Farming in the North: The Poultry Problem

Farming in the north is more challenging, so sign on to the We Want Northern Chicken campaign to ask for fairer marketing board rules!

In the French River area as in the rest of Northern Ontario, chicken farmers (and their egg and dairy counterparts) are faced with challenges unknown to Southern neighbours, but yet must play the same game. The rule makers are concerned with profits, not food security. And so, farming in the north is more difficult than many people may […]

Snowshoe Hiking in French River and Area [Photo Album]

Snowshoe hiking to French River's Récollet Falls surprised us — we expected the water to be frozen!

The snow’s pretty much all gone here and I doubt it’s really coming back for a while. That’s not counting the potential Easter road closures — it always has to happen when people have somewhere to be — or the usual April snowstorm and July hail. We managed to go snowshoe hiking in French River quite a bit, […]

Amy Miller’s The Carbon Rush: Fighting the Climate Crisis for Social Justice

The Carbon Rush DVD and book

The Carbon Rush, which screened last fall at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, is Sudbury-born Amy Miller’s latest social justice documentary. While its topic is environmental, the film’s theme is political. Motivated by a desire to exploit Canada’s role on the international carbon market, Miller found she first needed to explain what offset projects are and who they […]

Vermicomposting With Help From Friendly Worm Guy

Newly mixed bin contents

Worms may not be something people would normally want in their kitchens, but Marc and I have kept a bin of them in ours for fifteen months now and have grown to respect them (if not quite love them) as much as our pets and laying hens. In November 2011, we joined a vermicomposting workshop in Sudbury offered […]

Discovering Canadian Wilderness Through Group of Seven Art

Thompson Rapids, Magnetawan River (Reproduction of the painting by Pierre AJ Sabourin).

I wrote this article for Pierre AJ Sabourin, and although it’s about art history more than anything else, it’s also a good travel and outdoor adventure piece. It truly is a great guide to discovering Canadian wilderness through Group of Seven art. Writing it inspired me to try some art-oriented hikes this summer, so keep an eye out […]

Kombucha Tea 201: Tips and Tools

Glass of kombucha tea wrapped in a red, white, and green striped holiday bow.

I’m not much of one to equate the New Year with new beginnings, bummed as I get by snow and darkness, which is maybe the reason why half-hearted resolutions never work for me. This year, though, I feel like looking forward to the future’s opportunities is somehow more meaningful. Perhaps having entered the Age of Aquarius has already […]

Hiking in Ontario: Fave Photos [Album]

Marsh along Mashkinonje Provincial Park's Atakas Trail

This post of my favourite photos of hiking in Ontario has been a long time coming, but I figure it’s better than an album! And what better time than the holiday break to sort through old photos of hiking in Ontario and take a trip down memory lane? Pics of hiking in Ontario are from anytime between 2008 […]

Boreal Forest Teas: Sip Happy, Sip Healthy

Northern Lights tea beside by an elegant tea setting.

When you close your eyes and picture yourself taking a deep breath over a steaming cup of tea, you imagine a relaxing moment, whether the setting you conjure involves sitting at a window side on a rainy spring day, reading by a lakeside early on a bright summer morning, strolling through colourful countryside on a crisp autumn afternoon, […]

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