. You might get it!

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

Opportunities to travel will broaden your horizons, along with opportunities in publishing, the media, medicine, the law, and higher education.

Actually, opportunities in these areas are going to stay with you for all of 2011. How cool is that? Therefore, be alert. (The world needs more lerts.)

Meanwhile, back in the boudoir, fair Venus opposite your sign right now sweetens partnerships and close friendships, while Mars hypes your sex drive as well. Now that’s a handy combo! (Ya think?)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

There are four planets now activating the part of your chart that influences how money comes to you from others.

This includes inheritances, as well as your relationship with banks, the government, and debt, taxes and insurance matters. Obviously, this also deals with the wealth and earnings of your partner, if you have one. Try to be patient, which might be tough when Mars is opposite your sign. Workrelated romance can blossom for some of you. People are attracted to your intensity!

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Because four planets now oppose your sign, your focus on partnerships and close friendships will be stronger than usual. But on the whole it’s a positive focus. Yes, you’re involved more than usual with others, but things look friendly, co-operative, and mutually beneficial. But it’s not all about work. Venus wants you to party, flirt, enjoy sports and slip away on a vacation if you can. Romance is also promising. Playful times with children will delight. Mucho fun and pleasure on the menu!

You’re focused on home, family, and domestic issues. Home repairs and family discussions will be significant.

However, in the bigger picture, you’re entering a year that is excellent for real-estate deals. And if you don’t explore real-estate deals, you can still benefit at home through feeling your family life is enriched. Indeed, many of you will expand your family through marriage, birth or adoption.

To be sure, your home and family will be a source of joy this year. You can count on this.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

You’re focused on your job scene because you want to accomplish a lot! This year is your chance to get a better job, a better boss, or better duties -- whatever. Some of you might put a new spin on your attitude about what you do. Who knows? You might suddenly like your job! (These things are possible.) And hey, not only can you improve your job scene, you can improve your health as well. (It’s also the year to enjoy small pets.) A bonus year!

Sagittarius(Nov.22-Dec.21) Not only do you have a great month ahead, you have a great year ahead! That’s because so many wonderful planets are now in a Fire sign, which dovetails beautifully with your Fire sign.)

This is a great month (and a great year) for romance, love affairs, vacations, the arts, working with children, and doing whatever is just fun and pleasure.

Yup, you’re big winner this year!

However, increased activity, chaos and tension on the home front require tolerance, discipline and patience. If necessary, fake it.

You’re running around as if you have an outboard motor on your ass. Not only are you running errands, taking short trips, and talking to everyone, you’re working hard to earn money and almost just as hard to spend it. But cash is flying. Some of your purchases should include wardrobe items because this is a good month to shop for clothing for yourself. It’s also easy to be charming and diplomatic with everyone. You’re happy with this accelerated pace.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Money, money, money! Suddenly, you’re focused on increased possibilities to boost your earnings or get a better job.

Looking good! Indeed, Jupiter has returned, for the first time in more than a decade, to boost your earnings! This will come about earlier or later, depending on when you were born. Trust your money-making ideas. This increased pressure about cash flow in general might be why you will welcome solitude in beautiful surroundings.

Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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Valley Voice Magazine. For people who love to eat, live, play and shop in the Cowichan Valley.

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