Birkeland on Denman

Mini-adventures on Denman Island; one of the northern gulf islands on the west coast of British Columbia, situated between Hornby Island and Baynes Sound. This site is intended for relatives, friends, and voyeurs who are interested in monitoring our alternate lifestyle. Updates are now done on a weekly basis. Visit regularly.

Remember that any of the small "thumbnail" pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. And thumbnail pictures are retained for one month in the Diary section of this site.

Week ending March 7, 2010.

Its surprising how little soil was left. My 'raised' garden bed was actually a hole. But 40 years ago when Wes subdivided this portion of his farm, he must have realized I would have this problem. He left a large mound of rich dirt at the top of the property; soil that had been removed in the creation of Piercy Road. All I had to do was dig the mound, take out the grass and weeds, screen out the debris and (more) rocks, and wheelbarrow the loads to the empty pit. Simple; it just took time and a good chiropractor.  Thanks Wes. Next week I'll start on the second frame.

Incidentally if anyone is contemplating to do exactly the same operation, the soil is rather 'thin'. I intend to add some peat moss to the mix and cover it all with 2 cm. of fine compost.

Spring definitely arrived this week. In the warm sunshine some afternoons have been too warm to wear a jacket. Shirt-sleeve weather; I love it. Our dwarf forsythia seems to bloom later than others on this island but even ours is now flowering. A blossoming forsythia is the signal to start a cascade of other garden chores such as rose bush pruning. So we've been active.

Marit's been very busy cleaning her flower beds. She must have blisters from using the pruner so much this week. I'm not sure if they're weeds or excess plants that she's been pulling out. (I guess they're the same thing really). And she's removed the leaf mulch from around the roots of frost sensitive plants. It'll be recycled  in the compost bin.

I've set up new nesting boxes for the mason bees, and brought hibernating bees out from the garage to their garden platforms. One bee had already emerged and I had to coax it into a new nest tube for protection. Its still too early and cold; they need 17°C before they can partake of food or sex. Normally I don't expect bees to emerge until April. But spring appears to be arriving early this year. Next week I'll have to set out the hummingbird feeder, just in case...

Friday morning I was called to volunteer at the medical clinic. The project; fill sandbags and build walls at the ends of a culvert. This would allow the ditch to be filled and provide a wide driveway into the clinic. So, I now have a new skill to add to my job portfolio, 'sand bagging'; a useful skill to have during the next big flood on Denman, or the next ferry price insurrection.

The clinic is nearing completion. Its grand opening is still expected to be the middle of March. With the good weather, the contractor is now racing to complete the exterior of the building. Its looking really good. And it couldn't be handier; within easy walking distance. I just hope neither of us needs to make much use of it.

Once again this week I have no pictures of the fishing fleet or herring spawning. There has been no activity in the waters out front. I understand there was a very small herring spawn up on the north end of Baynes Sound, and a medium spawn on the other side of Denman by Fillongley Park. Apparently most of the activity this year is south of Denman. The herring are fickle.

One last note; ignore most of what I just wrote. This afternoon a strong north wind began, the sky clouded, temperatures plummeted to 1.0°C at 2:30PM, and wet snow pelted down. Minus temperatures are forecast tonight. Maybe all those robins arrived a little too early.

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