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The organizers of the Pakenham Maple Run Tour are very sorry to announce the tour is reluctantly cancelled for this year. We are so disappointed that we will not be welcoming enthusiastic visitors to our community and to our unique small venues to discover beautiful art, fine craft and local food. Be assured we will be back as soon as we can.
In the meantime, the Maple Run artists and artisans continue their creative magic, and the businesses that host them are open and would welcome your support. Please visit <mapleruntour.com> to learn more about what a typical fantastic Maple Run Tour is like, and use the contact information to reach out.
The Ontario Maple Syrup Producers’ Association (OMSPA) is disappointed to announce that Maple Weekend has been cancelled for 2021. The event, which takes place the first weekend of April each year, sees more than 15,000 visitors visit participating sugarbushes in Ontario.
“We are very sorry to cancel Maple Weekend for the second year in a row,” said OMSPA president Frank Heerkens. “Unfortunately, the spread of COVID-19 has made it so we cannot safely host the weekend this year. OMSPA and our members are committed to ensuring we are conforming with health advisories and are doing our part to combat the spread of the virus.”
As they prepare the first agricultural crop of the year, maple syrup producers are following all guidelines for safe production practices, and continue to produce a wonderful made-in-Ontario product for customers. This year will mark the second in a row in which the syrup season has been impacted.
Production will be starting in most parts of Ontario in early March, once temperatures remain above zero during the day and fall below zero at night. Maple syrup and maple products will continue to be available at sugarbushes throughout the sugar season. The public is encouraged to reach out to their local sugarbush to confirm if they are offering in-person visits, curbside pick-ups or online sales. An interactive map of maple syrup producers, along with nutritional information and recipes, is available at <ontariomaple.com>.
The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum <mvtm.ca> and Ryan Gordon Photography <ryangordonphotography.com> have partnered to create a timely exhibit of photographs entitled “Faces & Fabric of a Small Town During Pandemic”. Curator Michael Rikley-Lancaster and artist Ryan Gordon write: “As the community grapples with a pandemic that is radically reshaping every aspect of public and private life, we are striving to capture the historic shift through the eyes of everyday people in Mississippi Mills.”
Ryan’s photos can now be viewed and purchased online, with all proceeds going to the Almonte General Hospital Foundation front lines. They will also be treasured in the museum’s archives for future generations. theHumm contacted Ryan Gordon to find out more about this very special exhibit.
theHumm: When did you first become interested in photography, and how does it help youprocess and engage with the world around you?
Ryan Gordon: I have always been fascinated by photographs. I love that they capture a moment in time; they are the only proof we have that generations of loved ones who have passed before us actually existed, and they keep their memory alive to future generations. They capture expressions, feelings, emotions and behaviors. My mom gave me a Pentax film camera for Christmas when I was 16, and I’ve been talking photos since.
How and when did you find Almonte? Are you a long-time resident or a relative newcomer?
I was born and raised in Perth, Ontario, but still wasn’t too familiar with Almonte. After living in Ottawa for 15 years, working in the Funeral Services industry, I decided to move my family out from the city and get back in touch with my small-town roots. I wanted my kids to have a childhood similar to how I grew up. I was drawn to the energy of Almonte, the arts, the culture, the people, the vibe. There is something special here, something that cannot always be described, yet everyone knows exactly what I mean by that. There is a magic here, and something in the air, in the water, but I’m just thankful that my family is able to call Almonte our home.
You and Michael Rikley-Lancaster began working on this exhibition shortly after thefirst lockdown was announced. What has this project shown you about how people aredealing with Covid and its associated challenges? Have you been able to capture somemoments of hope and joy as well?
I had always been known for portrait or fashion photography, and it wasn’t until the pandemic began and the lockdown happened that I shifted my focus to landscape. In the beginning, with no sense of time and with nothing much else to do, I really dove head-first into the world of landscape photography. I think one gift that many of us were granted with this pandemic was the gift of time. Never in our lifetimes had we been given this amount of time. Time to learn, time to create, to experiment with things we had been pushing off, or to try something we’ve always wanted. I got time to not only spend with my children, but to really get to know them as people who have ideas and opinions — who have a voice.
I got to meet so many amazing people in the community through this exhibit, for which I will forever be grateful. Hope and Joy are hard emotions to capture in a world of the unknown, but what I feel I was able to capture was the human spirit. That no matter your thoughts, your views, your politics, people in this community were able to come together and help one another out, and that was a beautiful thing to see.
Michael has been such amazing mentor. He is inspiring, he is passionate, and his love of art and his love of this town and its history is so motivating. The best part of this experience for me is that the museum has now archived the selected photos and they will be become a part of the history of this town. In a hundred years, when future generations look back on these photos, I hope that they see that this was the beginning of a shift that needed to happen. This pandemic has changed the way we live, the way we communicate and the way we love. We know now that the world can change in the blink of an eye — that it can all change overnight — so it’s important be kind to others, lead all intentions with love, take risks, do what you have always wanted to do, tell people you love them, forgive, be thankful for every day, and don’t take for granted things like hugs, handshakes, celebrating special occasions or spending time with those you love.
Was there something specific that inspired you to use your skills to bring awareness to theTextile Museum and at the same time to raise funds for front line workers?
I wanted the photos to reflect beauty — beauty in a time when the world was uncertain and dark, people were dying and the public was scared. I wanted my art to show that even in uncertain times there is beauty in the darkness. I looked to inspire with colour, light, crispness and clarity, creating contrast with the dark so that the light was able to shine through. And in the end, I wanted the theme — that art is everywhere, even in mundane everyday life — to come through. You can still find beauty in the smaller things, in the boring everything things, and everything and everywhere can be art.
Can people still ask to have their photo taken as part of this initiative? If so, how should theygo about doing so?
The pandemic is still ongoing, I’ve been capturing it since day one, and I will continue to do so. If anyone in the community has a unique story, or has a story they would like to have preserved for future generations about their experience during COVID-19, they can reach me on social media @ryan.gordon.photography, through my website, or through the Textile Museum.
On a personal note, what is helping you to get through this first full Covid winter?
I read an article last year about embracing winter like the Norwegians do — getting out there and experiencing all that winter brings. I have been trying to do that this winter — changing my attitude towards it by getting outside as much as possible. I’ve been exploring lots of trails in the area; hiking, walking, taking the kids skating, and just trying to capture with my camera all the beauty that winter brings.
Have you hugged a maple tree today? I know not everyone can do this, but it’s the thought that counts. And here’s why…
We are so fortunate at Fortune Farms <fortunefarms.ca> to have two majestic sugar bushes, both of which have been tapped for well over one hundred years. The picture shows one of our largest trees, which we have named the Fortune Giant. We have others larger but not as close to a trail. Sadly, we lost several of our large old trees due to ice storm damage. The Fortune Giant is a survivor and is estimated to be over 300 years old. It is about 42 inches (107cm) in diameter at the base and about 120 feet (36m) tall with no limbs until the crown. It is a massive tree. There are trees growing in the open that are larger in diameter, but they are short and their crowns are bushy. A tree this size is rated at 5 taps. We do not insert that many taps in order to avoid undue stress on the tree. Over the 300 years we think this tree was of tappable size it would average at least two taps per year. Each tap produces enough sap to make one litre of syrup. So the lifetime production of this tree would be 600 or more litres of syrup, with a market value at today’s prices of $12,000. A most remarkable output for just one plant.
