A Word in the Woods

When was the last time your grocery store gave you a hug, a handshake, and inspired you for the week’s cooking? That’s exactly what your market can do for you — there are people whose skills, hard work, and pride in their craft put quality food on your table, and I enjoy being reminded of that every Sunday that I can make it down to my local market.

Extra love goes out to friends I’ve met, Zach from Highmark Farms, Christian from Monforte Dairy, and especially the lovely Janaki for putting together the wonderful Leslieville Farmer’s Market! Thank you for a great first season!

And although the market season is over, I’ll be sure to pick up my winter produce box (pictured above) from Le Papillion on the Park every Sunday.

Tags: farms, fresh food, leslie market, local, market, produce
Posted in Conservation, News, Personal | No Comments »

Ray Mears photo courtesy of http://www.guardian.co.uk

Ray Mears is famous for his many tv appearances where he teaches not only survival, but bushcraft. The difference from ‘survival’ shows is striking, as Ray attempts to convey the importance of long-term bushcraft and sustainability as practiced by many aboriginal tribes in a variety of different regions.

He has always expressed his special love for the boreal forests of Canada, and it looks as though he’ll be bringing his knowledge and teaching skills to about 25 lucky students this June 11, for a five-day bushcraft course.

Details are still sketchy, but I’ve chatted a bit with the course organizer, so here’s what I know:

• Ray Mears is confirmed if the class is full, and will shape the curriculum to match the students.
• The course will be five days long, with Ray instructing every day.
• It will take place near Brampton, Ontario, and will be on some 400+ acres of land.
• It also won’t likely be cheap, given his very high skill level and prominence in the field. However, this would be an amazing and unique experience, so start saving those pennies if you want in!

The organizer’s website is just nearing completion, but I’m told that that in a matter of days, there will be plenty more details available. Stay tuned for more!

Visit School in the Woods or the Bushcraft Canada site (where I first caught wind of it).

Tags: bushcraft, education, ray mears
Posted in News | 3 Comments »

Who says a secluded retreat needs to be rustic and run-down? House & Home‘s Suzanne Dimma and 3rd Uncle Design‘s Arriz Hassam walk viewers through their amazingly designed cottage in this six-minute-long video.

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Tags: construction, cottage, off-grid, Suzanne Dimma
Posted in News | 5 Comments »

I’ve been thinking of trading in my folding PakCanoe for a lighter, more maneuverable vessel (I have the 17-footer, but I would be fine with a 16-, or even 15-foot), but not because it has let me down in any way. For any of you who are unsure as to the viability of the PakCanoe or PakBoat on a rough trip, take a read through Cliff’s trip report in which he describes his canoe through many rapids, linings, portages, and drags in Norway with the owner.

Read the full article on Paddling.net

Tags: folding canoe, pakcanoe
Posted in Canoe, Gear, News, Trip Reports | No Comments »

I just came across a great list of 15 Most Influential Survivalists over at Smart Survival Skills. Regardless of what you may think of their individual skills, it’s good to see anybody getting excited about the skills and experiences that these public figures bring to the masses.

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Ontario Parks has a new reservation service that they’re going to be rolling out in 2011. This means that anybody that normally reserves during the late fall or winter months will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Not really a problem in the winter months, I find, but that’s only for the backcountry—I’m not sure how busy the campgrounds are going to be. For more information, visit the FAQ page for the Ontario Parks New Reservation Service.

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A while back, I posted about the cottage that Suzanne Dimma was building in Southern Ontario with her husband-to-be, and I thought I’d follow up with a link to Arriz Hassam’s blog post on the same subject. Unfortunately, it seems like it’s just the one post, but there are such beautiful images of the countryside that I had to share. There are no pictures of the cottage itself, which is a shame, but you can get your fill with Suzanne’s blog posts. Some of it is about her personal experiences, or the design of the cottage. I like seeing how they’ve managed to make a very comfortable, secluded place in the woods. I have never thought that camping, canoeing, hiking, living, or just retreating to the woods has to be about “roughing” it. This couple has managed to prove this point in a graceful way.

See Arriz’s photos and blog:

• Treehouse: first impressions

Read Suzanne Dimma’s Blog posts:

• Survivor: Cottage Edition (The original post)
• Survivor Part 2: Cottage Construction
• Hours before the wedding (One of the nicest outhouses I’ve ever seen!)
• Cottage Kitchen Installation

Tags: Arriz Hassam, construction, cottage, Suzanne Dimma
Posted in News | 1 Comment »

io9.com has an article on Nanotech sachets that use inexpensive materials (nanofibres and activated carbon particles) in a ‘teabag’ form, to use with individual-sized water bottles. Although it seems like it would be very affordable, I’m not convinced it’s such a good thing, as these disposable teabags only will purify one litre of water, but I can see it being used in an emergency. Then again, I’d rather have a sustainable ceramic filter, or the very compact activated-chlorine-dioxide (like in Pristine water purification) for point-of-use filtration. The former is heavy and requires a (small) effort, but is great for canoeing, since you can filter nice clean water on the go. The second is nice and light and small, but is not as sustainable, and requires waiting time. The focus is on relief efforts and helping under-developed countries, but I can’t help but think a proper, larger-scale purification method would be better for the long term, and for the smaller scale solution, something like the Lifesaver bottle might be more appropriate.

Nanotech tea bag creates safe drinking water instantly, for less than a penny.

Posted in Gear, News, Technology | No Comments »

Let’s Be Very, Very Careful About Giving Genetically Modified Mosquitoes A “Competitive Advantage” – The Awl.

Tags: mosquitoes
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The NYTimes is shedding some light on why I’m always happy to be outdoors – glad there’s an actual reason for it… but let’s face it, we knowingly do plenty of things already that are bad for us. We’d be outside regardless, but it’s nice to know we reap some benefits while we’re wandering around these great forests of ours.

Read the full article here: Exposure to Plants and Parks Can Boost Immunity

Tags: health
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