Sommaire pour Spring 2020 de Harrowsmith

“You can tell everything you need to know about a person by looking in their tool shed.” No one said this; we made it up. But there is an element of truth in it, for those of us who have been around the tool shed awhile. The tools and supplies that we use—or don’t use—to succeed in our gardens does say a lot about how we go about our hobby. Take the absence of a leaf blower, for instance. In its place you will no doubt find a broom or a leaf rake. These are tools of the trade that we use to clean up the lawn, garden and even the driveway when we don’t want to disturb the whole neighbourhood by blasting a leaf blower around the yard. The…

This potting bench design makes an ideal workshop bench too. The top will perform better for you if it’s made of 1 1/2-inch-thick lumber (rather than 3/4-inch plywood), and you’ll want to make full use of bolts, rather than screws, for the frame joints. As useful as a good workbench is on its own, you’ll also need to add some kind of vise to make the bench as useful as possible. And the work you plan to do will determine which hardware you install. A machinist’s vise with 6-inch-wide jaws is my favourite all-around option for holding anything metal, plus wood and plastic where surface denting doesn’t matter. If you’ll be using your workbench primarily for woodworking, then consider a face vise made especially for this job. It’s wider than…

While we hardly need to extol the virtue of plants, there is an ongoing movement to bring attention to the pests that threaten them, why we should care, and what we can do about it. Healthy plants are the foundation for all life, ecosystems and food security. When we protect plants, we protect life. That is why countries around the world—including Canada—are engaged in the International Year of Plant Health. In December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). The year is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment and boost economic development. Safeguarding crops, ecosystems, forests and natural habitats from invasive plant pests and diseases is…

It was the Incas who first introduced the yema de huevo, or “yolk of egg,” as an edible treat. It was former first lady Hillary Clinton who attracted unexpected publicity when she incorrectly stated that everything on the White House state dinner menu was American. It was an astute New York Times food editor who knew better. And it was Mr. Bowers, a former principal from Fergus, Ontario, who strongly encouraged a young man to take advantage of a Veterans Affairs Canada sponsorship and return to college. In the fall of 1949, Gary Johnston enrolled at the Ontario Agricultural College. Johnston flourished and became a reputable, brilliant University of Guelph potato scientist who created a potato with a brand recognition on par with BlackBerry. His potato was the first branded…

It’s a rare day when you meet your muse. In this case, it was May 1988 in Tokyo. That said, if it was Tokyo in May, it was raining. An appropriate setting for Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm, although there was nothing ephemeral about what we were about to see. Joni Mitchell was in town to promote the album’s release, but this was special: She had actually come to open an exclusive exhibition of her paintings. My colleague, photographer Robert McLeod, and I shook out our umbrellas in the foyer of the chic Shibuya Parco department store and were directed into a packed conference room, where (I noticed) we were the sole non-Japanese folks in the place. We were there for the Japan Times, but this was no ordinary gig…

The year 2020. It sounds so space age, doesn’t it? If you’ve used an intelligent “smart cart” at a Sobey’s grocery store, you’ll agree that artificial intelligence and innovation are popping up everywhere. These carts allow you to shop and automatically scan your items while a digital touch screen keeps a running tally. Instead of queuing up in a long line, you simply pay at your cart when you’re finished shopping. While this kind of innovation comes with its skeptics and purists who long for human interaction, the movement toward machine-learning technology is not appearing solely in our grocery stores. It’s in farmers’ fields, your favourite restaurant kitchen and your hand. There are apps that allow you to import recipes and streamline your trip to the grocery store by listing…

As a Black Canadian female country singer, Shelley Hamilton is a self-identified unicorn in the music industry. She’s also a beautiful polymath: singer, actor, host, producer and writer. And, she is Nova Scotian Métis. She recently released a collaborative album, Constitution, as part of The Afro-Métis Nation, celebrating her Black and Indigenous heritage. Over a 3-year span, she worked with several notable artists, including George Elliot Clarke, Canada’s Poet Laureate (2016–17), exploring the undocumented history and rich roots of “Africadians.” Hamilton has performed in Dubai and Japan; snagged a Juno; and can shift seamlessly from a cappella to standup comedy. She has belted out the Rolling Stones classic “Gimme Shelter” beside the very legend herself, Mary Clayton. She was awarded 2019 Artist of the Year at the African Nova Scotian…

William Dyson Moore was born in Montreal on July 12, 1908, to Ellen Dyson and John Moore, immigrants from England. The younger Moore became a well-known hairdresser who rubbed shoulders with Montreal’s bourgeoisie. While he cultivated a passion for human nature and an innate taste for beauty, he also caressed a precious dream: He hoped to one day possess a natural corner of his country that he could develop and shape to reflect his very own ecological vision in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape. His dream would be achieved in stages. In May 1944, during a visit to the town of Mascouche, about 30 km north of Montreal, the opportunity to actualize his dream presented itself. Charmed by an abandoned farmhouse and the land on which it was built…

Planning a trip to Newfoundland requires some restraint. I’m not talking about budget, but geography. If you are too starry eyed in your itinerary plotting, the province will become a blurred landscape in your rear-view mirror as you log countless miles on the Trans-Canada. A tempered itinerary will allow you to experience the painter’s landscape of metallic lakes, wind-bent tuckamores and sun-beaten fishing sheds. You can actually feel the tectonic shift from the precipitous cliffs of the east to the glacier-scraped miles dotted with “erratics” (boulders scattered haphazardly across the land from the ice age). It’s important to refine what you’d like to chase: icebergs? puffins? lighthouses? whales? My wife and I were lucky enough to catch the last four puffins holding ground in Elliston on September 9, 2019. It…