We average about 65 taps per acre in our sugar bushes. That represents an income of $1,300 per acre which compares favourably to cereal crops and other uses of agricultural land. However, and it is a very significant however, maple trees grow well on rocky ground, require no tilling, no fertilizer, no heavy machinery to compact the soil, no irrigation and no pesticides unless there is a caterpillar infestation. In addition, each tree is a major source of carbon sequestration, it emits oxygen, its seeds are food for wildlife and its leaves enrich the forest floor for other plants. Now I think that is a good deal. Even we at Fortune Farms, and I think the public in general, do not fully appreciate the value of maple trees and other tree species.
Now let’s consider maple syrup. It is an unexpected source of essential minerals including calcium, zinc, magnesium and potassium. A unique polyphenol called quebecol is also found in maple syrup — it helps reduce inflammation and supports a healthy immune system. Syrup also has antioxidant properties which help protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer. Dr. Navindra Seeram, PhD, is one of the world’s premier maple scientists. Employed by the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers Association, he has done much of the research to support these claims. He is quoted as saying “Maple syrup is an incredibly unique plant food, obtained entirely from deciduous tree sap, not only for its natural composition but also because it is minimally processed from a pure botanical provenance with no additives. That would be unique in itself, but now add that it is indigenous to a relatively small region of North America, it’s a culturally iconic food produced by thousands of local farmers practicing sustainable forestry. That’s what makes it so special”. And, of course, it’s all due to the magnificent maple tree.
O maple tree, O maple tree
How glad we are you came to be
Your yearly crop of sap doth flow
With no complaint you bestow
this springtime tonic on man and beast
on which they both do drink and feast
When turned to syrup ‘tis oh so sweet
A healthy food and a tasty treat
May you grow to gigantic girth
and long to live on Mother Earth.
This will be another year when visits to the local sugar bushes will be constrained. Masks and social distancing will be in effect, there may be limits on attendance, and reservations may be required. Curbside pick-up will be available at most camps. Best to check with the sugar bush operator before heading out.
CFUW Perth and District is raffling off a “Staycation” gift basket worth over $1,000, with contents generously donated by local businesses. The prize includes a two-night stay at Clyde Hall B&B in Lanark <clydehall.ca>, two dinners, two lunches and a basket of goodies and gift cards. A limited number of tickets are on sale until March 10 for $20 each, and the draw will be held on March 22. To buy a ticket, email Cathy McParlan at <cathymcparlan@gmail.com> or call her at 464–0808.
The Canadian Federation of University Women is committed to the improvement of the status of women, the pursuit of knowledge and the promotion of education. Since 2005 the annual Heritage Perth Christmas House Tour has raised well over $150,000, which has been distributed through Education Awards, donations to libraries, schools, literacy and arts programs and other education-related grants in Perth and surrounding areas. The group supports programs that benefit women and girls, and they welcome new members — please visit <cfuwperthanddistrict.wordpress.com> for detailed information.
During a time when it’s difficult to go out, many people are looking inward to find inspiration and motivation to eat and create good food. Fueled by Plants author Stéfany Oliver has used the pandemic to harness her passion and put together her first recipe book, with the goal of bringing health and happiness to her community.
Fueled by Plants is a collection of Oliver’s own vegan and gluten-free recipes, featuring local foods from throughout the Ottawa Valley and Ottawa area. She says, “I was itching to create something good and to put it out into the world and help people.”
Wanting to make a difference and to bring joy to those around her, Oliver sat down in the summer of 2020 to start creating. Her first cookbook is the result of hard work, strong faith, and the support of a close-knit community of friends and family.
The book itself is the definition of supporting local. Oliver drew on her friends and community to bring this beautiful work together. Designed and edited locally by Jennifer Pfitzer, photographed by Sarah Amy Jules, and even printed by Oliver’s own brother Sebastien Gravelle, owner of Artext <artext.com>, Fueled by Plants is a project of love, dedication and support.
Nothing brings comfort like a delicious meal, especially one that’s easy to create and features ingredients that support small business owners and entrepreneurs. Oliver’s thoughtful recipes highlight substitutions for those with food sensitivities and call attention to her favourite local ingredients, such as the garden pesto from Le Grand or the smoky jalapeno cheese from Fauxmagerie Zengarry.
Oliver’s local-centric focus in Fueled by Plants brings a deep-rooted sense of community and place to her recipes. She explains, “It’s always been a habit of mine to leverage as much as possible what’s local. From an environmental perspective, an economical perspective, and community-wise.”
During the pandemic there has been a great rise in supporting local businesses, and many companies have risen to the challenge to build and maintain their connections with devoted customers.
Oliver features companies like Hummingbird Chocolate, Backyard Edibles, and Heavenly Honey, who offer home delivery or porch pick-up, allowing easy access to delicious local foods. Much of the fresh produce can be picked up from local farmers’ markets as well. It is easier than ever to buy fresh and delicious food that is grown and created right in one’s own backyard.
Speaking with Oliver, it is clear that she is passionate about food. Her heartfelt zeal is rooted in memories and family. “Part of the inspiration is my mom,” she says. “Just seeing her cooking all the time — and baking. She would involve me in baking when she would make pies.”
Additionally, her interest in food from cultures around the globe inspires her to experiment with new ingredients and explore new options for her own recipes. If it brings joy to others, she considers it a success. These recipes are keepers!
It is not an easy task to write and self-publish a book, and Oliver’s journey to print hers was not without its challenges. “It was a process!” she says. “Trying to figure out where to publish was one thing.” Overcoming the internal struggles and self-doubt was another. Oliver explains, “I realized that my voice mattered too and that somebody out there would like to hear my voice, and it would be a blessing to them. Once I got over that hurdle it was full speed.”
The author’s dedication is apparent throughout — from the care that is taken to include her own personal journey to the thoughtful combination of beautiful images and design. At once inspiring and creative, Oliver’s short recipe collection is a labour of love. Fueled by Plants is a collection of nineteen healthy, easy-to-make and delicious recipes highlighting ingredients found throughout the Ottawa region. To purchase a copy directly from the author, visit <stefanyoliver.com>.
In the strangest of times, Ann Shea’s happy story just seemed to fall into place, neatly if unexpectedly — rather like chapters in a good book.
Once upon a time, she found herself shoe shopping with her sisters in Almonte.
“I grew up in Aylmer, and my three sisters still live in Ottawa and the Valley,” Ann explains. “They are frequent visitors to Almonte, particularly drawn to the shoe selection at Crush Marketplace. In August, I was in the area and they invited me along for the day.”
And so it began. Although there was a bit of a preface.
“My daughter Julia had purchased some books at Mill Street Books during the pandemic,” Ann says, “and she encouraged me to stop in. I spent about an hour in the store, chatting a bit with Debbie [Debbie is a long-time, beloved employee at the shop] and just soaking up the atmosphere. I asked her who owned the place and complimented her on the book selection.”
After that visit, something clicked.
“For whatever reason, I started following the store on Facebook,” Ann explains, “and when I saw in October that the bookshop was for sale, I sent Mary and Terry an email to begin a conversation with them.”
That conversation eventually led to Ann buying Mill Street Books from Mary and Terry Lumsden, who have made their eclectic shop one of the loveliest and most charming independent bookstores in the province, if not the country. For Ann, the timing was perfect.
“I have been working full-time in engineering and sales management for the past 25 years,” she says, “and I knew I was ready for a change. I knew I wanted to do something different, and I was so very glad that this opportunity presented itself.”
Ann knows she has a lot to learn about being a bookseller and running a store, but she’s started training in the shop, along with her daughter Julia, who will be working with her mom in the store a few days each week.
