April 2021 Issue 149 by Cowichan Valley Voice

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APRIL 2021 ISSUE 149 HAPPY EARTH DAY! I GREAT BLUE HERON CAM I LOCAL ARTS I GOING SOLAR

April 2021 Issue 149 Cowichan Valley Voice Magazine Publisher Richard Badman Editor Sheila Badman Contact us at: editor@cowichanvalleyvoice.com 250 746 9319 6514 Wicks Rd, Duncan BC V9L 5V2 Visit us online at www.cowichanvalleyvoice.com Distribution Proofreader Calendar & Masthead Jasmine Oberste Diana Pink Angela Sheppard Sheila & Richard Badman Advertising Enquiries Please Contact us at info@cowichanvalleyvoice.com for A rate card, monthly offers and print ad specials. Next Ad Deadline April 15 for May 2021 Issue 150 *Non Profit Community Ad Rates available please enquire. COMMUNITY CALENDAR LISTINGS ARE FREE! Next EVENTS DEADLINE April 15 for May 2021 Issue 150 E-mail: Date, Event Title, Time, Location and Cost w/ subject “EVENT” to events@cowichanvalleyvoice.com Cowichan Valley Voice Magazine reserves the right to, omit and/or edit submitted listings due to space limitations SPECIAL THANKS TO FOLLOWING VALLEY VOICES Karen Bernard, Alicia Fall, Craig Spence, Leeann Froese, David A. Johnson, Barnes and Maracle, Chris Turyk, Tamara Dinter, Sarah Allan, David Coulson, Guy Dauncey, Kat Gordon, Sheila Badman, Brian Horwitz, Guy Johnston, Dawn Howlett, Rupert Koyote, Dr. Lyn Pascoe, Rick Stordeur, Alistair MacGregor, Tessa Stiven, Tina Foster, Denise D’Fantis, Terence Miranda, Tyler Hoffman, Susan Down, Mervon Bowman, Shiloh Badman, Rommy Verlaan, Vedrana Ashcroft, Suzan Kostiuck, Patty Abbott, Donna Shaw, Nicola Constantine Macdonald, Chantey Dayal, Silvia Graber, John Magdanz, Bill Hibberd, Debbie Wood, Stephanie Waddington, Tracey Hanson, Amy Clinton-Baker, Barry Hetschko, Melissa Brown, Jules Sherred, The lovely Georgia Nicols, Nicolette Genier, Cindy Jolin and the Wonderful Staff at the Community Farm Store. Cover Image: Great Blue Heron by Barry Hetschko Barry was born and raised in Vancouver and moved to the Cowichan Valley in 1986. Barry purchased his first camera in early 2011 and photography became a passion. Which in turn kindled a keen interest in birds and nature. “We are so fortunate to have a Heron Colonie in Cowichan Bay. With Great Blue Heron being one of my favorite birds for photography. They are a large bird. They forage mostly by standing still or walking very slowly. They will fly by with slow rhythmic wingbeats. With the right setting and lighting. Herons can be one of the most rewarding bird to photograph.” We welcome your story ideas & photo submissions; however Cowichan Valley Voice Magazine reserves the right to omit and/ or edit all submissions for space, clarity, content and style. The opinions expressed in Valley Voice Magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, publishers or other contributors. Please send a query e-mail with your suggested topic prior to sending your article as space is limited and may not always be available. Valley Voice Magazine is distributed through 450 + select locations throughout the Cowichan Valley- Malahat, Mill Bay, Shawnigan Lake, Cherry Point, Duncan, Cowichan Bay, Crofton, Chemainus and Salt Spring Island and to Cowichan Lake, Ladysmith, Victoria, Tofino and Parksville

OUR COMMUNITY Easter 7 Help Feed Cowichan Families 10 A Green Economic Recovery 22 OUR Ecovillage 25 Growing a National Soil Strategy 47 Celebrate Earth Day with Shawnigan Lake Montessori 54 Sunrise Waldorf School Open House 55 Community Farm Store 67 Cowichan Valley Disability, Culture and Food 68 April Forecasts 69 Directory of Local Services 70-71 LOCAL FOOD & DRINK Local Farm Fresh Eggs 8-9 Spring Brunch Pairings 12 The World of Matcha 13 For The Love Of Cod 15 The Brilliance of Bubbles 16-17 BC Prawn Fisherman Need Your Help to Protect Their Livelihood 36 Olive Station Toasted Sandwich 40 HOME & GARDEN Healthy Soil, Healthy Gardens, Healthy Planet! 24 Going Solar:How it Works 26-27 Zero Waste Refill Bar at Chemainus Health Food Store 29 Energy Efficient Whether We Like it or Not 30-31 Rainwater Collection 32 How to Co-Purchase and Thrive on a Landshare 34-35 Earth Day’s Organic Cotton Lesson 38 Eldership And Land-Based Community Connection 50 Growth Harvesting 52 Let The Light Shine In! 65 LOCAL ARTS The Long and the Short of the CVCAS’s 20th Year 11 CVAC April Update 18 Cowichan Artisans Spring Tour 19 New chapter opening for Valley writers 20 Valley Voices 21 Soothing Sounds For The Earth 28 A Thriving Arts and Cultural Community 48-49 A Passionate Painter 60 BODY, MIND & SOUL Local Poet Releases New Book 14 Anxiety, Calming The Chaos Within 41 Go Green and be Clean! 42 Matraea Centre 43 Dr. Pascoe’s Tips For Healthy Skin 44 The Global Evolution of Acupuncture 45 Finding your Light with Cowichan Family Life 46 Sound Advice 51 A Natural Approach To Seasonal Allergies 58 Nourishing Your Nervous System 66 PETS, RECREATION & NATURE The Great Cowichan Valley Trail Rides 53 Let the Pollinating Begin 59 Wildlife Passes Through Our Yard 61 Great Blue Heron-Cam Now Live! 62 Lucky Dog Corn Chip Feet…63 Finding Your Perfect Puppy 64

APRIL EVENTS Robert Sears Magic Realist Painter Cowichan Valley Arts Council Annex 2687 James St, Duncan Mon-Fri 11-4pm Sat 12-4pm Runs to 04/10 1 Pamper Yourself online auction supporting Cowichan Family Life View & bid on CFLA’s FB page 250-748-8281 runs to 04/23 1 Teen Gardening Thursdays 3-4:30pm 5789 Alderlea St, Duncan Runs 04/ 8/15/22/29 FREE 3 Healing Anger Workshop 11-2pm Cowichan Family Life #28 127 Ingram St, Duncan preregistration req’d 250-7488281 runs 04/10/17/24 $75 4 Easter at Hub. Appointments starting at 10am. The Hub at Cowichan Station. $20 per family bubble. Book at cowichanhub.ca 6 History Trivia Quiz Episode 7 FREE www. millbaymalahathistory.com 6-13 Registration for Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show Show runs May 1-22 www. cowichanvalleyartscouncil.ca Ask Me Anything Stream of Consciousness Event What is your Pivot Plan? Integrating Digital Tech into Your World 11am-12:30pm contact events@ ourecovillage.org for zoom link 7 Jump Into Music Classes for kids 6mo- 4yrs, 9:30am 10:20am Shawnigan Lk CC Begins 04/08 Duncan Cowichan CC www.jumpintomusic.ca $112 (8 weeks) 8 Love Your Pillow Sale 10-25% off pillows Resthouse 126 Station St, Duncan Runs to 04/30 9 Jump Into Music Classes for kids 6mo - 4yrs, 10am - 10:50am Ladysmith CC $112 (8 weeks) 10 Virtual Kindergarten Open House Sunrise Waldorf School 10-11:30am admissions@ sunrisewaldorfschool.org 250-743-7253 10 Awake Youth Arts Showcase Cowichan Valley Arts Council Gallery 2687 James St, Duncan Mon-Fri 11-4pm Sat 12-4pm Runs to 04/24

11 Introduction to Botanical Drawing Coloured Pencil 4 week course CVAC w/ Jeannette Sirois manager@ cowichanvalleyartscouncil.ca 11 Cowichan Folk Guild AGM 1pm via Zoom cowichanfolkguild.ca FREE 12 Warmland Calligraphers Exhibition Cowichan Valley Arts Council Annex 2687 James St, Duncan Runs to 04/26 12 Cowichan Valley Naturalists’, 9:30 am, Why Rain Gardens? by Deborah Jones cvns@ naturecowichan.net for the zoom link. Everyone Welcome. 14 Warmland Book & Film Collective Two Old Women: an Alaska Legend of Betrayal Courage & Survival by Velma Wallis 5-7pm online warmlandcollective@gmail.com 14 Spiritual Upliftment & Conversation w/ three local Baha’i friends call for link Laurice Tim & Lee 250-748-2585 15 Happy Birthday Soul Escape Spa tax-free all day prize draws & giveaways 109-2673 Beverly St, Duncan (Thrifty’s Plaza) 17 BC Greens AGM Zoom 122pm cwv@bcgreens.ca to RSVP 19 Parade Puppets learn to make large format puppets Online demonstration ages 12+ $20 manager@ cowichanvalleyartscouncil.ca 20 Cowichan Valley Naturalists’ Cowichan Lake Lamprey: Our Local Wonder Genevieve Singleton 7pm cvns@ naturecowichan.net for zoom link Everyone Welcome 20 History Trivia Quiz Episode 8 millbaymalahathistory.com FREE 23-25 Cowichan Artisans Spring Studio Tour 10-5pm cowichanartisans.com FREE 24 Virtual Preschool Open House Sunrise Waldorf School 10-11:30am admissions@ sunrisewaldorfschool.org 250-743-7253 25 Native American Flute Forest Event 11:30-1:30pm rommyflutes@shaw.ca FREE 28 Spiritual Upliftment & Conversation w/ three local Baha’i friends call for link Laurice Tim & Lee 250-748-2585

Kindergarten Virtual Open House Saturday April 10

Preschool Virtual Open House Saturday April 24

All events 10:00 – 11:30 am

Contact to register admissions@sunrisewaldorfschool.org www.sunrisewaldorfschool.org 250.743.7253 5

Cowichan Lake Road, halfway between Duncan and Lake Cowichan Reservations are required via phone or 250932-3205 or email. www.farmtableinn.ca

EASTER IN COWICHAN

here are many delicious ways to celebrate Easter and the days leading up to it in the Valley. If you head down to Cowichan Bay, True Grain will have the following organic specialities for Easter. Organic Hot Cross Buns, Easter Bread A sweet dough with plump juicy organic currants, the perfect accompaniment to freshly roasted coffee on Easter morning. Cowichan Bay Village Order online: www. truegrain.ca Order by phone: 250 746-7664 Open: Tuesday - Sunday, 8am - 5pm Open Easter Sunday: 8am - 3pm

The Farm Table Inn is celebrating Easter with a few special food events. Thursday April 1st - Prime Rib Night, local prime rib with Yorkshire pudding and all the fixings! Friday April 2 to Sunday April 4 - Special Easter Menu Enjoy a farm to table Easter Menu with seating times starting at 5pm. 6755

Cure has many specialty food offerings for Easter meals including Bone out Hams and Turkey rolls and everything you need for a brunch charcuterie! Call or email to book 250-929-287/ordering@ curemeatand-cheese@gmail. com Cure Artisan Meat and Cheese 5-1400 Cowichan Bay Road Cobble Hill (Valley View Centre). Thursday April 1 – Prime Rib Night, local prime rib with Yorkshire pudding and all the fixings! Friday April 2 to Sunday April 4 - Special Easter Menu. Enjoy a farm to table Easter Menu with seating times starting at 5pm. 6755 Cowichan Lake Road, halfway between Duncan and Lake Cowichan Reservations required 250-932-3205 info@farmtableinn.ca www.farmtableinn.ca Easter at the Hub 2021 edition The Easter at the Hub event this year is a little different. Pre order craft packs, movie, baking and pancake baskets for Easter fun at home. Book a 15 minute Easter hunt in the forest. Order a charcuterie lunch and coffees from the Hub Cafe. To find out more see cowichanhub.ca

Easter Bunny spotted near the Hub in Cowichan Station

flax, fish oil or other DHA sources. Vitamin enhanced eggs containing more Vitamins E and B12, and folacin come from a diet of traditional feed that contains higher levels of certain nutrients.

ggs are a versatile nutritional powerhouse that really deliver and for a very low price. While the cholesterol is high, the latest news is that unless you are diabetic or have heart health concerns dietary cholesterol does not affect your blood serum levels the way we once believed. However, buying eggs has become as complicated as trying to find shampoo. Sometimes I find myself staring at rows of products unable to make head nor tail of all the hype. And now appearing in the egg case; Free Range, Cage Free, Free Run, NestLaid; all these words are telling us something about how the eggs in that carton came to be. That clears everything up, right? But a little research proved that it is still very complicated. The least expensive eggs are conventional caged, a system that grew out of our insatiable appetite for them. Conventional cages are inspected to ensure the cages are kept clean, and that the hens have unlimited access to clean water and food. Though this system allows for the hens’ health to be easily monitored and is a very efficient use of space, it is very crowded and leaves no room for a hen to scratch or move. This system is being phased out and by 2036 all producers must transition to enriched housing.

LOOKING FOR MICROGREENS?

Eggs! Enriched housing has been developed in consultation with veterinarians and animal welfare specialists to ensure the health and wellness of the birds is the new standard for your least expensive grocery store eggs. It offers significantly more space per bird and is equipped with nest boxes, perches and scratch pads so that the hens can express their natural behaviours. Nestlaid and Comfortcoop are industry terms that producers that have progressed to enriched housing may use. Cage free may apply to free run, free range or organic. Free-run eggs are produced in an environment where the hens have the run of the barn. Hens

We grow plenty of them!

A&S MICROGREENS t.250-710-6135 www.asmicrogreens.com

can perch, scratch and roam freely throughout the space and have nesting areas. This may also include a system with perches, food and water at different heights throughout the barn. The number of hens in these barns is regulated to ensure that they are not over crowded. Free-range eggs may be a little different than one would expect. They come from hens that live in free run barns but also have access to the outdoors for at least 120 days a year for a minimum of six hours per day. Organic eggs are produced in barns in which hens are given still more space than free-range, are fed only certified organic feed and are never given antibiotics. Organic producers are also given an extra layer of oversight, as their organic certification is administered by a third-party auditor. Omega Three or Omega Pro are eggs that are produced by hens fed a diet that includes

Most confusing is the fact that Canada Grade A eggs must be graded in Canada, but may have been produced in the United States! They do have to be clearly labeled as “Product of” their country of origin so after you have deciphered all of the other chicken scratch make sure you look for that little piece of information. Are you starting to get tired of trying to “crack the industry code?” You can buy locally produced eggs! Here in the Cowichan Valley, there are many options for consuming happy eggs from happy chickens. If you drive, it is actually pretty hard to get very far without seeing a farm stand selling fresh eggs. If you don’t have access to a vehicle, Cow-op.ca Online Farmer Market can deliver farm fresh eggs from our own Cowichan Valley Farms right to your door every Thursday. Boots n’ Roots has tasty eggs from happy birds with full access to scratching for insects. Under the Oak sells beautiful eggs from their pasture raised, organically fed happy birds. Holy Stick Farm raises only purebred Barred Plymouth Rock chickens, one of the oldest breeds in North America, in a closed flock, including their own replacement hens and roosters.

happiest on the planet. Fed grubs grown with zero water inputs and using food waste diverted from the landfill, Lockwood’s chickens are the first in Canada to enjoy a regular diet that includes insect protein rather than soy. “On one acre of land, soy crops will yield 956 lbs of edible protein, while insects will yield upwards of 130,000 lbs of edible protein. Yes, you can fact check that. I have, so many times, because I can hardly believe the difference. This makes our eggs truly a sustainable protein for the future!” Cammy Lockwood

When choosing breeding stock they focus on health and overall body condition, foraging ability and laying capability. Holy Stick follows managed intensive rotational grazing with electric netting containing hens to a certain location of a pasture for up to a week, then moving them to a new location with fresh grass, and bugs. Hens don’t come back to the same spot for at least two months, which gives a chance for pasture to recover and become better than before due to the natural fertilization of two month old chicken droppings and aeration from their soil scratching. The estimate is their hens forage grasses, herbs, insects, snails as well as vegetables and fruits from their market garden for at least 50% of their diet with the rest from nonGMO feed. They also provide free access to oyster shells to meet the demand for calcium for egg shell production. Lockwood Farm’s mandate is that happy hens make delicious eggs and they go a long way to ensure their girls are happy while putting a tremendous amount of thought and effort into creating a sustainable system. They enjoy plenty of room to roam and scratch as well as outdoor range space. With access to feed and water 24/7/365, a beautiful barn designed specifically with their well-being as priority, space to run around outside and all the field waste of weeds and unsellable vegetables, these chickens may well be the

As a single mom with a crazy schedule it took a bit for me to buy-in to the price of farm fresh eggs. Pennies are tight and adding an extra stop to my day seemed to just add to the chaos. But a few conversations with friends who keep chickens made me understand that while very rewarding on many levels, it is hard work and sometimes heartbreaking when wildlife outwits their defenses. I like the idea of putting my measly few dollars in my neighbours pocket and I feel like I am getting a fresher and more nutritious egg, certainly, from a happier chicken! Cow-op.ca has solved my dilemma of time versus quality by adding delivery. Along with farm fresh eggs, I can have locally grown veggies, fresh made bread and many other goodies produced by my neighbours delivered right to my door every Thursday. Since I made the move to farm fresh, I sometimes sit and have a break from the craziness of our new reality just watching chickens. It’s a simple thing but it has taken a bit of crazy off my plate. I have also solved my shampoo aisle dilemma. I pick up my groceries and I wash my hair with baking soda and rinse it with Apple Cider vinegar! Karen Bernard is the Wholesale Coordinator for the Cow-Op Online Farmers’ Market.

Gift Baskets Meat & Cheese Platters Gourmet Foods Italian Imports Take Home and Serve

the second highest in British Columbia. Many of the children affected by hunger were going to school without breakfast and the only food they would receive was at school through the Nourish Cowichan program. A year into the pandemic there are children who are going hungry.

Calling on Our Neighbours to Help Feed Cowichan Families

ne dollar from every Blue Grouse wine sold in April will go to Nourish Cowichan. After a successful campaign in 2020, Blue Grouse Estate Winery is doing it again. Through April, in honour of BC Wine Month, Blue Grouse Estate Winery is making the call to support local and buy their wine. In return the winery will donate $1 dollar for every bottle sold, and the Brunner family, owners of the winery, will match each donation, dollar for dollar.

Hidden Gem Reiki Studio

Judy Johnstone, Reiki Master 250-661-0192 www.hiddengemreiki.com 10

Nourish Cowichan was created to feed children in need, in the Cowichan Valley school district, the maternity clinic at the Cowichan District Hospital, and day cares. It’s hard to imagine that the Cowichan Valley has the highest rate of child poverty on Vancouver Island, a staggering 30%. This is

“While we are optimistic that we will soon be on the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic,” notes Blue Grouse Estate Winery owner Paul Brunner, “the Blue Grouse team and our family will continue to help our local community, and those most in need in that community.” The Nourish Cowichan Society works hard to protect and feed families at risk where parents may have lost their income, and provide emergency hampers with donated non-perishable items, supermarket gift cards, and more. They need your support whether through a wine purchase or otherwise. Last year through sales and matching funds Blue Grouse was able to donate $10,000 to Nourish Cowichan and provide 2,500 meals to families in need. The team is hoping to exceed that this year with $1 per bottle of any Blue Grouse or Quill wines sold anywhere (winery, online, restaurants and retails stores) again matched by the Brunner family. www.nourishcowichan.ca

Leeann Froese owns Town Hall Brands – a marketing and graphic design agency. townhallbrands.com

dozens of Chemainus Valley artists, both on site and online, with its ongoing series of featured exhibits.

