Bees to Meet You!

There are a few species of bees you may see in the Lower Mainland right now. I'm posting some photos of my recent sightings. Can you find these bees?

 This beautiful shaggy bumblebee is Bombus mixtus. The red on its thorax is at the very tip, which helps to identify its species.

This is the yellow-headed bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii), the most common bumble you'll see in the Lower Mainland. When you are taking photos of bees see if you can get a photo of their face, back, and side, especially that back leg. This will help to determine if the back leg has pollen baskets, which would make it a female bee.

 This one is  Bombus flavidus. See how long and narrow her "chin" is? She also has orange on her abdomen. At this time of the year you'll see queens and some workers, but usually not any males yet.

This is a female blue orchard mason bee. Most of the males have mated and departed, but these ladies are pollinating the cherry trees and will soon be ensuring a good crop of apples in our city fruit trees.

These blue orchard bees have hair bellies to carry their pollen, but as you can see, they do also carry a bit of pollen on their butt!

This beautiful golden bee is an Andrena mining bee.

Here's another species of Andrena, much darker and a bit larger than a honey bee.

After the females emerge and mate and start laying eggs in their nests, you will start to see cuckoo bees trying to sneak in the holes to go down the tunnel and lay their eggs. This happens at the hottest time of the day when the females leave the nest to forage for pollen.

This is a Sphecodes cuckoo bee with a blood red abdomen.You'll see her skulking around the nests of true bees.

This is a Nomada cuckoo bee, which even has red eyes.

There are also insects that mimic bees: the wannabees.
 

This is a hoverfly, flower fly syrphid fly that drinks nectar and it's larvae eat aphids.

This furry critter is a bee fly (Bombiliidae). Their larvae prey on bees, wasps and beetles.

These are a few of the bees and wannabees you might see in the Lower Mainland during Earth Week. If you take a photo, crop it in to show as much detail of the insect as you can and then post it to iNaturalist sharing details about what the insect was doing and whether it was on a particular plant.  If the insect can be identified by an expert, it may be a useful scientific observation. These kinds of observations can help us build better habitat for our pollinators and other garden helpers.

Ad Hoc Plots

My friend Erin Despard has been using plastic and foil packets for seedlings--an idea I quickly adapted. I also use milk cartons to grow peas because they grow up fast before the container can rot. Just be sure to poke holes in the bottom of your garden hack containers for drainage.

Artists Jenn Pearson and Sauha Lee have noticed evidence of the boom in home gardening. They've been scouting out "ad hoc plots" in their neighborhoods. Adhoc plots is a shared collective and virtual space meant to celebrate: DIY, experimental, and resourceful gardening projects. Find them on Instagram @adhoc_plots.


Have you seen examples of these improvised Victory Gardens near you? Check out some of the history of the original WWI Victory Gardens in this blog post.

Lois Klassen and I also did some work around this in 2008. Read more about that on her blog here (1), here (2) and here (3).

I would also encourage you to check out this lovely post in Beside Magazine, passing on the knowledge of elders, on how to make a mini greenhouse out of an old window.

I've been growing veggie and herb starts for our plots at Terra Nova. Here you can see purple cauliflower, dragonhead (smells and tastes like lemon balm), calendula and marigolds which will be used for dye, and my favourite fruit: ground cherries.

I've found that walking down back alleys is less stressful than negotiating with the shared space of the sidewalk and discovered some secret gardens.

This backyard is completely converted to a trellis for squash and gourds.

This is another garden with trellises and plots. That's goji berry growing up on the side.

Here's some ad hoc pots and boxes in the hood.

Photo by Jenn  Pearson

I like the use of the lawn chair for some extra height.

Photo by Jenn Pearson

I'm not sure what function the orange plastic serves in these garlic plots.

Photo by Jenn Pearson

I like the detail of the rock and pine cone collection! I hope this has inspired you to create your own ad hoc plots! Let get gardening!!!!

Putting the Fun in Funnel Cakes!

Putting the Fun in Funnel Cakes

Why not try something you’ve never made before? Something that has a “special occasion” feel to it? The only time I’ve had funnel cakes in at the Main Street Car Free Day Festival. They were made to order and served piping hot with icing sugar sprinkled on top. What are funnel cakes? Basically just pancake batter dripped into an inch of hot oil and fried on either side. You put the batter into a standard kitchen funnel and swirl it round and round until it forms a lacy cake. It’s fun and delicious and if you have teenagers at home, this is a good special occasion treat for them to learn how to make. It’s also easier to make with two people, so good for developing cooperation skills in the kitchen. It’s messy, kinda goofy and fun!!