“Mary, Terry and Debbie have all been very generous and helpful in sharing their knowledge and insight with me,” Ann says, and for that she’s extremely thankful. “It feels wonderful to be settling in at the shop. I am blown away by the warm welcome that I have received, and the friendliness and enthusiasm of our customers. It was wonderful to be greeted by such kindness over the past few days here in town.”
When Ann visited Mill Street Books last summer, one thing caught her eye straightaway.
“When I first entered the store last August, I had never seen such a well curated book selection and I am so impressed by Mary’s taste in books. I think she knows her customers very well. My goal,” she says, “is to continue to offer our customers what they have come to expect in the past, and to introduce a few new things now and then. I think the people of Almonte have wonderful taste in books, and they appear to be voracious readers. My goal is to not let them down.”
Some of Ann’s favourite authors? Ann Patchett, Colm McCann, Anne Enright, Alice Munro, Lauren Groff, and “many, many others.” She’s also a fan of short stories and essays, and “who,” she says, “doesn’t love a good cookbook or a beautiful picture book that sends you flying off into another world?”
However, she promises, “I certainly don’t intend to be pushing any specific books onto our customers.”
In her time in the shop so far, Ann’s been happy to meet and talk to so many young people.
“I was delighted to meet so many children of all ages at our store. I really look forward to getting to know them, listening to their suggestions and encourage their love of reading. Growing up, I always found great comfort in books. Really at every stage of my life, there has been comfort to be found in books.”
Ann, along with her husband Dean, has raised three wonderful children: Isaac, Julia and Olivia. They are her greatest pride and joy in life. “Being a mom to these three has been my greatest accomplishment,” she says.
As for the challenges she faces with her new job as a bookseller, and with taking ownership of a beloved bookshop during a pandemic, Ann says she really doesn’t know since she’s just getting started. “I have a lot to learn about running a small business and I will welcome all suggestions and tips local entrepreneurs are willing to share. I look forward to the day when I can see everyone’s full face and smiles. I met many smiling eyes this week, and I will welcome the day when we see each other’s full faces… in full safety, of course.”
Ann feels that among the greatest rewards of her new job will be meeting interesting people and sending them off with something that will bring them joy.
“Making connections with new and interesting people sounds like something fun and rewarding that shouldn’t even be called a job!” she says. “Bringing joy to customers through reading is really offering them a gift, isn’t it?”
This job brings other exciting and important opportunities as well, Ann says. “Having worked in a male-dominated technical field for the past thirty years, I am looking forward to connecting with a greater variety of individuals and expanding… my knowledge and skill in new areas. I have so much to learn! I am thrilled to be buying a business from a female entrepreneur, and it sounds like there are a great number of them on Mill Street, so I am very eager to meet them.”
Everyone involved with Mill Street Books is planning a delightful celebration come springtime.
“Mary, Terry and I will be co-hosting a customer appreciation event in May,” Ann says, “at which we will celebrate the transition of ownership and — more importantly — also mark the retirement of the fabulous Debbie. We are hopeful that some restrictions will be lifted by then, and we will be able to gather together outside among friends, old and new, to enjoy some great stories, and delicious food and drinks.”
Ann is looking forward to that chapter too.
Sivarulrasa Gallery is delighted to launch a program of simultaneous exhibitions this year! A solo exhibition of paintings by Almonte-based artist Mary Pfaff entitled Mary Pfaff: Companions is currently running in Gallery I, where it will continue until March 26. For the inaugural show in Gallery II, they are pleased to present Jim Hake: Ladies Night, an immersive solo installation of sculpture by Toronto-based artist Jim Hake. This show will run from March 10 to April 16.
Jim Hake’s work is inspired by personal narratives, by situations and people that have touched his life. His work demonstrates a wide versatility with materials including clay, porcelain, wood, metal, plaster, glass, and recycled and found materials. In Ladies Night, Jim Hake continues his two decades of experimentation with ideas of portraiture, metonymy and facets. He employs stained glass — several pairs of elegant, larger-than-life sized shoes hang from the ceiling. Crystal and Ronette, two sculptures made from CDs and vinyl records, are loosely based portraits of musical groups The Crystals and The Ronettes, respectively. The installation can be seen in-person during Gallery hours (11am—5pm Wednesdays to Sundays) at 34 Mill Street in Almonte.
Everyone is invited to an Artist Talk & Virtual Vernissage via Zoom on Wednesday, March 17 from 7–8pm. Just email <info@sivarulrasa.com> to receive the link, or visit <sivarulrasa.com> for more information.
Art… and Soul
Landscape artist Katherine Muir Miller’s brilliant paintings tap into the same subject matter that inspired Canada’s beloved Group of Seven artists — the great northern Canadian landscape in all its seasonal glories. This is where she finds her inspiration — rooted in her mother’s deep love of trees and fostered by her own and her five children’s passion for the magnificent and wild Canadian outdoors.
Many Canadians can’t look at a painting of stark pines outlined against the sky at the edge of a northern lake without thinking of Tom Thomson or A. Y. Jackson. The Group of Seven clearly succeeded in realizing their stated ambition back in the 1920s to create a fertile ground from which a new generation of uniquely Canadian art would grow. For Katherine Muir Miller, their success is a double-edged sword. Newcomers to the eponymous founder’s stunning new art gallery in Perth frequently react with comments comparing her vibrant landscapes to those painted by our best-known national art figures.
What sets her work apart is her unique use of their established language. Her playful, experimental use of colour, the textures she builds, the gestures, and the freedom of her brushstrokes combine to produce her fresh take on a familiar natural world. A literary analogy comes to mind. Many writers use the same language to explore similar subject matter. Some produce literature that is mundane; others achieve the sublime. Muir Miller’s landscapes have the power to transport you to a sublime place.
What she loves most about her paintings is the stories they represent. Katherine bases her landscapes on memories of cross-country travel, and on photos her adult kids and friends take on their harrowing canoeing and hiking and skiing trips across Canada’s incredible rugged outdoors. Photographers claim that looking at an image they have taken transports them back to the time and place and circumstances of the shoot. Katherine’s impressionistic realism paintings evoke and intensify the same response for viewers and clients who are fortunate enough to reconnect with the scenes she celebrates.
Falling Headfirst
Katherine’s own story is one of reinvention — her art is her salvation. Six years ago a catastrophic fall caused serious damage to her face and head; broken bones resulted in vestibular damage, visual damage, and neurocognitive damage that permanently ended her career as an ER nurse at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital in Ottawa. It also put an end to all of the sports activities that had characterized her exceptionally active role as a mother — hockey, skating, skiing, running — even walking was out of the question for quite a while.
Her healing process included physical therapy, chiropractic care, vision and balance therapy, and rebuilding torn neck muscles. The most important part of her healing didn’t start until several months after her traumatic accident. In an attempt to cope with the devastating losses to her sense of identity and purpose, Muir Miller pulled out a canvas and decided to paint. She had dabbled in art before, but never seriously. Six hours later she realized she had been symptom-free for the entire time — no dizziness, no headache, no pain. “And from then on, I never even looked back.”
The injuries to her head obviously did not quench her “just do it” spirit. As she puts it, “I’m a highly motivated person. When I dive into something I do it 110%.” At first she painted therapeutically, but then she embarked on an energetic and targeted path to pursue her passion to paint Canadian landscapes. She started taking lessons at the Ottawa School of Art in 2014, and from 2015 to 2018 she studied with Ottawa artist Gordon Harrison.