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF THE CVCAS’S 20TH YEAR JENNIFER LAWSON OPEN STUDIO COWICHAN ARTISANS SPRING TOUR APRIL 23 - 25

Image; Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society President Bev Knight, and member Bob Johns draw the curtain on 2021, the CVCAS’s 20th anniversary year.

Now is the perfect time to create visual memories of your home and garden for the whole family.

wenty years old? So what’s the big deal? That’s barely into the age of majority here in B.C., and most Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society members could multiply that number times three, and still have a pretty good remainder in their age tally.

Jennifer’s unique interpretation of nature and refreshing impressionism allows you to enjoy its magnificence in your home forever. She can paint your ongoing dream - accentuate its best features - suggest elements unthought of - and complete your ongoing projects and to do lists!

But there’s another way of slicing that cake! You could say, the CVCAS, which was incorporated one year, six months and 30 days into the 21st Century, has accomplished some remarkable things in its brief history.

A painting of your business can become your most priceless promotion. A picture will always be worth a thousand words! Prints and cards are readily available.

You could also say that the little organization that could really proved its mettle during the last year of its teens, which ushered in the COVID Era, a global crisis that demonstrated just how important community organizations like the CVCAS really are… and how important the arts are to communities.

Jennifer’s studio is in her historic original log home; framed by the river and the ocean. The outside gazebo will be filled with paintings. Private viewing is also available by appointment. Come and enter the draw for a framed original painting. Cowichan Artisans Spring Tour Friday April 23-Sunday,April 25, 10 - 5pm 1516 Khenipsen Rd, Duncan 250 748 2142 jlart@telus.net jenniferlawsonart.com

For much of its history music was the CVCAS mainstay. Hundreds of performances have been organized in the bandshell at Waterwheel Park; at the Osborn Bay Pub, where Pat’s House of Jazz drew appreciative audiences to see

great performance lineups; and at festivals featuring everything from accordion music to Bluegrass. When COVID hit, the CVCAS – like community arts associations all over BC – found ways to keep the music happening. Socially distanced seating and crowd management allowed Music in the Park to go on, providing a bright spot for hundreds of appreciative fans.

There’s more, much more, to celebrate. From June 19 to 21 a Chemainus National Indigenous Peoples Day Event, organized by members of the CVCAS First Nations Committee in partnership with First Nations in the region, will be streamed on Facebook. And a Writers’ Forum is being formed to encourage writers and poets ‘at every stage of their development.’ Of course none of this would be possible without tremendous volunteer and community support. And that’s really what the CVCAS will be celebrating in the coming months. Join the party. Go to cvcas.ca/artscelebration for details and updates on our 20th Year. CraigSpenceWriter.ca

Music was the foundation. But by the summer of 2016, the CVCAS was ready to add another category to its arts portfolio. On June 15 representatives of Coastal Community Credit Union Brenda Carmichael and Moira Hauk presented the keys to the space for a new Willow Street gallery and store to Rainforest Arts’ representatives, Peggy Grigor and Treva Hinchcliffe. RFA has been an amazing success story, showcasing the works of 11

Unsworth Vineyards Charme de l’île Rosé Perfect with French Toast and lots of fresh fruit. The wine is dry but fruit forward making it the perfect brunch wine. It is quite versatile with food an excels with berries, French toast or a yogurt parfait. $23.39

Rocky Creek Winery Pinot Gris Our breakfast wine because of the notes of grapefruit. The crispness goes so well with many creamy brunch items such as Westcoast Eggs Benny. The skin contact gives it depth to pair with many foods and looks great. Our best seller. $22

Spring Brunch Pairings Blue Grouse Winery Estate Ortega Ortega is Vancouver Island’s signature grape and this wine is its perfect ambassador. It reflects the best that the Cowichan Valley’s warm summers can deliver. The delicate floral and orange-peel aromas are supported by a medium body that finishes with buttery caramel notes. We recommend pairing it with oysters on the half shell, your favourite seafood dish or vegetable dishes this Easter. $23.99

Cherry Point Estate Wines 2020 Spritzy Rose Averill Creek Vineyard 2019 Joue White Blend The Joue White is a textural, moreish wine with precise layers of fruit. The luxuriousness of a perfectly poached egg and hollandaise is countered by bright, lingering acidity. And finally the subtle saline note in the wine is picked up by the saltiness of the serrano jamon. This natural wine with no additives will lift you and not weigh you: ideal for late-morning indulgence. $25

This unique wine is made with three grape varietals that were planted at the farm 27 years ago, which are represented by the three dancing muses on the label. Fresh with aromatic scents, subtle minerality, and slightly effervescent, is a perfect wine for those after work moments. Gently effervescent, ideal to enjoy with smoked salmon egg Benedict for brunch and then go egg hunting! $27

Alderlea Vineyards 2019 Pinot Gris This dry, rose-coloured wine, with gentle aromas of peach, apricot, and tangerine is a perfect complement to your favourite version of eggs benny, an omelette or a crispy waffle with seasonal fruit. $23.10

Merridale Cidery and Distillery Cowichan Dry Refreshing, dry apple cider crafted in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island by BC’s oldest Craft Cidery. Fermented from a blend of English & French cider apples, balancing fruitiness, sharpness and dry character with a touch of tannins. The dry crispness of this cider just reminds you of spring. Perfect in a brunch mimosa, or as an afternoon sipper with friends on the weekend $6

THE WORLD OF MATCHA Alicia Fall is an employee at Westholme Tea Company, farmer, and ceremonialist in the Cowichan Valley

atcha Tea is capturing attention around the world and making its way into homes and hearts locally as well. It is common to have heard of Matcha, but entirely different to know what it is. For centuries, Matcha has been a staple in Japan and synonymous with green tea. Matcha, however, with its emerald-green bubbles,

brings a refreshing and unique brightness to notions of a refined and traditional Japanese green. The uniqueness of this tea is that it comes to our tea bowl as a fine powder, created by grinding shade-grown ‘Tencha’ tea leaves. Since Matcha is the tea leaf in its entirety, when you drink Matcha you receive benefits of the whole leaf: the rich flavour experience and concentrated minerals and nutrients. It is at once sweet and astringent, silky and frothy. With a perfect balance of stimulating and soothing effects, Matcha has been favoured by many in Japan throughout history, from Samurai warriors to meditating monks. Careful tending, precise harvesting, and perfected processing techniques are behind every high-quality Matcha. The difference in flavour and aroma of a hand-picked tea is noticeable, resulting in a Matcha more mellow and smooth. High-quality Matcha is rare. Part of the reasoning is that this tea grows in an environment just as unique and beautiful as the drink itself, the Uji region of Japan. We are proud to offer Matcha that honours and highlights its

HOW TO MAKE MATCHA JAPANESE USUCHA METHOD Use 1 teaspoon Matcha

Powder and 1/4 cup water. Water should be 75ºC - 80ºC. Place measured matcha powder into a tea bowl. Add only a small amount of water to begin, and create a paste using a bamboo matcha whisk in a zig-zag motion. Then add the remainder of the water. Whisk thoroughly until a nice froth is achieved. Serve immediately.

WESTERN METHOD Use 1/2 - 1 teaspoon matcha

powder per cup of water. Follow Usucha method preparation steps, adding water until desired strength and texture is reached. To make a Matcha Latté, use 1/2 water + 1/2 warmed milk or milk alternative, and whisk as usual. For an iced Matcha Latté, pour frothed mixture over ice.

precious origins and truly natural form. As an outside observer of Japanese tea culture, Matcha demonstrates to us that what may appear to be simple often invites a lifetime of learning. Matcha offers more than just micronized tea leaves, whether for daily drinking or special moments of ceremony and contemplation. At Westholme, the process of Matcha making serves as a

relished afternoon pick-me-up and moment for pause before taking up another task. The vivid colour that swirls in your cup with an aroma reminiscent of green grasses and Spring rain offers a daily ritual for the emerging season – reminding us to move with the energies of renewal as they burst forth and still set aside time to rest and reflect.

LOCAL POET SELINA BOAN RELEASES UNDOING HOURS Selina Boan’s debut poetry collection, Undoing Hours, considers the various ways we undo, inherit, reclaim and (re)learn. Boan also explores what it means to be a white settler–nehiyaw woman actively building community and working to ground herself through language and relationships. These poems tell stories of meeting family, of experiencing love and heartbreak, and of learning new ways to express and understand the world around her through nêhiyawêwin. The book can be pre-ordered online through Harbour Publishing www.harbourpublishing.com

re there transgressions against society which cannot be pardoned? What is the possibility of redemption for those who have strayed? In the end, can love and family save us? These are some of the questions Cherie Dimaline confronts in her novel Empire of Wild, set in a small Métis community around Georgian Bay, Ontario. Months after the disappearance of her husband Victor, Joan refuses to believe what others are urging her to accept: that he has left her. As she searches for him, she is drawn into the world of travelling Christian revivalists, resource extraction companies and the rogarou – the halfhuman half-wolf creature of Métis legend. The narrative switches between the visible world and the spirit plane as Joan races to find Victor before it is too late to save him. This story could easily have been told just as an adventure pursuit story with the tension and suspense of the chase. While there is plenty of this, Dimaline saves the novel from superficiality through her exploration of the deeper questions posed by the rogarou. Métis communities have told tales of the rogarou for generations as a warning of what may happen to those who violate the moral obligations to family and Hmm... what book shall I read?

society. Condemned to wander alone and tormented, the rogarou is separated from all that they held dear. It is not however a hopeless banishment, there is the possibility of salvation, though this is not easy. Supported by elders who know the old stories, Joan reconnects with traditional knowledge to face the rogarou.

WHY WE SHOULD READ

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

At points in the story the narrative is scattered and a bit confusing to follow, but this could simply be because Dimaline leads us through the unfamiliar (to many of us) terrain of the spirit world where tricksters lure humans by exploiting their weaknesses. In doing so, she invites us to imagine what may lie beyond the visible world. The Warmland Book and Film Collective – a response to the Calls to Action of the

REIKI WELLNESS 250-743-8122 Debbie Shkuratoﬀ Reiki Master-Teacher-All Levels Usui-Karuna-Komyo-Seichim

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – explores, celebrates, and learns from Indigenous authors and filmmakers. We are welcoming new members - if you enjoy friendly, spirited and interesting conversation, email us at warmlandcollective@gmail. com for the zoom link. We next meet online April 14, 2021 to discuss Two Old Women:an Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival, by Velma Wallis. Submitted by David A. Johnson

SARA TILLIE ACUPUNCTURE 250-812-9813 Sara Tillie Registered Acupuncturist Traditional Chinese Medicine

Reiki Therapy & Classes - Detox Foot Spas Acupuncture - Amethyst Mat - YL Essential Oils Daytime • Evening •Weekend • By Appointment Only #13- Upper Level • Valleyview Centre • Cobble Hill www.reikiwellness.ca • reiki-wellness@shaw.ca 14

For The Love Of Cod

Upcoming EVENTS

t long, last Spring is in the air. We did it! As the daffodils burst through, the days grow longer and life returns to my veins. I start to think less about how short and cold the days are and trying finding meals that will comfort and warm me up and more about what is fresh and light. Right now, I am obsessed with fish, yes that’s right fresh fish. I want to eat fresh fish with greens and herbs and a glass of crisp, zesty wine all day long.

April 10-11

Head on down to Mad Dogs and get some fresh Ling Cod. I would suggest 8 oz portions per person. This recipe is for 2 people.

Cod wth Lemon Anchovy Butter and Fresh Herbs Courtesy Barnes and Maracle, Food Specialists Ingredients

16 oz or 1lb of Ling Cod ¼ pound of butter 1/4 Cup quality olive oil 1 shallot, minced 1-2 anchovy fillets, minced salt and pepper to taste 3 large handfuls of organic greens 8-10 nugget potatoes 1 bottle crisp, zesty white wine ¼ cup for the recipe (the rest for you) 2 lemons, one lemon for all its zest and juice. The second need only be sacrificed for its juice and sliced in wedges for serving with the finished product. 1 Cup fresh leafy herbs, coarsely chopped - combination of dill, Italian flat parsley, mint, basil and cilantro. Set aside a handful for garnish 2 cloves garlic, minced

Method

Heat oven to 400 F Parboil potatoes. Bring potatoes and water to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

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Herbed Butter

Melt 2 tbsp butter and sauté shallots, anchovies and garlic on medium high heat until translucent. Hit pan with splash of wine and allow time to reduce 2-3 minutes. Add remaining butter, juice and zest of 1 lemon and the herbs. Set aside Place cod and parboiled potatoes in a casserole dish, season with salt and pepper to taste and pour butter herb mixture over everything. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes. Arrange greens on a platter or plates for serving. Use 1-2tbsp cooked broth from fish dish to dress greens. Top with hot potatoes and fish. Garnish with reserved handful of herbs, fresh cracked pepper and lemon wedges on the side. Refill your wine and enjoy!

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The Brilliance of Bubbles

Chris Turyk - I love wine, a lot. I’m a Certified Sommelier, WSET Diploma graduate, and get in everyones way at unsworthvineyards.

eft on its own, sparkling wine will remain the greatest aperitif of all-time; with assistance from food, sparkling wine proves itself the greatest wine style for creating pleasing pairings. The Champenois flirt with the truth when they unequivocally state, “Champagne is the only wine that you can pair to an entire meal!” Similar claims made by Sherry producers, Riesling producers, and a few ambitious others merely attempt to hold equal water. Alas, Champagne and the broader sparkling wine category simply must take the crown. Covering stylistic swaths, sparkling wines range from bone-dry, mineral driven and complex to sweet, fruit driven and quaffable. Mirroring its still counterparts, sparkling comes in white, rosé, and even red versions. With most intended for immediate consumption, only the top cuvées are crafted to reward

decades of patient cellaring. Vignerons utilize most any grape variety for sparkling and the options don’t cease there. Winemakers producing bubbles encounter many options that guide wines down various pathways depending on desired outcome. Sparklers never flee far from hearts of wine traders. In fact, if you see five sommeliers physically distanced outside, six bottles of sparkling wine accompany them. Coming in a vast array of styles, being both malleable with wine pairing and downright deliciousness all endow sparkling with a hefty toolset for success. Wine drinkers of today now love sparkling; thankfully gone are the days of reserving bubble purely for celebration. This pattern represents no mere trend, the shift in consumer habits plays directly into the hands of the Cowichan Valley - our climate suiting sparkling wine like Blundstone boots fit the winemakers who wear them. Cliché perhaps but, “What grows together, goes together.” When combined with Vancouver Island’s bountiful seafood, Cowichan’s pantheon of veggie farms, and very simple

preparation, sparkling wines excel at providing fresh and vibrant companionship at the table. Documented my love of sparkling is; textural contrast remains the greatest unexpected pairing experience for a palate to encounter. Beyond oysters, sparkling wine should be top consideration for your meal. Simple and casual preparations often perform best with blanc de blancs and similarly styled wines. Elevate and highlight the nuanced finesse of these wines by pairing them with ballpark food. Corndogs with champagne is the real deal - especially with grainy mustard. Polenta fries, arancini and other deep fried morsels are perfect foils to the delicate refinement of etherial blanc de blancs. Sparkling Rosé, a diverse enough category on its own, claims responsibility for some most intriguing pairings. Let Charme de l’île Rosé, or newly minted Prosecco Rosé from Northern Italy spark inspiration when firing up your grill. Harissa marinated chicken and spice crusted halibut stand as recent success stories when paired with drier style fruity

rosé bubble. Gindara and Rosé Champagne expanded my pairing philosophy. The rich buttery sablefish, miso crust with just a kiss of char from the broiler provided the perfect bite to compliment the rich, textural and savoury expression of pink bubble. For those who haven’t popped a bottle of Moscato d’Asti recently, or similar sweet sparkling - why not? The flamboyant aromatics, spritzy level of bubble, and more than some residual sugar is practically hardwired to sit well with the way in which our palates crave flavours. What they lack in complexity, seriousness, and ability to age, they make up for in shameful enjoyability. Although too late for a seasonal pairing, one must be dead from the waist up to not grin at the prospect of strawberry jam on shortbread accompanied by something sweet and sparkling. Snub not sweeter sparkling wines, especially if you seek soft, bloomy rind brie, camembert or blue cheese, as these are as hedonistic as pairings get. Sparkling wine is nothing new but more recent wine trends see them commonplace in the North American fridge and at the table. Rates of enjoyment have steadily risen over the decade with all signs pointing to continued growth. If you look to surprise your friends with your pairing prowess consider bubble, in its many forms, to accompany your next meal. This trend will sustain as people discover sparkling wines brilliance with a wide array of food and I submit that the finest wines across the Cowichan Valley often contain bubbles.

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Artwork Lisa Zhang

Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show Susan Down is managing director of the Cowichan Valley Arts Council.

hen things get tough, artists get creative. Arts councils, too. Considering the year we’ve just been through, the Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show promises to be exceptionally creative in 2021. Last year, our gallery was closed due to the pandemic, so the show was online only. This year, the CVFAS will be a hybrid: the work will be hung in the gallery as well as posted online, running May 1-22. The opening celebration and awards announcement will be online but the space is large enough for the public to walk through easily and safely without an appointment. As the largest show of its kind on Vancouver Island, it features work by emerging and renowned artists including painting and sculpture, jewelry design, furniture, photography and more. “This is the show

everyone looks up to every year, and they prepare for it by creating something special,” said CVAC President Janet Magdanz. “It is a joyous celebration of talent, craftsmanship and community.” The CVFAS accepts art from established and emerging artists and anyone who submits will be included. The only requirements are that the artist be a CVAC member over 16 years old. Our judges then pick Best in Show and other awards. During the exhibit the general public can vote for the People’s Choice Award both online and in person. Registration is scheduled for April 6 – 13. Before CVFAS, we are hosting Awake: Youth Arts Showcase April 10 – 24 featuring work by youth over 13 years old. We have expanded it this year to include short spoken word videos and other performances online. It’s another hybrid! Councilcowichanvalleyartscouncil.ca

you can visit the award-winning painter Bev Robertson, Karen Trickett of Coventry Woodwork and Mixed Metal Mimi Jewelry artist Mimi Roy. Driving a bit north of Cowichan Bay you’ll find 2 painters: Jennifer Lawson and Catherine Fraser studios on and just off beautiful Khenipsen Road.

Cowichan Artisans Spring Tour

pring is in the air! After a pandemic Winter it’s wonderful to have longer days with green returning and that urge to be outside. After a year of being shut down due to Covid-19 the Cowichan Artisans are so excited to have our annual Open Studio Spring Tour this April 23, 24, 25th from 10 to 5 each day. Come visit and support amazing

artists galleries throughout the Cowichan Valley. With Covid precautions in effect you will feel comfortable being out enjoying Spring in this beautiful valley visiting galleries amazed with the quality of art done by these talented artists. At the southern end of the valley in the Cobble Hill area

Next, just off Allenby Road you will be treated to Live Edge Design’s custom West Coast furniture. As you go into Duncan then up the hill towards the hospital you will encounter the delightful paintings of Laurel Hibbert in her studio that you cross over a bridge to visit. Woodturning artist Ken Broadland of Heartwood Studio is nearby and you have to cross a bridge to go to his log cabin gallery too. Heading West from Duncan along the Cowichan River’s West Riverbottom Rd you will find metal sculptor Travis Rankin’s new gallery (he’s moved from this downtown Duncan gallery).

