This is Spring?

Wayne and I planted our floating garden last week. It's an Easter tradition. Early spring planting results in baby lettuce by June. It also gives us time for one summer replanting for fall veggies.

We started by augmenting our soil. In Chippewa Bay we found beds of mulch leaves washed up on shore. We gathered four large tubs full along with several buckets of sand. We also got some steer manure and commercial plant food to add to the mix.

I made some changes this year. I usually plant potatoes in one garden float bed. This year I only planted potatoes in my hillside garden. It has increased in size, so now it can hold quite a few potatoes. Besides, it is the only thing I can grow that the critters will leave alone.

I found an excellent old pamphlet called Companion Planting and Intensive Cultivation by Nancy Lee Maffia (Rodale Press, 1989). It includes plant allies for mutual support and pest control, and enemies that shouldn't be planted together. It also covers plant space needs, succession planting and crop rotation. I learned to separate my onions and asparagus. Hopefully they will both do better. With an extra bed at my disposal, I planted more lettuce and spinach. I also tried beets for the first time. I love pickled beets in salads.

My herbs and strawberries made it through the winter. I cleaned out the old leaves and put sand under the berry plants. This acts like a mulch and helps keep the berries from rotting on soggy soil. A few plants were killed by grubs in the roots so I filled in the bare spots with volunteer plants. Immediately after planting was done we covered the beds with bird netting to prevent Junco Wars from happening again.

A few days after planting we had snow showers, but it didn't last long. The snow melted and sunshine re-warmed the soil. Some days it's hard to believe spring is really here.

Have you done your spring planting yet? How's it going for you? -- Margy

High Mountain Peaks

When we are at our float cabin on Powell Lake in Coastal BC we are surrounded by high peaks.

Using snowshoes we are able to get to a viewpoint overlooking the lake with spectatular snowcapped mountains in the distance (Beartooth, Knuckleheads, Freda and Tin Hat).

Sometimes we use our quads to get to other high viewpoints. Here is one overlooking Haslam Lake with Texada Island in the background.

Our good friend John likes to build trails just to get to high places like this. Trail building is hard work, but the benefits are well worth it.

Have you been thinking about coming to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics? Take a few extra days and come visit Powell River. It will be the "high" point of your vacation. -- Margy

Coastal BC Animals: Mountain Goats

Mountain Goats

During winter, snow in the high country drives mountain goats to lower slopes for food and comfort. On a recent boat trip to the head of Powell Lake, we saw fourteen grazing and frolicking on rocky patches closer to lake level. Usually it takes binoculars to find goats, but this time they were visible to the naked eye.

Mountain goats show up as yellowish-white dots against the dark granite outcrops. They are most evident when they leap from rock to rock, seeming to defy gravity. Two toes on each of their cloven hooves spread wide to give them greater stability and gripping power on rocky surfaces.

Down below in our Bayliner, we are spellbound. Each time we pass a likely cliff we slow to see if we could find some more goats. And each time we are rewarded with several excellent specimens. I wonder if they watch us from their lofty perches, thinking we are just as interesting.

My "Junk" Collection

It's amazing how much "junk" you can find out in the bush around Powell River in Coastal BC. As they say, one person's junk is another's treasure.

Our friend John was hiking when he spied a dilapidated fence which led him to an old shake blocker's cabin. The walls were gone, but the trusty wood stove looked like it was ready to get back to work.

Many logging operations left equipment behind when all the trees were harvested. Here's a winch that was used to move heavy logs down the mountain slopes.

Early logging took lots of manpower and many Chinese and Japanese immigrants were part of workforce. Here are some fragments found in a logging camp dump.

Thanks for looking through my junk (treasure) collection. -- Margy

Coastal BC Birds: Canada Geese

The Canada Geese have returned to Powell Lake. For the last two weeks we've heard their early morning calls as they take flight out of Hole in the Wall. This morning, Wayne saw a flight of about 25 birds in formation passing over our cabin and then banking in unison down First Narrows towards the lower part of Powell Lake.

The Canada Goose makes its nest near the water's edge. The Hole in the Wall is perfect since it is calm with a shallow shoreline. Mating-pairs are known to stay together for life. Mating occurs in the spring on the water. A clutch of 2-8 eggs hatch in about a month and the chicks grow to sufficient size in 6-7 weeks to begin flying. By late summer, it is hard to distinguish the kids from their parents, except for the order of the procession on land or in the water. Often, we will see the whole brood paddle out of the Hole past our cabin.

During summer, the Canada Goose goes through molting. The flight feathers that are worn out from long migratory trips are shed leaving the birds unable to fly for up to 8-10 weeks. During this flightless period they prefer areas near lakes or ponds for security from predators. When geese gather in large numbers during the molting season it can be very damaging to local vegetation, not to mention messy. Fortunately, in the Hole we usually only get one nesting pair. We enjoy their presence and look forward to Mom and Dad showing off the kids as they grow.

Do you have any bird stories yet? What's happening in your area? -- Margy

Saturday in Theo

We love to ride our quads to explore the bush around Powell River. Forest service and logging roads are normally open to the public after 6:00 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends or holidays. But some areas can be closed due to active logging and some operations work seven days a week. Fortunately, most companies notify the public via notices in the local paper or postings on the roads. In Powell River, Western Forest Products has a 24-hour info line at (604) 485-3132. You can also check with the following maps before heading out.

Western Forest Products
Powell River Community Forest

On a Saturday, we took our quads north to Theodosia. (Please note: The entrance to Theodosia is rated for more advanced riders.) Theo was once difficult to reach for the hardy pioneers who called it home. Our friend John lead us up Southview Road to the trail he built with the assistance of other ATV enthusiasts. Once in the Theodosia Valley, logging roads took us to the Olsen Valley. In the 20's, there were several families with cabins in this area and enough children for a school. But in the 60's, when hippies wanted to get back to the land, the cabins were burned. That is, all but one which was today's destination. The cabin reportedly belonged to an early Powell River "millionaire" who traveled up the lake by boat and then overland by Model-T Ford. It isn't much now, but it gives you a feeling for what it was like way back when families grew produce to supply the nearby logging camps.

From the cabin we continued along the logging road to Olson's Landing on Powell Lake. This is the same route many before have taken to carry logs and shake blocks to the paper mill and market. That purpose and path continues today. After a lunch at the camp area next to Olsen Creek we headed back to Olsen Lake on the way home.

It's a long ride, but the longer days of summer gave us enough sunlight to do it all at a leisurely pace. The weather was mostly sunny, but as we approached Theodosia Inlet we passed through a rain shower. I glanced in my mirror and here is what I saw. A fitting end to a wonderful day. -- Margy

Elvis Returns

On Powell Lake there's a point off Goat Island jutting out into the water that the locals call Elvis Point. A nearby float cabin owner loves Elvis Presley. As a present, a relative gave her a life size cutout of The King which she proudly displayed on the rocky promontory behind her cabin. Each season Elvis was lovingly restored.

Every time we go farther up the lake in our boat, we look to see what Elvis is doing. He faithfully stands day and night playing his guitar and singing his favourite tunes. Then one day, following a particularly savage wind storm, we noticed that Elvis had "left the building." It was a very sad occasion for us. We still check the point on every passage, but Elvis hasn't returned. But today, we caught a glimpse of him over at Olsen's Landing so maybe there's hope that he's just on a tour and will be returning home sometime soon. We sure hope so! -- Margy