Katherine credits Harrison with encouraging her to tap into her own creativity and find her own path to expressing her passion for the Canadian wilderness. Her fascination with colour is the key to her success and her greatest pleasure. Sometimes she spends as much time “making” her oil paint colours as she does painting the scene she has been visualizing in her mind’s eye for days. Her most successful paintings are those she has thought about for the longest time. Her least favourite question is “How long did it take you to paint that?”. Her advice to novice painters is to be patient; creativity will come “all in the goodness of time.”
Eventually, as their home was filling up with her exuberant art works, she sought independent validation beyond the growing encouragement from family and friends. In 2018 she applied for the “Artist Project” show in Toronto and was thrilled to be waitlisted. As a result, the “One of a Kind” show in Toronto invited her to exhibit her works, and with her family’s help and support, her professional career was off and running. For three years she participated in a growing variety of shows, but early in 2020, Covid put an abrupt end to all her exciting new show plans. She isn’t sure how the stars aligned to present her with her newest opportunity, but a walk in Perth with a friend resulted in her current reinvention of herself. At her companion’s urging, Katherine checked out a “For Lease” sign at 22 Gore St. East, and, with her supportive family’s urging and help, created the Katherine Muir Miller Gallery.
Muir Miller is a realist — she knew she was and wanted to be a painter, not a businessperson. So she listened to her life coach and friend Darlene Kelly, and has hired the business and technical support she needs to stay focused on her painting. During Gallery hours you can drop in at 22 Gore St. East and catch her painting with her dog Meeko at her side. Her coordinates are listed on the back of her Artist Trading Card in the righthand corner above, and her Virtual Assistant keeps her information current on her website at <katherinemuirmiller.com> and all her other social media. Katherine thanks her fantastic family for their support in enabling her to turn a catastrophe into a gift.
As we emerge from the Covid lull, we have an opportunity to recreate our world.
On Tuesday, March 16 at 7pm, theHumm presents a Zoom discussion with Mike Nickerson, author of Living on Earth as if We Want to Stay.
The story about work, pay, investment, profit, living off other’s efforts, and perpetual economic Growth is running out of room on our finite planet — Mike will discuss changing the cultural narrative. What are the economic myths that keep us captivated in the money paradigm? How else might the economy (mutual provision) be organized?
The new story about re-integrating with life processes and seeking satisfaction from living, rather than from material accumulation, offers a possible sustainable future. Join us for a presentation by Mike, followed by a Q & A session.
Find out how to have More Fun, Less Stuff! Email <kris@thehumm.com> to receive the Zoom link.
Brighten up your early spring by Zooming in for an exciting series of talks presented by MERA. Taking place on Thursday evenings from 7–8:30pm, the topics include art in the community, hiking, writing, and Lanark wild places. Organizers have tried to plan something for everyone!
The series of four talks starts on March 11 and runs until April 1. Admission is by donation to MERA by sending an e-transfer to <meraschoolhouse@gmail.com>. Interested viewers need to subscribe to the series in order to receive the Zoom link — just email Helen at <hmogford@gmail.com>.
Speaker Line-up
On March 11, Chandler Swain (pictured above) will speak about “The Value of Art in the Community”. Chandler is a master studio potter living near Almonte <chandlerswain.ca>. Besides her studio practice and teaching week-long intensive courses at her home studio each summer, she has spent decades organizing non-profit events to promote the work of other visual artists.
March 18 brings “Spring Hiking: Tips, Trips, and Dips for Wellness” with Victoria Walsh <girlgonegood.com>. Adventure, media, and health are the backbone of GirlGoneGood®. It is where the prioritization of wellness while exploring the wilderness is encouraged.
On March 25, Claudia Coutu Radmore <claudiaradmore.com> will encourage “Writing about Anything, Everything, Every Day”. What drives a writer? Join Claudia and find out what made her decide what to write, and whether to use prose or poetry. Claudia’s published writings are based on personal letters and memoir, oral history, historical and genealogical investigation, and attentiveness to nature.
Finally, join Dr. Paul Keddy <drpaulkeddy.com> on April 1 for a talk on “Enjoying Wild Nature in Lanark County: Thirty Green Gems”. In this talk, Paul will present some of the wild landscapes of Lanark County, introduce some of the wild species that live here, and provide a list of our thirty most important natural areas that need to be protected.
Visit <meraschoolhouse.org> to see the list of topics, speakers and biographies, as well as all the other exciting things happening at the schoolhouse.
These days, over 80% of Ontario’s health services are being delivered remotely. When asked by the United Way of Leeds and Grenville how Country Roads Community Health Centre could help more people in their homes, a video program seemed a logical idea. “We have had tremendous success with our Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program,” says CRCHC Executive Director Marty Crapper. “Traditionally, this has been an in-person, ten-week program. We asked our instructor, Sandy Prentice, and John Pringle of Westport Video, to come up with ideas on how we could take the core elements and present them as 5-10 minute ‘bites’. The result is a ten-session mini-course called Mindful Moments.”
“Our original intention was to find a way of connecting mindfulness to teachers and youth during these challenging times,” explains Prentice, an MBSR teacher with thirty years’ experience in mindfulness and yoga practice. “When our video editor John started telling people about the benefits of meditation, we realized that we had the potential to reach beyond teachers and students and benefit the community at large.”
The Mindful Moment video series starts with an introduction to mindfulness, and then moves on to focussing attention, awareness of breathing, mindful eating and appreciation. The series is designed to offer a new skill to focus on each week.
Why mindful moments? Research shows that just a few minutes of mindfulness a day can decrease stress and anxiety, and improve focus, concentration and memory. It can also increase self-awareness, emotional regulation, our sense of calm and resilience; enhancing our overall sense of wellbeing. This is true for teens and adults alike.
This last year has been a challenging one. Now more than ever we could all benefit from more resilience. These videos are freely available on the Country Roads Community Health Centre YouTube channel. The intention is to make this an accessible resource for youth and the community as a whole.
A meme to remember when the challenges of climate and inequality get you down: MORE FUN, LESS STUFF.
On a good day one can sense, through the fog of our world’s problems, a faint light. A glimmer of a place where humans live in balance with the Earth and with each other.
Viewed from the challenges of today, that place seems to be another dimension. And it is. The values by which people manage themselves are dimensions of worlds we might build, and this alternate dimension can be entered through More Fun, Less Stuff.
Renewable energy and electric equipment will be needed, but they are not enough. A positive future requires a shift in social values.
No longer can Growth be our goal. No more producing and consuming, earning and spending ever more! We need to maximize fulfilment from living, with the least possible material entanglement. We can compete with one another to see who can get the most satisfaction from living with the least material throughput.
Almost every dollar we spend represents extracted resources and pollution. The benefits go to enrich the top 1% and leave the bottom part of the population to deal with the waste. If your purchase won’t cause waste or inequity, go for it!
Learning, love and laughter, sport, music, dance, creativity, appreciation and helping others all offer unlimited opportunities for satisfaction with minimum material requirements. And they’re fun.
Material necessities of food and shelter can be sustained by integrating with the natural world.
Nutrient flows have maintained all life since it began. Humans can eat well forever if we use our intelligence to avoid overshooting local capacity. Air, water and a handful of soil elements are the building blocks for all living things. These elements can cycle indefinitely through soil life, plants, animals, ourselves and back to the soil. By caring for soil, communities can have everlasting life.
For shelter, buildings can be assembled that require almost no outside energy. Comfort is maintained by facing the Sun to capture its warmth when needed, and for cooling we can engage shade trees, hold onto the cool of the nights and tap the chill of underground.
