Traced Elements contributor, change-agent and local gardening guru, Dawn Johnson spoke recently on food security in this podcast with host Kim Slater, for the Community Foundation of Whistler's Vital Signs project.Listen to the conversation here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcpkfA-eTjA Global food security is not …
Category: musings
Take Only What We Need
It was 1989, I was in Grade 12. It was right around the time when David Suzuki started showing up outside the Nature of Things to talk of global warming (or climate change as it is now more accurately reported). …
Calgary Eats: A Cookbook Review
A few weeks back, I ordered Calgary Eats because a number of signs told me to. My favourite food photographer & YouTuber Joanie Simon was working on Phoenix Cooks - another Figure 1 Publishing book. I’d seen the stunning cover …
Unearthed: why mushrooms are the perfect symbol for the Dark Season, and why it’s totally okay for you to do LESS this Christmas
Sometimes when I tell myself to breathe, it triggers panic – as if by drawing attention to this innate, unconscious, automatic action, breathing in and out suddenly becomes improbably difficult. Meditation, swimming laps, yoga… all these experiences often contain a …
Processing Vacation on Order for 2020
I think we ran out of frozen peaches in April 2019. Corn even sooner. May was tough. That transition between enjoying the previous seasons’ harvest and the new harvest felt like eons. Even though, I do tend to allow myself …
Wonder really is a survival skill
I read this quote as I skimmed The Curious Nature Guide: Explore the Natural Wonders All Around You, by Clare Walker Leslie and it stuck with me. It's at the heart of what I hope my kids get out of school... and life, …
A question of growth
My garden is a bit of a shitshow. And so am I. It's probably dangerous to connect these dots - that how you grow is a pretty accurate reflection of your personality. I don't operate in a linear way. But …
My top 10 best farming and gardening practices
10 . BE PASSIONATE. Always remember despite the ups and downs you are doing something that you LOVE to do. If you don't, the negative results will come through in your product and others will ingest that. Treat it as …
The Do Over
My favorite strip in the ol’ daily commute is in full bloom: Dogwood Row aka the false flat of Nairn Falls. When this magical time finally happens I know spring has officially arrived. These native beauties symbolizes this time of …
A Farmer’s Ode to the Cabbage
Prepping dinner in late February. Note "green onions", carefully harvested from some storage onions that decided it was time to start sprouting. Note: This post the product of a farmer itching for the snow to melt, of Lisa Richardson's gentle …
