Gabriola Island Lifestyle Blog
Archive for the ‘greener living’ Category
Monday, July 11th, 2011
There were two curious little girls who were able to spend an afternoon exploring within a fairytale land. There were dragon’s, castles, lush greenery, faeries and so much more!
This past Saturday the girls went and explored the wonderful Once Upon a Time art market/tea house here at a private residence on Gabriola. There were 16 artists, a tea house, faeries and more located in beautiful lush gardens making it a very magical experience for all.
This beautiful dragon and its rider is made from foam found on the beach then carved and felted, absolutely stunning!
Posted in family life, Flora and Fauna, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gardening on Gabriola, greener living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Holidays and Special Events, Kids, People, Shopping on Gabriola, The Arts, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
One of the wonderful things about living close to the ocean is seaweed. It is the best fertilizer for your garden and so easy to collect from the beach, plus it’
s free. We have a small trailer that we hook up to our car and use garbage cans to transport the seaweed from the beach. Seaweed breaks down quickly, adds trace minerals to the soil, and does not promote weed growth like horse manure does. Some of our most productive vegetable gardening years have been due in part to seaweed. This picture was taken at Pilot Bay on Gabriola.
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, Gardening on Gabriola, greener living, Healthy Living | No Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
I have been spending a fair amount of time looking online at farm co-op’s and how they are started and run. I looked at Glen Valley farm’s website located in the Fraser Valley and was inspired by what they have created there, a successful model of co-operative organic agriculture. The goals of this co-op is below and a model like this could work on Gabriola :
The original goals of the co-op when established in 1998 remain priorities today and figure into our decision-making processes. These goals are to:
- provide access to certified organic food for shareholders and the local community;
- own and operate the farm co-operatively;
- steward the entire farm for the mutual benefit of the land, wildlife and people;
- be a model of sustainable living; and
- create opportunities to learn about sustainability.
Shareholders and friends of the farm meet regularly for a shared meal and meeting. All major decisions for the co-op are achieved through concensus. We believe this process helps to ensure that issues are carefully thought through before action is taken, that it gives everyone a voice in the process, which results in much greater buy-in by all participants.
Check out their website for more information at http://glenvalleyorganicfarmcoop.org/ and a local blog from a Gabriola group who is quite involved with the slow food movement at http://www.goal-2025.com/
Posted in Food, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gardening on Gabriola, greener living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, West Coast Living | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 17th, 2011
They have told us to be prepared for one of the coldest winters on record. Yesterday, as if mother nature was thumbing her nose at the whole idea, the afternoon temperature crept up to an absolute balmy 15 C and sunny. We spent the afternoon outside walking in the woods and checking out our pond which is much larger than usual (In the picture the pond usually ends at the brush in the background). The girls had a blast pretending to fish and splashing in the water. What a treat in the middle of what should have been a winter day!
Posted in family life, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, greener living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Kids, People, west coast, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
How easy it is to grow and how beautiful when harvested. We grew garlic for the first time this year. Just plant cloves in the fall and they are ready to harvest in late July, no fuss they almost take care of themselves. And they are out of the ground early enough to mak
e a last planting of bush beans in their stead! We are so pleased with the result that this will be a yearly crop for us.
Posted in Food, Gardening on Gabriola, greener living, Healthy Living | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
It is amazing what you discover is in your backyard just by googling something somewhat unrelated. While searching for Belvedere Farm whilst writing the previous blog I stumbled across “Supply Line Organic Foods Buyers Club”
which is accepting orders for Gabriola residents for the next 2 weeks, May 4- May 16, 2010. Very excited I browsed throught the online store and am very excited to receive flours, sugar, oats, dried fruit, lentils etc. in bulk, all organic and well priced. A fantastic end to my great day, and again I say “I love this place”!
Posted in Buy Local, Cooking, Food, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, greener living, Healthy Eating, Shopping on Gabriola, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Tomorrow the girls will be heading off to the farm…Gabriola’s Belvedere Farm to be exact. A wonderful old homestead farm located at the South end of Gabriola, Belvedere farm is a beautiful piece of farmland in an amazing setting. The Hope Center preschool with it’s fabulous teachers, amazing kids, and helpful parents are in for an afternoon full of sheep, lambs, gardens, barns and countless other exciting surprises. Both the girls are looking forward to seeing the animals and I am sure I will hear all about it amongst the plea’s for a lamb of their very own. This island has so much to offer that the field trips are rich and educational without ever having to hop on the ferry, we are very grateful for being here!
Posted in family life, Flora and Fauna, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, greener living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Kids, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
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A timber frame raising took place at the Gabriola Commons, the result of a huge volunteer effort. The timber frame structure was donated by the Island School of Building Arts and will house farming equipment at first. The plan is to finish the building using a number of green building techniques such as strawbale, cordwood and rammed earth and alternative power. This will be an interesting project to observe, complemented by a recently built cob wall.
Posted in Gabriola Living, greener living, Healthy Living, The Arts, volunteering | No Comments »
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Robyn & Carly McMahon and unlicensed assistant Lesley McMahon, your Gabriola Island Real Estate Sales Team