Health care at the preventative level, as well as education, rely mostly on the unlimited resources of knowledge and our willingness to help each other.
If secure healthy life is what we want, we can quickly shift our over-productive economy to systems that fulfill our basic needs. The energy from wind and sun can keep these systems going, with the surplus used to make other useful items designed for durability. The problems facing us today will become a chapter in history books.
More Fun, Less Stuff. These four syllables can lead us out of our overgrown self-destructive place toward a place that can assure the grandchildren a world in which to raise children of their own.
Hard to imagine? Let the meme “More Fun, Less Stuff” dwell in your consciousness. Bring it to mind each time you feel disheartened in the face of climate change, pollution, resource depletion and inequality. Let it soak in. Share it with others. The goals we pursue are the seeds from which our future grows. Thought by thought, contact by contact, choice by choice, step by step, we can be amazed by the joy of this shift.
Can such a meme nudge its way past the well-funded directives to earn and spend, earn and spend, grow, grow, grow? It can, if we share it each time people appear unable or unwilling to address the issues facing us.
More Fun, Less Stuff.
Pass it around.
For more on this journey of transformation, please visit <sustainwellbeing.net>.
Calling all thespians and dramatic artists! Are you feeling deprived of the opportunity to pursue your passion during this pandemic? Are you looking for ways to connect with like-minded souls and engage in the creative exploration that is part of working together to put on plays? Do you miss the performance, the social interaction, the intellectual and creative "buzz" that comes from the rehearsal process itself?
If so, the Studio Theatre Perth has a solution for you! They are offering a 12-week Online Drama Studio with renowned director Carolee Mason. This is neither a lecture series nor a chat, but rather an active and engaging two hours a week of drama play to both develop and utilize your dramatic skills.
The Studio runs from March 17 to June 2, and the cost is $350. Spots are filling up quickly, so please email Juli at <j.heney@hotmail.com> to find out more details or to reserve your spot.
On Friday, March 26 at 7pm, the Carleton Place Library will present Park Ex Girl: Life with Gasometer — a poetry reading and discussion via Facebook with Claudia Coutu Radmore.
Here is Claudia’s twentieth-century life in Montreal’s Park Extension, characteristic of how suburbs grow. Looming over her on Beaumont Street is a seventeen-storey gasometer that casts a spell over her early life. Her poems include depictions of how gas-powered electric lighting snaked northward to her neighborhood, as well as the human cost of converting coal to gas. With an eye for particulars and a musician’s ear — especially for the language of heavy machinery and labour — Claudia Coutu Radmore’s depiction of the wrong side of the tracks where she grew up is “right” for an evening of vivid, urban, memorable poetry.
Join at <facebook.com/CarletonPlacePublic-Library> for this wonderful reading and discussion, in celebration of the Carleton Place Public Library’s 175th anniversary. This event is made possible through a grant by the Canada Council for the Arts, and The Writers’ Union of Canada.
The first Covid lockdown hit pretty much right in the middle of maple season in 2020. Here we are almost a full year later, and local sugar bushes are still dealing with pandemic pressures. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Shirley Fulton-Deugo — with help from her family and Fulton’s “Team Awesome” — has been pivoting like crazy to open their 400-acre property to the public and get maple products safely into the hands of all of us who are starved for a taste of Spring.
theHumm: We are so glad to hear that Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugarbush can open to the public this year! How will maple season 2021 be different from past years, particularly in terms of what you can offer and how you are working to keep everyone safe?
Shirley Fulton-Deugo: In August of 2020, Scott and I decided we would not open the restaurant/pancake house section. We were unsure of what the regulations would look like come March/April 2021. Instead, we started planning the use of our entire retail and restaurant areas. First, we set up six separate areas for staff to work in to maintain social distancing. Then we turned our efforts to planning our “Maple Farm Store” that now fills our main pancake house seating area. The really fun part was sourcing delicious foods from all across Ontario to complement your favourite Fulton’s products — from maple summer sausage to chocolate-covered maple sponge toffee and salted maple chocolate bombs. To accompany these delicious foods, we also sourced Ontario art to add beauty to our store. We have been creative too, adding Breakfast Bundles (since we can’t make breakfast for you) and DIY kits (such as Making Taffy at Home, Kids’ Pancake Breakfast Bundle, Tap a Maple Tree, and Backyard Birding).
We now have a farm curbside pickup area, we have installed many plexiglass barriers to ensure that our staff and visitors are safe, we require all our guests to wear masks while inside, we provide lots of sanitizing stations inside and out, we limit numbers in our new farm store and have one-way traffic while shopping to ensure social distancing.
This past year must have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for you. How has Covid impacted you, your staff and your business model?
All our staff were laid off after the province-wide closure was announced on March 17, 2020. The management team was relocated to their home offices where they continued to support our small business and help navigate the ever-changing provincial directives. In November 2020, we were fortunate to be able to rehire some staff to help with a fantastic Christmas season filling corporate, wholesale and online orders for our customers. Our business model has completely changed from where we were on March 16, 2020.
What are some of the major challenges you and other sugar bush owners have had to deal with that the general public may not be aware of?
Sugar Bush owners lost their staff to help with production last season due to the province-wide shutdown. This added a lot of extra work for the maple syrup producers’ families. With the shuttering of many of the retail stores and restaurants, many producers lost a huge part of their market. Some producers who sold to food stores (deemed essential) saw their sales increase. The uncertainty of the rules for the upcoming season makes it very difficult to plan. Supply chains are also a worry — for instance, we bought all of our retail Maple Syrup containers in the fall of 2020 to ensure that we can package spring 2021’s crop for sale.
People are understandably feeling isolated and restricted this winter. How can getting out into a sugar bush help?
Fresh air, sunshine and exercise on our trails will really lift the spirits! Our groomed trails have been widened and lengthened so our guests now have 8km of trails to enjoy without fear of crowding. New this year is a site fee of $10/car/day or a monthly fee. Visit <fultons.ca> for details.
On a personal note, what is helping you get through this first full Covid winter?
For me, this first full Covid-19 winter is filled with discussions, planning and set up. Also walks in the sugarbush, Zoom yoga, church, meetings, friends, good movies and books to escape into during the long evenings.
I saw this on a sign last week: “Be kind, Practice self-compassion”.
Well now, that sounds like a regimen I can adopt pretty easily, ridding myself of guilt and angst all in one step. Someone is giving us permission to indulge in inner pleasures. Don’t go crazy languishing on the couch with chocolates and pulp novels, or become a hermit watching old movies and eating popcorn. You still have to keep up some modicum of decent appearance and health. However, a teensy bit of self-indulgence won’t hurt either. ONE novel, HALF a layer of chocolates; ONE old movie and ONE bowl of popcorn. Otherwise, you’ll be beating yourself up the next time you walk past the scales and the mirror.
We’re all being encouraged to “find a hobby”, but for many of us, a hobby might indicate wasting time. For instance, if your hobby is jigsaw puzzles, you need to find the rationale for the hours bent over that darn thing. Here’s what you can say: you’re working on eye/hand coordination and spatial recognition. Further, you won’t feel any guilt if instead of sitting for hours you stand for, say, ten minutes (which rounds up to an hour), and work on it. When it’s complete, you can pat yourself on the back and declare you’ve increased your brain power no end. That’ll work.
What if your hobby is quilting? Well then, you’re working on many skills: colour identification and coordination, mathematical skills, dexterity, accuracy, hand strengthening (that’s a lot of cutting and stitching), and of course supporting your local textile shops because quilters never have enough material. The fact that your home is piled six-deep with quilts only adds to the beauty of this hobby, creating a warm and cozy nest for your precious family. What’s the harm in all that?
