MAGGI!!!!!

[Maggi Young]

My sister is prepared to be eaten by a bear, if she meets a hungry one. She is a great animal lover and thinks my wish is for the good of the wild creatures....so be it.

[ChrisB]

My daughter lives in BC Kristl, and when she first went out there, lived in Fort St John for a while, with three St Bernard puppies.  Made her living by helping with cooking for the forest firemen lol.  She lives a much more suburban life now though.  It is one of the most beautiful places on earth, that's for sure.  And we still subscribe to BC Magazine.... makes you lust after the place though, very tempting.... we did consider four years ago selling up and heading back to Canada to the Island, but after we each visited we decided it is just too hot in summer, even right on the coast, so we are still here.  But I do sometimes think about it still.....  miss my Canadian friends though we stay in close contact at all times.  My one friend lives near Orillia and keeps sending us pictures of the snowy back yard and the ski hills.  You sure are getting loads this year...

[Maggi Young]

My sister lived in Fort St John BC for a while, just before they went to some tiny place WAY up north... can't bring the name to mind now.   Cannot believe how small the world is getting.
 My sister has lived  in many places in Canada, from the city of Montreal to some wild spots, with skunks under the house and bears roaming round the place....

[Staale]

Sorry to hear you are thinking about moving, Kristl. I moved house two years ago myself, and found it emotionally very hard.

Good news, though, that you plan to stay in the seed business. Your seed (as well as seed from other sources) make winter a lot shorter for me and many other northerners, I’m sure. Several pots are already ‘going green’ in the window sill and under lights.

At my place in Norway we still have some snow, and frozen rain has glaziated much of the garden and surroundings. I do not expect any snowies untill late marz. On a more positive note I still think me lucky that our comparatively mild winters and cool summers (as compared with Quebec and Ontario) still makes it possible to grow a wide range of plants, despite living on top of the Globe (or definitely out of the way, as some see it).

[ChrisB]

Maggi!!!  I feel so honoured, I now have a caption.  Wow.  I must have arrived.  So fitting too.  You are very clever.

Was with someone today who has recently cooked venison with a cocoa sauce and says it was delicious.  I thought of you.....

[Anthony Darby]

Mmm. I was given some venison (Roe - Capreolus capreolus - a small deer I often see in woods and field and even have them raiding the garden.) on Friday.

[ChrisB]

You want the recipe then?  I can get it for you....

[Carlo]

...and here on the other side of the pond I'm doing venison chili this weekend...at least cooking it. It's always best if it's a few days old before it's eaten...

[Anthony Darby]

You want the recipe then?  I can get it for you....

Venison with chocolate. Well why not, after all it's Mother's Day next Sunday. Why not?

[ChrisB]

OK, I'll have to contact my friend and get it from her.  Watch this space....

[Carol Shaw]

Using bitter chocolate as part of the sauce for a venison casserole works perfectly! Especially if you also use some red wine... The chocolate adds a richness to the dish. In fact bitter chocolate also goes well with hare, wild boar and even beef casserole! It does not work so well with feathered game, overpowers the flavour of the meat. One of the things I really enjoy about Moroccan food is the combination of meat and fruits like dates, prunes etc. They take the cheapest cuts of meat, cook them in the tagine for several hours along with spices, fruits and even olives... heaven! The flat bread they bake is absolutely wonderful...

So health problems or no David & I are off back there on 12 March for 10 days - most of which will be spent in a little village in the foothills of the High Atlas. God in heaven help me if himself does not see any narcissus! 

[Kristl Walek]

I've realized that I have never posted pictures of my garden, except for winter snow views...and now that I may be leaving this place that I have called home for so long, I think I better get some pictures into cyber-space before the next views of it are corn fields or cow pasture...

These are very general shots of areas---and you will just have to imagine where the alpine and crevice areas are in this large space of 8 acres (about 6 acres garden).

[Maggi Young]

Kristl, if it were not for the fact that I have seen photos of Peter Korn's cactus, growing and floweiing in Sweden, I would have found the prospect of your cactus patch getting covered with all that snow too much to believe!
That is a lovely garden you have there.

[ChrisB]

Kristl, you have to find a way to stay, it is too beautiful to leave behind.... moving to BC is like moving to another country....

[Kristl Walek]

Oh, Maggi....this is just a *very* tiny part of my cactus area---there is almost 1 acre of these unstoppable prickly creatures---I've needed to start wholesaling them to nurseries before they take over my life.

You see most of the yellow-flowered clones in this picture, but the predominant colour in my cactus area is now vivid pink. I'll post a survey when I can find a minute.

There are many Opuntia species native to Canada (and the very rock-garden worthy Escobaria vivipara) so cold is not an issue (they grow in much colder conditions than here in the wild). Winter wet can often be a problem for some ---but I have had few to any losses over the past 15 years here in the wet east.