Two doors West you’ll find Cathi Jefferson’s clay studio and if we’re lucky the large fawn lily patch right on the river will be in full bloom. Take a trek down Maple Bay Rd and you’ll be delighted to discover fibre artist Nancy Wesley and collage artist Wilma Millette. A drive to Ladysmith will be well rewarded with the studio of ceramic artist Mary Fox. All studios will require masks to be worn with hand sanitizer at the entrance and, depending on size, galleries will have a limited capacity. Covered outside tented areas with pieces on display will be happening at artist’s galleries as well. With the pandemic, our most important consideration is to keep everyone safe and comfortable. Changes may occur, please be sure to check in to our website: cowichanartisans.com for the most up to date information. We’re sure looking forward to seeing you April 23, 24, and 25th.

ooking for a happy ending?

can help us do that, will be looked into.” Other ideas that have been launched or are being considered for encouraging literature in the region and on the Island include:

Well, the Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society, and Cowichan Valley Voice Magazine have come up with a showcase they hope will result in celebratory exclamation marks jotted into writers’ calendars.

The CVCAS Writers’ Circle, which has already been established and meeting for several months. Names will be taken via the contact information below and added to a waiting list for people who want to join the group, which meets every second Thursday evening.

And that readers will be sitting on the edge of their seats, too, waiting for the next instalments of Valley Voices, a monthly selection of fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction by local and island writers, to be published in the most widely read arts & cultural magazine in the region. “We’re excited by this opportunity to expand the CVCAS’s mandate of bringing the community together through the arts,” said Craig Spence, a member of the Arts Society’s recently formed Writers’ Forum. The Forum’s objective is to provide opportunities and encourage writers at every stage of development to share their work with each other and the community. “Valley Voices will be a key element in that project,” he said. Every month a new story or poems will be selected from submitted works for publication in the series. “This is another example of Valley Voice Magazine’s support of the arts in the region,” Spence said.

New chapter opening for Valley writers Authors and poets who want to submit works to Valley Voices can follow links from cvcas.ca/ literature to the Valley Voices’ web page, where they will find rules, guidelines and a submission form. With writers’ permission, some unpublished submissions will be posted to the Valley Voices’ online collection and will be eligible for publication in future Valley Voice Magazine issues. Posted submissions can be revised and resubmitted by authors. “Valley Voices is not a contest,” Spence explained. “No

rejection slips will be issued. Works that are not published or posted, will be considered ‘in progress’ and can be resubmitted.” Published writers will also benefit by having a professional video reading of their work recorded, then posted to the Valley Voices collection, and promoted on the CVCAS website and social media channels. “The overarching goal of the Writers’ Forum is to connect Island writers to each other and to audiences,” Spence said. “Every channel or activity that

The Books Unbound Literary Festival, which will emphasize mixed, new and digital media modes for creating and sharing literature. This is a long-range vision, intended to augment printed books with other interactive publishing modes. An Arts Web, where CVCAS members can post their own works and promote services they offer that help other members develop their skills talents. For writers, things like editorial services, writing workshops, digital and web skills coaching, might be in the mix. Anyone excited about achieving the Writers’ Forum vision with the Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society is invited to make contact via literature@cvcas.ca.

green recovery! But wait – why green? At such a time of crisis, shouldn’t any kind of recovery be welcome?

containers to make comfortable well-insulated homes, finding vacant land where containers and other tiny homes can be clustered into mini-villages. Just because some homeless people have mental health and drug addiction problems and some are habitual thieves does not mean we should leave them out in the cold in their tents and vans, feared by local residents, and living with stress and fear so high that they are unable to get their lives together.

The argument for a green recovery is that while the dangers from Covid are clear and immediate, lurking in the wings are other crises some of which hold just as much danger – the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis, the affordable housing crisis, and the low-income debt crisis, which is placing people in miserable poverty. If we continue to operate our economy the way we have for the past many years, here’s what will happen. We’ll lose much more of our forests. We’ll experience more flooding, as the winter rains pour off the forest clearcuts. We’ll lose more forest topsoil, as storms wash it away, turning the Salish Sea brown with mud. We’ll lose the beauty of the Cowichan Valley to tediously awful suburban sprawl. We’ll see steadily increasing rents and homelessness, with ever more people living in cars, vans and tents. And because of the way free market economic development contributes to the climate and biodiversity emergencies, we’ll continue to increase our climate pollution. We’ll experience more forest fires, more summer droughts, more tumultuous winter storms, more loss of species, more loss of insects including pollinators, and more cancers caused by chemical pollutants. It’s long past time that we shaped up and started doing business differently. Chambers of Commerce and other business leaders, are you listening? Are you hearing the distress of our teenagers and young adults? Are you hearing the distress of all who struggle to earn a living wage? Are you hearing

A GREEN ECONOMIC RECOVERY FOR THE COWICHAN VALLEY the distress of our wildlife? Are you hearing the alarm bells around the world warning of the climate emergency? Let’s not rebuild more of the same. Let’s build a green, socially just, circular economy. Let’s build an economics of kindness. GREEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING As a start, we need a huge amount of new affordable housing, built not by for-profit developers but by nonprofit agencies and housing cooperatives, so that once the land and building costs have been paid off the tenants will enjoy the same low cost of housing that is normal for every home-owner who has paid off their mortgage. We need these and all other new homes to be built to the Passive House standard, which is so efficient there’s no need for any external heat source, whether gas, oil or woodstoves, eliminating climate pollution. They cost

a little bit more, but with no heating bills, it comes out even. We need them to be built not on green space, but by increasing density within our existing communities, rezoning some single-family neighbourhoods to allow three storey row-housing and other creative designs. And we need them to be designed using the pocket-neighborhood principles of Seattle architect Ross Chapin, emphasizing human contact over cars, making it easy for neighbours to get to know each other, building ‘the missing middle’ in scale between single family homes and big tower blocks. SHIPPING CONTAINER AND TINY HOMES VILLAGES We need to create homes for all who have been pushed out of the market by AirBNBs and ridiculously high rents. In Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle and Portland architects and designers have been converting shipping

BUILDING RETROFITS To eliminate the climate pollution from our buildings we need to retrofit every building that burns gas, oil or wood, making them more efficient and installing heat pumps. There are generous grants and rebates to help with the cost, and with the rising carbon tax and the efficiency of the heat-pumps, many retrofits will pay for themselves. Our goal should be to develop the policies, the low-cost financing and the technical support so that every home and building owner is lining up to get a retrofit. BIKE LANES Cycling on safe, separated bike lanes is the healthiest, lowestcost way to get around. Electric bikes take the pain out of the hills, cargo bikes allow you to carry children, shopping and small business deliveries, and electric tricycles allow older people to get around. All with no climate pollution and very low trail maintenance costs, while reducing congestion and creating more road space for those who want or need to drive. What’s not to love? A green recovery means investing in active transportation for pedestrians and cyclists, as the CVRD is doing. And for horse-riders. It means sitting down with cyclists to work out how we can have safe separated routes all over the place, as they do in Holland and Denmark.

And though some will disagree, I believe it means forgetting the train, and converting the E&N Railway corridor into an amazing long-distance bikeway from Courtenay to Victoria, opening up a host of opportunities for by-the-trail businesses and tourist accommodations. VALUE-ADDED WOOD PRODUCTS How can it be that there are so many trees on the Island, yet so few business produce valueadded wood products? Why have we become such an exporter of raw lumber, ignoring the income to be earned and jobs generated by turning the lumber into useful products? Someone in the BC Ministry of Raw Log Exports needs to give their head a shake and craft whatever policies or tax-regimes are needed to build a much stronger value-added wood products sector – which does not include chipping trees and shipping the chips to Sweden, so that they can pretend that they are reducing their climate pollution by burning them to produce electricity. FOOD AND FARMING It might seem that the Cowichan Valley is already a foodproducing Delitopia, overflowing with fresh greens, kombucha and duck eggs. Appearances can be deceptive, however. By far the greatest part of our food still arrives on the ferry, and most of our farmland is growing hay, or nothing at all. There is so much more that we could do to encourage local agriculture, and enable more people to earn a good living from the land. In Quebec, Jean-Martin Fortier and Maude-Hélène Desroches generate $110,000 in annual sales and feed two hundred families on less than a hectare at Les Jardins de la Grelinette, using Community Supported Agriculture and farmers’ markets. At the nearby La Ferme des Quatre-Temps, Jean-Martin’s eight-acre market garden generates gross annual sales of $73,000 per acre and a profit of $29,000 per acre, employing twelve workers who use ecological polyculture and appropriate technologies,

supported by good business skills, good farming skills, good land, and access to capital. A Cowichan Regional Growers Cooperative with thousands of members could assist many more farmers to earn a good living, while helping the farmers with pest problems, food distribution, and value-added farm businesses. ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION We have just had a century of ecological loss. We have destroyed our oldgrowth forests, allowed invasive species to spread, lost native animals and plants, and lost the heavenblessed abundance of whales, fish and shellfish which used to grace our waters. A green economy of kindness must be ecologically regenerative, restoring Nature’s Economy alongside our own. We need to identify every local area that needs restoration, form partnerships with landowners large and small, including Mosaic and Western Forest Products, find the recovery funds to hire and train a host of young people, and use the skills of ecological restoration elders like Dave Polster to show us how it should be done, on land and in rivers, lakes and estuaries. NEW BUSINESSES AND COOPERATIVES IN A CIRCULAR ECONOMY A vibrant green economy should be constantly generating new businesses, both private and cooperative. The failure rate for new businesses is sadly high – but when start-ups are supported by community economic organizations that provide training and peer-support the survival rate increases. At the same time, we should encourage new businesses to become part of a circular economy, generating zero landfill waste and recycling wastes into new materials for re-use in the economy, following the Synergy Foundation’s leadership. COMMUNITY BANKING Every year, Vancouver Islanders invest millions of dollars in RRSPs, but scarcely a dollar supports local businesses. In a green economy, local banks and

credit unions would offer their members and customers opportunities to invest in a balanced portfolio of local businesses and cooperatives, seeking angel investors, risk investors, and steadyas-you-go RRSP investors. The nonRRSP part is already happening through Island Investment Clubs, but on a very small scale. It needs to become normal, so that we can all participate in building our local economy with our savings. A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT – THE DOUGHNUT ECONOMY We need more than a shopping list of projects: we need a new framework to support the new economy. The old framework based on free market economics is one of the causes of our many problems. It ignores nature, ignores homelessness, ignores poverty, and ignores the realities of power. The free market in housing has created spiralling housing price inflation alongside homelessness and unaffordable rents. We have to do better. We need a market economy, but we need a socially responsible market economy, not a selfish market economy in which the only assumed purpose of business is to make money, regardless of the social and ecological costs. Kate Raworth is a British economist whose book Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a Twenty-First Century Economist is causing a stir around the world. Her framework for economic development is like a doughnut, where the outer edge is the ecological ceiling, beyond which lie all sorts of ecological dangers, and the inner edge is the social boundary, beyond which people live in a world of poverty and injustice. ‘The safe

and just space for humanity’ lies within the doughnut. The City of Nanaimo has recently adopted this framework to guide all its development, joining Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Brussels, Portland, Philadelphia and other cities. A PARTNERSHIP TO GET THINGS STARTED The Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Cowichan have already started in this direction, partnering in a Lunch n’ Learn with the Synergy Foundation to explore the circular economy. To further advance these ideas, maybe they could develop that one event into a series, increasing their outreach to other players in the community. The pandemic has many awful downsides, but it has one upside, which is that with everyone staying close to home, it is much easier to organize meetings of this kind. Guy Dauncey is President of the Yellow Point Ecological Society, and author of the forthcoming book on The Economics of Kindness: The Birth of a New Cooperative Economy. thepracticalutopian.ca

Healthy Soil, Healthy Gardens, Healthy Planet! which improves not only soil promote a looser fertility but also texture and soil structure for structure. Add 1-2 inches of good aeration and organic matter to your garden drainage. beds every Spring, in addition In summary, adding to an all purpose fertilizer organic matter to oil is a vitally important such as 4-4-4 or 12-16-12. your soil is vitally resource! Soil supports Through the Summer months, important for soil growth of fiber and food, nutrient hungry plants will health. The easiest filters air and water, affects require an extra boost in ways to do this are global climate (CO2), supports the form of liquid or water adding composted above-ground wildlife habitat, soluble granular fertilizer kitchen waste to decomposes plants and animals feeds. Fertilizers with higher your garden and and is home to a diverse first numbers (Nitrogen) collecting Fall leaves ecosystem of soil organisms. should be used at this time to use as mulch. (e.g. 5-2-4). Soil is a mix of water, air, Soils all over the mineral content (very small Mulch is another important world are affected rock fragments in the form of ingredient for improving by erosion, sand, silt or clay) and organic soil. Mulching for soil health contamination, matter. The ideal soil texture is best done with organic compaction, for gardening, known as matter, including compost salinization and “loam”, contains 40% sand, (broken down kitchen waste), declines in organism 40% silt, and 20% clay. The bark, straw, newspaper, biodiversity. All of ideal soil structure consists grass clippings or shredded us can do our part for of an open network of pore leaves. These mulches global soil health by spaces between clumps of provide habitat, nutrients and building healthy soils soil particles that allow the insulation for soil organisms in our own backyards exchange of air around the and plants, prevent erosion, and enjoy flourishing plant roots and water drainage. compaction and nutrient gardens as a reward Naturally occurring nutrients in leaching from rainfall, for our efforts. soil come from the weathering conserve soil moisture and dinternursery.ca of the mineral fraction of the soil (sand, silt and clay), the breakdown Sands Funeral Chapel of organic matter by Cremation & Reception Centre-Duncan soil organisms and by Arbor Memorial the decomposition of the soil organisms Janice Winfrey themselves. Funeral Director Tamara Dinter, Dinter Nursery General Manager and Soil Enthusiast

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GOING SOLAR: How it Works Submitted by Sarah Allan

Grid-tie systems

s the sun starts to shine in the coming of Spring, and the 51st Earth Day approaches, we look at what actions and initiatives we can take in our communities towards a cleaner environment. Adopting clean energy is an action that can have a lasting impact on reducing emissions and building resilience. Many families and business in the Cowichan Valley have adopted solar energy. Viridian Energy Co-operative explains how solar energy systems work and the empowering aspects of solar.

11.05 kW Grid-tie with battery backup system in Duncan (26 X 425 W Solar Panels)

HOW IS SOLAR POWER GENERATED? Solar power is generated by photovoltaic cells, these cells convert sunlight to electricity in the form of Direct Current (DC) that is then passed through an inverter that turns the DC electricity into Alternating Current (AC) electricity. AC is what is used to power electrical lights and other household appliances. According to the International Energy Agency, solar power is now the fastest growing source of power in the world.

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The three most common solar power systems are Grid-tie, Grid-tie with battery backup and Off-grid. 1.Grid-tie systems are grid connected solar power systems. Grid-tie systems provide a portion or all of a user’s electricity needs and are a good investment to offset electrical costs. Batteries are not required for grid-tie systems. Electricity generated by solar is first used on site with the excess sent back to BC Hydro. The utility acts as storage and through BC Hydro’s net metering program, a user earns energy credits for electricity fed back to the grid. These systems only work while connected to the grid.

“Earth Day 2012 the theme was ‘Time to Restore Our Earth’ and the question in Canada was, ‘what should Canada do to become a green energy superpower?’ Viridian Energy Co-operative came into existence in the year 2012. Since then Earth Day has grown in significance around the world and Viridian has grown to become BC’s green energy superpower.” Don Skerik, Production Manager, Red Seal Electrician and founding VEC member

2. Grid-tie with battery backup systems have the same core components as grid-tie systems while adding batteries, battery inverter/charger, a dedicated loads panel and an optional generator for when the power goes out. This adds resiliency and security to the system. Batteries store energy that can be used when the grid goes down.

Off-grid system

27.84 kW Grid-tie system (Ground Mount Solar Arrays) in Mill Bay (64 X 435 W Solar Panels)

Battery inverter/charger converts the battery DC electricity to AC electricity used in household appliances and allows batteries to run while separated from the grid. Dedicated loads panel ensures power goes to only the essential places during a power outage (e.g. lights, fridge/freezer) conserving battery power. Generator, this can also be added to the system to top up batteries if the power is out for extended periods of time or if there are larger loads. 3. Off-grid systems have a dedicated battery bank, charge controller, inverters and backup generator. These systems are suitable for remote areas where there is good solar resource and utility power is not available or prohibitively expensive. Solar panel placement is particularly important for off-grid applications as maximizing energy production is essential. Days of Autonomy – the number of days a user can run on a battery system before it needs to be recharged. This along with a load calculation determines the size of the battery bank. Designing

an off-grid home with energy efficiency in mind to minimize the electrical loads can significantly reduce the cost of an off-grid power system. (ex. LED light bulbs, propane fridge etc.) Investing in any one of these solar power systems provides current and future electrical energy needs. The specific system chosen depends on the specific needs of the user. Investing in a solar power system is a way to future proof a home. This allows a user to purchase electricity up front, locking into a fixed cost for energy for the next 30+ years. Contact Viridian Energy Co-operative at (250) 412-3520 or https://viridianenergy.ca if you would like to learn more about how solar power can empower you.

WHY GO SOLAR?

• Clean energy • Returns increase as electricity rates increase • Tax-free savings • Ownership of a tangible asset • 25 Year Performance Warranty • Scalable investment • Resiliency and energy security 27

Soothing Sounds For The Earth

arth day combined with the Ancient healing sounds of the Native American Flute is a wonderful combination! If you play the Native American flute, or if you just love listening to it’s soothing sounds, you are welcome to come to an outdoor forest event to celebrate Earth Day in a very special way. I have been creating Heart Song Native American Style flutes for over 15 years, and have noticed a significant change in what people are looking for when it comes to sound, since Covid happened upon us a year ago. Sound comes to us in a variety of frequencies. Native American style flutes can be tuned according to different hertz or sound waves. In the 15 years of creating these flutes, I have been tuning them to 440hz with a few exceptions. 440hz is in line with most European instruments. Since covid, I have had a dramatic increase in requests

for flutes tuned to 432hz. This sound wave helps release stress, anxiety and tension from the body. It unites the body and consciousness with nature. Being more harmonic and having a more pleasant sound, it releases serotonin and endorphins, which help keep the heart rate and blood pressure stable. 432hz is also in line with the frequency of the earth. What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to align your body with the Earths frequency, release the tension and anxiety that we have been holding for over a year now and listen to the soothing sounds of the Native American Flute while sitting amongst our beautiful Cowichan Valley trees. If you would like to participate in this event April 25th, Native Flute Event, 11:30-1:30, FREE! please contact Rommy Verlaan of Heart Song Flutes at: rommyflutes@ shaw.ca 250-749-6563

Margot Page

Enamelling on Copper and Steel

Jewelery • Vases • Journals • Guestbooks Frames • Bookmarks • Magnets • Lightswitch Plates

Available locally at: Imagine That Artisans Rainforest Arts • Artzi Stuff • TOSH

www.margotpage.com

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250 746 8446

8/8/2011 3:23:00 PM

Sheila Badman, happy wife and mother of two, loves experiencing the treasures of Cowichan, both indoors and out.

ero waste. A revolution that is hitting the Western world inspired by necessity to avoid burying ourselves in piles of plastic and excess packaging. What do these words mean to your household? Do you consider waste when shopping? According to Rachelle Young from oceana.ca Canadians produce an estimated 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste a year. More than a third of these plastics are created for single use, 86% of it ends up in the landfill and only 9% of these plastics are viable for recycling. Now you can see that burying ourselves in our own plastic waste, is actually a reality. Thankfully shop owners like Lulu and Sherry who co-own the Chemainus Health Food Store empower regular people like us be part of this global movement committed to zero waste. By adding a quality bulk refill station to their store they have managed to keep hundreds of single use plastics out of our landfills in a short amount of time. Think of how many bottles your own household uses in a month - laundry, dish soap, shampoo, cleaner, hand soap… there’s five right there. Multiply that by 12

Refill, Reuse, Reduce! Bulk Bounty at the Zero Waste Refill Bar

home in a clean juice bottle. To my surprise I loved it! On my next visit, I brought in that empty Rosemary Mint jug and filled it to the top, marking the bottle with a Sharpie to note what was inside. Thrilled by this sampling experience, I took my twins to the shop on the next visit and let them choose some Oneka shampoo to try at home. New, glass and empty bottles are available at the shop if you lack containers, but staff really hope you’ll come in to refill ones you already have.

such as Nature Clean, Oneka, The Unscented Company and Purica.

months… whoa 60! It sure adds up. By reusing and refilling your containers each month you alone can keep up to 60 plastic containers out of the garbage and recycling chain. Those who frequent this refill bar already, agree it is the best spot in the Valley to refill dish soap, shampoo, laundry products, counter cleaners and even hand sanitizer. Three years ago they began by carrying a Vancouver made line for refilling. Since then they have grown to over 22 different bulk products that are made in Canada by brands

For those who love matching packaging to the product they sell original bottles of the products in all sizes so you can refill in the same container again and again.