If you’re lucky enough to have a work room, you’re fortunate indeed, because you can indulge your hobby while allowing yourself some personal space and time. I’m not talking about putting a lock on the door, but if your space is cluttered with your hobby to the extent that others see it as chaos, or if you have tools that defy proper use by others, or even if you simply tune the radio to some station the rest of the family doesn’t enjoy, you have carved out a hobby room just for you.
When I carted a few odd plates home from the Hub years ago, I intended to cover one flower pot with mosaics. It looked pretty straightforward: break the plates with a hammer, slap on some glue and the chunks, do some grouting, and Bob’s your uncle: new flower pot, something useful and decorative.
Here I am years later with a five-shelf unit stacked with china, a work table and tools encrusted with glue and grout, and a little hobby area all my own. I go down there, light the woodstove, turn on CBC, and I can spend hours with the tile cutters clipping plates into tiny pieces to fit into whatever project I’m creating. I’ve made many birdhouses, and yes, there’ll be one in the April Birdhouse Blowout auction (see how I worked my commercial in there?). There’s no problem justifying the hours I spend on these things. Would you deny the birds a pretty place to live? Would you deny the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists an entry that will raise money for their bursary? So there is no guilt involved here whatsoever.
We’re fortunate to have found this great whack of time that we’ve never had before. Although, I will admit a whole year of it is getting tedious. I can look back and tote up the hobbies that have filled many hours: I’ve got several pairs of new socks, many jigsaw puzzles completed, a pile of books read, some bead work started, and now some birdhouses finished. I’ve also found patience I didn’t know I had; I’ve learned to slow down my expectations for filling a day; I’ve taken more time to walk and ski and stand in the forest and listen.
It’s self-compassion, and it’s all good. When you need a treat, have it and put it down to increasing your energy level. Make your hobby your main source of pleasure that energizes you and completes your day. It doesn’t matter that we have more socks than we can wear in ten years; they were a pleasure to knit and a balm for the soul.
The Birdhouse Blowout is coming up quickly. My house is nearly done, but you still have time to get yours done too. Maybe you can cover a house in jigsaw pieces; maybe you can quilt a house; maybe you can build one out of Lego, or… well, you have a hobby, use it to good advantage! Entries for the Auction must be in by April 9, and the auction will be online for two weeks beginning on April 12. Go to <mvfn.ca> to find information on how to enter.
Is it me, or does the pandemic bring the term “March madness” to a whole new level?! Even with some solid positive coping strategies, I still feel it.
This feeling reminds me of the Paulo Coelho quote: “You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.” Let’s step out of the river.
In 1999, I was 21 years old, relatively new in the military, and on my first deployment to East Timor. Two years prior to that I had a tank accident that left me wearing dentures for a few years until I was able to have surgery. To my absolute horror, the dentures cracked two months into this deployment. Straight down the middle of the palate. If these #@$! things broke, it meant that I’d have no front teeth — for months.
That possibility was more mortifying than the time I stepped out of the ladies’ room in high school and walked to homeroom with toilet paper unknowingly stuck to my butt. No. Thank. You.
So we took a vehicle patrol out to visit the Australians, the only contingent with a dental section in-country. The dental tech patched up my sad looking dentures. With their bare hands. On an old wooden table. With flies buzzing around. It was a tropical environment — hot and dirty as all get-out. Nothing was really all that hygienic, let alone their unwashed hands and the wood table. I drove back to base with my dentures in my pocket and went back on shift working communications. There, placed between the radios and the switchboard, sat my dentures bobbing up and down in a glass that was full of every single polydent tab I could spare to clean those puppies.
Understand that this was a time when I wanted to do all the badass things in the military. I was young, female, and full of spitfire.
Officers walked by, special forces, coworkers… Even the infamous Gurkhas next door gave a giggle at my toothless grin when I went to supper. I spent the rest of the night on shift and staring at that dental aid with humility. My chances of looking “cool” and “badass” were drowning at the bottom of that glass.
As sulky as I was that night, there were some solid lessons learned that I still carry with me over twenty years later.
It’s healthy to laugh at yourself and the situation at times.
Always pack spares. Then pack some more.
International relationships matter. A lot.
Celebrate the small wins.
Treat yourself how you want to be treated.
Nobody gives a damn what you look like when you excel at your craft or are an overall good human.
How does this apply today? Well, it helps me “step out of the river” and back into living life.
Lesson 1: Our habits have changed this past year, and it’s good to have a sense of humour! If you run into me in the grocery store you may just hear me talking to myself under my mask. In full sentences. It’s ridiculous and a little funny. Oh, and you can’t tell me I’m the only one…
Lesson 2: Getting out into nature is a fantastic way to balance out a wild world around us. This last year, more than ever, I’ve made sure to carry “the ten essentials” and keep spare clothing/gear in the car. There is a day-pack ready to go at the door so there’s no excuse not to go out on the trails and enjoy some fresh air. Even a few moments outdoors daily make a significant different in wellbeing. You can find free packing lists on <girlgonegood.com>.
Lesson 3: Have you noticed a surge or intentionally leaned towards purposeful connections lately? In the world of GirlGoneGood® it’s been a year of connection and collaborating with local businesses, organizations and other outdoor adventurers to help each other bring our best to the community.
The point is, we can stay submerged, or we can celebrate the small wins, treat ourselves with compassion and respect, and hold value in doing our best to be our best.
So raise a glass or write your own list to celebrate the lessons you’ve learned throughout life that benefit you today! And, of course, cheers to forever seeking our wellness in the wilderness.
On July 1, 2015, the federal government removed the “luxury” tax (GST) from all menstrual products. This was a monumental shift in beginning to combat period poverty in Canada. Many provinces followed suit and exempted menstrual products from provincial sales tax as well. Prior to this, householders already saved GST on items like cocktail cherries, wedding cakes and products required for incontinence. What was monumental was not the 27 cents saved on a $5.49 box of 16 tampons; it was the recognition that menstrual products are not a luxury but an essential item for all menstruators in Canada.
This hopeful shift was seen not as a solution to gender, health and economic inequality, but rather a solid step in the right direction. Even though the bill was passed in 2015, two prior attempts had been made to government and were ignored. Like all social movements, the road is often long, but with persistent effort by many individuals, movements can continue to make small hopeful steps. This has been the case in the movement to normalize menstruation.
More recently, in 2019, the Government of Canada published a Notice of Intent seeking feedback on amending Part II of the Canadian Labour Code to include menstrual products as a basic necessity in federally regulated workplaces. This would be in addition to the toilet paper, soap, warm water and a means to dry hands that must already be provided by private-sector employers in the federal jurisdiction (including banks, railways and airlines), Crown Corporations, and the federal public service. The conversation is happening; however, the final decision has not yet been publicized.
Just this January, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board passed the resolution to make menstrual products accessible to all grade 4–12 students. This will make a difference to a large percentage of young women: according to Plan Canada International (2018), one-third of women under 25 lack access to menstrual products because of financial constraints.
Without a doubt, all these milestones are to be celebrated.
Yet still, in Canada, we are far from establishing menstrual equity. British Columbia and Nova Scotia now require that all schools in the province provide free menstrual products to their students. We should have this in all schools across Canada. Even harder hit than the one-third of young menstruators are those who are experiencing homelessness and those who have fled their homes due to violence and seek safety at shelters. Women often leave home with few belongings and little, if any, money.
