Tag Archives: Bill Wheeler

‘Tis the season to prune fruit trees: local orchardist offers instruction

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Late winter into early spring is the best time to prune fruit trees in temperate regions like coastal British Columbia, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

“Plant health is the primary reason for pruning. Look for the 4 “Ds”—dead, dying, diseased, or damaged branches—these should be removed. Also look for spindly or weak growth, as well as any branches that are crossed or rubbing,” the Almanac article suggests.

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Ramona Boyle: Quadra ICAN’s new Coordinator

Quadra ICAN recently hired Ramona Boyle as the Coordinator to oversee their operations. This was advertised as a part time position, which is expected to take approximately 40 hours a month. Cortes Currents asked the Heriot Bay resident about her new role.

“After I was interviewed for the job, I was told that the reason that I got it is because of my intense practicality.  I’m a problem solver and I get things done,” she explained. “When I first started working with ICAN about two years ago, some of the people came to my property here and they looked around at what I had built. I have goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits, a huge garden and water collection system. All kinds of systems that didn’t exist before. The property was in quite rundown condition when we bought it. I don’t have a lot of money and I don’t have certain skills, but if I needed it, I learned it. So we had to build a barn. I learned how to build a barn and put a roof on it, learned how to do a water collection system and learned how to repair a flooded roof. I’m pretty practical.”

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Mosaic/IT Open House at Gorge Hall

On Tuesday May 17th, a group of Mosaic (Island Timberlands / TimberWest) employees travelled to Cortes Island to host an “open house” at the Gorge Hall. They set up displays indoors and offered a casual one-on-one discussion period from 10AM to noon; at noon, they made a formal presentation which — thanks to improving weather — was held outdoors for better Covid safety.

Mosaic’s displays inside Gorge Hall

Mosaic’s plans to resume industrial logging on Cortes Island are controversial and have already inspired a petition-style letter and a series of community meetings. Mosaic has received significant feedback from the community challenging their cut plan on various grounds, including location (cutting within the boundaries of sensitive ecosystems) and extraction rate (several times the rate recommended and practised by the Cortes Community Forest).

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Rezoning meeting for Treedom on Cortes Island

The rezoning meeting for an additional three homes on the Treedom Ventures property, at 1062 Seascape Road, in Mansons Landing Landing, was held Thursday. This would bring the total number of home sites on this 82 acre property to 8, with an additional cabin. Between 25 and 30 people attended the in-person component of the meeting and an unknown number attended through the internet or by phone.

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Whaletown Post Office Update: Fully Functional

This program was funded by a grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada and the Government of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative

The relocated Whaletown Post Office has finally got its approved Canada Post internet connection! Twincomm and Canada Post’s technical staff were able to get the PO online in January, so semi-automation is restored for many routine postal functions. Customers can once again use credit cards.

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