Sampling - A Perk! Because bulk products are sold by weight, you can try just a bit to take home to try. Last month, I discovered a new liquid laundry soap by Nature Clean, Lemon Verbena. Very loyal to my rosemary mint laundry I was apprehensive, but took some

Current refill stock available: Nature Clean - Laundry Liquid (Lemon Verbena, Lavender Fields), Dish Soap (Lavender Tea-tree, Mandarin Grapefruit, Fragrance Free) Oneka - Shampoo (Angelica Lavender, Cedar Sage, Goldenseal Citrus) Shower Gel (Goldenseal Citrus, Cedar Sage) Conditioner (Cedar Sage, Angelica Lavender) Body Lotion (Unscented, Cedar Sage, Goldenseal Citrus) The Unscented Company Dish and Hand Soap and Purica Hand Sanitizer Never visited a refill bar before? Come with your own clean, refillable jugs or bottles. You’ll be glad you did! Chemainus Health Food Store, 9738 Willow St, Chemainus 250 246-9838 Open 6 days a week Monday Saturday. Check them out on fb.

VISIT OUR ZERO WASTE REFILL BAR Hand sanitizer, shampoo, body, dish and laundry soap all available in bulk!

9738 Willow St, Chemainus 250-246-9838 Hours Mon-Sat 10am-5pm • Closed Sun & Statuatory Holidays 29

Energy Efficient Whether We Like it or Not

program, an independent Energy Auditor (EA) will need to verify that the design of your new home meets these new standards before you can apply for a building permit.

David Coulson is a local certified Built Green design builder. He has a staff of 25 that have built throughout the Island for over 20 years.

f you are thinking of building new these days, you are going to be hearing about the new BC Energy Step Code. This is a first for Canada (in some ways) in that

B.C. has legislated a code to incrementally get new residential construction to ‘Net Zero Ready’ by 2030 to help us reach our carbon reduction targets.

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The steps are 1 to 5 and each step gets us roughly 20% closer or more efficient to this target. Simply put, by 2030, all you will need is the installation of photo voltaic panels (or some similar renewable) to supply all the needed energy required to cover the balance of your heating and lighting needs. Zero operating costs. Together with this efficiency

The home will be tested for air leakage on steps 2 and up - during and after completion - and if the home fails to meet the new targets, occupancy will be withheld until the leakage is reduced to meet these goals. Pretty serious stuff for the uninitiated and unfamiliar ground for many carpenters and builders in the industry but this will have to change quickly. I have been a certified Built Green Builder for over ten years and that program mandate is similar, but more holistic, in nature. The aim is for higher efficiencies in all areas, including envelope and energy (air tightness being key), materials and methods, indoor air quality, ventilation, waste management, water conservation, and even business practices. You get points for each improvement in these categories of efficiency

that, when totaled, qualified your home for Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum certification. Built Green even encourages our builders to drive energyefficient cars and trucks and to practice recycling in our own homes and offices. I have always felt good about this holistic approach but, unfortunately, buy-in from the general public for certification has been slow to grow. I think there is opportunity to better educate the public on the benefits of this program, for example - to calm fears of perceived increase in costs. It has always been an option offered to clients, but never required. In any case, our company building practices and standards are high enough to reach Platinum-level on nearly every build so the end goal is being achieved in terms of environmental savings but oftentimes without certification for the homeowner. It seems the only way we are going to achieve these goals in the near future, as a province, is by making it mandatory; hence, the Step Code. Back in the ‘90s, we had the first iteration of the Power

The certification is well worth it. The cost to enroll is minimal ($120 per home). The City of Duncan adopted Built Green standards years ago as a benchmark for new commercial construction. A bold move for a small town to take. Sometimes the monitoring was tough to keep standardized but the concept was great.

Smart program. BC Hydro started this fabulous volunteer program and then shelved it just as it was taking on international recognition. We were very involved at that time, improving over 1,000 homes in the Cowichan Valley. You may also have heard of the Passive House program that started as the R-2000 program here in Canada (Saskatchewan) almost 50 years ago and was reconstituted in Germany, returning to Canada as Passivhaus. And a lot has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic struck and forced us all into isolation mode, an event for some of self-discovery and rethinking our priorities. We now want cleaner homes, safer homes, healthier environments. Even separate rooms are back! As mentioned, I still find that the more holistic approach of the Built Green program addresses so much of this improvement in home construction and also answers many of our new concerns about sustainability and health.

The Step Code and many other energy-only improvement programs on their own do not address reversing climate change today. The improvements in operating costs will come back in 30 years or more as the buildings are debt serviced, but will that be enough to reverse the dangerous direction we are taking now with massive amounts of building development and carbon dioxide levels rising? Building with wood, insulating with cellulose, using wood siding and flooring all help to sequester carbon TODAY and actually reverse climate change. Today. Re-use, recycle, and preserve the building stock that already exists. This is another positive low-carbon method that benefits the climate today. Choosing wood fibre products is also a choice to employ our local community and keeps transport to a minimum, so our carbon footprint becomes still lower. To sum up, I encourage you to think wood, think warmth, and try to be as holistic and sustainable in your decisions as you can. We’ll get there if we keep an eye on the big picture. 31

Personal Benefits - saves money by reducing your water bill if you are on a municipal system - helps to reduce well pump energy consumption & preserve your well water supply - can offer extra fire protection if you are in a remote or rural area - great backup supply to have in emergency situations - increased self sufficiency - lowers your ecological footprint - can add value to your property Environmental & Community Benefits - reduces surface water runoff which can often become contaminated by pesticides, fertilisers or other contaminants (which can then contaminate streams, lakes and groundwater) - helps prevent storm runoff which can cause flooding or soil & riverbank erosion - promotes water & energy conservation - great source of water for plants and lawns as it has no added chemicals such as fluoride and chloramines - helps take the strain off of public water systems during peak seasons (reduces the energy needed by those systems)

Rainwater Collection Submitted by Kat Gordon

here are many reasons that collecting and using rainwater is a positive choice to make. From both a personal and an environmental standpoint rainwater harvesting truly is winwin. Its popularity and necessity has grown in more recent years throughout the world including here on Vancouver Is-land.

The Mill Bay/Malahat Historical Society Challenges You To Have Fun With Episodes l-Vl NEW QUIZ RELEASES! Episode Vll - April 6 Episode VIII - April 20

of our online history trivia quiz called,

‘I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT’ Visit our website to play!

www.millbaymalahathistory.com Don’t worry if you don’t get the correct answers remember the quiz is called, ‘I Never Would Have Guessed That’. Have Fun!

As we’ve all witnessed, the dry summer weather creates serious drought conditions and most of us are well versed in the annual water restrictions. Adding your own supplemental water supply for non-potable uses is a great way to begin your rainwater collection efforts and will prove extremely beneficial to you, your community and the environment around you. In some Regional Districts and Municipalities rebates may even be offered on rainwater system set up. What is Rainwater Harvesting or Rainwater Collection? It is the collection of rain from a flat area such as a roof which is then re-directed for storage to a tank or cistern for use at a later time. These rainwater harvesting systems can be designed to suit most budgets & water use requirements from smaller set ups perfect for a tiny house to larger, more complex systems with below ground cisterns and entire house hook ups.

What can rainwater be used for? Untreated Rainwater - nonpotable: • landscape and garden watering • collection tank can be connected to sprinkler systems • washing your home, deck, driveway and car • flushing toilets or washing clothes • filling pools, hot tubs, fountains or ponds • livestock and pet watering and washing Water Testing & Water Treatment With proper filtration and purification rainwater can be used for cooking, drinking and

bathing too! In these cases you will be adding a water treatment system to your set up and regular water test-ing to your regimen to ensure that the water is always safe for consumption by you and your family. Cisterns & Tanks Depending on the size and intended use of your rainwater there are a wide range of cistern/ tank size options available to choose from. These tanks vary in size between smaller back yard barrels to large above or below

ground cisterns requiring pumping systems to extract the water. Consulting with a specialist will help you determine the best system and tank size for your property and for your water requirements. Sustainablity We all want to do our part in working towards a more environmentally friendly and sustainable fu-ture and rainwater collection along with water conservation can help to do just that! Many of us don’t think too much about water availability, we just turn on the tap and there it is, but fresh water is a finite resource and one that we we can all help to preserve and protect. “Water is the driving force of all nature.” — Leonardo da Vinci Contact BC Aquifer for more information about setting up your own rainwater collection system! info@bcaquifer.ca or 250.748.4041.

4-180 Central Rd, Duncan - Village Green Mall www.lynnsvitamingallery.ca 250-748-4421

Spiritual Upliftment and Conversation

Join us in oﬀering prayers for the healing and upliftment of the world, and conversation on topics that challenge the establishment of unity and peace. We are three local Baha’i friends who currently meet on Zoom. 7:30 to 8:30 on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month

All are invited and welcome, whatever your spiritual path. Please call us for details and link:

Tim and Laurice Mock – (250) 748-2585 Lee Masters – (250) 748-4060

So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. Baháʼu’lláh April 14th, the topic will be racial prejudice and April 28th, the extremes of wealth and poverty 34

How to Co-Purchase and Thrive on a Landshare

t’s hard to believe how the real estate market responded to this recent pandemic. We can now clearly see what is most important to people: toilet paper and housing. For the sake of this article, let’s focus on housing and take a look at how co-ownership on shared land can work. There are many moving parts that need coordinating in order to co-purchase and thrive as coowners on shared land. Nothing worthwhile comes without hard work and creating this type of homeownership requires knowledge, full commitment and unified collaboration. Having a solid social framework in place is the key ingredient to any successful landshare. The social framework is like a detailed mission statement on how the land is owned, financed and governed. Each of these elements need to be approached in fine detail and organized in a manner that is agreed upon, understandable and legal. The way a group chooses to live on the land will further impact on how a group is structured legally. The structure of a group can be shaped and molded into an infinite amount of possibilities; creating unique forms of home and land ownership that support sustainability, affordability, security and social networks. A group can incorporate as a company, as a not-for-profit society, a strata, a co-op or form as a partnership. Some groups are equity focused while others are not and no framework is the same. Every landshare will have its own unique structure regarding liability, accountability, return on investment, taxation and governance relationships.

Breaking down these fundamental components will add clarity on how the land is owned and used, shedding light on how decisions are made and how units are sold. Once these essential elements are in place and a framework has been established, a group can further explore different types of conceptual design plans. A conceptual design plan is a visual presentation, encompassing the framework and how the land will be developed and used. Every property is unique and groups must realize that each design plan will need to be specifically tailored to each project’s needs. The conceptual design plan is the backbone to a group’s proposal. Having a solid proposal in place is essential in order to gain support from local municipalities and lenders. Visuals and modelling are a great way to bring life to a proposal, illustrating how water, energy and waste are all used and managed. Everything needs to be in place at the time of the proposal. One does not have to look too far in the Cowichan Valley to see how groups can live and thrive on shared land. Co-housing pioneer Brandy

Gallagher, founder of OUR Ecovillage since 1999, has been a pivotal player in bringing this type of co-ownership to the table. Developing progressive initiatives around the management of waste, energy, heat, water and food, OUR Ecovillage has set precedents on legal zoning, land design and infrastructure systems; sharing these valuable legal and regulatory efforts with projects local to global. Spearheading a research project in collaboration with Simon Fraser University, Gallagher is currently uniting engineers, farmers and lawyers in order to formulate different types of economic modeling frameworks into a book that specifically breaks down the complexity of these types of projects; presenting the information in a “recipe-like” format that makes sense to people looking to coown and share land. Called “The Sustainable Landshare Modelling Cookbook; Recipes for Systems Success”, this “cookbook” will provide BC residents with access to a wide range of opportunities and innovations, providing detailed expertise on how to navigate the intricate legal processes of co-ownership, landsharing and green technology approvals. How exciting it will be when this book is readily available to us providing references to legal pathways for such diverse projects! In the meantime, “Creating a Life Together” by Diana Leafe

Christian is a remarkable book, shedding light on the many aspects involved regarding landshare living and community building. Providing insight on decision-making processes and different types of legal structures, the book looks at real life success stories and the common elements they all share. Knowledge is power, and the more a group can learn from success stories, the higher the likelihood that a group will succeed and flourish on a landshare. Now, more than ever, the world is embracing progressive and creative initiatives. New technologies are constantly emerging, improving efficiency and creating a deeper understanding of sustainable land use. Landshares come in many shapes and forms and in today’s world it seems that thinking outside the box is appropriate and realistic.

Reduce, Reuse & Recycle for a happier and

healthier community.

Home to organic, local, vegetarian, and wholesome food!

There truly is so much room for landsharing in the Cowichan Valley. The land speaks to this type of living; yet one must realize that these types of ventures take time and effort. Preparation is essential when it comes down to co-purchasing and developing land in a group dynamic. Groups need to meet regularly and realize that a unified social framework requires cultivation in order to fully understand how the land is owned, governed, developed and lived on. These key components are the true building blocks to a successful landshare before any shovel goes into the ground. For more information on landshare purchases or to connect with like-minded people email bridgingthegap.earth@ gmail.com

Brian Horwitz is a licensed real estate agent and a proud Dad dedicated to making landshare purchases more accessible.

T Traditional Chinese Exercise for Health All Classes in the Cowichan Valley *unless stated

Wild Goose Qigong (Chi Gong) Gentle movement Calms your mind Heals internal organs Develops ﬂexibility Mondays 9:30 -10:30 am Wednesdays 10-11:15 am Fridays 10-11:30 am (Victoria)*

Northern Shaolin Chun Yuen Quan

Dynamic movement Improves posture Increases energy Strengthens bones Tuesdays 6 pm - 7 pm Wednesdays 9 am - 10 am

250 748 4060 rivendellrhythm@shaw.ca

www.WildGooseQigongCentre.com

BC Prawn Fisherman Need Your Help to Protect Their Livelihood

he work of a fisherman is always varied and at times challenging. Whether it is figuring out the right hoochie that matches what the salmon are feeding on, difficult weather conditions or mechanical break downs. All these trails come with the territory of fishing are part of what keeps it interesting after four decades. Sometimes there are man-made problems that defies common sense. For the past ten years I and my crew have been operating a Community Supported Fishery, selling a portion of our catch to people in our community. This has really helped us to be able to keep fishing with all the complex problems that climate change has been throwing at us. This past season with the advent of the COVID 19 pandemic the export market for prawn tails collapsed and many other fishermen started selling to the public. This helped fishermen survive a very sudden and difficult change to how they had carried out business. It also gave a lot more people a chance to eat local prawns. This provided a way for fishermen to adapt to a very difficult situation in a hurry. A few months ago, DFO reinterpreted a long-standing fisheries regulation and declared that freezing prawn tails in water was against the regulation and fishermen would be charged if they had frozen prawn in water. This would effectively shut down public sales of prawn

tails. We would have to sell all our prawns to the export companies and be stopped from selling directly to you the public. We have asked DFO to let us meet with their enforcement branch to see if we could resolve this situation thru discussion. After five weeks of asking for a meeting with DFO enforcement and being refused we fishermen are reaching out to the public to help us in this frankly bizarre and arbitrary reinterpretation of the regulation. We have a online petition at www.skipperotto. com/sign-the-petition/ and we would also urge you to write to the Minister of Fisheries Jordan at:Bernadette.Jordan@ parl.gc.ca asking her to let fishermen sell prawns directly to the public as we have done for over 40 years. This serves two purposes, it brings quality seafood to the community and it allows fisherman to be economically sustainable. Thanks for taking the time to read this and support us in any way you can. www.michellerosecsf.com

Guy Johnston, Fisherman, Michelle Rose Community Supported Fishery

is open year-round Saturdays from 9am-2pm in downtown Duncan. Health guidelines are in place to ensure vendor and customer safety during the pandemic.

Crafters and Artisans Return to the Duncan Farmers Market! The first day of Spring brought the Duncan Farmers Market exciting news they had been waiting months to hear. Finally, all artisans were welcomed back to the market as the Provincial Health Office removed orders that had restricted markets to food only since late November. With this news the number of vendors at the market doubled and has given customers back a full range of local handmade goods including produce, food, flowers, artisans handmade goods, wine, soap and so much more! The market

Victoria Spring Fling Pop Up Market The Fernwood Makers We are a rotating group of makers sharing space in the heart of Fernwood in Victoria. During the pandemic we noticed makers focusing in on their artwork and the community wanting to support locally made products. These face to face interactions are providing the community with much needed connections, with a little oxytocin high. The next Pop Up features Chocolate from Xocolat, based just outside of Límon, Costa Rica, farmers Kari and Pascal tend to their cacao trees, and harvest the cacao all by hand traditionally.

Sustainably Harvested Seafood

from Michelle Rose CSF

Michelle Rose Community Supported Fishery

www.michellerosecsf.com

After harvesting Kari and Pascal bring the cacao back to their commercial kitchen in Sooke to where they create the variety of bars and cacao products. Bunny hoodies by Morena Clothing make the sweetest gift for your sugar free babies. Warm and cuddly sea foam blue hoodies with little a detailed ivory herringbone bunny. These little wonders bring comfort with sensory details like the Pom Poms and fuzzy kanga

pockets to ease nervousness. Bunny hoodies are ‘HIP HOP’ sizing, bigger, for kids to grow with for years to come. Emily Grace Goodrich is a Victoria based artist and metalsmith originally from San Diego, California. She works primarily in brass and recycled sterling silver. This is a small taste of our April makers please follow us at @ themakersparty on Instagram and FB. April 3 & 10, 11-4pm 1508 Haultain St, Victoria.

Earth Day’s Organic Cotton Lesson by Dawn Howlett and Chris Manley

Chris and Dawn love helping people sleep by using natural and organic bedding.

id you know that organic cotton accounts for less than 5% of the global production? Many of us are used to buying regular cotton for everything from clothing to furniture, bedding and linens, and yet we don’t see all that goes on behind the scenes in the making of this mainstay fabric. There are real challenges in the production of cotton, for those growing and producing, as well as those of us consuming

it. Here are a few quick facts about conventional cotton that you might find interesting. According to the Organic Trade Association, conventionally grown cotton is the fourth most heavily sprayed crop in the world. Chemicals Agriculture is the largest source of pollution in most countries. 2.4% of the world’s cropland is planted with cotton and yet it accounts for 24% and 11% of the global sales of insecticide

and pesticides respectively. Unsafe use of agricultural chemicals can have health impacts on workers in the fields and on ecosystems that receive the run-off from cotton farms.

a significant percentage of their cotton fields with GM varieties that are resistant to some insects, pests and are tolerant of certain herbicides.