Women’s shelters in Canada rarely have an adequate budget to allocate for menstrual products, if they are budgeted for at all. Shelters, including Lanark County Interval House in our community, receive many donations, but sanitary products are often overlooked.
One Ontario woman who was experiencing homelessness describes her experience of having to get creative each month by fastening multiple smaller pads together and, at times, having to use toilet paper to attempt to contain the blood. Other individuals who have spoken out about their struggles have shared that they have used socks, newspapers and paper towels. What menstruator out there has not been caught in a bind out in public, at work, or at home out of supplies? Many of us are able to quickly run to the store and stock up. But for some of us, this is not always possible.
For all menstruators who cannot pay for their menstrual products, it is an uncomfortable, demeaning and shameful experience that recurs every month.
A non-for-profit organization called The Period Purse was started because Jana Girdauskas saw this gap and has made it her mission to achieve menstrual equity by providing marginalized menstruators with access to free menstrual products, and to reduce the stigma surrounding periods. The Period Purse receives financial and product donations and assists communities, like ours, to initiate menstrual product drives for marginalized menstruators.
A group of women in Almonte is teaming up with The Period Purse and Lanark County Interval House and Community Support (LCIHCS) to run a local drive during the month of March to collect menstrual products for their clients. LCIHCS does not have a budget for menstrual products, and it is estimated that 1000 menstruators come through the shelter each year. This does not include the ones who are supported by community outreach.
Ensuring menstruators an appropriate supply of sanitary products provides them with a sense of dignity during their 5–7 menstruating days of each month. By making a small financial donation or by donating products, you will be a part of the long road to end menstrual inequity and to help make menstruation respected as the natural and normal process that it is.
Call for Donations and Support
Donations to the March Menstrual Product Drive will be accepted throughout March. If you would like to donate products, please email Jesse Carson at <jesscarson@outlook.com> or call 292-0450. You can either drop them off at an Almonte location or there will be a pick-up time during the month in Carleton Place, Almonte, Pakenham and Arnprior.
Products accepted include pads, tampons, new underwear and new cloth masks. If you would like to make a financial donation instead, please go to <canadahelps.org/me/Q48qf7F>. A tax receipt will be provided for online donations. Every $15 donated will purchase a one-month supply of period products, and every $180 provides a one-year supply.
This month’s focus is on a small group in our community called the Farm Working Group, one of nine working groups within the Climate Network Lanark (CNL).
For a taste of what they are doing, let me introduce three members to talk about why they are participating to bring farms into the conversation about their important role in Climate Action.
Scott Hortop
Scott, you are the facilitator of the Farm Working Group for CNL. I know the group is still in its formative stage. Can you tell us why you are involved?
Scott Hortop: In 2012 my son came home from Germany with a master’s degree in Environmental Science and was on fire about environmental opportunities such as biochar. I was awakened by his energy. I was soon retiring and wondering what was next for me. A single TED talk about humus seized me by the throat (lookup TED, Humus, Graeme Sait). Eight years later it has retained or even gained relevance.
Listening to the Canadian narrative about climate disruption, we are given to think it must be all caused by our excessive use of fossil fuels. But surprise — 24% of the problem releases of carbon dioxide heating up our atmosphere have come from the way we use soil. No amount of electric vehicles, heat pumps or cancelled pipelines was going to get that carbon back to where it came from. Thus began my soils journey.
When I retired to Almonte, I engaged in finding agricultural pathways and community connections to make smarter use of the natural carbon cycle to address our climate emergency. I am determined to have something to say to my 13 grandchildren when they ask what I did about the climate crisis. In my seventy years, very few things have been so clear.
I’ve come upon an uncommon way to address the soil aspect of the climate emergency with a special kind of compost. Building on good-old-fashioned leaf mold, Dr. David C. Johnson (a professor at New Mexico State University) has developed a low-cost method for farmers or their friends to produce fungal dominant compost that can re-introduce fungal life into overworked soil. Fungi fill a complex, supportive role for most plants to reduce water consumption, improve yields and improve nutritional density of crops.
When we have mastered the method, our vision is to build a bridge between town and farm. Townspeople who bag their leaves in the fall could come together, roll up their sleeves, divert the leaves away from landfill and help process them into compost / inoculant for use on neighbouring farms.
What do you expect the farm working group may achieve?
I hope we can raise both town and farm communities’ awareness of actionable solutions to climate disruption that involve the farm; facilitate concrete support to farmers to deliver ecological services; and channel particular initiatives of group members.
We are also making real progress towards startup of an ALUS (Alternative Land Use Services) community for Lanark County. ALUS is community-developed and farmer-delivered. Active in six provinces to date, the ALUS program helps farmers produce valuable ecological services on Canadian farmland. ALUS Canada channels the funding provided by individuals, governments, foundations and corporations where it can have the greatest real-world impact for the Canadian environment. Specifically, ALUS helps farmers and ranchers restore wetlands, reforest, plant windbreaks, install riparian buffers, manage sustainable drainage systems, create pollinator habitat, and establish other ecologically beneficial projects on their properties.
Hilary Moore
Hilary Moore is well known as a local grower from her involvement with the Almonte Farmers’ Market. Hilary has been farming organically for twenty years. She apprenticed on one of the first CSA farms in North America, in Amagansett, NY, after graduating with Honours in Environmental Studies at Carleton University in 1999. She worked on a mixed educational farm in Lincoln, MA, which was her first introduction to livestock and driving horses. For sixteen years Hilary ran her own CSA as a full-time vocation, eventually landing at Dunbrae Farms in Almonte in 2002, where she continued to run her CSA for seven years. Today, from her farm near Lanark Village, she raises organic pork (farrow to finish), laying hens, bees, vegetables, firewood to keep warm and hay for her animals.
“I am particularly interested in being involved in the Farm Working Group because I am interested in seeing the ALUS program come to Lanark County,” she notes. “I would like to see municipal financial support for this to happen. I also think that we need to engage in the conversation about holistic soil health, which in my mind is inherently interconnected with the overall ecological and economic health of our farming community. I would like to stress that “climate change and agriculture” isn’t solely about capturing carbon in our fields. It is about a healthy and resilient food system and about respecting the knowledge and variety of challenges that farmers face in Lanark County. So I am involved to bring that point of view and experience to the table.”
Hillary also works with the Ottawa Food Security Council, and the National Farmers Union.
Janet Duncan
Janet Duncan is another well-known sustainable organic food producer, and owner of Dunbrae Farms in Almonte. A woman of few words but lots of action, she told me that she and her late husband Bruce began farming organically in the early 1980s when the health of their young family became a priority in their lives. They went on to become certified organic in the mid-90s and remained so until they retired in 2016.
Of her role on the CNL Farm Working group, Janet says: “I joined because I continue to care about regenerative agriculture and hope that our work will bring others along the continuum towards that goal.”
Join the Network
There is a place for anyone who wants to contribute to the Farm Working Group. Email Scott Hortop <f.r.scott.hortop@gmail.com> and help collect our leaves and put them to better use! We can also eat local, organic food and buy directly from growers at our Farmers’ Markets.
If you are interested in the work of Climate Network Lanark, please see previous CNL articles in past issues of theHumm. To become involved, email Gordon Harrison <gordonkh@storm.ca>.
Each year the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust, in association with its Annual General Meeting, has a guest speaker who entertains and informs us on nature or other issues associated with the preservation of wild land. On March 31 the talk will be a little unusual for the Land Trust, but a very special event for our members and the general public.