Start with a small batch first, to get the hand of it, and then double it once you’ve got the confidence.

You’ll need a small frying pan that you can put about an inch of oil inside for frying.

Ingredients:

1 egg

½ cup milk (I used milky masala chai I had in the fridge)

2/3 cup water

½ tsp vanilla

1 ½ c AP flour

1/8 c sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground cardamon seeds

Sunflower oil for frying.

Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls and then mix together until combined.

Heat the oil until a drop of batter fries and turns golden.

Here’s the fun part: Take a half cup measure and fill it with batter. Have your assistant hold the funnel and put their finger under the bottom to plug the hole. Put the batter in the funnel. Your assistant will then carefully unplug the hole over the middle of the pan and start swirling the batter around and around to make a lacy cake. 

When it’s golden and stiff use a slotted spoon to turn it over to fry the other side. Lift out and drain on paper towels. If the batter seems too thick to drop, add a bit more water. If it’s too thin, add a bit of flour.

Serve warm with icing sugar mixed with cardamon powder. Enjoy!

Daily Moss

 Some of my friends have been taking photos of moss every day and I have joined them on this quest. It's simple. When you go outside to get some fresh air and fill your senses from nature's offerings just find some moss. I confess I don't know much about moss, and I think that's part of its appeal. It's sensual delights comfort me and give the cognitive part of my brain a rest.

 Even the labels I put on the photo files have the quality of found poetry:

finger moss
oak moss
birch moss
fairy moss
carpet
bee nest
nuzzle
mood
salmonberry petal
poplar bud 

There are clues to the phenology: detritus from trees and shrubs fall on the moss and lay there like a seasonal gift.

I notice the company moss keeps: bark textures and the lichens they like to nudge up against. Cling to. Like I would like to cling to you. This pleasure now forbidden, seems even more desirable.

 I notice how they change when it rains, drinking in the moisture and giving us the gift of their viridity.

Hidden, subtle, ubiquitous, and never boring, moss is a good companion. An introvert we can share out secrets with. The longing.

 The moss would like you to admire its beauty. Daily.

You don't have to know its botany, chemistry or astronomy. It is there for you to love unconditionally.

It soaks up the harsh sounds of the city and mean gossip and transforms it into a gentle murmur of assurance.

It holds time for next time.

It doesn't need labels because it know that stickers and price tags are not far behind.

It is moss. It is.

Economiyake

I am finding great comfort in repetitive tasks. Sorting and editing photos, washing the dishes, weeding and making many many pancakes. It started with crêpes. One of the last foods I ate before the lockdown was a delicious crêpe at the Vancouver Farmer's market. I recreated that experience and its flavors over and over again as if I thought it would make some kind of magic that would turn back time. Then I switched to a Japanese vegetable pancake called okonomiyake. My pancakes are based on the traditional recipe, which varies from region to region. The great thing about okonomiyaki is that it’s a great way to use up stuff in your fridge and you can overcome boredom by making it with different vegetables every time.  So I've started calling my recipe 'economiyake'.

The trick is getting the ration of batter to veg right. Start with a lot of batter and a few veg and then work your way up to having more veg in the ratio. That way you’ll learn to eyeball it and improvise after many many days of making economiyake.

There are local culinary artists making really cook ferments these days and they make okonomiyaki zippy and tasty. I used this spicy red cabbage, butternut curry kraut and this pickled kohlrabi. I 've also added some chopped mshrooms, onions and brussel sprouts which I just sautéed with a bit of salt in olive oil. I've also used nettles, asparagus, and dandelion greens. Have fun and mix it up!

You know how hard it is to find flour right now--well you can experiment using different kinds of flour in this recipe. I have used wheat, spelt, buckwheat and chickpea flower. This way you also get different nutrients in your diet. This recipe makes four small pancakes. You can easily double or triple it.

1/4 c unbleached white flour
1/4 c stone ground spelt
a bit of salt or soya sauce or liquid from ferments
1/2 c water
1 beaten egg
about 1/8 cup chopped veg

Mix the dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients, but not the veggies.  Make sure the pancake batter is evenly mixed and then stir in the veg. When you spoon the batter onto the hot, oiled pan, spread the veggies out evenly so they cook through.

