If nothing else, the third Virtual Cortes Community Conference may be remembered for its bloopers. The first 23 minutes were not broadcast over the radio because of an unexpected technical difficulty. Consequently, I used a recording that was never intended to be made public.
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Building Soil Fertility
April 10th: Building soil fertility with local resources: Biochar, Compost, & More with permaculture enthusiast and owner of New Branch Permaculture: Whitney Vanderleest
Whitney is a permaculture enthusiast who has a passion for all things compost. Her Business New Branch Permaculture focuses on building fertility with local resources through the production of Biochar & Vermi-compost. Her goal is to help Cortes become a more sustainable community, by reducing waste, and growing food forests.
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Surge Narrows Community Wildfire Protection Plan
Read Island’s 2018 ‘out of control’ wildfire spread over 8 hectares. According to the Campbell River Mirror, the 2019 blaze consumed 34 hectares. The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) is concerned about the potential for fires on some of the neighbouring islands in the Surge Narrows as well. After consultation with Read Island residents, on March 12, 2020 their protection plan was amended to become the Surge Narrows Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
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Resilience on Cortes Island
Originally published on Cortes Radio.ca
Folk U Friday for April 3, 2020: Resilience on Cortes Island 101: Food resilience and storage, energy systems, and much more! with Mark Lombard and Eli McKenty
Mark Lombard and Eli McKenty are two members of a group of Cortesians interested in the infrastructure for resilience brought together by Karen Mahon and the Cortes Climate Hope organization. They spoke about some of the elements necessary to help create a Cortes that would be more self-sufficient and survive short term natural disasters such as fire, earthquake, and extended power outages. Of course, they had no idea when they started meeting that it would be just in time for a pandemic to hit, nevertheless their group had numerous practical suggestions that many are beginning to think about with new enthusiasm.
What More Would Linnaea Offer?
April 16 update to the article that follows: the SRD first denied a motion to defer their decision for six months and then denied Linnaea’s application.
On April 15th the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board denied Linnaea Farm’s application for provincial gas tax funding to purchase a new heat pump. While this charity does not fit the description of a typical recipient of this grant, there are numerous reasons why it should be an exception. No one questions the fact this educational resource centre offers a great deal to Cortes Island. At a recent SRD committee meeting, Chief Administrative Officer David Leitch asked what more would Linnaea offer if it received a new heat pump?
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