Big City, Little Homestead

Living rural in the city is great – you can do it, too.

Page 10 of 17

A seed library/catalog at the municipal library

February 23, 2018 / / 1 Comment

Once upon a time when I was at the Westmount Public Library, I saw something to get excited about: they’re reusing their old card catalog, situated near the main circulation (borrowing) desk, as a Seed Library.

I spoke with Daniel, who is responsible for it. It started in May 2016, and last year they reopened it in April 2017, when they learned that’s way too late for most gardeners. So this year, they’re opening the seed library on Monday, February 26. The quick explanation of what it is? “Free seeds for members for more than 50 varieties of plants. “

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Squirrel at window

Meet my squirrel! Mangey, but adorable.

January 13, 2018 / / 1 Comment

This little guy or girl comes by my backyard every day and raids my two bird feeders, sometimes with the help of another squirrel. Because it has sarcoptic mange, I’ve been concerned about its winter survival.

You can treat mange with ivermectin, selamectin, or any of the avermectins. These are insecticides that kill mites and other parasites (some internal worms, too) in pets and livestock.

Left without treatment, this squirrel will suffer fur loss and diminished immunity, not to mention being driven mad with the itching. It will also lose out on time better spent food gathering and stashing.

Finally, there’s an increased risk of transmitting it to other animals and species. I certainly don’t want this, though I’m not sure if mites that affect squirrels also affect birds.

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The payoff from my eco renovation — results from Hydro-Québec

December 27, 2017 / / 0 Comments

A quick note to readers from outside Quebec: now that the dams are over 40 years old, our hydroelectricity is probably the cleanest in the world (dams do produce GHGs via methane production, and have negative environmental effects by flooding ecosystems).

Electricity is also very inexpensive for Quebec residents. We pay a low rate on the first 36 kWh per day and a premium on the remainder we use to try to incentivize us to conserve energy. This premium is usually applied in the winter. We predominantly use electric heating.

This contextualizes the value of the kWh expressed in the article. Your mileage may vary depending on your own household energy mix; I hope it might encourage you to switch to non-petroleum/non-carbon-sourced energy for your needs.

For all the factors affecting your consumption of electricity and what you can do to reduce them, visit this page onHydro Quebec’s website.

It’s been a few years since I first published “Conserving Electricity in Winter,” so I thought it was time to do an update. In July, when the Equalized Payments period rolled over and I got the report, I posted the following status update to Facebook to celebrate my results:

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I couldn't resist getting a pair of rabbit babies to turn my figurine rabbit into a doting mother.

A Rewilding the Garden session

September 21, 2017 / / 2 Comments

Six weeks before the frost sets in (traditionally, Canadian Thanksgiving is the first-frost date, but it actually comes later), gardeners can often get an early start on the next year’s garden and crops. The six-week mark is perfect for doing transplants because roots are not likely to experience drought or heat stress. It gives them a chance to establish themselves before the coming winter.

I decided it was time for an event that I then publicized on EventBrite and Facebook: a fall-oriented gardening session to prepare a garden for next year and plant native species. This hands-on event for the avid or casual gardener was to be a collaborative learning opportunity about native and cultivated plants for biodiverse wildlife gardens. Attendees were also welcome to bring plants from their garden, for swapping with other gardeners.

So, Saturday morning, I got up early to make it up to Pepinière Jasmin – where you can always find some native/indigenous plants even at the end of the planting season. One of the native plant suppliers was Aiglon Indigo.

I got the following plants: 

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Mission

My mission is to spread appreciation for ecological resilience and encourage you to live a little closer to the land. I want people to take actions that increase the beauty, biodiversity, and climate-change readiness of our towns, cities, and regions. That begins with people who own property, but includes anyone who can just go forth and do something at hand, from planting a public space to persuading a company to create green space. 

Image credits

© myself, unless credited otherwise; all rights reserved. View my available photography  on Unsplash.

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Reach me by using the Comment form under the About BCLH menu. During seasonal work, my details are available by pop-up.

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