bulbs, drought tolerant, garden visits, months 04-06: spring, urban deer

Meadow Blooms 5 – Camas

05/13/2013 svseekins 4 Comments

The camas meadow swaying in the spring breeze is like no other. Suddenly I’m walking in a fairytale instead of strolling in a Victoria park. Has my mind gone wild? Could I ever have come up with a dream so lovely? No. It must be real.

No gardener created this scene, either. This is Nature’s beauty.

Camas Meadow - Beacon Hill Park 3 — photo by SVSeekins

camas at Mt. Tolmie Park 2 — photo by SVSeekins

Camas meadows have flourished on South Vancouver Island longer than memory reaches into the past. The southern slope of Beacon Hill has been a camas meadow for centuries. It’s probably one of the key reasons it’s preserved as a park today. The same goes for the Garry oak meadows of Mt. Tolmie Park. At this time of year, they’re magical places.

Early peoples saw more than beauty in the camas; they saw food. I wonder who it was to first realize the bulbs are delicious?

Camas at Mt. Tolmie Park 1 — photo by SVSeekins

Perhaps she had gardening tendencies like mine; seeing a lovely flower automatically triggers an urge to have that flower in my own garden. (I’m known to dig up plants from roadsides.)

Before we moved from the Cedar Hill property to the Richmond house, I dug up as many camas as possible. The Garry oak meadow in the backyard was a great natural source for them, but the digging wasn’t so easy.

When I was able to dig deep enough, I often found the bulb tucked securely in a tight rocky crevice. Un-obtainable! I did manage to get a good number of bulbs (perhaps 2 dozen), but there was no risk of over-harvesting that hillside.

There was certainly more risk of starvation if camas had been my only sustenance. A good deal of effort for a very small reward. That gardener from long ago must’ve had more ingenuity than I have.

Apparently, she figured out a method that includes burning the meadow first. (?!?!…) Perhaps that was a way of cooking the camas in the process? By the time she got one out of the ground, it was already transformed into a sweet treat? I just can’t figure it….

Happily, after all my sweat equity, I now enjoy blooming borders.

snowdrops in January…
crocus in February…
daffodils in March…
hyacinth in April…
and camas in May…

It times out nicely. When the foliage of the spring bulb dies back, the daylily takes over for the summer. And from all that bounty, it’s only the latter that the deer like to feast on. 🙂

a bit of history on camas
a camas recipe
growing camas

-30-
© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013

Camas Meadow - Beacon Hill Park 1 — photo by SVSeekins

P.S. Here are some other meadow faves:

garden visits, months 04-06: spring

Family Bike Ride

04/25/2013 svseekins 3 Comments

Earth Day is a pretty good excuse to tune up the bike.

For the past couple of years Saanich hosted a Cycling Festival. My favourite part of it is the BIG Family Bike Ride.

With the city on board, the police close off some streets & let the cyclists take over. Mayhem 🙂

In truth it’s not craziness & it’s not a total closure. They call it a ‘rolling closure’.

Cyclists get 1 or 2 full lanes, just for the length of time it takes us to get through each section of town. It feels pretty good.

It’s kinda like when the Queen comes to town. There are Police Motorcycles up front…
and just behind that is her cavalcade (only this time it’s US)…
and then it’s wrapped up with more Police & Emergency Vehicles at the very back.

Oh yeah, and we can’t forget the hoards of cheering fans. No seriously, there were folks cheering from the side-walks & everything! Not a lot.

Okay: SOME PEOPLE were on the side-walks.

They were cheering.

I liked it.

I also really liked cycling down the Shelbourne & McKenzie thoroughfares without worrying about being side-swiped by that motorist who doesn’t realize his passenger-side-mirror really does stick out further than he thinks it does….

Since I’ve been an active commuter cyclist for a couple of decades, I figure I have nerves of steel. So it was interesting for me to notice I revelled in the feeling of safety.

I’d though cycling in a big group might have some tension of its own. Like in a peloton… Local boy Ryder Hesjedal, has REAL nerves of steel – – enough for cycling in one of those crazy-close-packs of racing cyclists …. have you ever seen one of those crashes?

Well, I didn’t see anything like that on the Family Bike Ride. It was pretty laid back.

The choice & variety of bikes was incredible. Road bikes, mountain bikes, recumbents….
Bicycles with baby seats… with trailers…
Bicycles built for two… or more….
I even saw a little kid with a wooden bike. How cool is that?

After a turn out like this I can understand why we’re called the Cycling Capital of Canada.

Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition – more people cycling, more places, more often
Cycle Touring in Saanich – Maps & route descriptions
Bike to Work Week Challenge – in Victoria, late May
Victoria International Cycling Festival – early June
Tour de Victoria – September

-30-
© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013

bulbs, months 04-06: spring, projects, Uncategorized

My Happy Daffodil Campaign

04/20/2013 svseekins 13 Comments

daffodils Narcissus in James Bay, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

The daffodil is the symbol of hope for the cancer awareness – – so yes, fair warning: this is about my personal experience with the “C” word. It’s a happy story. By sharing it, I hope there’ll be even more happy stories.

Ironically, when the real daffodils were blooming this spring, it happened again. I noticed a little brown spot on my ankle. No big deal, but…

This spot had grown a bit since the first time I’d noticed it 6 months ago. Again, not alarming, but…

the mole on my left ankle — photo by D J Seekins

The most common place for melanoma (skin cancer) on women is on the ankles.

It makes sense, really. I’ve often protected my face & arms with sunscreen, but only glossed over my lower legs. How many times have I gone out in a skirt, shorts, or even 3/4 length pants without thinking at all about sun exposure on my ankles? Many many times.

This time I decided to take action. I consulted a dermatologist. Although he really wasn’t that alarmed by the spot either, there were more factors to consider:

photo by SVSeekins

The ankle doesn’t have a whole lot of extra skin on it – – so it’s tricky to remove a patch & pull remaining skin together to mend.
Plus, healing an area that moves & stretches so much is very slow.

I wanted the mole gone before it got any bigger. The specialist understood my insistence, & arranged a simple office surgery the next week. Easy-peasy.

my left ankle - after 1 day — photo by DJ Seekins

A local anesthetic numbed the area, & after a few minutes, the incision had 3 tidy stitches. The scar won’t even be noticeable in a couple of weeks. 🙂

Potential crisis averted.

It’s not easy for me to be so assertive with doctors, but considering my experience with skin cancer, I know my best health advocate is me.

daffodils Narcissus around Mt. Tolmie, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

In 2005 I went to a dermatologist for advice about a mole on my right ankle. I was told not to worry and given a pamphlet with photos of danger signs.

I was relieved – – and a little embarrassed I’d made a fuss.

By 2007 friends were expressing concern. I pooh-poohed it but began to realize the changes weren’t good. By the time the dermatologist was able to see me, in 2008, the spot had changed even more.

my RIGHT ankle - 5 years after — photo by DJ Seekins

He took immediate action. It was proven melanoma, stage 4. A wider & deeper surgery was needed. That meant a skin graft to patch up the wound. Not so easy-peasy. (read: 3 months in bed.)

How could a little spot cause such havoc in my life?

A 2nd surgery followed, removing lymph nodes in my groin area. (read: Another nasty scar, nerve damage in my thigh, and a perpetually swollen foot.)

Three years later, I’m off my oncologist’s ‘Watch Closely’ list. Life is good. Crisis averted.

I’m getting better at practicing assertiveness.

I’m not hiding the scars either. Awareness is far more important than vanity. I want more happy stories…