Genetic Engineering

It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton; equivalent to a single T-shirt or pair of jeans. 73% of global cotton harvest comes from irrigated land (as documented in the WWF report The Impact of Cotton on Freshwater Resources and Ecosystems) depleting valuable water sources in

The use of geneticallymodified (GM) cotton varieties has increased considerably in recent years, reaching 20% (67.7 million/ ha) of the global crop area (as accounted for in 2002). Several of the major cottonproducing countries cultivate 38

The Impact on Water

regions where water is scarce.

likely lasts longer.

River Basin Impacts

Choosing to buy organic cotton is more than just a consumer’s preference. Our collective decision to purchase organic cotton products acts as a vote towards which industries continue to thrive and those which eventually become less utilized.

Unsustainable cotton farming, with massive outputs of water and pesticides, have already been responsible for the destruction of largescale ecosystems such as the Aral Sea in central Asia, and the deteriorating health and livelihoods of people living there. Organic cotton production needs to be supported and talked up more robustly. We at Resthouse are proud to be a part of a growing movement making organic cotton options available. Cotton, when organically produced is a natural, renewable and biodegradable fiber where the certification standards benefit cotton producers and farms in developing countries by eliminating the use of harmful toxic pesticides and insecticides. It also reduces the cost of production, which in turn improves social conditions for those farmers producing the crop. Organic cotton is also considered stronger and the fibers more resilient to wear and tear. You will likely pay more for it, but you will have a product that

Showing the world’s cotton producers that there is a demand and preference for organic cotton will speak volumes. Our vote is cast in dollars, which is a language that industry listens to carefully. On Earth Day (April 22), when our thoughts are brought to the care of our precious planet, organic cotton ticks all the right boxes.

Resthouse Sleep Solutions 126 Station Street Downtown Duncan 250-597-7378

Toasted Sandwich With A Twist Recipe courtesy Grant Easterbrook, The Olive Station, 225 Canada Avenue, Downtown Duncan

Not sure what to do with your leftover ham? How about whipping up an amazing oven-toasted sandwich with an Olive Station twist! This simple recipe layers thinly sliced pear, thick cut ham, roasted garlic balsamic mayo and ooey gooey melted Brie. Is your mouth watering yet?

Ingredients:

1 head garlic 1/3 cup robust intensity EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) 1/8 cup cinnamon-pear dark balsamic vinegar 1 cup mayonnaise 1 fresh pear thinly sliced 4-6 large slices of Brie cheese 2-4 slices thick cut ham 4 slices fresh bread (we love sourdough)

Instructions:

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Start with roasting the garlic. Take 1 whole head of garlic, with the stem end sliced off. (Do not slice the root end or the bulb may fall apart) 1/3 cup Fresh, Robust intensity Extra Virgin Olive Oil Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a pie tin, cake pan, or other shallow oven proof baking vessel, place the garlic head cut side up. Drizzle each head generously with approximately two teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil. Seal the pan tight with aluminum foil and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant, soft, and golden brown. Set aside, and let cool. Once the garlic is cooled squeeze the roasted cloves out of the skin. Using a food processor or immersion blender Combine the balsamic vinegar and the mayo, and add 1-2 cloves of the roasted garlic. Mix well and set aside in the fridge for later. Preheat oven to 350F. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper lay down 4 slices of bread. On each slice spread a generous amount of the balsamic mayonnaise On 2 of the slices place enough slices of Brie to cover them nicely. On the remaining slices of bread layer the pear and ham slices. Place the tray into the oven and baked until Brie is melted and starting to bubble. Once your desired level of melt is reached, remove from oven and place the cheesy slices on top of the ham and pear sides. There you have it, a simple sandwich recipe that boasts big flavour! The perfect idea for using up leftover ham.

contracting the disease and the public health actions can make us feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. Learning to cope with stress in a healthy way will make you, the people you care about, and those around you become more resilient.

Anxiety, Calming The Chaos Within

By Gail A Barrett

Available at Ten Old Books

he COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on all our lives. Fear of

COLD COFFEE COLD DRINKS ICED BEVERAGES LUNCH WHOLE BEANS HOT COFFEE HOT DRINKS HOT BREAKFAST BAKERY GIFTS

anxiety.

Before the pandemic, anxiety was touching people from all walks of life, knowing no age, gender, ethnic, or economic boundaries. Anxiety can be paralyzing while considerably narrowing the scope of your life. The pandemic has heightened anxiety to an epidemic level.

for people of all ages and background with an approach that is gender friendly and culturally inclusive.

In her book “Anxiety, calming the chaos within”, Gail Barrett helps us understand the many faces of anxiety. More importantly she leads us through strategies and techniques than can help us deal with this potentially crippling condition. This book is a very useful resource

Barrett has also developed a set of cards that can be used as a companion with the book, or as stand-alone. The idea being that if you practice a new strategy each day, you will achieve an accumulative, positive effect in terms of retraining your brain and your thinking, this decreasing your

Gail uses storytelling and draws on real life situations. She helps us use visualization, mindfulness and meditation, self care and the practice of gratitude. You can learn to ease your own anxiety and help the children or other adults in your life. This a great book that helps use deal with a real life modern day problem! Submitted by Kathie Tenold

Ten Old Books 102-330 Duncan Strett Downtown Duncan 250 715-1383

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Good health to you! Tina Foster, RHN Essential Remedies

e are all so grateful that the days are getting warmer, the flowers are coming up from the cold Earth, and birds are loudly chirping. There is hope on the horizons! Our bodies generally feel heavier coming out of wintertime, and it is a good idea to reevaluate and rethink your diet and activities. A spring cleaning is well due! This doesn’t have to be a scary undertaking. Small steps can make a difference for you- a few examples are, incorporating more whole foods (especially more fruits and vegetables), less (much less) processed food, drinking more water (8-10 cups/day, more if active), intermittent fasting,

Go Green and Be Clean! and including herbal and green drinks. Green drinks can include fresh pressed juices, but these can be time-consuming, messy, costly, and wasteful. A well blended smoothie is an excellent alternative, and can include greens, superfoods like berries and adaptogens, and superfood/green powders. A lot of the ingredients in dried blends include superfoods

Embracing wellness, family and community

R.M.T.? JOIN OUR TEAM!

Get in touch to become part of our Community of Practitioners committed to Family Health and Wellness

info@matraea.com 1 844 MAT-RAEA (628 7232)

not commonly available here fresh at the market. These easy, convenient, and extra nutritious greens/super blends can also be just stirred into a morning glass of water, or anytime you need a boost. However you choose to include more greens, getting more in your daily diet is essential. Here are some great options for you to add to your daily regime to help cleanse your body: 1. Moringa powder- an Eastern super leaf high in protein, calcium and other minerals, Vitamins including Vitamin A and other antioxidants, is antiinflammatory, energizing, detox, good in a weight management plan. 2. Schinoussa Sea Vegetables- a raw superfood blend containing blue and green algaes, kelp, plant omega-3s, chlorophyll rich, astaxanthin, phytocyanin rich, E3 live, protein, fiber, good B12 source for vegans. Thyroid and blood sugar support. Available in weight management or berry formula. 3. Enerex Greens- raw and freeze-dried juiced greens and sprouts, with added probiotics, bee pollen and royal jelly, acerola cherry, licorice root, apple fiber and more. For increased energy, stamina, improved digestion and brain function and vitality, detoxifying and refreshing.

4. North Coast Naturals Ultimate Daily Greens- in sweet iced tea flavour- delicious! A scoop in your morning water gives you an efficient blend of 52 superfoods including greens, sea veg, phytoplankton, high ORAC fruits, pre and probiotics, and support for energy and digestion. 5. Vital Greens liquid- daily shot for energy and vitality! A refreshing chlorophyll loaded and over 15 superfoods complex. Adrenal and glandular support, with herbs and nutrients. 6. Chloropure liquid chlorophyll- concentrated plant chlorophyll is an internal deodorant, cleansing, breath freshener, high-antioxidants to protect cells from oxidative damage by free radicals. Available in mint or plain. 7. Chlorella and/or Spirulina tablets- a non drinkable, tasteless option, great to pop some super algaes on the go. Energy, detox, cell regeneration benefits. 8. Dandelion root tea- A wonderful herbal tea and coffee substitute, any time of day. Post-meal helps with digesting the meal, bile production for fat breakdown and digestion, a liver supportive tea. Nutritious and tonifying for your organs. Happy and Healthy, and cleansed Spring to you!

Essential Remedies 141 Craig Street Downtown Duncan (250) 748-9632

Cowichan Women’s Health Collective Matraea Centre Embracing wellness, family, and community for 10 successful years! As the Matraea Centre celebrates its 10th Anniversary this April 1st, 2021, we cannot overstate our gratitude to this community for its support and loyalty to the midwives and practitioners that have contributed to our leading role in this community in the provision of superior family and women’s health services. During these 10 years, midwifery services have grown within the community to represent over 60% of births in the Cowichan Valley—3 times the national average-- and now support 3 separate and distinct local midwifery practices in Duncan in addition to a practice based in Ladysmith. As the Cowichan Women’s Health Collective (CWHC) begins to gather steam as a lodestar in our community, The Matraea Centre proudly restates our over-arching commitment to excellence in the provision of family and women’s health. In celebrating our 10th Anniversary, we express our humble gratitude to those who lead us and support us, and are thrilled to announce that Warmland Women’s Support Services—Cowichan Valley’s dedicated sexual assault Advocacy Centre and Crime Victim Assistance Counselling support- has found shelter under our roof, alongside the essentially important services of Sophie Barbant-Hayward, M.A., R.P.C: Addictions and Substance Abuse Counselling Therapist. These new tenancies parallel our inclusion of the Cowichan Valley Constituency Office for our local MLA, Sonia Furstenau--herself a tireless advocate for family and women’s health and equality in our community-and a leader that our community continues to stand behind in her role as our elected representative at the Legislature. These changes represent the progressive fulfillment of the expanding vision of the CWHC--recently awarded grant-funding from the Vancouver Foundation to conduct an initial study on the value of integrating services that support women’s health in our community—and also continue to reflect the values of the Centre: from its outset focused on integrative health and community under our inclusive vision statement: “Embracing wellness, family, and community.” In honour of our ongoing commitment to inclusivity we have followed the City of Duncan’s lead, adding Hul’q’um’i’num to our signage, to share in the messaging and to demonstrate publicly our own profound commitment to the principles of Reconciliation and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). So in addition to welcoming greetings on our exterior Directory signs, you will see that we have also updated our main hanging “shingle” to include the Hul’q’um’i’num for helping one another, “Tsi’its’uw’atul” as a reflection of our deeply felt gratitude and the honour we all share in continuing to support community members from all walks of life: from the most intimate of transformative lifebringing events; to advocacy; trauma intervention; integrated natural healing; the yearly essentials of tax preparation, and opportunities for lending and mortgage advice and provision. From the partners and tenants at the Matraea Centre—10 years of gratitude!!!!

Tsi’its’uw’atul “Caring for one another” We are sharing our gratitude. We deeply, gratefully acknowledge the unceded territory of the Hul’q’um’i’num speaking peoples, on whose lands we work, play, and raise our families together. We are grateful to those who walked before us. We are grateful for the support of those around us. We are grateful for the leadership, and the vision that interconnects and draws us forward. We are grateful to our partners, for their loyalty and their trust.

Need more info? www.cowichanwomenshealth.org www.matraea.com 1 844 Mat raea (1 844 628 7232) Submitted with gratitude, by Rupert Koyote, on behalf of Matraea partners: Founder Kate Koyote, RM; Nika Stafford, Juergen Suelzle; and Amanda Slydell

The Cowichan Women’s Health Collective acknowledges our settler relationship to the unceded territory of the Hul’q’umi’num’ speaking peoples upon which we live.

Thank you, Cowichan, for 10 successful years!

PRACTITIONER & SERVICES AT MATRAEA CENTRE: Dr. Rikst Attema, ND and Dr. Jenna Waddy, ND--Naturopathic Medicine; Sophie Barbant-Hayward, M.A., RPC--Substance Abuse Therapy; Sonia Furstenau, MLA—Cowichan Valley Constituency Ofﬁce; Kate Koyote, RM—Midwifery Services; Candice Wray, RN--Two Moons Lactation Consulting; Amanda Slydell--Tax Preparer Extraordinaire; Amber Burwash and Erin Sheen—The Place to Mortgage; Hayley Sinai, M.A— Youth and Family Counselling and Intuitive Reading; and: Kendra Thomas, CVAP & Warmland Women’s Support Services Society--Sexual Assault Support and Crime Vicitim Assistance Advocacy

www.matraea.com I 170 Craig Street, Downtown Duncan I 1-844 Matraea 43

Dr. Pascoe’s Tips For Healthy Skin Dr. Lyn Pascoe Viva Medical Aesthetics

o keep my own skin looking healthy and ready for every day I personally prefer a simple daily regime combined with some easy and affordable skin care treatments. In addition, a diet rich in antioxidants and vitamins is important. My daily skin care routine goes like this:

In the Morning

1. Wash using a Clarisonic brush (think electric toothbrush for your skin) and a gentle PH balanced cleanser. 2. Moisturize and apply sunblock. (30 SPF minimum) The sunblock is “nonnegotiable”! The good news is that there are now formulations of sunblock containing zinc oxide and / or titanium dioxide which will effectively block the damaging UVA and UVB rays from permeating your skin. Many sunblock products are also combined with high quality moisturizers which makes this step super easy.

Before Bed

1. Wash again using a Clarisonic brush and a gentle PH balanced cleanser. 2. Apply treatment product(s) for your skin type. NEW LOCATION! Visit us in the Coastal Oﬃces building 103-255 (Unit 212) Ingram St, Duncan 250 715 5649

www.cowichanvalleyacupuncture.com

At night, I like to treat my skin with medical grade AHA’s (glycolic) and a Retin A product. These are designed to exfoliate, help build collagen, and treat brown spots that accumulate with age and sun damage. If you have sensitive or rosacea prone skin, the night treatment should be gentler. Topical Vitamin C and a special formulation for rosacea will help

to reduce reds and moisturize dry, sensitive skin. If you have oily/acne prone skin, your night treatment can be stronger. Chemical exfoliation with glycol / salicylic acid and Retin A products are a good choice for you.

Occasional Treatments

1. Hydrafacial MD I like to have a Hydrafacial MD once a month. This is a noninvasive, in-office treatment that is designed to both physically and chemically exfoliate. It also helps boost collagen production through its use of alpha hydroxy acids and special formulations that are delivered to your skin with the aid of vortex technology. This is a great treatment for returning the glow to previously sun damaged and pollution damaged skin. It is also very helpful in reducing acne. 2. IPL (intense pulsed light) For those deeper pigments and reds, I use laser and intense pulsed light systems. These are very effective for removing brown spots and treating reds that can develop across the cheeks and nose. A series of treatments, spaced about a month apart, is usually needed for best results. These treatments need to be done on un-tanned skin, so Winter is the best time to do these.

Mineral Makeup

When out and about, mineral makeup is the way to go. Mineral make up not only looks good, but is also great for your skin as it is anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and also often contains SPF for that extra protection we need.

Nutrition

My last tip is to eat a diet rich in anti-oxidants and vitamins. All the coloured vegetables and fruits are perfect for this. Remember 5 - 7 servings / day is ideal. I find that a supplement containing Vitamin A is very helpful for acne type skin and one containing Omega Fatty Acids is awesome for all types of skin.

Viva Medical Aesthetics #4-177 Fourth Street Downtown Duncan 250 746-6512

The Global Evolution of Acupuncture Denise D’Fantis Cowichan Valley Acupuncture

cupuncture, the licensed health care profession in B.C. that involves the insertion of tiny sterile needles into the body to initiate a therapeutic response, is generally considered to have originated in China around 6,000 BC. Archeologists and historians have interpreted sharpened bones and stones that date from this era in China as instruments of acupuncture. Around 2,600 BC, the famous Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine was written, a series of medically related conversations between the Emperor Huangdi and his minister, or physician. This ancient treatise on health and disease remains a significant medical document revealing an organized system of diagnosis and therapeutic treatments in China. While acupuncturists today utilize sterile stainless steel needles of various lengths and gauges of widths, in ancient China doctors used needles made from bamboo and sharp animal bones and stones. In the 6th Century, a Chinese monk-physician named Chiso

brought acupuncture to Japan, where it became part of Japan’s medical system for 1,400 years. During the Ming Dynasty in China (1368-1644) The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion was published, a medical treatise that eventually became the standard medical reference for standard therapies used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. By 1700 acupuncture had reached Europe as a result of Jesuit missionary contact with the Chinese. However it wasn’t until the1800’s that acupuncture made an appearance in the medical community in Europe. Several doctors in Britain gradually began to practice acupuncture by inserting needles at the site of pain in their patients, while simultaneously not embracing Chinese Medicine theories. In 1950 French vice-consul George Soulie′de Morant was nominated for the Nobel Prize in physiology for his work in acupuncture, and by 1959 The Medical Acupuncture Society in Britain was founded. By 1979, the World Health Organization (WHO) categorized acupuncture as a clinical practice and created a list of 43 diseases that acupuncture can help with, including Allergic rhinitis, Dysmenorrhoea, Headache, High Blood Pressure, Knee, Neck, and Low Back Pain, Nausea and Morning Sickness, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sciatica, Sprain, Stroke, and Tennis elbow. Since then acupuncture has gradually gained popularity in

Canada. According to the Fraser Institute, 22% of Canadians had tried acupuncture in 2016. Most people today turn to acupuncture for pain relief, including back pain, sports injuries, arthritic joint pain, gastrointestinal conditions and headaches.

on the nervous system by releasing oxytocin, a hormone that signals and regulates the parasympathetic nervous system.

Cowichan Valley Acupuncture 103-255 (Unit 212) Ingram St, Duncan 250 715 5649

While acupuncture may assist with easing the pain and discomfort associated with musculoskeletal conditions including many types of body pain, it may also help the busy modern individual by decreasing stress and promoting a state of relaxation due to its effect

guilty, have trouble making decisions, and in some cases the distress gets to the point of thinking of suicide. Yikes!

Finding your Light with Supportive Counselling at Cowichan Family Life Rick Stordeur, M.S.W., R.S.W. is the Clinical Supervisor at CFLA.