 Flip over and cook the other side.

The two sauces you serve on top are mayo and a kind of ketchup. Right now I'm using chipotle mayo for some extra spice. To make the ketchup, I just mix a tiny dollop of Worcestershire sauce into a couple tbs of ketchup. Sometimes I add chili sauce for some heat. The final garnish is ribbons of nori which I simply cut up with kitchen scissors.

I usually drink kombucha with this in the morning and for an afternoon snack. This morning I put some mozzarella on top and I must say, it was a guilty pleasure I enjoyed thoroughly. Try something new and cook up some economiyake today!

For another great idea, check out author Hiromi Goto's instruction on how to make homemade onigiri.

And check out her wonderful web site!

The Ancient Wisdom of Horsetail

A small group of us were able to do some (safely distanced) gardening at Terra Nova yesterday. We found the beds full of field horsetail (Equisetum arvense). Such a fascinating plant! Equisetums are related to plants from the Carboniferous period. They were here before the dinosaurs! Giant horsetail forests have become the stored carbon that became the fuels we use now in our everyday lives. This ancient plant connects us to the past. Contemporary gardeners see this plant as a nasty weed that interferes with their garden plans, and try to kill it with herbicides. We really need to see the benefits of this plant and learn to work around it and make good use of it.

There are plants with thin stems and thick stems. The thick stems develop flower-like structures that produce powdery spores—a dust that is similar to pollen. Why is it called horsetail? Some people think it looks like the tail of a horse. I think it looks more like a squirrel tail. What do you think?

The plants are high in silica and the gritty stems have been used by Coast Salish as a sandpaper to finish surfaces of wooden objects. The plants were also useful as pot scrubbers.

Did you know you can take a bath with this plant? If you put it in your tub it will help you have shiny hair and strong fingernails because of the minerals in the horsetail.  Since it's high in Magnesium it will help soothe aching muscles, just like epsom salts. I like to make a bath tub tea bag so the plant material doesn't make a mess. It would also make an awesome foot bath/scrub for tired and aching feet.

Lori Snyder makes an infused vinegar (acetum) with field horsetail. Simply loosely fill a jar with young plants (not older than two months) and fill the jar with apple cider vinegar. Infuse for 2-6 weeks and then strain and use it to make a mineral rich salad dressing.

CAUTION: This is a medicinal plant. Only use young shoots and ingest sparingly.

 

When it’s time for me to put my veggie and flower starts in the ground I walk around the back alleys and collect horsetail and dry it in my back porch. Then I crumble it up and sprinkle it on the soil around the plants to deter slugs. This also gives the soil a mineral boost. Plant diva Cease Wyss says it’s like Viagra for your soil! Just be sure to wear a mask when working with the dry plant to avoid inhaling the silica dust. 

For more information, please check out these links:

Emery Herbals

Yarrow Willard 

Please support Cease Wyss's Tea Company: Raven Hummingbird Tea

Hummingbirds and Spring Bees

Last night I dreamt a hummingbird hovered to close to my face she was a blurr. She landed on my hand and I felt the lightness of her, and her soft wings. In many cultures, hummingbirds are sacred, carrying messages of hope and solace, a symbol of resilient beauty.

This reminded me of an experience I had 17 years ago which inspired me to write the poem below. I'm surprised at how relevant it is to me today.

a hummingbird in the house

Patiently, she waited for me

on the windowsill of the cabin,

breathing lightly,

as if this moment had been destined to happen

for a long time.

waiting is lost time

She had tried to fly through the windows that look onto Storm Bay.

when will this be over?

My instinct was simply to pick her up and let her go,

and so I did.

We entered this lost time together.

She flew away instantly,

the bird that is a ghost,

halfway in this world and yet of the next.

waiting is wasted time

I looked anxiously at the Dharma clock.

we wait

we pray

we sing

and then we fly through an open door

LDW July13/03, for H

Hummingbirds also remind me of my friend Donna Lewis, who had a real affinity for them. I called her my sweet hummingbird.


And here's my first attempts at videoing the bees that inspire me so much. Bit of a learning curve, but it's coming!

Here's my first attempt at a video of a bumble bee queen in the White Icicle currant bush.

Here's a worker bumble bee in lungwort.