Our guest speaker will be Mike Daniels, Head of Policy and Land Management at the John Muir Trust based in Pitlochry, Scotland, not far from the small town of Perth. Mike has graciously agreed to stay up late (the presentation will start at 7pm our time, which is midnight in Scotland) to talk to us about John Muir’s legacy in the land of his birth — The John Muir Trust, wild land, communities and conservation in Scotland.
Mike will explain how the John Muir Trust manages land for wildness and wildlife in Scotland. He will explore the challenges posed by concentrated private land ownership, the legacy of Victorian hunting estates, over-tourism and large-scale windfarms in a wild landscape shaped by the continual influence of humans. The opportunities posed by land reform and community ownership, natural carbon capture and increasing public concern about intensive hunting systems offer hope for the future.
Although Scotland is far from home, the conservation challenges faced by an organization with similar objectives to ours but in a very different landscape will, I’m sure, be of interest to all of us. And the photos that Mike will present of their unique properties, many in the Highlands, will amaze us as well.
Attendance for this event is by registration only. Please visit us at <mmlt.ca/events> or call 253–2722 to register.
Would you like to be part of a new video project in Mississippi Mills? We All Belong — Mississippi Mills (WABMM) is a fledgling group started in response to acts of intolerance in our community. It plans to offer projects through which people can feel supported to share their stories, knowledge, and perspectives, in order to increase understanding and acceptance in our community. We hope to share projects that illuminate and celebrate our existing and growing diversity in Mississippi Mills. We are a Town full of interesting people, from all walks of life, with all kinds of lived experiences. The more we know about what it’s like to BE any one of us, the more we realize that we all belong.
Our first project is a video series entitled My Mississippi Mills. It is inspired by the You Can’t Ask That video series from Australia. In this series, people answer the types of questions that we all might be a little too polite to ask (though we do wonder) about our differences. In taking the time to listen to the answers, it ultimately highlights common fears and dreams.
Our first video will showcase interracial marriage in Mississippi Mills. This is where you come in: we are looking for project support!
Technical: Do you have capabilities in video production, editing, or working with sound? Would you like to volunteer to help with production?
Do you and your partner identify as an interracial couple who live in Mississippi Mills? Would you like to be interviewed for the project?
What kind of question would you want to ask an interracial couple if you had no “filter” to prevent you from asking this question? Don’t worry, questions are asked anonymously! The deadline for sending in questions for this first video is March 31.
Topic ideas for future productions.
Please visit <weallbelongmm.com> and fill out our online survey, or email <info@weallbelongmm.com> to let us know how you can help.
As we learn more about this project, we will likely put out a call for questions and participants for the next production, then we would go from there. We are excited about the possibilities of this endeavour!
As someone who is intensely interested in local gardening, particularly vegetable gardening, I frequently peruse local gardening Facebook groups. Some of my favourites are Master Gardeners of Ottawa-Carleton, Almonte and Carleton Place Gardeners, Edible Ottawa Gardens, and Eat Local, Buy Local in Lanark County. I often find that there are some really good responses from the Ottawa Master Gardeners.
What strikes me about posts this time of year is the number of questions and comments about starting vegetables from seed early indoors. Many folks are eager to chime in with words of wisdom or to share stories of their own successes and failures.
I do not always agree with the approach or the suggestions of well-meaning folks and I sometimes find myself asking why they did not just go to an authoritative source. On the internet, the website of OMAFRA (the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) is one of my main “go-to” sites — I find it has really solid horticultural information, but its recommendations are often more appropriate for commercial growers. Many university websites are also great sources of information. I go to sites that have information germane to our local conditions, such as the University of Guelph or the University of Minnesota. Of course, I could always pull down one of the hundreds of gardening books that are gathering dust on my shelves…
After some sober second thought, the wisdom of going directly to local gardening peers struck me. I have conducted dozens of workshops on introductory organic vegetable gardening — it is really difficult to know what to include in a one- or two-hour presentation. The reality is that no matter how hard one listens, it is nearly impossible to retain enough information to put it all together. It takes a whole lot of hands-on experience — and what better source than other local gardeners who may have already grappled with the issues that are bedevilling you?
I always try to speak from my own personal experience and what has worked for me. But my way is not the only way — there is no substitute for trial and error to see what works for you. So what follows are a few hints from my own personal experience (of more decades than I like to admit) of starting seeds indoors.
Starting from Seed
The key to growing seedlings successfully indoors is lots of light. I use utility wooden shelving and suspend fluorescent fixtures by chains between the shelves so that I can adjust them to keep them within a couple of inches of the seedlings. I use only the cheapest four-foot fluorescent tubes, as my results have been just as good as using special “grow” tubes.
I turn on the lights first thing in the morning and turn them off when I go to bed. I water only when the growing medium is dry to the touch but before the seedlings wilt, and then I drain off any excess water that has not been absorbed in a couple of hours — watering from the bottom is preferable.
Seeds contain all the nutrients required for germination. I use a diluted organic fish-based fertilizer weekly after seedlings have been growing for a few weeks.
Seedlings are very vulnerable to certain kinds of viral diseases. I have found that this is virtually eliminated by using a commercial soil-less mixture and new plastic inserts and by ensuring good air circulation by keeping a fan running constantly. The air movement also produces stronger, stockier plants.
It is important not to start too early. Tomatoes in particular can become very tall and difficult to keep healthy if grown too long under lights. The length of time that seedlings can grow indoors before they become too large for indoor conditions varies considerably. Tomatoes only need six to eight weeks, peppers and eggplant eight to ten weeks, broccoli and cabbage five to eight weeks, and onions and leeks ten to twelve weeks
I have tried starting peas, corn and beans early indoors, and have found virtually no benefit. Also, root vegetables such as beets and carrots do not transplant well. Peas can be planted directly in the ground probably by mid-April; carrots and beets by the first of May; and corn and beans close to Victoria Day.
Vine crops, such as cucumbers and melons, do not like to have their roots disturbed when they are transplanted into the garden, but they do benefit from an early start, so I plant them in pots that I can put directly into the garden. I use a pot that is biodegradable and will break down over time as it lets the plant’s roots grow through the pot wall.
It is necessary to harden-off seedlings before planting them in the garden. They need to be given gradual exposure to outdoor conditions. As I plant these lush green growing plants into the garden, it always seems miraculous to me that just two or three months ago they started from small, hard, apparently lifeless objects.
Happy planting!
On Tuesday, March 23, theHumm invites you to Zoom in from 7–9:30pm for a conversation with Robynne Eagan, writer Jacob Berkowitz and associate professor Sophie Tamas. This will be the third in our series of Winterwords Cafés, and is open to everyone!
Speaking on the topic of “writing in challenging times”, Jacob will share his creative experience during the pandemic of writing a play, a non-fiction book, and working at his day job as a science writer.
Sophie will talk about “the (mis)uses of personal narrative”: why and how we tell our own stories and what those stories do, especially in difficult times. She will discuss the ethical risks and potential benefits of using personal narrative to produce connection, knowledge and change, drawing on her story-based practice of research and teaching as an Associate Professor of qualitative methods.
Both guests will reflect upon what “writing back to better” means to them, and how this is manifested in their work and lives. Time permitting, there will be an opportunity for Café participants to ask questions and share their thoughts.
To receive the Zoom link for this event, just email <kris@thehumm.com>. For information about this Café, other Winterwords events, and artistic and cultural initiatives throughout the Valley, please consider subscribing to our weekly e-newsletter “Hummail”. It’s free, it’s upbeat, and you can subscribe at <thehumm.com>.