C WILLOWANDORCHID.COM

Weekly and monthly floral subscriptions • Weddings & Events • Customized Gift Crates • Floral Design Classes and Workshops • Sympathy Arrangements • Online, Telephone and Email Ordering • Delivery 101 Station Street Downtown Duncan 250-748-9868 willowandorchid@gmail.com

BC news reported that anti-depressant use in 2020 was up by 17%. Canadians are struggling with life changes resulting from the pandemic including loss of income, working from home, wearing masks, worries about sending kids to school, the sudden change to do home schooling, the safety of our elders, what variant strains of the virus might mean for us. Add the ongoing opiod overdose crisis, homelessness, or climate change. Change creates stress because it forces us to adapt to new realities. Non-stop change creates a sense of life being “off the rails,” and the longer that persists, the more distress we feel. Too much stress makes us feel powerless, and if that goes on too long, we risk plunging into depression. Depression is not the short term “blues” or the “blahs”. It goes deeper than that. Imagine an old fashioned kerosene lantern with a wick. Now turn that wick down so that the lantern is barely glowing. That’s a good image for what depression is like. Our life force is diminished, we feel exhausted, sad, irritable, want to hide under the blankets. We lose our caring, feel disorganized,

Depression is a total experience; it washes over body, mind, emotion and spirit, and needs more than one thing as a remedy. Anti-depressants might be helpful in reducing the depths of depression, but they typically don’t help you thrive. Because I play with images a lot in my work with my clients, I describe medication as being like a tow truck that pulls your car out of the mud. Once your car is pulled out of the muck, you have to drive your car differently so it doesn’t end up in the muck again. Medication won’t do that for you. You have to do that. We learn in Counselling 101 that people thrive when they connect with community, find meaning and purpose, eat and sleep better, remove toxic influences, cultivate gratitude, repair family rifts, transform passivity into action, and heal old wounds. These kinds of things revitalize a life. You turn your own wick up and your light fills the room! Then, hopefully, those pills are no longer needed. Counselling helps achieve those things by changing your thinking, behaviour, emotions. You work out a better direction for your life. You feel seen and heard. In weekly sessions, your counsellor offers ideas about doing things differently, about stopping self-defeating behaviour, repairing damage, and trying new behaviours. If you really invest your energy into it, this leads to lasting change. For 51 years, Cowichan Family Life Association has been providing affordable counselling by trained volunteer counsellors. Our offices are open Wed to Friday for in-person counselling. Our volunteer counsellors are also available to meet via Zoom.

Cowichan Family Life Association 127 Ingram Street #28, Duncan 250 748-8281

our emissions. Industrial agricultural practices, relying on tilling, heavy machinery inputs, and significant fertilizer use, have contributed to increase greenhouse gas emissions that are fueling our changing climate. In addition to strong federal policies needed to address this threat, we can also recognize the important role that our farmers and good agricultural practices can play, especially in the carbon sequestration potential of soil. Restoring carbon into the soil, where it belongs, and out of the atmosphere, where it is causing havoc, is going to be an important part of this fight.

SHOP WITH US Tuesday - Friday 11am - 4pm Saturday 10am - 3pm

Imagine That! Artisans’ Designs 251 Craig St., Downtown Duncan

imaginethatartisans.com I 250-748-6776

JOIN US

WEDNESDAY to SATURDAY

Growing a National Soil Strategy

am pleased to announce that I will be introducing a private member’s bill later this month to establish a national strategy on soil conservation and soil health. The bill will also take steps to recommend the appointment of a national advocate for soil health, whose office will have a mandate for raising awareness of the critical role that soil plays in supporting agricultural productivity and in meeting global challenges such as climate change. It is an established fact that climate change is already having a detrimental impact on our environment. Farmers are on the front lines of climate change, and they will be among the hardest hit, dealing with an increasing frequency of extreme weather events, if we don’t take the necessary steps to control and significantly reduce

Soil is an essential resource to our society. Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable food production, enhanced biodiversity and cleaner air and water for present and future generations. This issue is not limited to just agricultural lands; healthy soils are an integral part of healthy forests, and the relationship between the trees and the land is best illustrated when poor forestry practices lead to erosion and poor water retention, which can have devastating impacts on watersheds during dry Summer months.

look for our daily specials on 40 Ingram Street

www.theoldﬁrehouse.ca The national strategy I envision is one where we incorporate the principles and practices of regenerative soil management into policy guidance and legislation and where we include measures to maintain, enhance, and rebuild the capacity of soils to produce food and fuel. It will protect and preserve sensitive ecosystems to meet the needs of future generations by supporting, educating, training, and encouraging farmers and landowners in the use of best soil management practices.

Downtown Duncan

(250) 597-3473

Agriculture Critic in 2018; they are resilient, they are innovative, and they are leaders. They deserve nothing less than a federal government that will support soil conservation efforts with a national strategy to preserve and protect this vital resource.

Alistair MacGregor, Member of Parliament 126 Ingram Street #101, Downtown Duncan

I have been continuously inspired by Canada’s agricultural producers since taking on the role of 47

A Thriving Arts and Cultural Community

WILD COASTAL BEAUTY & SOFT BREEZY PALETTE Aquamaris Art Gallery upstairs in the historic Duncan Garage

n her newest artful journey to the southwestern edge of Vancouver Island, the awardwinning landscape artist Lisa Riehl (AFCA) captures more than a unique perspective of the swooping expanse of Tofino’s iconic Long Beach at low tide. The artist delivers an immersive sensory experience as she reveals, through the rising mist, the wild coastal beauty in a soft morning light. Employing the old masters’ techniques in acrylic medium by completing the piece in greyscale, followed by multiple layers of pigmented glazes, compelling transitions in values, visual texture and colour are

Just Breathe, Acrylic on Canvas (Wax Varnish) 20 x 40 by Lisa Riehl $1,925

achieved. From the grooves in scattered driftwood carved by hands of time, and backlit shoreline grasses, to countless footsteps in the sand, Lisa Riehl captures the very spirit of this wild coast and the promise of a bright new day. Sublime and atmospheric, “Just Breathe” is a visual breath of fresh salt air, available at Aquamaris Art Gallery.

IMAGINING THE POSSIBILITIES through art by Kristina Boardman

rofessional artist for 30 years, and a part of Aquamaris Art Gallery since our very beginning, Kristina Boardman (SFCA) is recognized across Canada and internationally for her realistic style and masterful use of neutral colours.

Our newest arrival by Kristina Boardman harmoniously intertwines diversity of colours, textures and patterns, inviting the viewer to imagine the possibilities. Aquamaris Art Gallery Upstairs in the historic Duncan Garage Building (Level entry from the back) Suite 202 - 330 Duncan Street April Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am-4:00pm (250) 597-2798 aquamarisartgallery.com

Through her impressive paintings of beach stones and pebbles, superbly rendered and arranged in a manner evocative of serene micro-landscapes, the artists pays homage to the beauty of our coastlines.

Imagine Acrylic on Canvas, 30” x 48” by Kristina Boardman $4,700

In choosing meditative titles for her larger pieces, she inspires us to consider the connection between different elements in a composition and the values and virtues we hold dear.

Pebbles Painting #558, Acrylic on Canvas, 6” x 6” by Kristina Boardman $125

APRIL ARTS EJ Hughes Gallery & Excellent Frameworks

Over the last few months we have added more wall space to our EJ Hughes Gallery so we could feature more of his works of local island scenes. We carry over 100 reproductions by Hughes, including limited editions, open edition prints, calendars, small prints, and art cards. Stop by to discover or revisit your favorite West Coast scenes and learn more about Canada’s first, and longest serving, war time artist who called the Cowichan Valley home. Excellent Frameworks Home of the EJ Hughes Gallery 115 Kenneth St, Duncan 250-746-7112

NIK SYLVAN – ILLUSTRATOR OF FAUX NATURAL HISTORY

Excellent Frameworks Home of the EJ Hughes Gallery

here is a saying about how artists must wear a lot of hats. In the case of local artist, Nik Sylvan, this saying only begins to touch her artistic style. Nik has been formally trained in several areas – a few BFA’s under her belt plus a MA in Folklore. While her academic background has given her a strong base for knowledge, plus her disciplined dedication to creating, it is her imagination that flows into her works of art. From faeries and dragons, to the natural elements of our coastal forests, there is an underlying appreciation for all things real and faux. “Natural historians from centuries past recorded what they saw and what they heard

of, and so do I. And some of the spirits of my mind creep out through ink and paint to find life on the page...” Like many artists and writers, Nik has been drawing and writing – making stories – since she could hold a pencil and make marks. Like a cat, she self-describes as being too curious for her own good (as a gallery owner, I disagree with this!) since she alternates periods of questing after new knowledge, and focusing intently on one thing, sometimes something only she can see. Be sure to visit Nik’s work at our new location. Excellent Frameworks Home of the EJ Hughes Gallery, 115 Kenneth St. Downtown Duncan 250746-7112 www.excellentframeworks.ca www.ejhughes.ca

Aquamaris Art Gallery

Top Left; Sea Anenome letterpress and watercolour by Nik Sylvan $135 framed Middle; Hand printed linen table runner 20” x 70” by Nik Sylvan $135 Bottom Right; Shooting Star letterpress on handmade paper by Nik Sylvan $165 framed

To view the artwork available through our gallery, visit our website anytime, or stop by our physical location during our regular hours. We look forward to assisting you with selecting and acquiring original works for your home and business. April hours: Tuesday Saturday, 11 am - 4:00 pm. By appointment outside of these hours.

VISIT THESE DOWNTOWN DUNCAN GALLERIES Excellent Frameworks Home of the EJ Hughes Gallery 115 Kenneth St, Duncan 250-746-7112 excellentframeworks.ca ejhughes.ca

Aquamaris Art Gallery in the historic Duncan Garage Building Suite 202 - 330 Duncan Street 250-597-2798 aquamarisartgallery.com 49

ELDERSHIP AND LAND-BASED COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Join the KinPark Youth Urban Farm crew for weekly farm/ garden volunteer work. Open to youth 12-20 years old. Volunteers are provided with all necessary tools, training and supervision, and regular attendees receive letters of reference. Plus, snacks! Learn how to grow your own food, and contribute to food security in the community. Outdoor work only, dress appropriately and bring a mask. For more info contact laura@ cowichangreencommunity.org Thursdays, Teen Gardening, 3:00-4:30pm, 5789 Alderlea St. Duncan, FREE, www.instagram.com/kpyouth April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

ver the past year, there has been a collective conversation around how we care for our elders as a culture. At the Garden Education Centre we have been thinking about this too, and we are excited to launch our Elder’s Gathering Garden program this Spring! This idea was sparked when a few seniors from the surrounding community, who were volunteering in the existing Inclusion Garden, were chatting and they all agreed they were loving their experiences. Since then, conversations followed on how they could work together to entice some of their friends to come and have fun and share learnings together at the garden. Engagement in social and productive life activities are important factors in successful aging. A community garden for seniors offers opportunities for social fulfillment and a sense of

purpose, through growing food with a community. This space will give members healthy food, physical activity, and a deepening of community. The Gathering Gardening will be a community garden managed by an advisory committee of elderly gardeners and offer gardening plots for individuals to rent for the season. Advisory members will meet monthly to organize work parties, and plan for events (as possible with Covid protocols) such as harvest celebrations. The garden group will provide social support and members will be able to contribute to the life of others in a meaningful way. In addition to independent gardening beds,

five garden beds are to be used as communally tended spaces where food produced will be donated to the Meals on Wheels program. The independent and communal garden beds will be built to provide accessible gardening to seniors with mobility challenges, including some wheelchair accessible garden beds. The Gathering Garden will be on the site of a shared space with an Inclusion Garden, a Seed Farm, and a Medicinal and Native plant Nursery- collectively known as the Garden Education Centre. These other on-site projects provide opportunities for intergenerational mixing and mentoring. Through involvement in the Gathering Garden, members will be able to experience a greater sense of belonging, community, and social support. Anyone interested in getting involved can visit the Garden Education Centre at 2431 Beverly St, or email gec@ cowichangreencommunity.org. Tessa Stiven, Farmer and teacher with a passion for plants and community.

CELEBRATING

13 YEARS IN BUSINESS IN THE

COWICHAN VALLEY Heronwood Custom Cabinetry Inc. Is a local custom cabinetry shop located in the Cowichan Valley. Heronwood is know for its meticulous craftsmanship and creative design.

VISIT OUR SHOWROOM

E4-4970 POLKEY RD. DUNCAN

250-597-4701

heronwoodcabinetry.ca 50

Tessa Stiven Supervisor, Inclusive Farming Program Garden Education Center

Terence Miranda is a Doctor of Audiology and the owner of Resonance Hearing Clinic

SOUND ADVICE

f you have hearing loss and are considering what kind of hearing aid to choose, there are basically two styles to choose from, ones that go entirely in the ear or the ones that have a piece that sits behind the ear. There are advantages and disadvantages to each style and various factors to consider. Hearing aid worn behind the ear

Behind the Ear When the electronics are placed behind the ear, a thin wire or tube runs over

the top of the ear and into the ear canal. In the last decade, the behind the ear style has become, by far, the most popular style. By placing most of the electronic components behind the ear, this frees up space in the ear canal and allows natural sound to flow into the ear. This also reduces the occlusion effect (the ‘head in the barrel’ effect of your own voice when you plug your ears). Behind the ear hearing aids break down less often and when they do, it is often the wire or tube that needs to be replaced and this can easily be done in the clinic. Behind the ear aids can be rechargeable and this option has become very popular in recent years. Disadvantages of behind the ear models are that they compete for limited space behind the ear, especially if one has tightly pinned ears or wears glasses. Masks have been a great nuisance

to people wearing hearing aids behind the ear as their removal tends to dislodge the aid if the mask is not removed carefully. In the Ear In-the-ear hearing aids come in various sizes but what is most often advertised are ones that ’disappear’ in the ear canal. These hearing aids are discreet and don’t interfere with masks or glasses. Because the microphone is located deep inside the ear (rather than behind the ear), there is a more natural collection of sound by the outer ear (pinna). On the downside, there is an increased feeling Hearing aid worn in the ear

of occlusion and the hearing aid can interfere with the good parts of one’s hearing. The humidity of a healthy ear canal can be up to 70% and when all of the electronics are inside the ear, it can raise the humidity and lead to increased risk of infection. The humidity and wax of the ear canal can also damage the electronics of the hearing aid over time. There are many factors to consider when deciding whether to go for a hearing aid that is inside or behind the ear. The degree and configuration of one’s hearing loss as well as the size and shape of one’s ear canal are two other important factors to consider. At Resonance, we are here to help guide you through the decision process, allow you to try various models, and help you get the most from your purchase for many years of use. www.resonancehearingclinic.com

Growth Harvesting

he memories of freshly cut grass, high skies and the snap of leather always flood my thoughts in April. For Springtime brings a new season of baseball. In a previous life, I was a Professional Baseball Umpire. The game is rooted in me much like gardening is for my neighbour across the street.

4705 TRANS CANADA HWY WHIPPLETREE JUNCTION

LASH EXTENSIONS I LIFTS BROW LOVE I WAX I TINTS LAMINATION I PERMANENT MAKE UP I LASH REMOVAL

WEDDING PACKAGES I MASKS FACIALS I SPECIALTY PRODUCTS

250 732-1985 WWW.LUXEINC.CA 52

Spring brings renewal, balance and life. Even investment portfolios get in on the action as they get rebalanced. Which is my topic for this month. Portfolio rebalancing. The shifting of overexposed assets to underexposed ones in an attempt to level out the risk. Much like spreading soil in a new garden bed, making it level. Recently there has been much publicised at how portfolio rebalancing doesn’t necessarily improve our ability to get better returns, in fact, it largely does the opposite. So why do it? Behavioural management. In theory, it makes sense, not enough space on this page to dive deeper than this statement. In practice, though it keeps investors (you and I) feeling like our portfolio is being managed, somebody is watching over it, not left alone.

Portfolio rebalancing does more to protect our emotions from the ups and downs of the market then it does to provide returns, which is why so many portfolios I see are like teeter-totters. What can work well when executed properly is a concept called growth harvesting. Selling off a predetermined percentage of your growth, holding it in cash only to redeploy, or repurchase when those same investments drop in value in a known buying opportunity or trigger event, like a crash or major correction. Like picking the fruit of the vine, you have to know when you will do this in advance. Decide ahead of time at what percentage of growth you will sell-off and what level the investment has to dip before you repurchase. Solid Investment Advisors will us an investment policy statement with you so that it’s predetermined how this concept will get used. Nothing worse than deciding to go pick blackberries only to get to the vine and they’re rock hard. Tyler Hoffman is the Founder of OnPoint Employee Benefits www.onpointbenefits. ca and the Executive Producer at www. deliberatewealth.com He lives in Mill Bay.

THE GREAT COWICHAN VALLEY TRAIL RIDES suitable for hybrid bikes, mountain bikes or e-bikes

Submitted by Patty Abbott Visitor Centre Coordinator

1. The Kinsol Trestle is a great jumping off spot for taking your bikes out for a ride. Plenty of parking at the Glen Eagles Road parking area. The Kinsol is one of several trestles along this stretch of the Great trail and the Cowichan Valley Trail. It is one of the tallest free standing and most spectacular wooden rail trestles in the world. You have the option of going in either direction on the trail with each offering different experiences. The route from Kinsol Trestle parking lot to Glenora tailhead park is 11km each way. 2. West Shawnigan Lake Park on West Shawnigan Lake Road is a great starting point and lends itself for a day of biking and swimming. The trail is accessible across the road and again you can go in either direction. An option is to ride south towards Victoria and left on Sooke Lake Road and connecting back to West Shawnigan Lake Road and back to the park. The road back follows the lakeshore and can at times be busy but still a lovely ride if you don’t mind some traffic. Be aware that the park gates are locked dusk to dawn

3. Glenora is lovely day trip and a perfect spot to access the trail at Glenora Trail Head Park. Playground and picnic shelters as well as washrooms is a perfect spot for a ride with the family. If you choose to go south along the trail you will ride by vistas of mountains and farm fields. An easy ride in this direction will bring you to the Kinsol Trestle. Approximately 11 kilometres.

4. If you choose to go west at the Glenora Trail Head park you will be heading towards Lake Cowichan. On this part of the trail, you will meander through forests and catch glimpses of the Cowichan River and sometimes be able to access the river. There are several Trestles along here and parks equipped with washrooms and picnic shelters. It is more remote than the other parts of the trail and cell service may not exist. 5. Lake Cowichan train station near the A&W is the starting point for this part of the Cowichan Valley Trail. This is a pleasant easy ride meandering all the way back to Duncan. Plan for a picnic and get off the trail at Mayo road and a short distance is Mayo Lake equipped with picnic tables. Only want to ride one way? Take the Lake Cowichan Bus from downtown Duncan with your bikes and enjoy the country side while the bus makes its way to the Lake. Disembark at the last stop and make your way to the train station near A&W and start your journey back. Alternately, ride the Cowichan Valley Trail one direction and Cowichan Lake Rd the other.

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So much to oﬀer!

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Healthcare

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6. Chemainus lends itself to a ride for exploring small town charms. Henry Road at the roundabout has parking and a good spot to start. This trail takes you slowly along the railroad tracks meandering in and out of different areas. It is very easy to get off the trail and visit this charming little town and its famous murals and waterwheel park. When you are back on the trail continue north towards

Fitness

Saltair and Ladysmith enjoying the ocean views and making sure you check out Stocking Creek Park as you ride through.

into boots and muddie buddies. We have been bringing the outside inside by germinating bean seeds, watching their roots develop and then planting them into soil. Tiny Painted Lady caterpillars arrived in the mail and were closely observed as they grew dramatically over 2 weeks.

Nicola ConstantineMacdonald Head Teacher, Manager at Shawnigan Lake Montessori

espite this global pandemic, Spring provides a vivid reminder that nature will continue to unfold upon its seasonal journey, with all the promise of delicate green shoots, and seeming overnight explosion of blossoms. This abundance of new life unfolding creates a sense of awe and wonder particularly in young children, who are intrigued and curious about the how and the why of what they are seeing emerging and growing all around them. When we start to dig over the vegetable and herb beds at the preschool at this time of the year, I am struck by how a child digs in the soil for a different purpose than that of an adult. I want to get the weeds out and the seeds in as efficiently as possible. The children want to stop and examine each new discovery, the frantic wriggles of a dug up worm, the uncurling of a wood

By Monday all were hanging down from the roof of their container and have now been transferred to the butterfly house waiting for their metamorphosis into butterflies.

