Gabriola Island Lifestyle Blog

Archive for the ‘Healthy Living’ Category

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Gift Giving Gabriola Style

Monday, November 28th, 2011

This year I have made a pact that the majority of my Christmas gifts will be locally bought from our incredible selection of local merchants and artists. You may ask “How do you decide where to go as they are all so fantastic?” and you would be right! I usually start at the craft fairs in the hopes of finding locally crafted items to send to Ontario, sending them a little “Gabriola Style” every year. This year was fun (as usual) as I picked up items at “Crafted Booty” and the Rollo Center Christmas Craft Fair. As for my own family members here on Island I tend to shop around for them until I find the right thing that is just for them. The Gabriola Island Elementary School Christmas Craft Fair is this coming Saturday at the school and as well as the craft fair there is the Silent Auction where you can pick-up a plethora of local good and gift certificates to local merchants.

For your ease of shopping I will list some of my favorites for gifts big and small and some great ideas for stocking stuffers!

North Road Sports – Great clothing, shoes, and accessories for anybody in your life

Slice of Life Gallery – Local artists as well as imported items, bright colors and great atmosphere

Mad Rona’s – Gift certificates, apparel, and to-go cups

Woodfire Restaurant – Gift certificates and specialty foods

Village Liquor Store – Great selection of wines, beers, and scotch among others

Raspberries Cafe – Gift certificates

Artworks – Local artists, home decor, gift certificates, apparel, and so much more

Wooden Hanger – Lovely boutique clothing and accessories

IDA Pharmacy – Home wares, decorations, children’s toys, cards etc.

Village Foods – Specialty Foods and gift certificates

Robert’s Place Restaurant- Gift Certificates

Harvest Thyme Restaurant – Gift Certificates, books, and some gift wares

Colleen’s Home Center – Housewares, apparel, baby clothes and toys, shoes

Madd Art – Hemp clothing, giftwares

Silva Bay Pub and Restaurant – Gift Certificates

Gabriola Arts Council – list of all the artists that belong to GAC www.gabriolaartscouncil.org

And check out the Gabriola Chamber of Commerce webpage for more links to local businesses.

Have fun shopping…I know I will!

Posted in Buy Local, family life, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events, Kids, People, Shopping on Gabriola, The Arts, west coast, West Coast Living | No Comments »

Foraging on Gabriola

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

There are quite a number of plants that can be foraged for food on Gabriola. The spring and summer months offer a multitude of berries, oregon grape, young stinging nettle,  and tender greens; in the fall find rose hips and mushrooms. It is very satisfying to walk along mossy forest trails and spy a chanterelle mushroom, and where there is one there are usually more. Our favorite are the golden chanterelle but the white ones are good as well. Take them home, clean off the forest debris, leave them to dry for a couple of days, then fry them up with onions and olive oil – delicious!

Posted in Cooking, Flora and Fauna, Food, Healthy Living | No Comments »

Fall Fair

Monday, September 19th, 2011

It was a pleasant and sunny day, perfect for a fair! There was a good turnout and lots to look at with music as well. Being a somewhat rural community there was a nice selection of farm animals, including goats and rabbits, chickens, alpaca, a donkey and horses – all nicely groomed. There was a food section offering a taste of Gabriola, popcorn, corn on the cob and ice cream too. Raffles for fund raising, a display of an apple press with a wonderful sample of fresh apple cider, and a squash race that was met with hoots of excitement and appreciation. The home arts of cooking and sewing, drawings and flower displays and of course a great selection of garden vegetables were there to view, many with ribbons for the best, biggest or most amazing. We took the whole family, children, parents, grand parents and even great grandma – we all had a fun time!

Posted in Crafts, family life, Gardening on Gabriola, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events | No Comments »

The Daily Harvest

Sunday, September 11th, 2011

We had such a cool start to the summer that I thought the garden would never grow, but I was surprised, we are able to  pick a bountiful daily harvest of vegetables – enough for three families. We used sea weed and compost this year and the result has been market quality. When there is too much we can give the excess to the local food bank.

Posted in Cooking, Food, Gardening on Gabriola, Healthy Living | No Comments »

Camping…

Friday, July 29th, 2011

We were able to spend 4 days and 3 nights camping at Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island and the trip was spectacular! The weather cooperated and it felt like summer the entire time which for anybody who has been on the west coast this summer knows those days have been few and far between. We had one of the nicest if not the nicest campsite we have ever found with a beautiful waterfront to spend our afternoons sitting in the sun gazing out across the lake.  Just moments away was a wonderful swimming beach complete with raft for diving off of.  The kids adored this place and were quite sad that we had to pack up and come home. So lucky that this is only a short trip from home, about 2 hours from Gabriola.

Posted in Camping on Vancouver Island, Daytripping on Vancouver Island, family life, Flora and Fauna, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Kids, west coast, West Coast Living | No Comments »

Sea Weed

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 »

Gabriola Agriculture

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 »

Snow Day

Monday, January 10th, 2011

It was a beautiful day yesterday, the snow fell most of the night and the clouds parted to give us a beautiful and sunny winter day.  The kids and the dog spent as much time as possible outside knowing that the snow never stays long enough for their liking.  We went for a wonderful afternoon walk and came in to have hot chocolate and oatmeal cookies. It was a wonderful day!

Posted in family life, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Kids, Recreation on Gabriola, Weather, west coast, West Coast Living | No Comments »

Gone Fishing

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Kissinger Lake is about a two hour drive from the Gabriola Ferry on Vancouver Island just past Cowichan Lake. This pretty little spot belongs to Timber West who offers it as a forestry campground and they stock it with rainbow trout making it a favorite destination for campers and fisher-people. There are no gas powered engines allowed so it is very peaceful there. With the warm temperatures and sunny skies of this past week we had to make one last trip out for the season. There is a little dock to dive and fish from and a gravel beach. At this time of year there are also some great patches of  chanterelle mushrooms which are wonderful cooked over a campfire. There are some good walking opportunities in the area as well but you have to keep an eye out for bear who are also plentiful!

Posted in Camping on Vancouver Island, Food, Healthy Living, Weather | No Comments »

Last Swim

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

I fully believe this is my last swim of the year, at least on this side of the border. We escaped from Gabriola and had a wonderful few days at Pine Point on Cowichan lake. The first day was warm and sunny, and the water temperature was very comfortable so I swam every day. On the way home we stopped at Russell farm and bought local corn – really yummy! Our next stop was Frederich’s Farm in Cedar where we bought 12 pounds of blackberry honey. This was fresh from the hives and the bees were swarming in the honey storage room and outside, but they seemed friendly enough. Next time we visit this farm we are hoping for fir honey which is our favorite.

Posted in Buy Local, Camping on Vancouver Island, Healthy Living, Weather | No Comments »

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