Every Little Scrap and Wonder: A Small-Town Childhood By Carla Funk (Greystone Books, 2019) There are simply some books that you inadvertently read out loud to whoever is closest—cat or human. I found myself having a giant laugh and then being unable to resist sharing long passages of Carla Funk’s memoir. Though I worried that the religious overtones might be off-putting, they make sense and are vital, as Funk’s childhood spun tightly around the Mennonite church in Vanderhoof, British Columbia, one of the earliest Mennonite settlements in the province. There’s no such thing as a normal day—this was never an option with the full-tilt imagination and rebel-rouser ways that make Funk tick. Her kid-mind narrative on “Butcher Day” and observing a pig being “unzipped” is glibber, gristle and guts, but…

Did you know that cats have a total field of vision that’s 287 degrees wide? Humans can see 180 degrees at best, while a woodcock has an unobstructed 360-degree field of view because its eyes are situated on the sides of its head. You may be conjuring up an image of an owl’s head spinning around like an atlas. Their eyes are essentially elongated tubes, designed for sufficiency in low-light conditions. They have bony structures, called sclerotic rings, in their skulls, which hold their eyes in place, so they cannot roll or move their eyes. They can only look ahead and rely on their swivelling capabilities for rear-view-mirror checks. It made sense to run with 2020 as Harrowsmith’s visionary year. The term 20/20 vision describes normal visual acuity (sharpness of…

boiled owl Ham radio operators who kept communication humming until dawn were affectionately known as boiled owls—“boiled” from the heat and radiation of the transmitters while running on a cocktail of coffee and cigarettes. The Order of Boiled Owls is an official order of amateur radio operators in New York. boilermaker Not to be confused with the profession, a boilermaker is a one-two punch of alcohol. Traditionally, a shot of whisky is knocked back and the beer serves as the chaser. However, some non-purists will depth-charge (drop) the shot of whisky into a beer and down both in one go. chaga Found only on birch trees, chaga is a gnarly, black carbonaceous-like growth. While its medicinal properties are not fully proven, it can be made into a tea (powder) or…

A solid potting bench is a great thing for any gardener, and key to taking your gardening to the next level. The design I created here uses standard thicknesses of lumber and simple construction techniques to make a solid bench that lasts for years. There are three main parts to my design: the top, the legs and the storage shelf. Keep a close eye on the plans as you read these instructions. The words make a lot more sense when you can see the parts you’re reading about. Before you begin building, you need to do some figuring. How long should your potting bench be? How wide? How tall? A bench that’s 8 feet long and 35 inches deep from front to back is a good size if you have…

Brian Feeney is a cottage-country plumber in Ontario, and each spring he repairs more than a few water systems broken by improper draining the previous fall. That’s why he invented two things that virtually guarantee no trouble while also eliminating the need to drain your seasonal system at all. The Clozer II (theclozer.ca) is a device that pumps non-toxic antifreeze into all pipes, drains and appliances that handle water. He also invented what he calls the TC3. It’s a device that fills water intake lines with non-toxic antifreeze from the bottom end up. You never drain the system and never need to prime in the spring.…

Introducing Ethan Meleg I grew up near world-famous birding hot spot Point Pelee National Park, and the legendary migrations inspired my love of birds since I was knee high to a sparrow. My mom used to let me skip classes to go birding, which is pretty awesome parenting. After receiving a hand-me-down camera for my 19th birthday, I became instantly addicted to bird photography. Birds, photography and travel (mostly to photograph birds) have been a driving force in my life ever since. I first met Arni Stinnissen at Awenda Provincial Park, when he came out to watch a presentation I was doing about photography. We hit it off instantly and thus began our bird-nerd bromance. We share a common philosophy and approach to photography, as Arni’s just as keen a…

Since its birth, Harrowsmith has told entertaining, empowering and informative stories of Canadians walking gently on the earth. Now with our new podcast, Harrowsmith Radio, we put those great stories right between your ears. In each episode, host Wayne MacPhail interviews some of the most interesting innovators, trailblazers and inspirational characters this country can offer. The podcast is a cozy, half-hour soak in a warm audio bath you can slip into any time, anywhere. Like the sound of it? We hope so! Listening is free and easy. Just subscribe on Apple iTunes or wherever you get your fine podcasts.…

Many times, trends that appear in one aspect of our lives are mirrored in another. A prime example of this is globalization—a widespread human trend that has reflected itself in the food industry. It’s no surprise that our world is becoming increasingly interconnected as people are able to move around more easily and have access to many forms of communication. The result of this has been a globalization, or international integration, of many things. Inevitably, globalization has touched the food and culinary sphere as well: As people move, so do their culinary experiences and preferences. In this industry, it has come to be referred to as “fusebiquity,” a term coined by Datassential, a food-industry market research firm. And while the year 2020 will see many emerging trends, this one is…

Crazy 8 Barn & Garden The Crazy 8 Barn is just that—a crazy 8-sided barn that was built in the late 1890s in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. In 2003, the barn was dismantled, as a century of seasons had taken its toll. The Savic family, who had owned the property since the 1950s, made a desperate plea in the London Free Press, hoping someone would be eager to rescue the barn. Susanne Spence Wilkins was game, since the barn was a nostalgic fixture of her childhood. The barn was stored in transport trailers until 2011, when repair and construction began and continued steadily for 2 years. Wilkins’ wish was to share the unusual barn in every possible experiential way—and she has accomplished that with a small café, ice cream…