Celebrate Earth Day with Shawnigan Lake Montessori bug or the roots of a daffodil bulb. Back inside the Montessori classroom we use this natural curiosity to raise painted lady butterflies and tadpoles, creating mini ecosystems where the children can closely observe

life cycles developing right in front of them. Using last years harvested beans the children sprout their own bean in a jar, and after several days of eager anticipation and careful watering the first root is seen. The jars are frequently held, examined, and shown around, until finally the little bean seedlings are ready to be transplanted into the soil. We celebrate Earth Day by spending the day outside, with our hands in the soil, planting out the flowers and vegetables the children have grown. Children are fortunate if they can grow up with access to large gardens and the ocean, but even the smallest patch of ground can provide natural experiences. Soil quickly can be transformed into a miniature wilderness, where seeds can be watched and tended as they grow into vegetables, grasses or flowers, which will attract butterflies and other winged insects. A pile of scrap lumber, old bricks or rocks left to rot will provide homes for an amazing array of crawling insects. A child’s eye is naturally drawn to the small living, growing things at ground level, whether they are found in a field, a city garden or even a window box or a window sill. Since then we have had lunch in the garden almost every day, loving the chance to go straight outside without having to change

MAKE YOUR OWN WORMERY Materials : • 1 large and 1 small clear plastic bottle • Scissors, large spoon • Damp soil, Sand, rotting leaves, • Black paper, tape • Worms 6-10 Use the scissors to cut the top off the large bottle and place the smaller bottle inside, making sure it is centered, with equal space all the way around it. Spoon/pour in alternate layers of soil and sand, filling the space around the small bottle, filling up to the top of the large bottle. Press the soil down slightly. Place the worms on top of the soil and cover them with rotting leaves. Cover the outside of the bottle with black paper, to simulate conditions underground. Keep the bottle in a cool place and make sure the soil stays moist. After a few days, remove the paper to see how the worms have tunneled through the layer of soil and sand and pulled scraps of leaves under the soil. Remember to release the worms after 2 or 3 weeks.

or over 40 years, Sunrise Waldorf School has drawn families from British Columbia, throughout Canada, and around the world, who are looking for a wholistic lifestyle and education for their children. Our beautiful seven acre campus, located in Cowichan Station, allows for endless opportunities for learning and living in harmony with nature. Early Childhood Education at Sunrise school begins at ages 3 - 5 in the preschool and ages 5 - 6 in the Kindergartens. These classrooms are known for their warm and nurturing environment. Soft colours and natural materials encourage creative play, and a reliable rhythm of activities each day, offer abundant time to play with joy and confidence. The immense care and expertise of our teachers give the children a strong sense of belonging and safety. Sunrise Waldorf School Early Childhood students spend a great deal of time each day outside, in rain or shine, and in open ended imaginative play. Foundations for grade school learning are developed

care. All subjects are taught in combination with movement, art, and meaning for the child. This translates into enthusiastic and engaged students who love to learn, and who are reassured in knowing themselves. In the grade school, observational, problem solving, creative and critical thinking skills are developed and nurtured through a curriculum designed to meet the student where they are at developmentally.

Sunrise Waldorf School Open House

with activities that focus on listening to language, clear speech, fine motor skills, eye hand coordination, and deep imaginative play. It is through play and movement, that our youngest students receive the foundations needed for grade school readiness and a love of learning.

The elementary and middle school at Sunrise is a place of academic excellence, coupled with a strong special subject program which includes, physical and health education, woodworking, music and string instruments, handwork, and French as a second language. A Waldorf education is one that meets the whole human being, and is imbued with beauty, and

Festivals and seasons are marked throughout the year offering a sense of belonging, and reverence for our natural surroundings. These yearly traditions are also a way that our community comes together to celebrate and share with common values and connection. Sunrise Waldorf School is a place of learning and growth for the whole family. Our teachers are passionate and committed to their role in raising future citizens. Through Waldorf Education philosophies and curriculum, our faculty members bring wonder and depth to the classroom. They inspire our students and build in them a sense of curiosity about the people and world around them. To learn more about our school and Waldorf Education, or to schedule a visit to our campus, please contact admissions@ sunrisewaldorfschool.org. We look forward to meeting you and to welcoming you to our school and community. www.sunrisewaldorfschool.org

THE GLENORA STORE & CAFE IS A LOCAL CORNERSTORE WITH A TWIST! Stocked with basic groceries and produce. The cafe offers fresh baked goods, hot lunch specials, drinks, and snacks. We also sell hand-woven products, beeswax candles, and prepared herbs from Glenora Farm Outdoor heated seating 5090 Indian Road (corner of Glenora Rd & Indian Rd)

250-746-5313 I www.glenorafarm.org

“ Sol-Centre & The Freya-Sophia Waldorf Store ~ A Community Farm Store Initiative ”

REGULAR HOURS: • • • • • • • • • •

All things natural and beautiful for you and your children Beautiful and inspiring books for all ages & levels of interest Wonderful organic merino/silk clothing from age 0 - adult Wooden toys, puzzles, games, silks, felted toys, dolls Lovely cards, calendars and prints Birthday rings, candles, craft kits, beeswax, wool Art supplies for painting & drawing; musical instruments Great selection of felting, knitting and handwork supplies Resources for Parents, Teachers, Homeschoolers Waldorf inspired books/resources; Uriel Home Remedies

Open 11—3 daily Closed Sundays

Newly merchandised, expanded selection. Our magical store has something for everyone. We are happy to take orders by phone or by email. Call us at 250-597-4763, send us a facebook message, or email fsws@communityfarmstore.ca.

Here at the Freya-Sophia Waldorf Store (FSWS) we, the staff and management, are inspired by the work of Rudolf Steiner and committed to meeting the soul needs of our children and our community by providing books, toys, supplies, resources, classes, workshops, instruction, support and conversation to all those who visit our store.

Located in the SOL CENTRE ~ 3, 5380 Hwy. 1, Duncan Adjacent to Community Farm Store, Telephone 250-597-4763 56

“ Sol-Centre & The Freya-Sophia Waldorf Store ~ A Community Farm Store Initiative ”

Balance Discs, Balance Bikes, Trikes, Cargo Carriers, Birdhouse Kits, Push and Pull Toys and more from

Findus, Food and Fun is for mums, dads, grandparents,

teachers, childminders, aunts, uncles and anyone who knows a young child who is curious about the world. Together with Findus, Pettson and the muckles, this amazing activity book is filled with things to do or make for every season; pottering, collecting, fixing, crafting, building, exploring, baking. Sometimes outdoors, sometimes indoors, it’s a whole year’s worth of ideas. The award winning Findus series has 13 books in total, filled with bright illustrations and lively, lovable characters. 57

Silvia Graber is a Registered Nutritionist and Functional Medicine Practitioner specializing in digestion and mental health.

F PARADE PUPPETS, ONLINE DEMONSTRATION Large format puppets can be a dynamic part of your performance or outdoor community event. They are also a fun activity to do with your kids or a student project. In this 90-minute workshop, Heather Kent will demonstrate how you can build simple parade puppets at home using easy to find materials. You will learn: wonders and art of a parade, a few basic designs, materials and methods for building parade puppets, and some basic manipulation. For ages 12 and up, parents and children together and teachers. Cowichan Valley Arts Council. April 19, 1-2:30 pm Parade Puppets, Online demonstration For details email manager@ cowichanvalleyartscouncil.ca Cost: $20.

inally its Spring! The time of flowers, freshly mowed grass, birds chirping and lots of tissue. No, not because it makes you so happy you cry, but because you may be one of many who suffer with seasonal allergies at this time of year. Warmer weather can come with uncomfortable symptoms for some people, which can include runny noses, headaches, sneezing, wheezing, congestion, and rashes. Environmental allergies are an immune response from your body when exposed to certain elements in the environment such as pollen, dust, chemicals,or pet dander. The body can over-react to these elements, seeing them as “enemies”, and can provoke an inflammatory response in the body. Many people reach for anti-histamines or medications, which can work by suppressing the release of histamine in the body, preventing an allergic response. While these can be effective in the short-term, I would like to see allergies being dealt with in a more holistic way, namely by addressing the root causes and working to re-balance the immune response in the body. Here are a few tips to get you started:

A Natural Approach To Seasonal Allergies 1. Gut health - Addressing allergies means going to where the immune response begins, which is largely in the gut. Leaky gut is a condition that arises with inflammation in the gut barrier, causing particles to enter the bloodstream, leading to allergic responses, which can occur throughout the body. Reduce inflammation by chewing your food well, avoiding toxins and chemicals in food, and addressing insufficient stomach acid. Support your body continuously with nutritious foods and good digestion, and it just might respond by calming down and not overreacting to its environment.

regularly. Take Vitamin C daily, which is a natural anti-histamine. Manage your stress.

2. Support your immune system - The stronger and more balanced your immune system, the less it will be affected by its environment. Eat a whole foods, antioxidant, nutrient-rich diet. Drink lots of water. Exercise

You can book a consultation with Silvia at sageheartnutrition@gmail. com or visit her website at sageheartnutrition.wordpress. com

3. Eat stinging nettle - This so-called weed many people try to avoid is actually one of the most nutritious and bloodbuilding plants you can have in your diet. Many studies have also suggested nettle can be effective as a natural anti-inflammatory and antihistamine medicinal plant, which can help to reduce the allergic response. I hope some of these suggestions help you to enjoy the season, with less suffering, and more smiles!

Release trapped emotions Resolve sleep problems Manage stress and pain Achieve self-confidence 250-597-3686

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Let the Pollinating Begin John Magdanz. A Cowichan Valley beekeeper

id you know that one out of every three bites of food that you eat is reliant on a plant being pollinated. Plants rely on bees and other insects to help with pollination. Pollination is the plants way to reproduce. Most plants are not able to pollinate themselves so they rely on another plant from the same family. The bees and insects are attracted to the plants by colour, odor and taste. They create a symbiotic relationship where they both benefit. The plants get pollinated so they can reproduce and the bees and insects are fed. A great example is the apple tree which relies on another apple tree for propagation. For propagation to take place the pollen from another tree is needed for reproduction. The apple is the result which produces seeds. This is why when you buy a fruit tree it is advised that you buy more than one of the same species unless your neighbour has a

tree of the same species. Last year in the Cowichan Valley there were very few plums but the previous year there were lots. This was because last year it was cold when the plum trees were blooming and the bees were not flying so there was very little pollination. Weather is a determining factor for pollination but so are things such as insecticides, pesticides and herbicides which kill bees and other insects. The vegetables in our gardens and the wild plants are no different. Some don’t need pollination to grow like onions, but they need pollination to produce seeds to produce new onions. Others like squashes need to be pollinated in order to produce the vegetable. As we can see bees and insects are very important. Without them we would loose most of our food resources. While honeybees are great

Find us at the Duncan Farmer’s Market on Saturdays!

pollinators, the native bees do a much better job of pollinating native plants. For example, it was found that bumble bees did a better job of pollinating blueberries than honeybees. One reason for this could be that bumble bees can withstand colder weather and blueberries flower in the early spring. Another thing to remember is that not all plants are food resources for bees. This is why seed catalogues point out the ones which are. It is also important to conserve some land in its native state for the wild bees. Many of these nest in the ground or tree cavities. A couple of years ago I planted buckwheat between my rows of potatoes after hilling. I was amazed at how many species of wild bees were attracted to the buckwheat flowers as well as honeybees. Last year I planted sunflowers and had the same result. This year I am planning to plant sunflowers and okra.

APRIL 20 7PM Cowichan Lake Lamprey: Our Local Wonder by Genevieve Singleton Cowichan Lake lamprey is a parasitic fish species found only in Mesachie, Cowichan and Bear lakes; nowhere else in the world! They became a federally protected Threatened species in 2003. To learn about their fascinating world and what you can do to protect this species and its habitat, join the Cowichan Valley Naturalists’ zoom presentation by Genevieve Singleton, 7 pm April 20th. Email cvns@naturecowichan. net for link. Everyone Welcome.

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A Passionate Painter “Start with a broom and end with a needle.” John Singer Sargentt Bill Hibberd is an award winning, full time oil painter working out of his studio in Duncan. 250-748-2838

s you progress from the initial brushstroke to the final tentative touch on your painting you could do worse than to heed Sargents advice. The direct method of painting is by far the most common today. Known as “alla prima” or “at first attempt”it has its own challenges and charms. The advantages to wet on wet painting is edge control. Do a web search and explore Sargents work. You will discover many visual treasures. He was the master of lost and found edges. If you let your eye run along a shirt sleeve or a woman’s cheek you will

discover a variety of edges from razor crisp to soft indiscernible gradations. As you “lose” edges between neighbouring elements the viewer’s eye is free to roam through the piece transitioning from one area to another seamlessly. This is an excellent tool that will allow you to control the viewers visual journey though your painting. Begin your painting with a large #12 flat brush. Block in all your elements , cover your complete canvas with that large implement. Keep true to your values and you will realize a strong beginning. Some artists are content to walk away at this stage call their painting finished. Fair enough. If your sensibilities lean to more developed work I would suggest that you pick up a #6 flat and work through your composing a second time. Then a #4 or a #2 , mix in some rounds and riggers and knives. The concept of beginning with a “broom” and finishing with a “needle” is just one possible process but it is exciting to do and offers you many opportunities to explore a variety of mark making and

edge control. Let your eyes explore Sargents alla prima painting “Vernon Lee “ which was the pseudonym of his friend the writer Violet Paget. Play close attention to his edges. There is much to be gained by studying this little painting. Feast your eyes on “Repose”. Look at the brushwork and

edge control on her hands. Masterful painting! I will finish with another more humorous quote by Sargent. “A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.” Questions? Contact me at billhibberdart@gmail.com Send images of your painting for critique if you wish. Have fun and paint with passion.

win an original oil painting www.billhibberd.com

Wildlife Passes Through Our Yard

ildlife Passes Through Our Yard, is a true story about a real place in Lake Cowichan. It is a children’s book written by Rommy Verlaan of Heart Song Flutes and illustrated by Zak Stolk, of Zak Violins. Anyone who has ever gone to one of Rommy’s flute playing workshops, or brought their instrument to Zak’s to be repaired, knows the beauty, peace and magic of the property they have been privileged to live on and caretake for many years. The story subtly takes you through the hours of a day, as well as the seasons following the flow of animals as they come and go. As humans encroach on, and continue to destroy wildlife habitat, animals are moving closer and closer into neighbourhoods and around our homes. Some people find this a nuisance and others find it threatening. This is a story about respecting all animals and finding ways to live with them in harmony, to embrace the joy of watching them in their own environment and having them around.

While the book focuses on animal behaviour, it is also a glimpse into the lifestyle many people who have lived on this island for generations, have experienced and treasured. It is a lifestyle and an experience that once forgotten could be lost to future generations, forever. We hope that from reading about our time on this property that everyone who reads it, will connect to a reality worth treasuring and nurturing. Technology seems to be taking up so much of our children’s attention these days, wildlife habitat is ever decreasing, and land is seen only for it’s monetary value. Wildlife Passes Through Our Yard, is a reminder of what the real treasures in our world are, just take the time to look, they will be different for everyone depending on where you live. Wildlife Passes Through Our Yard comes into print midApril. Copies of the book will be available at Ten Old Books in Duncan or contact Rommy at: rommyflutes@shaw.ca or 250-749-6563

HERON-CAM NOW LIVE!

Image Barry Hetschko

Amy Clinton-Baker, Coordinator Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre

T Jump Into Music for Kids Jump into Music is a program that uses music and movement to engage, educate and entertain both parent and child (6 months 4 years) on a musical journey around the world. Join us as we explore the music of Japan, Gospel/Soul and Pop. Through a variety of well thought out activities, our classes stimulate the whole being (mind, body, spirit) to come alive. A great place for families to bond in community. Cultivating musical literacy and creative expression is our mission! Please contact the community centres directly to reserve your spot. Jump Into Music Classes for kids 6mo- 4yrs Start dates: April 7, 9:30am - 10:20am Shawnigan Lake Community Centre, April 8 9:30am 10:20am, Duncan Cowichan Community Centre, April 9 10am - 10:50am Ladysmith Community Centre. For more info contact orith@ jumpintomusic.ca

he Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre is proud to announce the launch of our live-stream Heron-Cam! Tune in for an incredible birdseye view of the largest heron colony on Vancouver Island. Last year over 110 nests were counted in the heronry with over 200 herons in residence! In the last week of February staff at the Nature Centre noticed two heron ‘scouts’ circling the bay checking out their heronry in the nearby ravine. Within days, a ‘battery’ of herons flew overhead and landed in the shallows of low tide at the estuary. This captivating event was timed perfectly with completing and connecting our live-stream heron-cam. Image Barry Hetschko

The camera, installed atop a 68-foot tower at Wessex Ravine Park will join the global wildlife bird-camera movement and be a valuable component of nature education for over 5,000 visitors to the Centre, plus 1,000+ students, each year. In addition, critical data will be collected and provided to local biologists, government agencies and conservationists working to preserve the habitat of our Pacific Great Blue Herons, fannini subspecies, a

Blue Listed Species of Special Concern under the federal Species At Risk Act (SARA). Launching the webcam was made possible through the dedication of many people, starting in 2018 with a family bequest gratefully received from heron enthusiast Ann McKinnon. To learn more visit our website at www.cowichanestuary.ca and witness a live-stream view of the Cowichan Bay Heronry by clicking on the Heron Cam 2021 tab. Want to help us keeping the live-stream streaming? Go to: https://www.canadahelps.org/ en/dn/m/41033/donation While our doors are temporarily closed to the public due to Covid, the Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre offers plenty of things to do both outside and online, including school programs, restoration workshops, and soon Summer camps and more!

LUCKY DOG CORN CHIP FEET… Debbie Wood is a certified Small Animal Naturopath and can be reached at 250-597-7DOG.

ogs are reluctant to have their feet touched. This probably goes back to when they were running wild on the savannahs tens of thousands of years ago. One’s feet were necessary for survival. A damaged foot meant no more travel, no more hunting, and imminent starvation. This theory, my favourite, may explain why even the cuddliest dogs are leery of having their feet held. Getting your dog to trust you with her feet usually only goes so far. People are surprised when they can’t trim their dog’s nails without a battle. Like anything with dogs, one must see it from the dog’s point of view. (Why are you trying to cut off my foot? I thought we were friends!) Like all four footed creatures, a dog’s foot pads are on the

tips of their fingers. The dew claw would be the thumb. Mountain dogs have double dew claws on the back for extreme climbing. Water dogs have long webbing between the toes for propulsion in water. Those foot pads are not as delicate as some think. Like any bare foot, they callous with use and can usually withstand any weather the Cowichan Valley can put out there. If your dog goes out every day for a walk, (as I know she does) the feet adapt to snow and heat just fine. Road salt may cause some burning, so think of that. A rinse off when you get home should fix any discomfort. Dogs bred for cold weather grow a layer of hair between their toes that covers and protects the foot pads from extreme cold. Lighter coated dogs can withstand cold and rocks with enough practice. I have seen dogs that went from being tied in the backyard to going on an all day hike “blow” their pads out. Because they aren’t limping; (remember, all four feet are damaged), it isn’t immediately apparent why the dog is walking slowly. Please ease your couch potato into extreme activities, as you would do with yourself!

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Feet can be damaged by sharp feet smell like corn chips? I’m changing that to “Why ice, broken glass, barnacles, do corn chips smell like a and road salt. Most small dog’s foot?” (It’s their special cuts and abrasions will heal bacteria and it’s normal.) quickly on their own. Keep it clean and cover it with some vet wrap if she won’t stop chewing Bad Comiks by Shiloh Badman at it. Healing is itchy, as we know. Deep gashes should get some stitches. As for those toe nails, Lucky Dog U-Bath still has drop in toe nail trims seven days a week. We have the equipment and experience to work with your foot fearful dog. We’re used to being the “meanies” so you can continue a trusting relationship with your dog. And why do dog’s 63

ith more of us spending time at home we’ve seen an increase in pet ownership, and a corresponding shortage of puppies. What started as a bonus for shelters has seen a proliferation of inexperienced, back-yard breeding and benefited unscrupulous puppy mills. Breeding healthy, wellbalanced dogs is not an easy thing. Beyond all the work, it requires of knowledge genetics, understanding of breed disposition, and ability to evaluate temperament. Purchasing ill bred puppies from poor conditions frequently results in a plethora of health problems and behaviour issues. How can you ensure your new puppy will be happy and healthy? Supporting ethical breeding practises will take you a long way. So, how can you tell a good breeder from a puppy mill? Here’s a few tips: Good breeders will have a waiting list. It will be worth the wait. Steer clear of those who advertise on Craigs List or driveway signs and be aware that high prices do not

breeder will be doing this. Check the contract. Responsible breeders will require you to sign a contract. Pay attention to the details. Look for what arrangements are in place if things don’t work out for health, behaviour or compatibility reasons. Most will insist that you return to them. Avoid anyone who is not prepared to take them back.

FINDING YOUR PERFECT PUPPY How to Tell a Good Breeder From a Puppy Mill always reflect quality. Responsible breeders will interview you. They will vet you as a suitable guardian, they may request references. Those who put care into breeding will care about who gets their puppies. They will choose the puppy for you. You’ll be matched with the one that’s best suited to your lifestyle. If you are left to pick your own puppy, make sure you know what to look for, or ask advice from someone who does. Meet the mom. And dad too if he’s there. Look for good

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health and good temperament in their behaviour. Many undesirable traits are inherited. Ask for records of health checks and vaccinations. Both for the mother and puppies. If you are getting a known breed, find out what conditions they may be prone to. Responsible breeders with have their dogs tested prior to breeding. Ask about their socialisation program. Puppy socialisation involves a great deal more than taking them out and about and starts when they are still with their moms. A good

Consider hiring professional help. If you’re in doubt, or you don’t think you have the skills to assess a puppy, many certified dog trainers will offer this service for a reasonable fee. Taking your time and doing your homework can be challenging when you’re swept up in the rush of puppy love. Yet making that relationship a happy, healthy one that will last a lifetime, is well worth it.

Stephanie Waddington, KPA-CTP certified dog trainer offers private classes and runs the Cowichan Cat Hotel

the glass. (also super handy for the toothpaste splatters on bathroom mirrors) If you choose a concentrated peroxide product be sure to dilute it according to instructions, if it is too strong your windows will not dry clear. Use a microfiber cloth for glass and mirrors to avoid any lint from being left behind.

LET THE LIGHT SHINE IN! Tracey Hanson, proud Cowichan Valley community member and business owner www.cleanchoice cleaners.com

here is nothing better in springtime than the sun shinning into your home or office through crystal clear windows. Windows are often neglected throughout the winter months. The outsides are constantly dirtied from our lovely weather and the window tracks can build up mold from the condensation caused by the difference in temperature inside and out. So, how to get those beautiful streak free windows? Our green method of choice is any of the peroxide based cleaners. Available at janitor supply stores as well as most natural health product stores. What we like about these products is that they are effective at breaking down any film, dirt or debris on

Or you can use a more professional approach and purchase a good squeegee with replaceable blades (12” is a good size for most windows) and microfiber window scrubber, both available at janitor supply stores. Buy good ones they’re well worth the investment. We use an eco-friendly dish soap, very diluted in hot water, about 1 tbs/gallon of water. Be sure to remove any screens and spray them clean with a gentle garden sprayer nozzle. You can use this method indoors as well, just squeeze the water out of the scrubber over your bucket by running your closed hand down it to drain the excess water. Tip: if you’re needing to wash exterior windows in cold weather add a little automotive windshield washer fluid to your water. Don’t forget to clean your window tracks at the same time. Clean with any all purpose cleaner and a toothbrush, then if there is mold, spray with a diluted tea tree (1 tsp/1 cup of water) solution and leave it sit to inhibit re-growth.

• Affordable Drop Off Services • Large Capacity Machines • Ask About Pick Up Service

1606 Joan Ave Crofton 250-324-2249

250-929-8381 tracey@ cleanchoicecleaners.com

We’re in this together!

Clean Choice hopes that everyone is keeping healthy and safe. During these ever-changing times, we have been busy monitoring recommendations issued by Health Canada and have updated our products, equipment and services accordingly. In order to provide the most safe and effective cleaning, new policies have been put in place that include 10-Point Disinfection with every clean, PPE for staff, equipment saintized after every clean, committed to keeping staff home if they show any signs of illness. Call to find out more about our all-surface, wholeroom disinfection service for home or office. Totally green, health Canada registered disinfectant. www.cIeanchoicecIeaners.com

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FAIZAL CHARANIA

Licensed Real Estate Consultant RE/MAX of Duncan - Mill Bay 472 Trans Canada Highway Ofﬁce: 250.748.7200 www.faizal.charania.remax.ca • Residential • Agri Business • Strata I mobile (250) 732.5250

OPEN: 9am to 9pm! 7 Days a Week

Collectibles Eclectibles Estates & More! Come Snoop Around! 65

and the other two are long time teachers of mine in the somatic and spiritual fields that I practice. I feel truly blessed to have such incredible women who all have amazing gifts and ways that they work with the nervous system. I wanted to create a course which weaves together the teachings of neuroscience, as well as share proven somatic practices that regulate the nervous system and create more resilience in one’s life. I spent a year and half filming each woman for this course. Luckily I traveled to the US twice to work with and film my teachers right before the pandemic hit! Finally the course is finished and it is now being offered.

Melissa Brown is a Hellerwork Practitioner and Somatic Counsellor and Guide here in the Cowichan Valley

hat a year it has been for many of us! So much has changed in such a short amount of time. How are you doing with all of this change? I invite you to check in with yourself for a moment, to feel into your body and your nervous system state. Do you feel calm, or is there a background feeling of anxiety? For many of us we may go back and forth between anxiety and depression with moments of feeling vitality, or we may spend a lot of our time in sympathetic arousal. Sympathetic arousal is the part of our autonomic nervous system where we feel stress, having feelings of anxiety, panic, fear, difficulty sleeping, and maintaining balance within our body. This sympathetic overdrive is a very common state to be in, especially now, with the uncertainty around life in this moment. As a Somatic Practitioner I had a vision to produce a course about the nervous system that could reach more people than I could possibly see in my practice. This vision was so clear that I knew I had to follow through and create an online course that would help

Nourishing Your Nervous System people all over the world learn how to regulate and nourish their nervous systems. I like to imagine what the world would be like if more of us had the tools to learn how to regulate our nervous systems and heal our past traumas. I try to imagine what it would be

Island Hellerwork & Somatic Counselling ALIGN - CONNECT - EMBODY

Heal Trauma Increase Vitality Improve Posture & Alignment Freedom From Chronic Pain & Injury Improve Movement & Flexibility Heal Anxiety & Depression Better Sports Performance

islandhellerwork.com I 250-661-1687

like if there were more embodied humans walking around on planet earth. I have seen thousands of clients over my 20 plus years of being in practice, I see people who have a lot of pain in their body, they have dysregulated emotions, their relationships may be suffering, they may experience health issues and often they feel they are repeating the same patterns over and over. What this all has in common is your nervous system. When our nervous system is out of balance then our body, emotions, life and relationships may also be out of balance. We live in a time where we may be constantly busy, and stress is high. This constant stress can put our nervous system into overdrive and it becomes more and more difficult to regulate. We may have also experienced trauma or life interruptions, which In the moment may have been too painful or difficult to process, this too will cause our nervous system to experience patterns of dysregulation. The big question is, is how long do we spend in these dysregulated states of anxiety or depression? My passion is to be able to help people learn about their nervous system and teach them ways that they can start to heal their own nervous system and to experience more vitality and wellness in their lives. Out of my passion this online course was created. My vision was to bring together 5 women for the course, two of them are amazing practitioners right here in the Cowichan Valley

Nourishing Your Nervous System is a 5-week online course that you can do at your own pace. In this course you will be working with Dr. Sharon Stanley, Andrea Larsen, Mukti, Melissa Brown and Christy Greenwood. This course covers so much and is packed with hands on tools and somatic practices to help you start this journey of embodiment and regulating and nourishing your nervous system. During this course you will learn Somatic Theory, Developmental Neuroscience, PolyVagal Theory, Somatic Meditations, Yoga, Tapping, Gut-Brain Connection, Somatic Movement, Chi Gong, Breathwork, Aromatherapy, Herbal Medicine and many more powerful somatic tools that help the body learn how to come back into a regulated state, build resilience, and learn about our own unique patterns within our mind, body and spirit. If you are feeling called to learn more about your own nervous system and embodiment practices, I invite you to have a look at our course. I truly believe it is one of a kind and each week is unique and packed with valuable information and life changing practices. The world needs this work more than ever now! We can cultivate healing in the world one nervous system at a time. For more information about this course including course content and the presenters visit: www.embodiedroots.com Enjoy 20% off by using the promo code SAVE20 Image above from top left: Mukti, Melissa Brown, Dr. Sharon Stanley, Andrea Larsen and Christy Greenwood

The Community Farm Store Pages — Your Organic Health and Whole Food Market in Duncan — 250-748-6227

Spring brings to mind warmer weather, seedlings, ﬂowers, sunshine and spring cleaning! We have everything you need to clean your home naturally and eﬀectively; DIY with essential oils from the CFS Wellness Department and all-natural ingredients from the CFS Pantry or choose from our selection of earth friendly cleaning products. Eliminate toxins and create a fresh, clean, healthy home this spring!

We love essential oils for cleaning! Lavender - Cleans & refreshes while it calms and soothes. Antimicrobial, antiseptic and antiallergenic. Lemon – The quintessential oil for cleaning the toughest messes. Antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiseptic and antifungal. It cuts grease like no other oil and leaves your house smelling fresh, without any harsh, synthetic fragrances. Orange – Great at degreasing, deep cleaning and an excellent wood polish. Plus, it helps to stimulate the immune system! Peppermint - Cool and refreshing, it’s great for spraying and diﬀusing, and it’s even anti-asthmatic. Tea Tree - A powerhouse of a cleaning and disinfecting oil to clean the grimiest of nooks and crannies, like showers and toilets!

With Spring around the corner, we’re feel-ing those Spring Cleaning vibes! Selenite is an excellent tool to clear and charge other stones- just pop them in a selenite bowl or on a charging plate and let it work its magic!

The Community Farm Store Organic Health & Whole Food Market

www.communityfarmstore.ca

The CFS Café is Open Again Visit us from Tuesday to Friday from 10-3 for all sorts of fresh, delicious, and nourishing meals to go, including the return of our weekly featured hot soup and sandwich! Visit our Grab & Go Cooler for our amazing new gourmet pasta and poke bowls!

2-5380 Hwy 1, Duncan BC V9L 6W4 250-748-6227 CFS Hours Soul Hours

Monday-Saturday 9-6 Closed Sunday Open Easter Monday, April 6 10-6

Monday-Saturday 11-3 Closed Sunday Closed Easter Monday

Follow our Facebook Page for the latest information “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman 67

hearing-impaired people while also including described video for visually impaired people. The PDF version of the print program will additionally include text narration and image descriptions.

Cowichan Valley Disability, Culture and Food: An Exhibit

hotographer and owner of Polaris Creative, and outspoken disability advocate Jules Sherred has kicked off a crowdfunding initiative and a call for participants to help the initial stages of the Cowichan Valley Disability, Culture and Food: An Exhibit, a unique photography and video exhibit that will help raise awareness to the barriers disabled people face in accessing food and to promote advocacy from local producers.

Providing the Cowichan Valley with Raw Cold Press 100% Organic Juices & Nut Mylks NEW Bone Broths with Medicinal Mushrooms! Available EVERY DAY at The Community Farm Store or WEEKLY online at cow-op.ca. Direct orders can be placed to hello@euphoricjuicery.com

Al’s Asian Treasures Aluminum Driveway Gates • Garden Gates • Furniture • Jewelry • Lava & Stone Statues • Wood Carvings • Paintings • Locally Made Concrete Statues and more! 3107 Henry Rd, Chemainus (250) 324-4444

www.alsasiantreasures.com

As the Kickstarter page underlines: Awareness needs to be increased. Jules Sherred has made it his life’s work to raise such awareness. The crowdfunding initiative will help to partially fund the first mini exhibit, slated for the Fall of 2021. The final exhibit, slated to run from July 1st to September 30th, 2022, will be available both online and in-studio and showcase the food-related stories of at least eight disabled Canadians, eight Canadians from culturally diverse backgrounds, and eight Cowichan Valley food and beverage producers. The exhibit itself will aim to be accessible to all, with images including descriptive text for the visually impaired and video being captioned for Deaf and

It’s predicted that at least 1 million Canadians and an unknown number of people throughout the world will visit the online version of this exhibit. The in-person portion is planned to take place during peak tourist season and right around the corner from the Duncan Farmers’ Market. While the Kickstarter ends at midnight on April 1, people can contribute at anytime at DisabilityandFood.Art. Contributions will launch a unique art exhibit and will shine a light on one of the biggest and most lifethreatening barriers disabled Canadians face today: accessing food. The exhibit is also looking for participants. If you live in the Cowichan Valley and self-identify as disabled, and/ or are a racialized Canadians, and/or if you are a Cowichan Valley food or beverage producer, Sherred would like to include your stories in the exhibit. Participants will be gifted a photo book of their stories, valued at $300.00. There are also sponsorship and advertising opportunities. To participate, to give after the Kickstarter has ended, and to learn more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities, visit https://disabilityandfood. art Jules Sherred (He/ Him) Owner/Food Photographer and Stylist Polaris Creative Food Photography and Styling Services polariscreative.ca

Georgia Nicols M.A. Georgia’s book, You and Your Future is a best seller with international printings in 3 languages. georgianicols.com

Aries (March 21-April 19) This month the Sun, Mercury and Venus are all in your sign, which is a blessing that quite literally, this is your chance to make hay while the Sun shines! You can recharge your batteries for the rest of the year because you will restore and replenish yourself with the energy of the Sun. Plus, your ruler Mars is now in Gemini, which means you will be convincing and persuasive with everyone you meet. Your style of communicating will be direct and in-your-face. “Hut, toop, threep, fourp!” Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your personal year is coming to an end; however, your new year won’t begin until your birthday. This gives you time for some serious self-introspection. Not only can you do some beneficial navel gazing in order to get to know yourself better; you can define some goals for what you want to achieve in the coming year. Once you have goals established in your mind, it makes future decision-making easier. Plus, goals give you a sense of purpose and framework in your life. Meanwhile, you will bust your buns making money (and spending it) this month. Ka-ching! Gemini (May 21-June 20) Good news! This is a positive month! The Sun, Mercury and Venus are in your House of Friendships, which improves your dealings with friends, clubs and organizations. For example, if you share your hopes and dreams for the future with someone, their feedback will help you. Meanwhile, Venus will increase the affection you feel for a friend. (Indeed, a friend could become a lover.) On top of this, fiery Mars in your sign boosts your energy all month! (This happens only once every two years.) Oh yeah, you’re PowerPoint on steroids! Cancer (June 21-July 22) Once a year, the Sun sits at the top of your chart casting you are in a flattering spotlight. This is why, without

doing anything special, you are admired by bosses, parents, teachers and VIPs. Consequently, someone might ask you to assume increased responsibilities. My advice is to use this “magic lighting.” Because everyone admires you, obviously, this is the perfect time to make your pitch and go after what you want. Others see you as competent, capable and clever! Meanwhile, Venus will be at the top of your chart making relations with authority types smooth and cozy. (In fact, a romance with a boss might begin.) Since you have this enormous advantage this coming month --use it! Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) This month three planets are in your fellow Fire Sign. (The Sun, Mercury and Venus.) This will be supportive to your sign! (This happens twice a year, about four months before and four months after your birthday.) It will boost your energy both at work and at play. It also makes this month ahead the perfect time for a vacation. Basically, you will be able to do whatever you want. Take time to survey your recent achievements. Decide how you can use them to prepare for the future. Meanwhile, Mars will urge you to enjoy physical activity with friends. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) This month you’re ambitious for your career, your job or anything that promotes your reputation among your peers. You have a stronger than usual interest in anything to do with shared property, taxes, debt and insurance matters. In fact, this month is good time to discuss how to divide or share an inheritance or anything to do with shared property because the outcome will benefit you. (You’ll be

laughing all the way to the bank.) Intimate relationships will be passionate this month. Hmmm, money and sex – what more do you want? Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) This month, the Sun, Mercury and Venus are opposite your sign. This polarized position makes you focus on partnerships and close friendships more than usual. Ultimately, this will benefit these relationships because it allows you to see how you interact with others with more objectivity. This means you can learn more about your style of relating to others and you can improve how you function in these relationships. Hey, this is a major bonus! You will also have a stronger than usual desire to travel, learn, study and do anything to expand your awareness of the world. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) This month you will work hard to get better organized. You will make lists and decide how to work smarter to get more bang for your buck in terms of results for your efforts. As you set these high standards, they will extend into other areas of your life including your health. This means many of you will work to improve your health in the month ahead. Likewise, many of you might be more involved with a pet. Incidentally, you might have conflict about shared property, inheritances or differing values with someone. (These are just ego conflicts.) Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Playful activities, social diversions, sports events, fun activities with children, and an eagerness to enjoy the arts or express your creative talents are on your menu this month! Sounds like fun. Meanwhile, romance will flourish!

Vacations and good times will appeal! Yes, it’s party city for Sagittarians! Having said that, fiery Mars will be opposite your sign this month as well, and this could promote conflict and competition with partners and close friends. To deal with this – patience will be your best ally. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You will be super productive this month. Issues related to home, family and dealing with a parent will be a bigger focus. You’ll want to stay at home or cocoon more than usual. Some will take on redecorating projects to make your home look more attractive. Some will pursue possible residential moves. Meanwhile, the placement of Mars will make you want to work hard. You will take considerable pride in how much you work you do. You might be so gung-ho, that you start delegating to everyone else as well. Easy does it. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) The pace of your days will accelerate this month because you’ve got things to do, people to see and places to go! Short trips, errands, appointments plus increased reading, writing and studying are some reasons you face a jampacked schedule. Relations with siblings, relatives and neighbours will be positive; plus, you’ll have a greater appreciation for the beauty in your everyday world. You will feel fortunate to know the people that you do. (Appreciation is a wonderful thing.) Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) This month you’re focused on earnings, cash flow, resources, your possessions and your values. Take stock of what you own and what you owe. How much are you worth? When it comes to money, information is power. Many of you will spend money on beautiful things. One unexpected influence however, is that something to do with your home will be chaotic or upset on a temporary basis. Visiting guests, renovations, redecorating projects will force you to cope as best you can. Arrrg. www.georgianicols.com

April 2021 Issue 149

Articles inside

A Passionate Painter

Finding Your Perfect Puppy

Sunrise Waldorf School Open House

A Thriving Arts and Cultural Community

Great Blue Heron-Cam Now Live

CVAC April Update

Valley Voices

Cowichan Artisans Spring Tour